Now:

A page that updates periodically about what I’m up to and into right now. You are viewing the version of this page from August 6, 2026.

Making

That big project I was talking about last time that I said was all wrapped is actually not wrapped; the team sent everything to the printer and now the printer has some notes. So I’ve been brought back on board to iron out the last few things in a bit of a rush. Which is, honestly, kind of fun, in addition to the relief of getting to bill for some hours.

When was the last time I made something just for me? Not sure. I guess maybe that green poster I threw together after spending an afternoon looking at Marathon stuff. I have been shooting a lot of photos lately, though, and that’s a combination of making and finding, at least according to my self-invented rules for art.

Doing

Going to work, mostly. Or working from home or doing other uninteresting stuff. Last week I got to see Pearl & The Oysters at Spirit Hall, which was a lot of fun. It's been kind of a slow summer for shows, to be honest. Mostly advance ticket purchases for stuff in the fall. I mean I got us the Pearl tickets when they went up in April or something.

We had tickets to see Underscores at Mr. Small’s, which I think would have totally kicked ass, but she got tapped to open for Charli XCX and had to cut a lot of the tour back. Which is obviously a huge break and very cool, but also, man.

My little brother is staying with me and Laur for a couple weeks for the end of the summer, so I’ve been doing that classic activity of coming up with stuff in your own city that you never go to unless somebody’s visiting. The Duquesne Incline is corny but I love an excuse to go to the museum, or just go downtown and walk around for a while.

We bought a new couch for my brother (and possible future guests) to sleep on, and I know this is a very 30-year-old thing to say but it has really revolutionized the vibe in our home. Also when we moved the old couch out it revealed our cat's dragonlike hoard of bottle caps and crumpled-up reciepts.

Still going to the movies a lot. Last night we took my brother along for BALL OF FIRE (1941), which I had never heard of. I was kind of amazed how funny it is for being eighty-and-change years old and therefore largely about a guy trying to research 1940s slang because he only knows 1920s slang. Calling something “corny” had just been invented! Also that it’s about seven old nerds who are somehow all different kinds.

Thinking

My big gamble on getting a professional to believe that I have ADHD and give me some medicine for it has paid off (it is extremely obvious to anyone who interacts with me at all and was obviously always going to pay off). This shit does work but it is not the holistic Become Normal cure I was imagining it might be. But at least now I can lock in on demand and time passes at normal speed instead of horrifyingly fast when I’m working in the studio.

I was right, I think, that my ADHD-fueled oafishness is the lynchpin of a lot of my other brain problems, namely that I think I’m a big dumb piece of shit who sucks. My theory that I might not think that so much if I didn’t take a tub of ice cream out of the freezer and then leave the room and forget it exists for ten hours may be shaking out to be correct.

A while ago Lauren was telling me about this goofy school of therapy that I think is called ACT that is essentially just a clinical version of the “knock it off. stop that” treatment you can recieve from any maladjusted father for free. I think I’ve had a hard time doing abstract, talk-based therapy because it’s hard to mask the service aspect of it. My therapist is very pleasant and I like her a bunch; however, there’s nothing in the world more embarrassing than needing something from another person. But pills don’t count like that. Pills you just go pick up at the store. They’re basically like food, or chips.

Reading

I am still working on filling in this library book bingo card, even though the prizes at stake are like, a basket with two hardcovers and a candle and I don’t really want to win. It's just kind of fun to have to read outside my usual lane, or to try and justify why a book I was gonna read anyway suits one of the categories. I checked off “About Christianity” with Food of the Gods.

For some reason I’m reading a lot of ocean stuff lately. This Susan Casey book The Underworld was really fun and well-put-together and even if it is overly kind to certain rich guys it communicates her personal obsession with the deep sea in a very engaging way. Then just yesterday I started reading Whalefall, which I’ve had on my list for a while but remembered to bump up when I saw the movie poster. It slams. I’m still in the first half but I haven’t been this locked in by a novel since maybe Embassytown. And I found out the other day this guy has another novel out that looks like alien body horror, so I might hit that next.

Listening

After checking for it every time I went to a record store for years, I finally found a copy of Cal Tjader’s Latin Kick yesterday. Spent more money than it’s really worth but whatever. So I've had that on a lot to try and juice my money out of it. Absolutely impeccable hot-weather album.

I've been shuffling up my podcast intake lately because I am getting tired of some longtime mainstays. These last few weeks I’ve been moderately enjoying Chamber of Reason (Pierce Campion, Matthew Goldin, and Derek together is like the Jodorowsky’s Dune of podcasts) and very much enjoying Dial-A-Pod, which is squarely a Friends Chilling show but the energy is good.