30 Mar 2025

7000 words

3 minutes | 490 words | jks

Not really 7000 words. But seven pictures, each theoretically worth 1000 words, would give us that. I had kind of an exhausting week and I didn’t diligently note the interesting moments to write about as I normally do. And I’m still kinda brain-fried, which precludes remembering anything in this moment. So instead, today I’ll share seven recent pictures and a little bit about each.

four abstract paintings, based on roughly the same colors, using four different techniques — the paintings

I finally finished and hung the paintings. I doubt this is the beginning of a lucrative second career, but I did enjoy making these. I’ll probably make more.

a tattoo on my lower leg, which is an interpretation of Hermes based on classical sculture, with an abstraction of the Chicago Marathon route — the tattoo

The tattoo’s done, too. It’s nothing like what I originally imagined, but again, part of the fun here is to tell the artist what you’re thinking, and let them interpret as they see fit. Harley came up with the idea of featuring Hermes, and incorporated an abstraction of the marathon route around and through it. I love it.

a shot of the Shamrock Shuffle racers making their way down Michigan Avenue, with me and Lisa in the foreground — the shuffle

I ran the Shamrock Shuffle last weekend. I love this race. Even though it’s only a five-miler, they bring out all the support you’d see for the marathon. It’s a giant race, almost 24,000 runners. While there are some hardcore run club nerds up front, it’s generally a really casual vibe around the corrals and finish area…this is, ultimately, a fun run. Most of all, it’s the unofficial start of the running season. No more indoor track and dreadmill misery–it’s time to hit the streets.

a hot-air hand dryer in a men's bathroom, covered in union stickers — the dryer

You know you’re on the southwest side when you see something like this in the bathroom. Union Strong! Though knowing what I know about my ancestral homeland’s tendencies, I wonder if the guys who put these stickers up are having second thoughts about the choices they (most likely) made in November.

a beautiful singer in a black dress, captured from behind — the singer

The lobby bar of my favorite hotel in Mexico City has live music every night, including a weekly show by this lovely singer. She goes by Lisa, and is originally from Russia. I enjoyed hearing her sing jazz standards in Spanish and English, and I could hear her Russian accent in both. I imagine her backstory of leaving Moscow to settle in the DF is very interesting indeed.

a bright red male cardinal, high up in a barren tree — the bird

I just took this a few minutes ago. Sorry for the grain–this is with a telephoto lens zoomed to the max. He’s probably 60 feet up. This guy was up there making so much noise I had to come out and get a look. It’s good to hear the songbirds in the early morning again. Feels familiar, comforting.

me, in a recording studio looking very serious, about 35 years ago — the baby

My friend Dean sent me this pic-of-a-pic (complete with visible fingerprints!) taken around 1990. I believe this was shot in a recording studio. Surely the boy pictured here thought he was making something that would change the course of history. Though to be fair, everything we do and every choice we make does change the course of history, if you zoom in tight enough.