Mowgli: Objects to Intruders.
Raises Voice at Contractors Daily. Paces Landing with Revolutionary Energy. Performs Protest Concert at Dinner Hour. Declares House a Disaster Zone. Demands Return to Normalcy. Accepts Reset Sofa with Dignity.
Akela: Contemplates Gecko Chase.
Studies Wall Shadows with Operatic Patience. Flirts with Instinct, Then Chooses Hugs. Rehearses Grand Prowl Through Pillows. Declines Participation in Chaos. Returns to Bar Shelves Like a Monarch to Throne.
Poe: Gecko Nemesis.
Launches Midnight Hunts with Relentless Precision. Pursues Wall-Crawlers Across Kingdom. Delivers Trauma to Household and Reptiles Alike. Ignores Pleas for Peace. Collapses Beside Window, Victorious Yet Haunted.
This Week in Underland:
- Bathroom Saga Concludes
Pipe vanquished. Jackhammer silenced. Stairs no longer nightly pilgrimage. - Neighborhood Adventures Continue
Sushi Express conquered. Water monitor spotted. Fishing village stumbled upon by accident (as planned). - Domestic Affairs
House reset achieved. Drinks bar established. Thai pillows multiply unchecked. Cats declare partial truce with geckos. - Snail Wars Begin
Garden besieged nightly. Enemy advances slow but relentless. Expat bends to pick and mutter. Victory uncertain.
I can finally breathe a little bit. The first month and a half here in Bangkok has been both wonderful and stressful—probably one of the more stressful months of my life. But it’s been worth it, and looking forward, things feel pretty incredible.
For the past month we’ve been caught up in what I call the bathroom saga. A leaking pipe turned into a wet ceiling, and eventually contractors had to bring in a jackhammer to tear apart the floor. From the looks of it, it had been leaking for a very long time. Thankfully, it’s fixed now. These Thai houses in Parichart Suwinthawong Village are built extremely solid to withstand storms, which is a blessing, until you need to take something apart. Then it takes a long time, and it’s extremely loud.
The overstimulation of having strangers in the house all day while I tried to work was tough, and for Celia, coming home after a long day of teaching only to find strangers in her space, it was exhausting.
One silver lining was that it pushed us to go on a few extra adventures. To escape the chaos, we visited the brand-new Lotus’s Sukhaphibal 3 location and tried Sushi Express, a conveyor-belt sushi spot. Celia had eaten conveyor sushi in Korea and Japan before, but this was my first experience. Fresh, fun, and surprisingly affordable; it was such a good discovery right here in our new neighborhood.
Of course, the house we’re so proud of turned into a disaster zone during the repairs. Every time we cleaned one corner, something else got displaced. But yesterday, I finally got to reset everything. It feels amazing to have our space back in order, and I’m now plowing through work at the upstairs computer. (I’ve even added more prints to my Printify shop!)
Alongside house chaos, there have been important milestones. Celia had to complete a health check for her work permit, so we woke up very early and went to Rama 3 Hospital. The whole process was efficient, and they even gave us a drink credit.
Afterwards, we wandered into a small fishing village nearby. We spotted a water monitor, which thrilled us both, and admired some incredible fruit trees. It wasn’t our intended destination, but that seems to be a theme—aiming for one place and ending up somewhere else unexpected but rewarding.
Lately, I’ve been photographing our home. The images that interest me are slow and subtle: texture, color, a controlled palette. Often it’s something quite simple. I have to love a place to photograph it, and our home here in Parichart Suwinthawong Village is perfect. Thailand has given me so much inspiration.
I’ve especially loved photographing the kitchen, it feels like a portrait of my wife. Celia puts so much passion into it, and many details in the house feel like reflections of her: the love and care she’s put into building a haven for the two of us. I’ve always lived more minimally, but she brings personality to every space. Together, that balance has made this house something really special.
When I think about what draws me to photograph our home, I realize it connects back to the artists and filmmakers who’ve shaped my way of seeing. William Eggleston’s color work taught me to value the ordinary as extraordinary, the saturated tones of walls, floors, and lamps that others might overlook. Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman showed me how a space can reveal a person’s inner life through stillness and repetition. And in more contemporary terms, I think about Stacy Morrison’s quiet documentation of daily textures, the patience she has for light and surface. All of those influences filter into how I shoot here: simple, deliberate, and rooted in love for the details of domestic life.
We even have a fancy drinks bar now, another small joy in the process of turning this house into our home. We’ve started collecting both awesome and awful lights, and the much-loved “Poe-trait” has returned to its place on the bar shelves. Our collection of Thai pillows has also grown, adding bright splashes of color and comfort to the living space. Ironically, we’ve both been so exhausted that we haven’t spent nearly as much time enjoying that room as we’d like.
On the professional side, I’ve been applying to teaching assistant positions here in Bangkok, as well as the Teach Thailand program. The dream would be to step into teaching art directly, blending my creative practice with education. At the same time, I’ve been sharing a course proposal with several schools that combines English learning and photography; a way to make language more engaging through creativity and visual storytelling.
Life here has been a balancing act between home projects, job applications, and creative growth, but each step feels like we’re building something lasting.
I’m grateful we finally have a working bathroom again, though I’ll admit my legs were looking great from all the stair climbing. Still, it’s a relief to know that if I need to get up in the middle of the night, I no longer have to face our staircase half-asleep.
Another unexpected twist: I’ve discovered that snails are my nemesis. They launch slow-motion invasions on our plants, leaving behind trails of defiance. It’s a ridiculous rivalry, me versus an army of tiny armored slugs,but one I seem destined to lose at least half the time.
The cats have fully adjusted to life in Thailand, each in their own way. Poe has developed a habit of chasing geckos—traumatic for both us and the poor geckos. Akela, ever the diva, looks tempted but usually decides she’d rather get hugs instead. Meanwhile, Mowgli has been very vocal about his distaste for all the strangers who were in the house during the bathroom repairs.
Having them settle in makes this new chapter of our Bangkok expat life feel more complete. Between renovations, teaching applications, and the simple joys of our cats, we’re beginning to feel truly at home.
xR
An Anthology of Justice, Equality, and Resistance.
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