Journal · October 2026
A pearl is a small labyrinth. You keep turning.
Field notes and the posts behind @carlynandhercloset, kept in one place. Pearls from French Polynesia, deadstock from Carbondale, and the questions in between.
Latest entries
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No. 01
Baroque Beauty: An Essay from Tahiti
Baroque Beauty is a work of cultural anthropology disguised as a book about beautiful things.
No. 02
Midnight sharks
I woke at midnight and went outside. It was raining, so I stayed beneath the thatched roof and sat on the stairs by the water. The lagoon was almost entirely dark, except beneath the bungalow next door, where a handful of jacks circled in a pool of artificial light. I watched them for a while. Surely, a shark must see these. Then a fin emerged from the darkness. And another. Two sharks slipped into the light, snagged a fish or two, and disappeared back into the night as quickly as they had...
No. 03
Baroque pearls: the ones that refuse to be round
Freshwater pearls grow as a mussel deposits layers of nacre around implanted tissue. Without a round bead guiding the shape, some grow beautifully irregular. "Baroque" is the name for those unpredictable forms. The ridges, folds, and unexpected shapes make each one a tiny sculpture made by a living creature.
The oyster builds the pearl. People give it meaning.
What you will find here
Fieldwork, kept slowly
Short entries that start from a physical thing and end on one line. A pearl, a remnant edge, a rack at the end of the day.
- I. Pearls and where they come from
- II. Deadstock and what it wants to be
- III. Wearing, owning and worth
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Each entry here began as a post. New ones appear first at @carlynandhercloset.