Observations is a daily list blog
by Spencer Tweedy.

In July 2018, I was working at Union Park in Chicago when a person with unbelievable steez walked by. He had an all-brown outfit (broutfit); a handlebar mustache; a submarine sandwich in one hand; and, crucially, a ziplock bag of whole dill pickles in the other. Like he had to stock up on pickles for his stroll through the park.

I was so amazed by his schtick I felt like I had to document it. So I did. Then I wrote about the rest of my day, and the day after that, and after that, and I haven’t stopped since.

Since then, I’ve published a chapbook compiling my favorite entries from the first year of the blog and created a paper receipt series.

Publishing Observations scratches an old itch for me. From ages twelve to sixteen I blogged about my life and ended up making friends as far away as New Zealand. Having a small audience (made up mostly of Wilco fans!) at a young age influenced the way I saw myself and what I thought was possible in the world, in mostly positive ways. But at some point, social media and growing up made blogging feel weird. It took Observations’ bullet-pointy format — and the Pickle Man — to make it feel fun again.

Colophon

OBSERVATIONS is set in ISO by Scribble Tone. The logo is “Connections” and the list markers are a modified “Star” licensed from the Noun Project.

You can find all Observations posts in the archive.

Thank you!
Spencer