Weeknotes: December 16-20, 2024
I guess I felt like writing this week. Happy Solstice!
Monday, December 16
My Christmas lights shine weakly against the gloom. After such a crisp start, December has retreated into rainy drear. At the supermarket I stand in the baking aisle looking for cardamom pods. The woman next to me is coming up short in her own spice search and we exchange friendly smalltalk about holiday busyness. A few minutes later she finds me in the next aisle waving in victory a small jar of ground cardamom. Such a sweet gesture, but I really want the pods. I thank her anyway.
After work I head back out into the drizzle on a longer set of evening errands. Just over a week until Christmas, but I'm thwarted on most of my stops. I do find the cardamom, though. I walk around Ann Arbor feeling dispirited, carrying only one of the several gifts I'd sought. I catch the last ten minutes of happy hour at Conor O'Neill's. I remember when this Irish bar opened in the late-'90s. It felt like an overly-commercial upstart on Main Street, but tonight I'm drawn to its well-established and unpretentious vibe. Some type of Harry Potter party must have recently happened; there are "Wanted" posters for Fenrir Greyback and "I solemnly swear I am up to no good" signs are tacked over several booths. I work on a pint of Smithwick's and write in my notebook, replenishing my cheer sip by sip.
A father with his young son approaches the bar asking if the North Pole mailbox has been taken down. The boy has a letter for Santa. The bartender disappears for a bit, then comes back to confirm said box is presently in the store room being prepped for delivery to the North Pole. He accepts the envelope on Santa's behalf, and moves off stage with a smile, ferrying away the kid’s hopes and dreams.
Weeknotes: June 3-7, 2024
Monday, June 3
Lots of self admin to start the week. Whacking finances into shape, prioritizing my workload, and drawing up plans for a couple small builds to compliment my growing armada of Leopold-shaped lawn furniture. It's going to be criss-crossed legs a go-go out there.
After weeks of speculation Ford finally announces the roster for their big Live From Detroit concert at Michigan Central. Hometown heroes like Diana Ross, Jack White, and Eminem are the major attractions among an all-star multi-genre revue celebrating the reopening of Michigan Central Station. After being abandoned in 1988, Detroit's historic train station loomed for years over Corktown, a forlorn monument to the city's economic failure. Ford Motor Company has spent the past six years restoring this landmark into a downtown hub for themselves and various automotive innovators, retail spaces, restaurants, and galleries. In doing so, they also bought up much of the land around Roosevelt Park, pushing out residents and established businesses. Like anything in Detroit, it's not without controversy. Tickets were free and sold out within minutes. Somehow I logged on at the right moment and scored a pair.
In the evening I build a small side table/bench, its Leopold legs splayed wide underneath a short 2"x10" plank. It looks like a tent or a small blocky dog. I name it Miniskirt.
An Anniversary
This festive, distorted video was shot exactly 20 years ago at Jacoby’s, a German bar in Detroit’s Bricktown neighborhood. Back then, in the thick of our artistic heyday, we would never have used the term "rebrand," but that's what it was. February 21, 2004 marked the first gig by Great Lakes Myth Society, the band who for seven years prior had operated as the Original Brothers and Sisters of Love (TOBASOL, colloquially).