Otis fell asleep in bed with a book this week, and something about catching him like that hit me somewhere I didn't expect. My parents used to photograph me the exact same way as a kid, out cold with a book still in my hands, and this was the first time I'd caught him in that pose myself. It's strange how a moment that small can pull so hard at something. He also gave me another one of his drawings this week, and I'm continually amazed by how many different characters live in that kid's head. He never seems to run out.

Wednesday I found a new coffee shop in Rockridge called Ain't Normal, and I ended up spending a few hours there working on my latest Substack piece about balaclavas. I also started building out my actual portfolio on jemdesanti.com, redid the main page, and began sorting my crochet and sewing projects into their proper categories. My goal for September is to get everything I made in 2024 fully documented on the site. The matcha was strong and delicious, the weather was exactly right, and I sat out on the patio in a genuine flow state the whole time.

On my way to therapy I caught a Dolly Parton quote posted outside somewhere, and it made me smile. She was one of those people I never really let myself imagine losing. I ended up watching a few retrospectives on her this week in quiet remembrance.

The red book is something I'd spotted weeks ago in a local indie bookstore in Rockridge and been completely transfixed by, just the binding alone. I went back this week specifically to photograph it, to hold onto the memory of it until the day I can actually afford the price tag. I can't fathom what it costs to produce something so fully, deliberately color drenched. Genuinely one of the most beautiful objects I've seen in a long time.

I carved out time while Otis was with his father to keep building his Halloween costume. I hand painted the bones and the belt from my reference photo, doing three passes of tempera to get that opaque, saturated look only a LEGO minifigure really has. I also took my first swing at the second set of arms, using pool noodles wrapped in fabric from my stash, forced through the new openings I'd cut. Hands are still ahead of me. But I got a genuinely brilliant idea gifted to me: modifying a Darth Vader helmet to stand in for Lord Garmadon's. Once that's sorted I can shift over to my own costume, which is shaping up to be a devil. I also helped my partner brainstorm his costume this week, and I think he's landed on a data center slash AI clown, which I am very much looking forward to watching come to life.