Weeknotes: May 26–30, 2025
HAIKU EDITION:
Monday, May 26
9:35 AM
High school marching band
Fires up "You're a Grand Old Flag”
I watch from my bike
11:20 AM
Summer tools sorted
The shed's condition is now
Satisfactory
2:30 PM
Just above the dam
Two eagles on the river
Warm sun on my back
Weeknotes: March 10–14, 2025
Monday March 10
The day rises bright and clear, an hour later than it's supposed to. Daylight Savings has begun and even though I enjoy the brighter evenings, it makes the mornings feel rushed. I put Grace Jones' Nightclubbing on the turntable and dive into Monday stuff.
CC sends me my horoscope from an app she uses:
Timothy Monger wants to push the limits today. Distract the museum guards while they kiss a painting.
I spend the afternoon with some co-workers volunteering at a local food bank. We sort giant bags of carrots and pack up about 120 boxes of dry goods. It's satisfying labor, but I wouldn't say I pushed my limits. Mostly, I just feel tired and can't figure out why. It's 65° and sunny when I get home. I sit in a camp chair in the yard finishing out my workday. To my left Islay assumes her customary position at the foot of the driveway, already in warm-weather mode.
March is a tricky month. You get warm days like this, but the sun is not itself. It's harsher and more unrelenting, glaring over dead lawns strewn with winter's detritus.
Here are some nice birds I've already seen this week:
Bald Eagle
Pileated Woodpecker
Harlequin Duck
Weeknotes: April 29 – May 3, 2024
Monday, April 29
I'm sleeping with the windows open again and the birds wake me around 5:30. It's always robins. The local harbinger of early morning. There are days when I'd like to sleep in longer, but spring feels especially friendly right now and I'm happy to hear my neighborhood come to life. The lilacs on my street are in bloom and the volunteer tulips next to the sidewalk have risen to attention. Rain showers move through as frequently as trains. Everything is leafing out and I'm into all of it.
I listen to Mdou Moctar's wild Funeral For Justice album while Islay and I meander up the street. She pauses and sniffs every invisible station while I vibe to the North African guitar shredding lighting up my synapses. After work I sit on the bed and email venues, trying to put together a small weekend tour in July. Soliciting gigs a thankless task, but I'm trying to keep my calendar relatively vibrant, so I soldier through it.
As evening rain comes and goes, I record a demo of a song I wrote in 2022. I have so much unreleased material right now, I'm trying to get it all down and figure out what to do with it. It's humid and warm and I keep the studio window open, allowing the night sounds to permeate the tracks.
Afterwards I watch Top Chef. I'm not much for reality TV, but I started watching this show for first time last spring while ramping up for my album's release. It became an easy stress reliever and now I just enjoy it. Kristen Kish is still getting her rhythm down as host, but I like her. And I like that the new season is in Wisconsin, a state I have a lot of affection for.