Elena Existing
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elenaexisting.bsky.social
Elena Existing
@elenaexisting.bsky.social
1.9K followers 2.3K following 5.5K posts
Gen X spinster aunt. Idaho to Louisville. Corporate drone from 8-5; devastatingly quiet from 5-8. Learning Mandarin. Going for a hike.

Let's take better care of each other, okay?
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elenaexisting.bsky.social
San Francisco rolls out the welcome mat.
Wet grey on wetter gray, airport version.
November 13, 2025 at 8:44 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
‬I've been watching Sammo Hung's Eastern Condors at 6am on the flight to Chicago and I'm really going to need an oral history of this movie.
A bifurcated sky before sunrise. The Chicago skyline. The Criterion Collection movie poster for Sammo Hung's Eastern Condos.
November 13, 2025 at 1:39 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
Out of context Tinder
The techniques are speed control, dime stops, ticking, strobing, vibrating, and glitching Now for the context
November 12, 2025 at 11:34 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
How excited am I?

I already bought the poster. (It arrived yesterday.)
The top half of a poster, unrolled, and being held up with one hand. The Monkey King《猴王悟空》San Francisco Opera World Premiere poster, illustrated by Brian Stauffer, showing a human-like monkey bursting from a round stone egg. There are colorful rays radiating outward from the monkey, resembling a sunrise. Composer: Huang Ruo Libretto: David Henry Hwang
November 12, 2025 at 2:11 AM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
You could draw a snowman!
A snowman and pine tree drawn in the shallow snow on a downtown city sidewalk, from the perspective of a viewer several stories up in the opposite building.
November 11, 2025 at 1:01 AM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
Go home, November, you're drunk.
A map from the National Weather Service, Louisville, KY office showing threats of snow over most of the state in the first week of November, when flowers are still blooming and leaves have barely had time to start turning color.
November 9, 2025 at 10:56 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
My neighbors are having some sort of electronic/metal rave type party. They did one of these last year, and this year they've added fun event tents. Festive.
Covered event tents/awnings decorated with Christmas lights, viewed over a fence. There is a rotating purple strobe light illuminating the garage.
November 9, 2025 at 3:29 AM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
Please enjoy this ~1598 engraving by Theodor de Bry depicting the port of Acapulco with a fleet of Manila galleons dominating the image. At the back of the scene you can see mule trains bringing silver from the horrible Potosí mines, off on a journey via Manila to China.
A ~1598 engraving by Theodor de Bry depicting the port of Acapulco with a fleet of Manila galleons dominating the image. Towards the back you can see the little mule trains bringing silver from the mines of Potosí destined for China.
November 9, 2025 at 1:43 AM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
Normandy. Autumn.
Fall trees with yellow leaves, orange flower heads popping up over a yellowing hedge, two roadside scenes under cloudy overcast skies. Two tourists in rain jackets carrying large umbrellas on a rain path. The pedestrian tunnel under a roadway, covered in fallen leaves and dead-ending in a landscape scene.
November 8, 2025 at 12:49 AM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
This week's #LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday is brought to you by the 1990s:

Looking for Fun 《找乐》（1993）
Mama 《妈妈》(1990)
我的同桌是个角儿 《Oop(era)s Surprise!》(2025)
The Days《冬春的日子》(1993）

Currently watching/not shown:
Beijing Bastards 《北京杂种》（1993）
Letterboxd Recent Activity with movie posters for: Looking for Fun 《找乐》（1993） Mama 《妈妈》(1990) 我的同桌是个角儿 《Oop(era)s Surprise!》(2025) The Days《冬春的日子》(1993）
November 7, 2025 at 10:34 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
Many, many days later after waiting 24 hours and filing a 2nd claim with UPS, lo & behold:

The Prodigal Notebook
A small brown notebook of the size and type that absent-minded parents would leave in a hotel safe in Paris.
November 7, 2025 at 9:42 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
I barely even knew what a geranium was when I brought this home in the spring. It's the first week of November!
A bright red geranium in a pot.
November 6, 2025 at 6:17 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
Hello strange visitor to my dining room table/home office.
A tiny, narrow green and red insect with long legs and long antennae.
November 4, 2025 at 8:40 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
I think it's also important to acknowledge that there was an even earlier Anti-Asian backlash in mining communities throughout the West, including in Butte. Mining towns in the late 1800s had thriving Asian immigrant communities who were later boycotted, attacked, and driven out by white unions.
A copy of a handbill from 1898. BOYCOTT A General Boycott has been declared upon all CHINESE and JAPANESE Restaurants, Tailor Shops, and Wash Houses. Also all persons employing them in any capacity. All Friends and Sympathizers of Organized Labor will assist us in this fight against the lowering Asiatic standards of living and of morals. America vs Asia Progress vs Retrogression Are the considerations involved. BY ORDER OF Silve Bow Trades and Labor Assembly and Butte Miners' Union. Document can be accessed at: https://recordsofrights.org/events/15/anti-asian-boycott
November 4, 2025 at 3:23 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
Really, UPS? Really?

I concede that this may be related to my dad's instructions to input the maximum value possible into the claim form "to get their attention."
We cannot submit your claim at this time. Claim number 1Z <redacted> Unfortunately, we need a bit more information to process your claim request at this time. Please contact us at 1-800-PICK UPS to receive assistance submitting your claim.
November 4, 2025 at 2:44 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
A New (Old) American Play, in Three Acts:
A bluesky post from Teen Vogue: "Zohran Mamdani's Establishment Fighting Campaign Built Community for Young People. A headline from RollingStone: New York's Ultra Rich are in the Hampton's Freaking Out About Zohran Mamdani A headline from Vogue: Teen Vogue is Joining Vogue.Com
November 3, 2025 at 8:38 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
The theater was an absolute time capsule.
A small movie theater screening room. The screen is long an narrow, hung on a cinnamon brown wall. The seats are blue velvet. On the right is a textured brick wall in red and cream tones. It is a movie theater but somehow also the ghost of your grandparents' den in the basement.
November 1, 2025 at 2:27 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
Well, I'm late for #LetterBoxdFriday, but here are my #LastFourWatched:

Left-Handed Girl, 2025
Embrace of the Serpent, 2015
Frankenstein, 2025
Heroic Trio, 1993

(I saw one of these in a cinema in Paris!)
November 1, 2025 at 1:24 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
2025 Book #51

Let Us Descend
by Jesmyn Ward

One of my favorite American authors. A book filled with spirits, perfect for this evening.
A bright yellow paperback book cover with the image of a bee filled with a mosaic of swamp scenes. Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward.
October 31, 2025 at 11:45 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
I'm very "grocery store classics" over here, but there's both a chocolate and non-chocolate bowl.
Two large bowls full of Halloween candy.
October 31, 2025 at 9:35 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
I'm just going to go ahead and lean hard into "weird neighbor" territory this Halloween.
A huge aluminum bowl of yellow chrysanthemum flowers and the start of a garland. A garland of bright yellow-orange chrysanthemum flowers hung on the pillar of a front porch.
October 31, 2025 at 3:30 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
Standing in my kitchen at 6am Halloween morning dishing out cat food and wondering what happened to Sixlets.
A pile of small round brightly colored Sixlets candies in their wrappers.
October 31, 2025 at 10:50 AM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
I am so bummed that I am going to be out of town for SJC's Meat The Need 11/15 because this sounds like such a unique and fun event.

Help St. John Center support for our unhoused neighbors this winter AND walk away with food for your own pantry. Brilliant!

www.stjohncenter.org/meat-the-need/
St. John Center Board of Directors Present Meat the Need Meat Raffle. Bring a Cooler. Split the Pot. Heads or Tails. Friday, November 14th 2025, 6:30pm at Noble Funk Brewing. Entry Fee: $20, Tickets $1 Each $20 Rounds; 3 spins/winners for 180 pieces of meat or vegan meat. stjohncenter.org/meat-the-need
October 30, 2025 at 4:04 PM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
My best friend just gifted me the absolutely most ridiculous, glorious, wonderful teapot ever. I feel like an alchemist. I can't wait to brew flowers in this.
A two tier tea pot and cup hovering in a branch with a small bird next to a green statue of a naked lady, a CD player, and a stack of CDs.
October 29, 2025 at 12:11 AM
elenaexisting.bsky.social
The sparrows are cold. I fed them.
A row of sparrows standing on a porch railing, waiting for more millet seed. There's a wooden fence and a tree with yellow fall leaves in the background.
October 28, 2025 at 6:29 PM