Notes on Winds Howling

Where the cobbles of Detroit's first historic district...

Justin — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 18:23:50 -0400

Where the cobbles of Detroit’s first historic district meets the 21st century pavement

Torch Bar in Flint, Michigan

Justin — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:02:31 -0400

Torch Bar in Flint, Michigan

Wrapped up William L. Shirer's "Collapse of the...

Justin — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:43:28 -0400

Wrapped up William L. Shirer’s “Collapse of the Third Republic” today. Great book; not as riveting as “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” but definitely illuminating. Probably won’t write a big post about it, but have a draft in the works about one section in particular.

First day of the season around 80F. Trudged...

Justin — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:05:40 -0400

First day of the season around 80F. Trudged through suburban desolation and realized we need more trees. Not enough shade.

Photo from 04-11-26

Justin — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 20:04:25 -0400

Testing something. Here's a photo of my nearly...

Justin — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 12:00:36 -0400

Testing something. Here’s a photo of my nearly finished Yorkshire Gold.

Stella gave herself a dirt bath

Justin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 23:14:30 -0400

Stella gave herself a dirt bath

James Bond continues to shine when it comes...

Justin — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 19:40:22 -0400

James Bond continues to shine when it comes to the car stuff. From “Live and Let Die”:

Bond liked fast cars and he liked driving them. Most American cars bored him. They lacked personality and the patina of individual craftsmanship that European cars have. They were just ‘vehicles’, similar in shape and in colour, and even in the tone of their horns. Designed to serve for a year and then be turned in in part exchange for the next year’s model. All the fun of driving had been taken out of them with the abolition of a gear-change, with hydraulic-assisted steering and spongy suspension. All effort had been smoothed away and all of that close contact with the machine and the road that extracts skill and nerve from the European driver. To Bond, American cars were just beetle-shaped Dodgems in which you motored along with one hand on the wheel, the radio full on, and the power-operated windows closed to keep out the draughts.

But Leiter had got hold of an old Cord, one of the few American cars with a personality, and it cheered Bond to climb into the low-hung saloon, to hear the solid bite of the gears and the masculine tone of the wide exhaust. Fifteen years old, he reflected, yet still one of the most modern-looking cars in the world.

Kid Rock's star outside the Country Music Hall...

Justin — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:53:19 -0500

Kid Rock’s star outside the Country Music Hall of Fame looked defaced compared to all the other ones

The Nashville Trash Hole

Justin — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:34:16 -0500

The Nashville Trash Hole

Prehistoric cave art by Johnny Cash

Justin — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:40:01 -0500

Prehistoric cave art by Johnny Cash

Polk and I

Justin — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 22:36:56 -0500

Polk and I

Pocket watch presented to Andrew Jackson after the...

Justin — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:06:05 -0500

Pocket watch presented to Andrew Jackson after the Battle of New Orleans. From the museum at his mansion, the Hermitage.

Scald the hog

Justin — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 13:45:24 -0500

Scald the hog

He got erected by WHAT?!

Justin — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 15:16:59 -0500

He got erected by WHAT?!

Broadway

Justin — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 14:05:01 -0500

Broadway

I like Monet's water lilies in a circular...

Justin — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 12:14:37 -0500

I like Monet’s water lilies in a circular frame. From the Frist Art Museum in Nashville.

Rick Steves signing autographs after his Symphonic Journey...

Justin — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 12:58:59 -0400

Rick Steves signing autographs after his Symphonic Journey show with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

The neighbor's cat, Stella. She likes to roam...

Justin — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 19:57:32 -0400

The neighbor’s cat, Stella. She likes to roam outside and get lost for long stretches of time. We first met her when she snuck into our apartment. She spent a few days living in our bathroom before we got her microchip scanned and found out she belonged to our neighbor.

Guess who's flying to Nashville on March 27

Justin — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 09:03:25 -0400

Guess who’s flying to Nashville on March 27

At the island. Nice evening to be a...

Justin — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:44:51 -0400

At the island. Nice evening to be a duck

Trivia with some friends. They chose a painful...

Justin — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 22:35:51 -0400

Trivia with some friends. They chose a painful question to ask in metro Detroit.

Trying out a new teapot from Teabloom. Wanted...

Justin — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 19:23:30 -0400

Trying out a new teapot from Teabloom. Wanted to try a glass one, plus this one’s big enough to brew for both Camilla and I. Making us Earl Grey.

Loved this ode to the mystical power of...

Justin — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 22:39:38 -0400

Loved this ode to the mystical power of waltz in 19th century Vienna — from inside one of our old records, “The Strauss Family Album.” Still plowing through a pile of hand-me-down records, sorting keepers from not keepers.

Listening to a record of Barry Manilow's "Tryin'...

Justin — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 16:04:46 -0400

Listening to a record of Barry Manilow’s “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling” while we do some deep cleaning. So far the best thing about it is the back cover art.

Winds howlin'.

Justin — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 13:00:28 -0400

Winds howlin'.

>The Everglades are a vast subtropical wetland that...

Justin — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 13:05:35 -0400

The Everglades are a vast subtropical wetland that behaves like a giant sponge, soaking up floodwaters and filling an underground lake that supplies drinking water to about 9 million people.

Vivid description from Bloomberg.

One of the only natural areas within walking...

Justin — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 12:20:25 -0400

One of the only natural areas within walking distance of our apartment is a small island in a man-made lake next to the dead mall. They spent most of last year rebuilding the bridge to it. Definitely glad to have it back. I walked over on my lunch break.

My cat, Moose, makes his Winds Howling debut.

Justin — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 11:20:54 -0400

My cat, Moose, makes his Winds Howling debut.

Nice sunset tonight. People are squeezing in their...

Justin — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 20:07:37 -0400

Nice sunset tonight. People are squeezing in their last dog walks. About to go pick up pizza.

I finished Casino Royale today. Great book; I’ll...

Justin — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 17:05:12 -0400

I finished Casino Royale today. Great book; I’ll be reading more Bond. The twist at the end was foreseeable for way too long, so the whole third act was a dull waiting game, but I can forgive that because the book was short and exciting otherwise.

I just want to acknowledge the way Ian Fleming writes about cars. This was one of my favorite parts of the book. You can feel the power and the heat coming off it.

Bond’s car was his only personal hobby. One of the last of the 4 1/2-litre Bentleys with the supercharger by Amherst Villiers, he had bought it almost new in 1933 and had kept it in careful storage through the war. It was still serviced every year and, in London, a former Bentley mechanic, who worked in a garage near Bond’s Chelsea flat, tended it with jealous care. Bond drove it hard and well and with an almost sensual pleasure. It was a battleship-gray convertible coupe, which really did convert, and it was capable of touring at ninety with thirty miles an hour in reserve.

Bond eased the car out of the garage and up the ramp and soon the loitering drum-beat of the two-inch exhaust was echoing down the tree-lined boulevard, through the crowded main street of the little town, and off through the sand dunes to the south.

And later, a car chase:

He went fast through the gears and settled himself for the pursuit, briefly savoring the echo of the huge exhaust as it came back at him from either side of the short main street through the town.

Soon he was out on the coast road, a broad highway through the sand-dunes which he knew from his morning’s drive had an excellent surface and was well cat’s-eyed on the bends. He pushed the revs up and up, hurrying the car to eighty then to ninety, his huge Marchal headlights boring a safe white tunnel, nearly half a mile long, between the walls of the night.

Now whenever I’m trying to find my way down a dark road with the pathetic headlights of my Subaru Crosstrek, I’m going to think about James Bond boring a safe white tunnel through the night with his Marchal headlights.

It's suddenly walk-out-the-door-without-a-coat-on weather. It's guy playing frisbee...

Justin — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 16:43:49 -0400

It’s suddenly walk-out-the-door-without-a-coat-on weather. It’s guy playing frisbee with his dog weather. It’s neighbor smoking on his patio while his cat wanders around weather. High of 70F. Tomorrow it’s raining, and then next week it’s below freezing.

Ducks are enjoying a partially melted pool on...

Justin — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 16:38:33 -0400

Ducks are enjoying a partially melted pool on the shore of Lake St. Helen.

Afternoon walk in the woods while visiting grandpa...

Justin — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 16:34:51 -0400

Afternoon walk in the woods while visiting grandpa in St. Helen.

We are back at Old Nation Brewing Company...

Justin — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 14:42:57 -0500

We are back at Old Nation Brewing Company in Williamston, Michigan. Had a great time here for the first time a few weeks ago, so decided to stop again on the way up north.

First fill-up at Costco since Trump started bombing...

Justin — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 12:36:28 -0500

First fill-up at Costco since Trump started bombing Iran six days ago. Gas was $3.05.

I feel a bit mind-controlled because ever since...

Justin — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 19:05:09 -0500

I feel a bit mind-controlled because ever since Netflix got the James Bond catalogue, I’ve been interested in James Bond stuff for the first time ever, only because it’s been shoved in my face. I know I’m not the only one. The astroturfed zeitgeist is a good trick to lay psychological groundwork for the new Bond stuff.

Anyway, I’ve been reading Casino Royale. It’s a very good book so far. This was a highlight:

Bond had always been a gambler. He loved the dry riffle of the cards and the constant unemphatic drama of the quiet figures round the green tables. He liked the solid, studied comfort of card-rooms and casinos, the well-padded arms of the chairs, the glass of champagne or whisky at the elbow, the quiet unhurried attention of good servants. He was amused by the impartiality of the roulette ball and of the playing-cards—and their eternal bias. He liked being an actor and a spectator and from his chair to take part in other men’s dramas and decisions, until it came to his own turn to say that vital ‘yes’ or ‘no’, generally on a fifty-fifty chance.

Test! This is my first text-only post since...

Justin — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 17:51:54 -0500

Test! This is my first text-only post since renaming the Photofeed to Notes.

Something for the man cave.

Justin — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 14:01:59 -0500

Something for the man cave.

Almost bought this stack of T.W. Ingersoll photos...

Justin — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 11:59:16 -0500

Almost bought this stack of T.W. Ingersoll photos from 1898/1899, along with this lovely stereo viewer to look at them through. Fun little 3D effect. None of the photos were super interesting though; lots of genteel domestic scenes

The electric questioner. Answers by electricity.

Justin — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 11:32:35 -0500

The electric questioner. Answers by electricity.

The Comfort Inn we’re staying at in Birch...

Justin — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 14:17:39 -0500

The Comfort Inn we’re staying at in Birch Run has a Dr. No pinball machine, which caught my attention with this tribute to the designer’s aunt, Carmen. The machine was designed by George Gomez and released by Stern Pinball.

Picked up this kinda cool looking copy of...

Justin — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 13:08:03 -0500

Picked up this kinda cool looking copy of Hard Times

We're hanging out with an owl named Kira...

Justin — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 12:30:56 -0500

We’re hanging out with an owl named Kira in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

Finished "Maus." One of the last pages was...

Justin — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 16:35:54 -0500

Finished “Maus.” One of the last pages was interesting to me. I’ve never thought of a Holocaust survivor posing for a souvenir photo in a concentration camp uniform.

We recently upgraded this computer station with a...

Justin — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 15:03:35 -0500

We recently upgraded this computer station with a new desk and chair, both Herman Miller from Facebook Marketplace. I’m loving the new desk–so wide and luxurious. I’ve been a bit surprised by the much-vaunted Aeron chair, which I’m finding to be less comfortable than my Herman Miller Celle. There’s also a bit of a cigarette musk to it that I’m still working on… but overall this has been a great improvement. This is the desk where I do most of my personal computer stuff, including working on this blog.

At Old Nation Brewing Co. in Williamston, Michigan,...

Justin — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 13:28:48 -0500

At Old Nation Brewing Co. in Williamston, Michigan, drinking a beer named after a Detroit cryptid I hadn’t heard of before: the “Nain Rouge,” or Red Dwarf.

The beer is solid. Apparently it won a silver medal at something called the World Beer Cup. I assume that’s prestigious.

I'm trying to finish 'Maus' on deadline for...

Justin — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 20:34:30 -0500

I’m trying to finish ‘Maus’ on deadline for a book club. Today I came across a local phone number mysteriously written between the panels in my copy from the library. I immediately dialed it, and a man picked up. The call lasted about a minute. It was interesting hearing him lower his defenses and open up a bit as I explained the weird reason I was calling. But he had no idea why his phone number was in the book. We wished each other a good weekend.

It has been weirdly foggy lately, apparently because...

Justin — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 20:12:25 -0500

It has been weirdly foggy lately, apparently because of the rapidly melting snow.

Hearts of palm at Fogo de Chao in...

Justin — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:27:34 -0500

Hearts of palm at Fogo de Chao in Troy, Michigan. A “Brazilian tradition.” The best I can describe the taste is a sort of salty macaroni salad. In my defense, Camilla said that was about right.