Uncategorized – Page 2 – Killian Levy Writes

A Demolition of Family History

This week some of my family’s history was destroyed.

The Pillsbury mansion on Lake Minnetonka was somewhere I always wished to have visited to see some of my family’s history.

It was my 3rd Great Uncle that built the place, and it was truly beautiful. I had hoped that there would be a greater effort made to keep the piece of history and save this century-old home.

So rare it is to have pieces of our history last into each new generation that jumps through the centuries. Less becomes tangible and more sits on hard drives. As our generation gets older and it is time for us to pass on to our children the trinkets and memories of our past, what will they be? A jump drive full of websites and Instagram accounts? Screenshots of Top 20 lists and favorite memes? Even then, the small act of handing something over to our children will need not be, as they can just pull it up with the click of a button. As boxes of antique silverware and spoon collections disappear into the ages of yore, what will we have to pass on to ours?

Is there something tangible you collect or have now that can be sent along the lines of your ancestry to link us to the future? What trinkets of your life will be passed on to future generations?

Continue reading A Demolition of Family History

A Writer’s Day

Wake up and daydream about the writing you’re going to do today – 1 hour

Habitual preparedness to get in the zone (generally includes coffee making, music and podcast listening, stacking almonds, etc.) – 2 hours

A writers lunch – 1 hour

Reading what you’ve written – 20 minutes

Figuring out where to start – 40 minutes

Writing – 4 paragraphs – 2 Hours

Feeling like you’ve written an epic war novel and watch Netflix – 5 hours

Daydream in bed about what you’re going to write tomorrow. – 2 hours

(I just wasted 20 minutes on this.)

Handwriting and Diabetes

After taking a quick peak in Carter Sexton’s Art Materials store in Valley Village, I decided to buy a few arty pens and a book to help me get better with my handwriting.

I bought “Creative Lettering and Beyond”, a book that focuses on calligraphy, but I hope will help me in any case on the subject of lettering. Since I am trying to post more and be a little more personable, I need to work on the ole’ penmanship. But here’s the rub: Diabetes and penmanship don’t go well together.

I’ve had Type 1 diabetes for going on 22 years now, and in my mid-thirties, the disease is starting to do its business. The eyes don’t work like they used to, the feet got the pins and needles, and my hands shake depending on how my blood sugar is doing. Now that I am consciously making more of an effort to pay attention to the motions my hands actually make while putting pen to page, I can see the inconsistency in my movements and my coordination. Luckily, that’s what practice is for!

I’ll be taking this book cover to cover and see what I can manage, right after I run out and get a real ass calligraphy pen, some nibs, and ink. Because if I’m going to do it, by God, I’m going to do it fancy.

Has anyone in the Los Angeles area taken a class on Calligraphy or handwriting? If so, put the info in the comments!

You can buy “Creative Lettering and Beyond” on Amazon here!

Learn about Type 1 Diabetes here!

Drifting away and towards.

How do you start?

It is a strange thing, moving towards a path later in life. It creates an excitement that tingles inside the skull. It creates a fear that sits in the bottom of your bowels. It creates an entirely new world that has far surpassed you in the new digital age.

Having spent the last 16 years behind a camera and behind the scenes, it is difficult to crawl out and be seen again. They have been years spent travelling, meeting celebrities, and learning about people. I have been a fly on the wall of glitz and glamour, parties and private charities, royalty and legends. Photography is still a passion of mine, but the world is not what it once was, and neither am I.

I still do these things and still enjoy these things, but my soul is searching for more…a little something extra outside of my 24/7 career that I have been building since I was 16 years old. Side passions are where real passion lies, as your first passions generally end up becoming your job. So, here I come side passion número dos!

The last time I wrote any kind of blog was LiveJournal somewhere around 2000, then it was on towards MySpace popularity and eventually we were allowed to join Facebook outside of High school groups in 2005. It was already difficult then to keep up with the changing internet. By now, the social media age zips past me at a speed greater than the world warped around David Bowman after he left the Discovery One.

But, I take a deep breath and make a list of things to learn. Join me and let’s learn together.

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist