March 8, 2024
I work half days on Fridays (a perk at Grubhub, where we all technically end the work week at 1PM on Fridays). Today, Liz took a half day to meet me downtown, and had an early birthday celebration for me planned.
I didn’t know what to expect, but hung out in the car as we drove our way to Logan Square. And parked on Milwaukee, alongside the two destinations (which were pretty close to one another).
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March 7, 2024
Spotted along 53rd. I like the backdrop of the arches. And how all that remains, all the eye focuses on is the mouth. And how you can almost hear the roar, even as the rest of the creature is fading away.
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March 6, 2024
Big day for us – we have a scheduled delivery of our interior trim. It’s not everything we need for the house – but it’s all for the first floor.
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March 5, 2024
Nearly every time it catches my eye, it makes me think a hawk has flow into the house… and gotten itself entangled in our lamp. And is hanging there, exhausted, trying to gather its strength so that it can thrash itself to freedom.
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March 4, 2024
Fun evening – we got to sit next to Michael, one of the regulars. And if memory serves, Michael (along with the event host Elhan) was among the first founders of the Chicago chapter of Drammers.
It was really fun for me to sit back, and to listen to Liz and Michael go back and forth. I tend to be intimidated in these settings, as my palate and experience seem limited compared to others – and I’m always awed to watch Liz, who is very much in her element.
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March 3, 2024
More demo in the office today, though the actual demo portion was less. It was more about the joist spaces, and cleaning things up.
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March 2, 2024
So many molds. Interestingly, these machines are inextricably tied to MSI in my mind. I remember them from my visits as a child, and the sights and sounds (and especially the smell) elicit a very strong wave of nostalgia.
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March 1, 2024
“Up, up, and away, away from me
Well, it’s all right
You can all sleep sound tonight
I’m not crazy
Or anything”
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February 29, 2024
The video is live, from my segment of the most recent 20×2 Chicago: Do You Remember?
For my talk, I brought copies of the various TV commercials I’ve been in. That’s right – plural. More than one commercial.
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February 28, 2024
Suited up after work, to do a bit of office demo. Not really something I wanted to do, but my hope is to make more progress in this room (which will make way for, and make it easier for, electrical work to happen).
Only got about an hour in, but was surprised at how much I could do in that time.
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February 27, 2024
It’s one thing to know my birthday is coming up. And that it’s a big number.
It’s something else entirely, to have this large shadow fall over my house. To have time manifest itself in such a direct and aggressive manner. To have the notion forced into my brain that the days ahead may not be equal, or less, to the days behind.
I’m not ready.
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February 26, 2024
Our next project (which I probably won’t end up finishing in time): a two piece plant stand.
Tonight, we got a walkthrough of the pieces we needed… and we set about measuring, marking, and cutting.
The students in the class are all over the place, in terms of the projects they’re currently working on. Some are pretty far ahead, some are far behind. But we all more or less paused, to work on getting the materials prepped for this project.
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February 25, 2024
Najwa and Joe have recently moved, and today Liz and I headed out to Elgin for a bit of a housewarming party.
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February 24, 2024
Second – every time I looked at Liz’s wedding dress, I couldn’t help but think of the phenomenal poem by James Galvin – On the Sadness of Wedding Dresses. Seriously, if you don’t know this poem… go give it a read. It has haunted me, ever since I read it.
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February 23, 2024
At one point, Liz stopped in and said “I want you to keep a positive attitude.” At first, I thought she just wanted to keep my spirits up. But what she meant was that: we’d taken up almost all of the floors in the house, at this point. And this last section was probably the last “unknown” part of the house that was left.
She said “If we have a chance of finding some hidden treasure worth a million dollars… it’s going to be here.” Wishful thinking, but it’s true – this is our last chance.
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