iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Chipmunks were chirping a lot today at Montrose Point. (It’s supposedly their alarm to warn of predators, but I suspect the noises may have multiple meanings.)

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

It’s the Dock at Montrose’s penultimate day of the year.

People eating at tables under umbrellas on a deck

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

This is a caterpillar of a giant leopard moth. I saw it at Montrose Point. (The moth picture is from Wikipedia.)

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

I’ve seen Chinese mantises a few times, but this one — walking on a Fulton Street sidewalk — appears to be a Carolina mantis. The state insect of South Carolina!

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

A “woolly bear” at Montrose Point

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

It's PJ Harvey's birthday … so I looked through my photos of her from SXSW in 2009 and found some shots I've never posted before.

A close-up of PJ Harvey's face with her eyes half-closed

A close-up of PJ Harvey's face with her eyes closed

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

From my old Chicago Timeline account:

Chicago Timeline @chicagotimeline Oct 8, 2021

John J. McKenna, who was a teenager in Chicago at the time, later remembered the “bone dry” conditions on that day in the neighborhood around where the O’Leary family lived in the city’s West Division. “Everything was in good condition for a fire.”

There had no been rain for thirty days previous to the fire. Everything was bone dry, and fire prevention conditions bad. There were old planing mills along this district, where shavings were piled up outside on the streets as high as small houses. Everything was in good condition for a fire.

Chicago Timeline @chicagotimeline Oct 8, 2021

“The sun set at 5:30 P.M., leaving in its wake a flaming red sky, and the wind died down to a gentle breeze that just barely rustled the dried leaves of the trees as darkness settled over the city,” the U.S. government’s weather office in Chicago reported on Oct. 8, 1871.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Look who pops up in this story about Trump political advisers helping a pro-Russian government in Republika Srpska, a self-governing territory in Bosnia-Herzegovina… www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/u...

Any affiliation with Mr. Trump is politically potent in Srpska, said Rod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, whose family is of Serbian descent and whose firm has been paid $1.325 million by Republika Srpska since last March, according to lobbying filings.

“They love Trump in Serbia and Srpska,” Mr. Blagojevich said in an interview. “Being pro-Trump in the Republic of Srpska is a huge political plus.”

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Halloween decorations are up at Simon’s.

A figure of a witch sits on a swing above a tavern door, near a neon sign saying “Simon’s” with a figure of a fish drinking a martini.

A raven pecks at the eye of a baby doll lying atop a cash register.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

With its autumn colors, this maple at Graceland Cemetery stands out among the mostly green trees all around it. 🍁

A maple tree with red and yellow leaves.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

A belted kingfisher at the Montrose Beach Dunes this morning

A belted kingfisher flying, with a clear blue sky behind it

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

A coyote checking out some tombstones.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Here’s the sunrise on Sept. 26, seen from inside the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall during the annual Ragamala concert, as Samarth Nagarkar was singing.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I do enjoy the hand-painted version of that image at Memo’s Hot Dogs.

The front of Memo’s restaurant is painted yellow, with pictures of hot dogs and various characters.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

In this depiction, the mustard isn't on top, exactly — but the hot dog seems to have excessive globs of mustard oozing out from under the other condiment.s

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

But if the hot dog is a sentient creature, it applies the mustard on top of its head.

A statue of a hot dog (with arms and legs and a human-like face) squeezing mustard from a bottle onto its head.

A painting of a hot dog (with arms and a smiling face) squeezing mustard from a bottle onto its head.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Flashback to that time in 2019 when Uptown's Sheridan Trust and Savings Bank Building temporarily became "Winckle Savings & Loan" — for the filming of a "Fargo" episode set in Kansas City.

A film crew and a man in a suit stand near a vintage car parked in front of a building where a sign says "Winckle Savings & Loan" above the doors.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A Chinese mantis I saw in Big Marsh Park

A Chinese mantis stands on a paved surface.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Feels nice walking down a street with no cars on it. A stretch of Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park is closed to auto traffic today.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I saw a really cool house show this afternoon by Lisa Walker of Wussy and Elizabeth Nelson of the Paranoid Style. (Thanks, @pkmonaghan.bsky.social!)

A woman sings and plays guitar while sitting between a man playing guitar and a woman playing accordion in a house with windows behind them.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I saw a pig in Ravenswood. His name is Snoopy.

A large black pig in the front yard of a house

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Where else can you see L. Shankar, a major star in world music, playing for free at 1 a.m.?

Four musicians play while sitting on a stage.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I arrived at the Chicago Cultural Center around 10 p.m. The Ragamala concert has been going for four hours, with another 10 hours still ahead. Preston Bradley Hall is pretty full at the moment.

A crowd gathered inside an ornate room under a stained-glass dome.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

A great blue heron this morning at Montrose Beach

A great blue heron stands at the edge of a lake. Across the water, buildings are visible on the horizon.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Jeff Tweedy plays “Laminated Cat,” a.k.a. “Not for the Season.”

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It’s Jeff Tweedy at FitzGerald’s!

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Louis Sullivan’s grave at Graceland Cemetery

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Here’s @danielknoxmusic.bsky.social introducing the “Twin Peaks” pilot movie Tuesday night at @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social. As always, he did an amazing job curating the work of David Lynch.

A bearded man gestures while speaking in front of a red curtain where the words “Moving Through Time” are projected.

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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I don’t think I really change my listening much based on the seasons, but the album I’m listening to right now feels sort appropriate. Or does it just good whenever I hear it?