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Hashtag WIP

After spending much of the last six months negotiating work, planning for work, talking about work, scheduling work, rescheduling work, and waiting for weather that might accommodate work, I'm happy to report that work has commenced. The Akron almost mansion has recently enjoyed the fruits of many a laborer, and the results are becoming almost photogenic. So, in no particular order, here is an update of what's happened since my last post. A wooden door with a crystal doorknob is pictured against a light blue wall. We have removed more wallpaper. This picture is from an upstairs bedroom and is notable as that means all the wallpaper on the first floor has been removed. I like the color and composition here, and offer this as a good example of how most of the interior rooms were handled. Trim throughout the house is painted that creamy white, and all interior doors have maintained their original finish. Remember pals, these houses are only original once. A pink bathroom sink hang...
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Dream With Me

I've been thinking a lot about the amount of imagination it sometimes takes to see what's possible in this house we bought. By that I mean, it can be easy to get caught up in processes, problems, and what needs to be fixed next, and lose sight of what we're working towards. So, in this post we'll be looking at a few of the projects in process and dreaming of successful resolutions. Unfurl your imaginations then, and join me! A vintage cast iron radiator sits beneath a tree in a front yard. Imagine this 900 lbs radiator carried up two flights of stairs and into a second floor bedroom. There it is connected to a boiler system, successfully holding water and heating the very room it occupies. It could happen! A raccoon trap hangs from from the rotting eaves of a 100-year old house. Dream here that this wire enclosure will trap any and all raccoons that would cross its threshold. Dream away too the trees and branches that make it so incredibly easy for raccoons to get up th...
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Either that wallpaper goes, or I do...

I mentioned in my previous post that our Akron almost-mansion was built in 1925 by Akron entrepreneur and wallpaper baron W.D. Turner. And while we appreciate that Mr. Turner was willing to put his money where his house is, the wallpaper selections he made those 100-odd years ago will likely not be accompanying the home into its next century.   A hole cut in the wall shows off our brand new PEX plumbing supply lines as well as 2.25 square feet of wallpaper that won't have to be removed. Win. Win. So, we continue to remove wallpaper. It's slow going, messy, and not particularly glamorous. Favoring the "kitchen sink" approach, we're tossing everything at the removal process. That includes steam, scoring, fabric softener, more steam, sharp objects, still more steam, and good old elbow grease. With a bit of perseverance, we've got two rooms done and maybe three to go.  I know I said this work wasn't glamorous, but I do like how the window, the diagonal light, ...
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Fits and Starts...and then more fits.

Myself, my family, and what is now feeling like a small army of contractors have begun the process of prodding our recently acquired and long vacant almost-mansion into a state of habitability. And while we've only just begun, I'm already sensing that the house has the upper hand. That's not to say I view the house as an adversary (or my relationship with it as adversarial), but rather that the house and I are currently working across purposes. The house, left to it's own devices, would prefer to follow the path of least resistance and continue it's slow march towards entropy, disorder, and decay. I obviously have other plans for it. I'm no physicist, but I know enough about physics to know that the way one combats entropy is with the application of energy. In the case of this house, that energy comes in the form of manual labor. So labor we do, often in fits and and occasionally in starts. Sometimes we take a step forward and sometimes we take a step back. Some...
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Look for the Helpers

I am not a gamer. That's notable since I came of age during the time a lot of people consider the golden age of arcade games. I was teen at exactly the moment Space Invaders, Asteroids, Frogger and Pac-Man were revolutionizing video games. That I did not embrace games or gaming at that time can be attributed to a near-comical lack of hand-eye coordination. My general ineptitude ensured that games were not a great value proposition for me, and I quickly learned that my precious quarters were better invested in other pursuits (scale models and tabletop board games for example). That preamble aside, I do occasionally play games. In that capacity, and because my hand-eye coordination has not improved with age, I favor only the most gentle of games; that is, ones that don't involve a lot of skill or dexterity or particularly sharp reflexes. One of the games that fits the bill is called Kind Words. (and in this instance we are using the word "game" in only the most generous...
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LinkedIn and Speaking Out

I use LinkedIn pretty regularly, and since the U.S. elections last November I've really struggled with adhering to unwritten rule that suggests were supposed to keep politics out of our conversations there. The idea being that LinkedIn is a place where we present only our most agreeable and professional selves; checking our strong opinions on hot-button topics like politics and religion at the door. Rows of  teen books are seen on shelves in a library The issue for me and those in my field is that we work in a profession (libraries) that is very much on the front lines of politics. Specifically, we are working at a time when politicians and legislators are attempting to control what books can and can't be held in our library collections. We have politically aligned interest groups working to dictate the kinds of programs libraries can offer. We see politicians seeking to restrict access to the professional associations of those in the field. Laws are proposed that would crimina...
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The Bubble

I'm in it. Let me explain. After the U.S elections in November, I deleted my Twitter account. Then I deleted my Facebook account. Finally, I deleted my Instagram account. Along the way I shuttered GoodReads in favor of StoryGraph, filtered out many unsavory news sources from my Google News feed, and blocked any account that even hinted at conservative/right-wing/MAGA apologist content on Bluesky (Bluesky makes it blessedly easy and fun to block accounts). I subscribed to Parker Malloy's newsletter and Wired too. I gave money to Matter News . Liliane Lign sculptures, "Liquid Reflections/Series 2 (48")" (foreground) and "Liquid Reflections/Series 2 (40")" (background). Pictured at the Mumok Museum in Vienna. In short, I've curated my online experience in such a way that I am subjected daily to near constant and unapologetic left-leaning viewpoints. Some would argue this is bad. They would say I'm in a bubble, a liberal echo chamber. Those pe...
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