Another Way to Watch the Sun Set

First you'll need to lie on your bed, or on a couch, or on a pillow-padded floor. You could lie anywhere really, just as long as it's indoors. Also make sure whatever room you are in has at least one window. It's best if the window(s) opens to the West, but honestly, any or all directions are fine. Make sure the curtains that normally cover the window are drawn back, and/or the blinds are tilted appropriately. Natural sunlight needs to permeate the room. No electric light of any sort should be on, nor should a candle be lit. It is also important that you be reading something. This is a key step. A book is a good choice. I suppose a newspaper would also work. Just as long as it's not a magazine article. (Magazine pages, usually, are too shiny.)

Now begin reading. Don't stop reading. Just read and read. Don't stop to look out the window, stare at the wall, write something down, watch your fingers scratch your ankle, or consult a watch for the time. (Which reminds me, this process should begin around 7pm in the summertime, and 4pm in the winter season. Or, if you want to read for longer, start sooner. But other than checking the time before you begin to read, do not glance away from the text in front of you.)

Continue reading. As you read, the sun will begin to set. You will know this because reading will become increasingly difficult. But do not turn on any lights! Just keep reading. About every ten minutes or so, your eyes will lose focus and they will have to take a moment to readjust. This is due to the diminishing natural light, a direct effect of the Earth's slow roll away from the sun. The light will continue to fade for about an hour, with it becoming more difficult to read every ten minutes. As you keep reading, your pace will slow, and your eyes may feel strained. Keep going.

Eventually the light will disappear altogether. Sometimes this will happen when you are in the middle of a sentence, or even worse, during a really suspenseful, climactic part of the story. These things happen. Or perhaps it will be that just as the sun extinguishes, you complete a sentence! Or, in the most fortuitous of circumstances, you just read the last word of an entire paragraph, or even better, just finished a section, or a chapter, or (gasp!) your mind just uttered the very last word at the end of a book!

Take a moment, now, before you turn on a light, to lie in the darkness. Lay the book on your stomach and feel the weight of your accomplishment. Then you may either turn on the light to continue reading (if necessary), or leave the lights off for the rest of the evening (preferable) and either fall asleep and dream or lie awake and think.

Repeat.

Obvious Child on Brooklyn Vegan

Our film screened at IFC Rooftop Summer Film Festival last Friday. Thanks to all who came!

Read Brooklyn Vegan's coverage of the night here.