I can’t put a finger on what exactly inspired it—maybe an amalgam of EB White’s “Here Is New York” infused with Hitchcock’s Rear Window—but I was struck today, again, with appreciation for the city I live in

I, the videlist (a portmanteau evoking both the latin videre—to see—and vitality—one who appreciates the movement and energy of the world) “am curiously affected by emanations from the immediate surroundings.”, feeling equal parts gratitude and excitement of a place where houses tend to be separated by mere feet or seated on directly on top of each other. I was struck with this newfound appreciation of being in a city where you’re right on top of each other and experiencing the interactions like someone greeting someone at the door, their windows open, the dog barking and the people laughing as they interact. This deep appreciation for people from all walks of life living on top of each other but in a rich, immersive sense.

My city “provides not only a continuing excitation but also a spectacle that is continuing. I wander around, re-examining this spectacle, hoping that I can put it on paper. […] From the open windows of the drum and saxophone parlors come the listless sounds of musical instruction, monstrous insect noises in the brooding field of summer.”