Food Weekend !

Jackson Blog:

This week, my Mom and I

went to a new restaurant called Linear. It was located right on the grand river near a park called Canal Park. The restaurant was located right next to these really nice looking brand new apartment buildings. They had a great view of over the river. At Linear, I got some heirloom potatoes and a Wagyu flank steak. They were both amazing, and my Mom got some sort of fish (salmon) with some random bread things (artichoke and parm fritters!) 

The steak came with roasted potatoes, carrots and zucchini or some other type of weird vegetable. There was also some sort of delicious cheese in crumbles all over. 

On Saturday, Chef Tommy was having a Christmas in July party so we had to go over and make Pizzas! He had his pizza oven on and we all got to hand make our own pizza starting with the dough. I put sauce, a ton of cheese, and a lot of onions on my pizza and then threw it in the oven for around 8 minutes and it came out looking very edible. 

I ate my entire pizza very quickly, it was very good. After I chilled at the party for a bit, I went back home to hang out with some friends for the night. I also played Minecraft a lot and found an epic underground crystal thing:

On Sunday afternoon I actually had studio time booked starting from 2 PM. I woke up around Noon and biked over to the studio and got there at 1:45 PM with some refreshments. It was luckily cold inside, because outside it was almost 90F! We finished up 3 songs and then spent around 90 minutes making an entire new song with epic sniper sound effects, and double harmony. It is probably the best song I have made yet and I'm glad it turned out well. Here are some pics of the studio:

To the Right where that door is in the photo above, is a small booth with the mic recording stand and it is a completely soundproof room. I go inside that room, shut the door and then can record in a basically soundproof booth and it makes my vocals sound much better (no echos). 

Then finally on Sunday we all ate together at my Mom's house and we made tacos! Oma even drove Levi and I to the downtown market right before dinner to buy some ice cream! I had 3 tacos, and we had beef and fish! It was a very delicious taco night because we had a ton of guacamole! 

Life is Good!

Jackson

 

 

Lord Levi's turn....

So I have been back in Michigan for about a month and it's been great, I have gotten to catch up with people. I've gotten to see a lot of friends and family that I haven’t seen in 9 months, it's good to be around everyone again. Earlier this month my brother, my father, and I went to a family dinner at “La Azteca” a Mexican restaurant that has really good tacos. I ate like 3 of them. I got to see my cousins and my grandma, and generally a lot of people on my dad’s side of the family. It was a great time and after the food, we went back to my aunt’s house to swim and sit in a hot tub, just chilling`. It was pretty fun.

I have been spending a lot of time with my dad, we started watching Breaking Bad, a show about a struggling family where the husband who was diagnosed with lung cancer starts making crystal meth to sell so his family will not be in debt when he dies. It is a great show and I recommend it. Me and my dad also just went to see the new Black Widow Marvel movie, which was good. We both liked it and I also recommend it.

One thing that's fun that I haven't done in a while is going for a ride in the little Chrysler crossfire, my mom and I went to a dairy queen in it and it's still the same. Fast and slick, a very stylish car. Also a convertible!

Nice one Chrysler!

Another interesting thing I have done this summer happened when my dad and I were hanging out in the basement and cleaning some rifles. There was this long barrel and pieces of metal laying on his workbench which has been there for like 8 years. After gathering the pieces I noticed it was a disassembled Winchester post-1964 lever-action sporting rifle, I asked about it and he said if I could fix it I could have it. So eventually I fiddled with the parts and got it back together, screwed everything in, and yeah. So I built a rifle in my dad's basement and the next day we test fired it and it fired fine but needed some sighting in. With my dad's help, we put a German scope on it and it looks much better now. So that’s neat.

I've done a lot so far and it's been fun, actually in between writing this I visited my Oma's house and we just had ribs and played cribbage! Oma and I vs Jackson and my mom. We lost. After the 2v2, my Oma and I played another game which she won.

One of the main reasons I wanted to come back was to see my cat Graywing. He is doing great and has caught a few animals lately, the ones he brought me were a baby rabbit and a chipmunk. I have to take them away though because he starts to eat them after a while. He is still the panther he was a year ago and always has me slowly stepping around the house at night because he blends right in with the dark and I'm worried I'll step on him...

The first half of summer has been great and I hope the next half can be even better.

-Levi

Glass Topped Tables

 Well, we are finally out of our old apartment!  We had both the house and the apartment going for a while, so it is a relief to have one completely gone.  It isn't the easiest managing a place overseas, no matter which side of the pond you are on, but it is really tough managing two.  

Big shout out to Mary for her constant stopping by on Fergus drive to water plants, giving me utility readings and soon to navigate having the wifi installed.  I owe you big-time!


I'm beyond excited to move into Fergus drive for real when we return.  Although it is a rental, It will be all my own furnishings, my own rugs, my own couch, my own tables,,,, I just can't wait!  

As I was musing today, I was contemplating what I didn't like about our past apartment and I thought of many things, but one of the biggies was the glass topped tables.  Don't get me wrong, there was a lot to love about that flat, but nearing the end I couldn't wait to get out of there.  

The old flat was well proportioned with high end items including top of the line boiler, washer and dryer (tho still extremely small from my standpoint), furniture, rugs, etc.  But due to this, and wanting to keep the place in tip top shape I assume, the landlord lined EVERY SINGLE table top with glass.  From the bedside tables, to the hallway table, to the dressers, to every single surface that was flat.  I MEAN EVERY SINGLE SURFACE.  It does not stay clean.  It is all-ways dusty.  It is cool to touch and you often stick to it.  And it is very uncomfortable when utilizing it as a desk.  

He had a kitchen table that was lined with glass and I believe this one bothered me most of all.  It was like fingers on a chalkboard when you placed plates on it, so I always used placemats.  It bounced all over the place when you played dice or marbles.   It was scratched to high hell, but there sure were NO water marks underneath it.  

In thinking about it, I totally understand why he did it.  He didn't want anything to become marred from its use.  He wanted to keep it pristine and looking like new.  He wanted to shelter it from anything bad happening to it.

It grated on my every nerve.  

I wanted to take the glass off and put it elsewhere, but they were too big and I didn't want them to break.  I wanted to honor his views on how to rent his apartment, but I longed to have my own stuff.  To feel comfortable in my home.

But I got to thinking, as I so often do, and realized I just simply cannot live my life in a glass table kind of way.  I don't think that I ever have.  I have to live it without restriction of worrying if I am going to muck it up.  

I guess that I'm completely okay with water stains on my tables, sure I still try to keep them nice and have coasters lying around for the occasional teenager who doesn't understand sweating glasses of ice water, during a Michigan summer.  But I'm also not going to cry if a water mark appears.  Because it means that someone has lived here.  Someone wanted to be in my home with me, enjoyed my home, and felt comfortable enough to be themselves.  

I've lived much of my life without glass tables.  Traveling to parts of the world that I know many others would never venture.  Moving to other countries on a wing and a prayer, hoping like hell it'll all work out.  I have not lived a pristine life, it has been mucked up all along the way, and I couldn't be happier about it.  I've often chosen the road less traveled and for that I have had bumps and bruises along the way, yet it has also been sprinkled with such awesomeness I had never imagined.      

Then I went on to think, why am I judging my old landlord.  He was living his own truth and keeping his apartment as immaculate as he could when not living in it himself.  That is his prerogative.  I can either choose to live there or not.  But it is his apartment, thus, it is his choice and for that I respected his decision and ultimately left the glass in place and removed myself.  

I think that life is full of glass tabled people.  Plastic tabled people, and wood tabled people.  And you know what, they all have their place.  I choose everyday how I want to live, and I allow others to choose their life choices as well.  I've decided not to judge any of them, as there are many a glass tabled person I know and love dearly.  And when I slip into judgement, as I unfortunately often do, I remind myself, this world is meant to have diversity.  It is meant to let people live their own truths.  It is meant to accommodate EVERYONE, for who they are in their own individual rights.  

I truly believe that this is the universe we live in.  One that loves everyone equally no matter their race, social status, their political views or even if they decide to cover all surfaces with glass.  And what an amazing world we are lucky to live in, as it produces contrast, that then allows all the rest of us to make our decisions.  It is a huge petri dish of learning.  Of how to work together, or how to be in relationships, and how to navigate this life to the best of our abilities.  And maybe just maybe, how to love others, all the while disliking their choices.

I guess what I am coming down to is that I want to live my life from a place of love, empathy, joy and excited anticipation of what is to come.  I can't handle doing it any other way.  I can't live in the fear that the media hypes, or the drama that individuals decide to perpetuate.  Or with tables that require glass to stay in mint condition.  I truly believe that this type of fear based living changes your internal physiology and compromises your immune system.  But again, that is my belief, & it may not be yours and guess what....that is completely okay!

I still love those that do live in that fearful world.  I love them with all of my heart.  Just because they are not on my exact journey, means absolutely nothing about if they are on the right journey.  I mean, how can I judge their journey if I am looking at it from my point of view?  I can truly only make decisions for me and allow others to do the same for themselves.

It's funny, as I type on my wooden butcher block table in my kitchen in GR.  That has had ice sculptures on it, water glasses for too long, and other issues that have somewhat scarred the surface, but I think it is still in pretty good stead. (even without the security of a glass top).  And I think to myself, I love my GR Kitchen, I love it with all of my heart.  I've housed many a party and fed many kids around this table.  This table represents community, togetherness and love to me.  And I remember back to when I created this space and the lovely handyman said to me, I have NEVER seen so many different types of styles all in once place.  I laughed, looked around, understood 100% what he said.....and then didn't change a thing......


I love you all........  

........................with zero judgement on how you choose to live your life,  


.........................................................................................................glass table or not.