3.1.21Art With HeatMessed around with the wood-burning pen for a little bit in the workshop this evening.

3.2.21The Little ThingsI really love when the sun streams into the living room through the stained glass windows and catches the tip of the plant on the mantle. It’s those little things that make the every day beautiful.

3.3.21High WaterThe river’s up. It was to be expected, though. With all the snow and rain we’ve had, it’s a wonder it didn’t flood sooner.

3.4.21Moment of ZenWoke up to sunshine. That was about as good as it got today. Pictured is sunset. This afternoon, I had some news come my way that I can’t talk about here, but needless to say it was less than positive. Feeling like I need a nice long rest to just figure things out.

3.5.21Hard ResetToday was a horrible day. Need to reset.

3.6.21Little DetailsGot coffee at Deeper Roots this morning. Along the path of walking there, I noticed this little series of details on the south side of Fourth Street.

3.7.21My GirlsThe girls’ wholesome ritual before bed every night: Ashley gets into bed and Myrtle sits on her. After a long day of napping, it’s all Myrtle wants.

3.8.21Lee StreetI photographed the inside (and outside) of this 3-unit house in Covington for a realtor. I did the interior yesterday and made morning/night shots today. It’s in a spot with a lot of electrical wire and posts blocking an otherwise clear line of sight, but I like the way it looks at night with all the elements together. The warm streetlight really makes the whiteness of the bulbs inside look extra cool.

3.9.21Ross StreetThis reminds me of the Family Matters opening for some reason. It feels appropriately “neighborhood-y,” with old houses on an old street in an old part of the area by the river. With the sun going down, it just makes me think of summer and how nice it’ll be when sunsets like this happen at 8:30 PM.

3.10.21Chris GlassChris is endlessly fascinating to me. He’s incredibly good at photography and design—so much so, it makes me wonder what I need to do to reach a level even remotely close to where he is. I love talking to him because he’s able to make me think about concepts in new ways I really haven’t before. Today, we talked about memory (among many things) and how we both struggle with recalling specifics like names and the like, and how our respective daily photo projects are a guide to coaxing those memories back. I told him about how I struggle remembering the plot of movies and shows, and he talked about how my brain might be compartmentalizing that information in a way that suggests it’s not as important as other things. That actually never occurred to me, and it made me feel a little better about my poor memory overall. Perhaps I can’t remember most of <insert movie here> because it’s not as important to me as remembering the time I went into the Cincinnati subway with permission from City Hall. I always come away from our conversations feeling inspired. Not many others do that for me like Chris.

3.11.21The Price of Good LightWent to Urbana to get my cup of coffee this morning. Ashley and Myrtle went along for the ride. As we walked back to our car, we strode up 13th Street and I saw this beautifully lit scene. I kept walking. “Fuck it, I don’t have anywhere to be right now” popped into my head, and I turned around to snap a quick photo. When the sun’s low on the horizon, it makes inner city buildings look exquisite. All it cost me was 10 steps backward.

3.12.21JakeI’ve been working with Jake on a project for a year and a half, and it’s finally coming to an end soon. While on the job today, his family dropped by. Watching him interact with his girls was heartwarming.

3.13.21Relearning Social EventsI went to an outdoor wedding for a couple I didn’t know tonight. Ashley went to high school with the bride, but they live in DC, so I’ve never met her. The wedding was difficult for me because after a year of not being around a large gathering of people all at once, it was nigh impossible to quiet the alarm bells in my brain and relax. The noise coupled with the social expectations of being present and engaged was too much for me. I retreated to the bathroom stall once to get a moment alone, and another time I just went outside to calm my nerves. I was thrilled to go home after it was socially acceptable so I could decompress.

3.14.21Julian & Kokenge Company, Then & NowWhile at the Taft Museum of Art, at the Walk This Way exhibit, I saw this postcard of the Julian & Kokenge Company from around 1906. The description read: “In 1906, Cincinnati was abuzz with talk of the new factory built by Julian & Kokenge, makers of ladies’ fine shoes. Constructed at the corner of Fourth and Lawrence Streets and catty-corner to Lytle Park, it was one of the most modern plants in the city. … The Julian & Kokenge building towered over the two-story Literary Club nearby, as it still does today.” After leaving the museum, I walked over and found a similar vantage point to showcase how it has (and hasn’t changed) in a hundred years.

3.15.21Great-Great GrandparentsI do not remember what my grandmother (Sherry) told me their names were, and for that I feel ashamed. Let’s call them John and Jane. What I do remember is Sherry telling me that these were her paternal grandparents and that she wasn’t sure if it was an arranged marriage or not. According to Sherry, Jane wasn’t happy in the marriage and often told Irma, Sherry’s mother and my great grandmother, that she wished she’d never gotten married. This would apparently upset Irma greatly because of what it implied about her own existence. When John died in the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918—an event that has received increased attention over the last year—Sherry said that Jane was angry that she was left with two children and no one to bring home the bacon. It’s such an odd thing to think these two may never have been truly happy together in their time, and perhaps this was one of the only times in their lives that their photograph was taken. Was this their wedding day? Where did they go to have their photo taken? Who was the photographer behind the lens? There are so many questions that will never be answered about these two.

3.16.21Porch HangsErica and Tyler are in from DC. They’re staying with Erica’s mother, Sue, in Florence. Because they are good people and we do not get to see them enough, they were kind enough to come over and sit with us (from a safe distance) on the porch. They brought Louie, their adorable little hound dog who quivered in fear both times the train roared by. We ate pizza, drank beer, and talked about everything from our daily lives to politics until the sun went down.

3.17.21Trying Not to Let It Get To MeThe last time I’ll ever see my office at Local 12. Today I cleaned out what little remained in this room. The depressing manifest included two dead plants, a heavily worked PC keyboard from 2008 that unexpectedly retired in 2020, some files from four years ago, all three thank you cards I ever received, four press lanyards, a business card holder without relevant business cards to hold, a thermos with pre-pandemic water in it, and a pen. I left the station mug. Before I exited, I looked at my whiteboard with goals I’d written in black marker in 2018. Each goal was a number: 2 million, 2.5 million, 3 million, 3.5 million, 4 million. Every one of them was crossed out in red. I’d achieved great things with this publication even if SBG didn’t agree. Sales wasn’t my priority; I did my part of the job, and I did it with everything I had in me. It was part of my identity. What Sales failed to do isn’t a failure I share. Recognizing that is crucial to getting over this. While they may still be involved, they’ve lost the soul that made Cincinnati Refined what it was up until recently—Katie, the freelancers, myself, and the trust we gained from our readers along the way. I’ll never root against them, but decency doesn’t come with an obligation to root for everyone.

3.18.21Relieved of DutyBecause there is too much to say here, I wrote about it in this blog post: https://bit.ly/3cMxNbf

3.19.21A Beautiful DoorToday’s a new day. I’m striking out on my own. No more page views to worry about. No more corporate entity letting me work myself into being laid off without warning. Today I did a freelance job at Findlay Market and passed this beautiful door at 1830 Race Street. Like it was ripped from a castle or something.

3.20.21Every Hour’s Golden HourWe have a yellow stained glass window on the staircase that I can never get enough of. Every time the light hits it (usually in the morning), I admire the warm glow it produces on the stairs and wall below it.

3.21.21Doin’ It MyselfWorking in the yard is cathartic. After two trips to Lowe’s and absolutely roasting the top of my head because I keep forgetting I am bald now, I successfully completed two outdoor projects and I feel satisfied. One of the projects isn’t photogenic, but this one—a fire pit I dug and constructed in the back yard—is. We had a metal fire cage that was left by the previous owner, but the bottom rusted out after the last bonfire, so I junked it and made this. Going to test it out tomorrow, I think.

3.22.21Rooftop ShootI was hired by GBBN to make a few photos of people on the rooftop at 1010 On the Rhine this evening. My contact, the other “Cincy Phil” on Instagram, gathered several people from the GBBN office to be the people in the photos. When we got there, a woman was reading her book and Phil asked her if she’d like to participate in the photoshoot. She agreed, and we made photos with her and the others in various places around the rooftop to showcase its splendor.

3.23.21 Summer ReadyBought a fanny pack with credit we had left over at REI. I don’t like putting my wallet, keys, and phone in my pocket during the summer, and when I don’t have a camera bag, I have to suck it up. First-world problems, I know. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to compile a few items and make a little spread. I digitally enhanced basically everything in this photo to make it look better.

3.24.21Old Married CoupleI have no evidence to prove it, but this pair on 8th Street in Covington will likely not stay in this condition for long. Seems like it’s a street seeing some change, and with that change will likely come a remodel for these. Glad I got ‘em before they got a fresh coat.

3.25.21Lee StreetI spent the entire day working on a single photoshoot. This house on Lee Street is going on the market soon, so I did exteriors yesterday while it was nice before returning to do the interior today. I cannot tell you how much color correction I had to do this this one. Blue, natural light and warm incandescent lighting make for a headache in post, but when it’s all done, it’s worth it. Really pumped to send these to the owner.

3.26.21Pretzel SnootJust having fun with pretzels and wide angle camera mode.

3.27.21Evening LightLight on the mantle. Not feeling great at the moment. Rio died today. She was an old dog but she went suddenly downhill over the last week and my parents had to put her down after exhausting several medicines and treatments. It was clear she was never going to get better. I know her suffering and my parents’ suffering is over, but it still sucks.

3.28.21Clothesline LaundryMyrtle ate a stick and barfed all over the bed the next morning. Our comforter and a big blanket of hers took the brunt of it. Both were too big for our washing machine, so a trip to the laundromat was needed. I had to take a photo on the sly because it’s a small place and everyone in there was maskless. I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.

3.29.21The Tailored ManAnother job in Findlay Market this morning. Mondays at the market are weird without all the shoppers. It was a ghost town occupied only by city workers and clean-up personnel. As I walked back to my parked car, I stopped to admire The Tailored Man. I’ve always liked this one because it doesn’t look like its taller neighbors. The half-round terracotta roof tiles give the squat little building an exotic look. The well-worn mural on the side stands in stark contrast to the newer ArtWorks murals on nearby structures, giving it a wholly different vibe than its neighbors. With morning light baking on its facade, it looks wonderful.

3.30.21WallaceShot this home in Wallace Woods today for Rebecca. It was apparently built in the early 1910s. It feels nice to have color in photos again, and that purple tree next to the house couldn’t have looked better.

3.31.21The ColumnsJake and Miriam wanted to get cracking on The Columns’ Instagram account, so today I did their first post (@thecolumnscincy). I shared a few in-process photos of it and posted it to my own channels to drive people to it. Hopefully they find my involvement beneficial to growing their audience. I think this place is going to be a big deal for weddings and gatherings once it’s open.