Dear Journal,

Clutter, rubbish, JUNK; we humans seem to produce heaps of the stuff, in behemoth proportions no less. That pile of rotten plywood out back, Old Man Jenson’s tire farm, that diverse collection of discontinued cell phones you cling to for some God forsaken reason, it’s all become so common place in our day to day lives. Like junkies hunting for a fix, there seems to be no end to our addiction, our ever-growing thirst to consume as much as we possibly can, as fast as we possibly can, and of course, when it’s all said and done, we put it all into a pile and move on with our lives, out of sight … out of mind.

In times like these, we often turn to some sort of hero to ease our fears (at least temporarily), a white knight figure to spearhead our cause and voice our concerns; leaders, politicians, that creepy- ass Arbor Day Owl, angry Swedish teenagers, and the like, but what role does the artist play in all of this? How does one go about conceptualizing our current predicament into an esthetically pleasing form? Can the humble artist make a difference?

Enter Sarah Kastelic … Sarah and I have been friends since grade school; high school theatre pals, partying together throughout our college years, she was even part of Tiff and I’swedding line. We’ve seen it all; the high’s and low’s. It always fascinates me when I get to observe someone else’s life like that. Sarah has shown me what ‘perseverance’ really means, she has picked herself up numerous times now, and has become a better person for it. There is a lot we can all learn from Sarah and I’ve been lucky enough to learn these lessons early on in life.

Sarah has been working with Junk Journals for quite a few years now; a mixture of book binding, Zine making, and junk art. We got to discuss local “junk dealer” The Clever Octopus, SLC garage-rock phenoms Magda-Vega, we even looked back on the weirdness that was … Captain Planet & The Planeteers. We also discussed Sarah’s experiences with the Queer/Polyamorous lifestyle and how it has affected her as an artist here in Mormon Country. And of course, one of my personal favorite highlights from the episode was hopping the train to Tasty Town with High West’s “Double Rye” whiskey. Whoa Nelly, that’s some damn fine whiskey!

Sarah and I don’t get to hang out as much as we did in our youth, which is a God Damn shame I tell yuh, but it was a pleasure to see her again, and I can’t wait to see what I have to learn from her next. Thank you, Sarah! Keep on journaling, keep on smiling, keep on being your awesome self!

Yours Truly,

Jared Greathouse

Featuring: “Smash & Grab” by Magda-Vega

Featured theme song music: “The Dying Breed” by AMOROUS