Three Things: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow


I’ve been wanting to get a little more user interaction on the site, and I’m hoping you’ll help me try something new out. I’m very curious to hear more from the folks who browse this site, both the people I know and the people who might have just wandered here off the Internet, randomly. I share a lot of what I see and do, and I guess I’m just curious to learn a little more about you.

I got the idea to create a new section called “Three Things,” where the post would be less of an entry by me… and more of an invitation for people to contribute their thoughts and stories.

The idea is this: every “Three Things” post will be a kind of prompt. Feel free to answer it however you like: write an essay, write a single word, totally up to you.

  1. What’s something you did yesterday?
  2. What is something you’re doing today?
  3. What is something you will do tomorrow?

———

Ok – here goes.

Yesterday thanks to the Apple Lady, I learned that the Sombrero Galaxy isn’t some kind of made-up galaxy name by astronomers. It’s actually a thing, and does indeed exist.

Today I made coffee using a french press and the Intelligentsia Coffee app. I know this is sacrilege to purists, but I didn’t use fresh grounds. I’m up super early, and don’t care to grind coffee due to the noise it makes. So I ground up my coffee the night before.

Although, truth be told, I ground up my coffee on like Sunday night, with plans to make coffee early Monday morning. I didn’t quite get around to “waking up early” this week, and today’s the first day. So that coffee’s been sitting around a while.

I’m guessing my friend Matt is dropping his monocle in shock right now. But I tell you what… this coffee still tastes pretty damn good.

Tomorrow I’m planning to have a good chunk of time to work on my poetry project. My goal will be to pick up some coffee on my way home at New Wave, then plop myself in front of my computer for a few hours.

I’ve been slowly building out the functionality I need from the project website, and my next phase is to try to figure out how I can “seed” the site with a small amount of videos/content. I’m planning on making a list of people I want to contact (both people I know, and potentially famous writers, Internet celebs, etc) and start to put together all the logistics: creating the lists, writing the invitation email and instructions, determining the timelines I want to hit.

A lot of what I’m doing is done with an eye towards launching in April, which is National Poetry Month. It’s still over a month away, but it feels like a looming deadline. I have a huge list of tasks to complete before April hits, and I’m hoping to have a productive work night, tomorrow night.

———

That’s it for me! Like I said, I’m just curious to hear a little more about what you’re up to, on your side of the screen. So drop a line in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you.

[CC photo via Leo Reynolds]

This Post Has 20 Comments

  1. Okay Felix, I’ll play.

    Yesterday: Very much a daddy day. Frida and I did a round of errands, including picking up a case of guava paste, dropping some parcels at the UPS, and getting the car washed.

    Today: Will be updating and having my take out menus reprinted, doing the wine order, and then covering a shift from five to close. This afternoon, I have an interview with Modern Deli magazine scheduled. They’re doing a piece on sandwiches served at delis in major football cities. Every now and then green bay’s prominence in football and our restaurant’s success with Google search results in such oddities. The best was when Bloomberg Businessweek declared us ‘the place to go before Packer games,’ which raised a few eyebrows around here.

    Tomorrow: honestly, I don’t have much planned. My chief concerns are to sell the Valentine’s dinner for next week, start promoting a concert were doing at the end of the month, to get the word out in the Catholic community about our Lenten Mussel feasts, and to get the lecture series scheduled and programmed. I pretty much always have a long list of non time specific marketing type tasks to do.

    Alex Reply


    • That’s a pretty interesting mixture of tasks to complete! Is it weird that say that your schedule sounds both busy and relaxing?

      I’m curious – is the non-time specific nature of those things a good thing? Does it make you feel less stress knowing some things don’t have a specific deadline, or does it feel like everything is perpetually looming?

      avoision Reply


  2. Hmmm… I’m struggling not to post the following, which is very evident by anyone who reads my blog.

    Yesterday: Sewing
    Today: Sewing
    Tomorrow: Sewing

    So here’s a more thoughtful comment instead:

    Yesterday: Worked on a new bodice trim idea for the entire evening (4hrs +) and have no realized how NOT to draft a trim element onto a dress bodice.

    Today: Am working on a visual dashboard of faculty by their level, and other factors in comparison to a peer-set and national norms.

    Tomorrow: Will work on said bodice once again, but will re-draft the bodice trim the correct (aka boring) way!

    Liz Reply


    • It was interesting, having you up and working on your stuff at 6:30 AM. I’m so used to the apartment being dark and silent during that time, and seeing the living room all lit up (and your music going) was a nice change of pace.

      Tired yet? :)

      avoision Reply


  3. Well, yesterday I deployed some emails & did some content management tasks, finished adjusting the chemical balance of the water in the new aquarium with my oldest daughter (goldfish to be acquired Saturday as the filter will have run a full cycle by then), finished setting up Google calendar to remind me of all the maintenance stuff with the aquarium over the next year, converted some loyalty program points to cash & bought a stack of graphic novels with said cash – some older Japanese stuff, a bunch of BPRD, some Frank Miller (politics aside, I still love his artwork)

    Today, I did some content management, made some ad banner bookings, set up a graphics template, deployed some more emails, picked up some Valentine’s Day chocolates (shhh) & some filter media for the aquarium on my lunchbreak, and tried out a new Japanese-style pastry shop downtown. Hopefully this evening will be relaxing.

    Tomorrow, I will be deploying some more emails, taking my oldest daughter to an optometrist appointment to see if she needs a lazy eye patch (yarr) and who knows what else?

    Ian Reply


    • I’m realizing that I don’t have a clue as to what constitutes “Japanese pastries.” I remember having some odd Chinese bakery items growing up, some of which I still like… but would be hard pressed to describe to others.

      I’ve been reading more comics as well, though I’ve just been buying a ton via the Marvel app on the iPad. Just started reading some of the new Avengers comics… but also saw a mention of a Slate article about that on MeFi (and also saw you posted it on Facebook). I’ve added that article to Instapaper, but with books on the morning commute and comics at night, I’ve not been reading many online articles lately.

      Good to hear from you Ian – hope you and the fam are doing well, up there in the North!

      avoision Reply


      • Japanese pastries like black sesame buns, Hong Kong style egg tarts, beef curry buns… not entirely dissimilar to Chinese pastries, really, but a bit sweeter. I used to live by the Chinatown in Toronto and ate my weight in pork buns over the year, I’m sure.

        I can’t really get into comics on a screen, I find them difficult to scan for some reason – but I do love my Kindle for reading books on the commute.

        We’re all great, thanks for asking! Great project.

        Ian Reply


  4. Yesterday morning I finally confirmed that a foreign entity has in fact been entering the chicken’s patio each night after observing several natural experiments. I hope the foreign entity is the late rising (much after dark) racoon as opposed to the just after dusk, blood-drinking opossum. A chicken was murdered a few weeks ago from an opossum.
    Today I woke-up an hour or so before my alarm. I’m cool with that because I had a crap load of work to do.
    Tomorrow I will try to remember to bring my eggs to work to give to Sarah Wiehe. I have forgotten the last two days. I guess I could have said yesterday I forgot to bring the eggs to work. Today I forgot to bring the eggs to work and tomorrow I will probably forget to bring the eggs to work.

    Aaron Willis Reply


    • I’m curious – why the hope for one over the other? I feel like I’ve always been warned about raccoons, and figured they were as much of a threat to your chickens as opossums were. Is this not the case?

      avoision Reply


      • Both coons and possums eat eggs, but coons tend not to kill chickens, whereas possums totally will. At least that’s how it worked on the farm I grew up on. We had more trouble from weasels,. though.

        Ian Reply


        • Yes, Ian, is correct. A coon will kill a chicken if it has too, but it really wants those eggs. The possums on the other hand are bloody-thirsty evil varmin. They also come out to kill earlier than coons come out to hunt. This is significant for my birds, because of the way their coop is set up. So the birds have a coop where they sleep, lay eggs, and have their evening discussions. Nothing has gotten into the coop and I believe nothing ever will. My dad did a good job with the design and construction of the coop. Now, the possum got the hen because the coop’s door is on a timer and it takes about 5-10 minutes to fully open/close. Connected to the coop is a larger structure that we refer to as the porch or patio. It is an enclosed area with chicken wire and a retractable roof (Lucas Oil style, alright not even remotely). This is where the food and water is and a shelter during rain/snow whatever. They also like to have daily meetings in there. The porch is large enough (not huge) for them to congregate for the weekend if we are ever gone. The porch has a little slot door that is manually raised and closed each day by the farmer (that is me during the winter season and my dad during the summer season). What happened on that dreadful night was that the birds were preparing for bed and the coop door was probably in route to close. The possum had entered the chicken yard, walked over to the porch (the door is still open because Melissa had not come over yet to shut the porch door [this by the way is another story in itself]). The possum walked in, helped himself to a bird, and managed to get locked in the coop. Order was eventually restored and the birds are popping out eggs again.

          This was the first killing by a possum. We have lost hens to a hawk and two neighborhood dogs. My dog, Gilbert, sent Red the Rooster to the vet to receive 1 stitch. Being a farmer is not easy.

          Aaron Willis Reply


  5. Yesterday I booked a lot of people for tax appointments (Hi Felix, it’s me Tracy the secretary at your accountant Jim Kamin). nudge nudge.
    Today I organized/cleaned out the medicine cabinet/supply drawers at home. Exciting so far! Taxes and supplies!
    Tomorrow my girlfriend comes home from a lengthy business trip, so I might have to make something good for dinner.
    fyi, you can try Japanese pastries downtown in Block 37 at Beard Papa, they are basically French style cream puffs.

    daruma Reply


    • Ha! Thanks for the reminder – I’m betting things are super booked at this point. This comment of yours started a conversation with one of my coworkers, so you may have just helped Jim gain a new client!

      Thanks for the heads-up on the downtown pastry location. It’s remarkably close to where I work, so this may end up being a field trip for me in the near future!

      avoision Reply


      • Then you should also try Andy’s frozen custard sometime (also in Block 37), super delicious!

        daruma Reply


  6. OK. So I’m a day late. I will answer as if you posted today though. I hope this doesn’t irreparably destroy your blog’s space/time continuum.

    Yesterday/”Today”: I lost a chess game. It was not surprising as the other player is significantly better than me, but disappointing none-the-less.

    Today/”Tomorrow”: I read a really cool meta-fiction short story. It happens to be set in Chicago and mentions Logan Square.

    Tomorrow/”The Day After Tomorrow”: I’m going to have lunch at a restaurant that consistently gets rave reviews. I hope it lives up to the hype.

    Aaron Reply


    • That restaurant (and in particular, the Ocean Terrace seating) looks incredible! Thanks too, for the link to that story. Haven’t read it yet, but added it to my Instapaper list for later.

      avoision Reply


      • Unfortunately, I did not end up going to the restaurant today. It was…well, it was cloudy, which qualifies as “bad weather” here in San Diego, so rather than submit my native Southern Californian companions to sitting outside on a cloudy, 60-degree day in February with a spectacular (even when cloudy) view of the ocean, I re-scheduled for next Friday which is currently forecast to be sunny and 64.

        I hope you like the story. I thought it was very well done.

        Aaron Reply


  7. Thanks to everyone for playing along and dropping a line. I always get super nervous whenever I post any kind of “Hey, readers, what’s going on?” type post as my fear is it’ll result in tumbleweeds and crickets. It’s the tech equivalent of no one showing up at your birthday party.

    Really, this post is just a format that’s used often on forums. Someone phrases a question with parameters… everyone else pitches in their two cents.

    I like the back and forth that’s happened, and honestly – love seeing interactions between people I know from so many different aspects of my life. From my POV, it’s pretty amazing.

    I also like that I feel I’m talking with people, versus to people. I’m not good at leaving my own comments around here, so I want to start doing more of that.

    These types of questions, to me, are open-ended. It’d be great if someone finds this in a week, a month, or even a year from now. Same questions still apply, and I’ll be just as curious to hear the answers.

    avoision Reply


  8. Yesterday I ran up to meet a high school friend from Indy in NYC for a tv show scouting trip and we spent too much $$ on drinks at the W while my 6 month old bounced around charming strangers. Today I got to wander through a corner of Central Park after the dentist before returning to work. It felt as good as playing hookie in high school. Tomorrow I will file papers as a licensed NY attorney for the first time. And I will play this game on my blog. P.s. I loved the poem about every story….

    alicia Reply


    • Alicia! I was checking out your blog and thought wait, I kind of recognize her…

      Congrats on the NY filing! And thank you for the kind words.

      Fun to see comments show up here, several days after it was posted. Kind of neat to be brought back into this mindset, whenever new folks show up. Working on a new post for tomorrow – hoping it turns out as well as this one did.

      avoision Reply


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