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For the first time since I bought this parody CTA safety poster from the artist, I have it framed and hung up! I really love this piece! It's going to move to live over my computer, though, because Miriam, as much as she appreciates the concept and story behind it, thinks its visually hideous. I actually really love it when we find places our tastes clash and can talk about them because it's so unusual for it to happen and leads to funny conversations.

The story: years ago, I was working in Chicago and taking the CTA on the rare occasions I didn't bike for some reason. Someone named Bleh the Buddha was putting an array of stickers up on the Pink Line, covering up the official CTA signage that he was parodying. (The original version of this one, for example, said things like "Listen for instructions," and "Remain on the train".) This is just one example of half a dozen or so that I saw, all of which I think I have pictures of.

I loved these so much that I found him online and wrote him to ask to buy a print. I did, and when I got it in the mail, I shouldn't have been surprised to see that he sent me an actual sticker, not just a print. He signed it too.

I love this piece because I have so many good feelings connected to Chicago and my time there that this brings to mind, and because it's an anarchic reclamation of public space for public art, and because buying it supported a local artist, and because I really think it's really clever and funny.

I miss Chicago a lot, and having this up feels like a little contrarian piece of it with me.

(I got the frame plus matting from a thrift store and did a pretty lackluster job recutting it to fit. I'll do better with it one of these days. But for now, it contributes fairly to Miriam's distaste.)

Oooh! I found a writeup and interview with him! https://southsideweekly.com/bleh-the-buddha-emerging-artist/

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A GVS Elipse respirator arrived today. These are NIOSH-certified P100 filter solutions with replaceable filters. We're going to pay for quantitative fit testing with them at a local lab. When we know that they have a good seal, Miriam and I are going to go to things. For the first time in years, we'll go to museums, or board game events, or other things with actual other people in indoor spaces outside of our home.

I know a lot of people will think I look ridiculous. It's worth it to be able to do something - anything - with other people. We're also hoping to create some kind of fabric cover for the mask so it will look a little more like a typical consumer mask and less like we're extras in a sci-fi movie. I'm going to try to style my hair to cover the straps too.