A Day of Naps and Recuperation
I had big plans to do a lot of blog catch-up, today. But instead, I chose to take a pretty long nap (or, more accurately, a series of naps) after breakfast. So those plans worked out well.
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A Long Afternoon, Hanging Out in the Kitchen
No actual photos from today. We had a lazy morning, then met up with Tricia over at Jenny and Gil’s house, in Wicker Park.
It ended up being a kind of informal hanging out there, witt Katie and Tim showing a bit later. It was incredibly kind and gracious for Jenny/Gil to host Tricia and everyone else, and we just more or less hung out in their kitchen the whole afternoon.
Christmas in Chicago with the Holders
The Holders were away on a travel vacation over Christmas proper, but flew back in to Chicago yesterday. And so we made plans to hang out, and to have a late birthday dinner/celebration for Kirt.
After showing folks around our house (and our newly updated floors)… we decided on something for our afternoon: mini-golf.
Christmas in Indy, Day 4: Christmas Day
Post breakfast, everyone gathered in the new addition (a part of the house that I still refer to as “new,” despite it being over 30 years old). L to R, it’s Stacey, Shane, Liz, me, Nathaniel, Jasmine, Jahnu, and my mom (photo courtesy of dad).
Christmas in Indy, Day 3: Christmas Eve, Game Night, and Putting the Chinese and American in Chinese American
The goal is to steal a jewel from the museum. To do so, you need to move the locks off the top of a jewel, relocating them onto other locks… and to move the jewel onto a pedestal in the middle of the board.
The catch: each player gets to use just one tiny hand. The crew gets 90 seconds to complete the task, without bumping any of the lasers.
Christmas in Indy, Day 2: Dinner at Seasons 52
A pretty slow day, today. I was working, but everyone else mostly lazed around the house. Towards the evening, we all gathered at my sister’s house.
Stacey and Shane treated the whole family to a nice dinner at Seasons 52, over at Keystone.
Christmas in Indy, Day 1: Top Golf
But Stacey proposed something new – going out to Topgolf. We did the math, and this excursion ended up being cheaper than an escape room (and for 2 hours, instead of just 1).
I’ll be honest – I wasn’t exactly sold on this, as I don’t really play golf. And I wasn’t sure how much fun it would be. But I was wrong! We had a blast!
Travel Day: Chicago to Indy
A travel day, heading from Chicago to Indy. We were reminded that there’s an incredibly nice rest stop on the way at the Kankakee Welcome Center.
Cleaning Day
Liz, working in the living room, stuffing rope insulation between the flooring and drywall.
Detail view of the work. This stuff has a strong odor (it smells like a Pirate’s locker room), but does dissipate. Eventually.
Dr. Dog: My Old Ways
“Some things never change
Or go away
I wait around
And now it’s yesterday”
Open Reel Ensemble: Tape Bowing Ensemble
This is from a Japanese experimental music collective known as Open Reel Ensemble. It’s a song/piece entitled Tape Bowing Ensemble, and it’s played on a JIGAKKYU (a long strip of magnetic tape, connected to a bamboo bow).
Toaster or Washing Machine?
Krish Ashok is the author of Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking, and also does a lot of YouTube content (see his main channel, as well as his collection of Shorts). This was an interesting comparison between two new devices/appliances. Applicable in this day and age, when AI and tooling is rapidly changing day…
Christmas Mail
by Ted Kooser Cards in each mailbox, angel, manger, star and lamb, as the rural carrier, driving the snowy roads, hears from her bundles the plaintive bleating of sheep, the shuffle of sandals, the clopping of camels. At stop after stop, she opens the little tin door and places deep in the shadows the shepherds…
Office Cleanup
Spent tonight picking up the front office. I relocated all of the materials/tools, picked up some of the extra Ram Board, and cleaned off the dining room table legs and chairs.
Those things were pretty coated with dust, and haven’t seen the light of day in a while. So I mostly just put on a podcast or two, and hunkered down to do some cleaning by hand.
Blackstone Holiday Party
Really, really fun night chatting with everyone. It’s been a long while since I was in grad school, a long while since I’d been in the company of academics. It was fun to talk about books and politics, and all manner of current events with folks. Really great company, and a really great time.