Felix Birthday Night Out: Drinks at Kumiko, Dinner at Girl and the Goat

A relaxing, laid back night out to celebrate my birthday tonight. First up – stopping in for drinks at Kumiko.
A relaxing, laid back night out to celebrate my birthday tonight. First up – stopping in for drinks at Kumiko.
Spotted this vehicle as I was walking to work. There was no one around, the doors were open, and all I could see inside was just bags and bags of potting soil.
Spotted this, on my way home. There’s a part of my commute that involves walking down a set of stairs, down to Lower Michigan. It’s a bit grungy, but gets you in to Millennium Station through one of the less frequented entrances (at the track level).
Most days, going to and from work – I’m in a rush. I’m rushing to get to work; I’m rushing to get back home.
Every once in a while, if I get lucky, I’ll see something that slows me down. Or I’ll remember that I should slow down a little.
It’s been a long while since I’ve carried a camera around. But with a camera in your hand, that weight is what serves as a reminder. That weight says: “Wait a minute, just… wait a minute. Did you see that over there?”
Grace and Liz, setting up to play “Mindball.” For this exhibit, each person straps monitors to their foreheads… which measures stress levels. The lower your stress level… the more the ball goes towards your opponent.
Got some free tickets to the Chicago Artisan Market, courtesy of Alex and Linda (they were planning on being a vendor there). Unfortunately, they didn’t end up making it… but despite missing the chance to catch up with Linda/Johanna… we did get to browse around a pretty great event.
Driving around downtown, I spotted some large sprinklers and assumed they were positioned for the upcoming Chicago Marathon. On passing by them, Liz corrected me and told me they were part of the demolition process – the sprinklers being there to hold down the amount of dust generated.
I can’t imagine the placement of this sign was an act of laziness. It must have taken some serious work to get it positioned so high. And then the thought again: why?
After nearly 85 years, it appears that the Blommer’s Chocolate Factory is closing down.
Came across some chatter in Slack, around an upcoming move for Grubhub – over to the Merchandise Mart.
Or, for some of us… a move BACK to the Merchandise Mart.
It’s an odd thing, but I feel like I lost a skill. Not that my photos were ever that skillful. I’m talking about a way of looking at the world. I’m out of practice.
I felt this way about writing poetry, in particular. I did it a lot when I was younger, in grad school, and during my early years in Chicago. But as I slowly replaced writing poetry with writing code, I feel like I lost a certain point of view. I feel like I lost a way of looking at the world.
Paige, undaunted and ready to continue on to the finish.
I can’t remember the last time we went in to work together. Definitely surreal. So much of our lives since the pandemic started has been working remotely, it’s difficult to even process being downtown together for work.
I got a random message (through Instagram) from my friend Jamie, letting me know she would be in Chicago for a few days. “Friend” is an interesting word here. Jamie and I have known one another for a very, very long time. “Know” is also an interesting word here, as we met over two decades ago… back when we were both Flash animators and the Internet was just this very fledgling, shiny new thing we were all trying to figure out.
Liz and I had a second day today, with the Ford kids. Our plan was another “Day in Chicago,” but this time a bit more reserved. A bit lower key.
We blew most of our energy last week on a pretty event-filled day. So today had fewer events, fewer things to do. But we still ended up filling the day, and then some.