Observations 5-3-21

  • Building our first acoustical panels for the new studio.

Observations 5-2-21

  • Visiting a house with a room full of dozens of Guitar Hero and Rock Band guitar controllers.
  • Watching my cousin and his son ride unicycles.

Observations 5-1-21

  • Casey and I making a trip to IKEA, trying not to be hubristic while believing we’re above the age-old “IKEA trips ruin relationships” story.
  • Dining on the Schaumburg Noodles & Company patio.

Observations 4-30-21

  • Sawing MDF boards outside and creating a massive pile of fine dust, which Jason and I tried to vacuum and sweep up as well as we could.

Observations 4-29-21

  • The large patron at a discount tool store jovially “joking” about “blowing this place up!” if the power tool batteries he ordered aren’t satisfactory.

Observations 4-28-21

  • Baby’s first time cooking salmon (for me) and chicken (for Casey) in a cast-iron skillet.
  • Engineer and artist Tim Hunkin’s YouTube series “The Secret Life of Components.”

Observations 4-27-21

  • Cleaning up the workshop.

Observations 4-26-21

  • A beautiful, sunny break from kinda dour weather.

Observations 4-25-21

  • Getting a glimpse of the blinking phone switches and servers in “the back” at Target.

Observations 4-24-21

  • My neighbor’s beautiful ceramic artworks, like magnified microbes.
  • The older man lifting a huge crucifix out of his trunk.
  • The speckled asparagus-y dogwood plants at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
  • The twisted rebar sticking out of the concrete fragments on the beach at Fort Sheridan.
  • The feeling that some writing about nature is somehow braggadocious, competitive, as if it says, “Aren’t my senses keen?” I won’t name names, partly because I worry I’m projecting that quality onto them!
  • The idea that great music feels like a liminal space — emotionally evocative, unique, palpable in its weirdness or its melancholy.

Observations 4-23-21

  • A perfectly cylindrical poop created by Basil. I was impressed at his skill until I looked more closely and realized the cylinder was an earplug he had eaten.
  • Casey absolutely kicking ass at a private show her band, Case Oats, played.

Observations 4-22-21

  • Getting an oil change at a non-franchise local joint from a kind, older mechanic.

Observations 4-21-21

  • The delicious, nourishing, vegan, Korean soups at Amitabul.

Observations 4-20-21

  • The box of floppy disks in the dumpster at Eazypower Tooling’s former warehouse.

Observations 4-19-21

  • The cows in a transport on the highway. Making eye contact with one of them. Her snout poking through the grate on the side. Nearly crying at it, and wondering about the limits of their perception of the situation.

Observations 4-18-21

  • Annie Dillard writing about hiding pennies on the ground as a kid and drawing arrows on the sidewalk pointing to them, just to provide a miraculous “gift from the universe” to passersby (in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek).

Observations 4-17-21

  • “A Great Day in the Morning” by Carl Perkins. What! (Via Dad.)
  • How unexpected and jarring it is that rotting flowers smell as bad as they do.

Observations 4-16-21

  • Rallying in Logan Square in honor of Adam Toledo.

Observations 4-15-21

  • Having fun perusing the offerings at Harbor Freight.

Observations 4-14-21

  • Basil accidentally dragging a couple of strung-together turds (he swallowed some hair) around the house.

Observations 4-13-21

  • The thin layer of drywall dust on my arms and hair from sanding our studio lounge ceiling.

Observations 4-12-21

  • A special our-friend-Oona’s Birthday episode of the Tweedy Show.

Observations 4-11-21

  • The Plot Against America series putting my nerves on edge.

Observations 4-10-21

Observations 4-9-21

  • The deflated, rotten pepper in the grass looking like a used condom.

Observations 4-8-21

  • Pulling over to help an older guy who seemed to be having trouble. I thought he was having a heart attack but it turned out he was drunk (and still needing medical attention). He wanted me to call an ambulance so I did, and while we were waiting for it he said I look like Steve Winwood and cried that a stranger (me), “not even my son,” was helping him.
  • Zaid’s (Pedro) return to the Tweedy Show.

Observations 4-7-21

  • The grocery store clearance cart full of 99¢ gefilte fish.

Observations 4-6-21

  • The McDonald’s front door strapped in to a glass company’s truck for repair.

Observations 4-5-21

  • Richard Misrach’s gorgeous photos of the Golden Gate bridge (via Noah Kalina’s newsletter).
  • I have no tattoos but I would consider getting one of/for Oral-B Glide floss.

Observations 4-4-21

  • The woman taking a sip out of her boyfriend’s Camelback.
  • The various adults in Easter bunny suits roaming the city.
  • The cloudless blue sky at the beach.

View older posts in the archive →