I’ve been trying to get this shot all week. I was either too early or too late…but this morning the stars aligned and magic was born. 📸 ☠️ ☀️

#photos #skeletons #sunrise

Yesterday I got up around 6:30 am, drank coffee, and worked on the diaries magazine until it was time to get Maggie up and going. Got ready for work and Maggie off to school. Did my whole work day thing and got back home around 4:30 pm.

I scrubbed the purple bathroom, put a load of laundry in the wash, and found Maggie and I’s gloves. Because winter. Jocelyn came over and Maggie and I visited with her for a few minutes.

Svea had messaged me earlier about a pair of antique doors^[1] she had uncovered while excavating so Maggie and I roared out to her place. Svea showed us her Swedish kitchen and the excavation spot. We visited for a little bit more and then loaded the doors up in the truck.

Maggie and I stopped at Chipotle. Because dinner. I was ready to sit down for a few minutes but Chipotle on Randall is loud at that hour so we got takeout. We went through Starbucks drive-thru because Christmas Tree Frappuccinos and I needed something to power-thru.

Back home Maggie and I ate our burrito bowls and pondered the Trader Joe’s Ugly Sweater Cookie Kit in their most recent Fearless Flyer. I put the laundry from earlier in the dryer and muled the doors inside. Gave them a good scrub while listening to my favorite 80s jams. Because Huey Lewis. Moved the doors into their temporary spots and folded the damn laundry.

I herded myself into the shower and then signed over the Cube title. Because end of an era. Packed my lunch for the following day and got the morning coffee ready, watered the plants and Christmas tree and herded Maggie to bed. Then it was time to flop on the couch so I put Fist of Fury on the TV. Because Bruce Lee.

Sara came over and we visited for a bit, caught up on the comings and goings of the day, and then lights out. Because often times being a grown-up means that we’re busy.

If I don’t respond to your messages or your emails in a timely manner, days like these are why. I’m sure you guys got your own stuff going on and completely understand. 😊

#photos #meanwhile

1. This is why you put your hopes and dreams online. People are listening. ↑

It’s obligatory to take a photo.

#photos #snow

I’ve had a borderline shit day and then I was opening my mail which I hate doing because it’s always bills. But then these two things came that tickled me to death.

Maggie’s on the High Honor Roll again. I never achieved such feats.

And the Nissan Cube is finally paid off!

#photos #maggie #financialnews

She knows she’s not supposed to be up there so she waits until I go to work.

#photos #cats

Audio (MP3): 20171206 - Almost two years have past

Not long after my ex-wife moved out I couldn’t stand to be in the house alone in the morning. Like after Maggie went to school the stillness was unbearable. I couldn’t wait to leave to go to work.

Now that almost two years have past I’m sitting in the family room, just watched Maggie get on the school bus, and physically I’m in the same place but emotionally I’m a 1,000,000 miles away. I’ve made the house my own, got rid of furniture, replaced it with new things, and now I’m okay just being here by myself in the morning.

In fact, I really don’t want to go to work this morning. I’d rather sit and dink around with the Christmas lights than drive my work desk.

Anyways, we make it through the hard times. Let go of what once was and embrace what now is. The pain of the present becomes the fading memories of yesterday.

If we do the right things for the right reasons, when all is said and done we’ll be okay.

#lettherebehope #diariespodcast

I didn’t do this to the brownies all on my own. I swear.

#photos #brownies

This is what happens when I try to take a nap. I don’t know where they come from but they’re here within minutes.

#photos #cats #napsarespiritual

Netflix fills a sci-fi hole in its originals lineup with Altered Carbon

Netflix quietly acquired the rights to Altered Carbon at the start of 2016, but this sprawling story required a larger production than your average original. Canadian outlet The Province reported that Netflix moved into a state-of-the-art studio in British Columbia that could accommodate hundreds of staff, and Gizmodo wrote that per-episode spending could end up in the millions. If aesthetic and visual believability matters to you in your sci-fi decisions, evidently Altered Carbon will fall into the Westworld-y higher-end of that spectrum.

Mark your calendars: Altered Carbon will hit Netflix on February 2, 2018.

#netflix #alteredcarbon

Some days on the way to work I curse the stoplights at Prairie and Riverside in St. Charles.

Other days I’m grateful they force me to pause for a moment.

#photos #telephonepoles #blueskies