December 2023 through January 2024


Bob Pulley, Indiana
Bob’s sculptures
Matt and Bob
Wagner’s
The living room shelves at the Miller house
Miller house conversation pit
Nate and Matt
The Brick, Jonesville IN
Dusk at North Christian Church, Columbus IN
New Year’s, Ken’s Broome Street Bar
  • December brought one of my strangest and favorite rolls. It was full of both some of my favorite photos of the year and some utterly forgettable ones. The roll was an expired one and all the blacks came out deep blue. I finally opted to color correct these to tweak that. Some shots were so wonky in their coloring that I leaned in and collaged them.

I worked doggedly at the restaurant and looked forward to Christmas. I’d be spending it visiting Indiana and Matt’s family for the first time. Finally I was able to see Columbus, the town where he grew up. How beautiful—and what a privilege—it is to see a place that’s made an impression on the person you love. Columbus’s modern architecture is a diamond of the Midwest. I saw it all in the grey cold. Crisp and festive, quiet with so many people out of town. Every face I met was a friendly one, including that of Bob Pulley, pictured here. Bob is a sculptor and former teacher of Matt’s. His property is bejeweled by his otherworldly forms in earthly colors and textures. We also visited the Eero Saarinen-designed Miller house, the historic family home of J. Irwin Miller, the idealistic industrialist and thought leader who turned Columbus into a civic wonder of world-class architecture. The house is a trove of beauty, not only in design but in the objects, colors, and textiles curated by Miller’s wife Xenia. And how about that conversation pit...

This quiet town has an understated beauty. One could see how it represents one of America’s most idealistic periods, an era that held great potential. It’s no wonder that Columbus inspired Matt to write a book on it.

Then came New Year’s Eve, which I think is a bullshit holiday. We opted for a wholesome evening at our place with a bunch of Japanese good-luck snacks Matt bought, because he is perfectly festive in the moments I’m not. We rang in the new year with Owen (Nichols) and Clara (Syme) around the corner at Kenn’s Broome Street Bar. 
There was a lightly drunk cig and a very short walk home. And it was perfect.