dmercer.bsky.social

Color photo of John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, John Connally, and others riding in a black convertible.

Like it was yesterday

Black and white photo of an elevated train passing over a city street lined with cars on the right side.

Chicago "L"

I’m glad you got to go!

🤑

Neon sign with trapezoidal shapes in black and chartreuse advertising the Dairyland Motel in neon. There is a chartreuse arrow pointing to the right that says "In Rear," also in neon.

Nice neon

Photo of a section of wallpaper featuring detailed ink drawings of chickens looking alarmed, with red flowers and foliage in the background

Wallpaper in the Red Rooster Cafe, Mineral Point, Wisconsin. I might need this for my kitchen.

Color photo of a gabled entrance to a red brick building with prominent diapering. The gable has an archway, and framed within it is black scrolled metalwork accented by the silhouettes of two white squirrels dapping each other up. On either side of the arch and atop brick piers are polychrome terra cotta reliefs of fruit trees growing in pots. Real trees in extremely vibrant autumn finery lean into the shot to say hey.

Color close up of the edge of one side of the gabled entrance, highlighting one of the polychrome terra cotta fruit trees of the facade. Sitting in a little cross-hatched terra cotta pot in shades of tan and dark brown, the tree's leaves and fruit stand out against a blue background that itself pops against the red brick of the building. A living tree to the left rudely draws focus, showing off gorgeous yellow and red leaves.

Color photo of the roofline of a gorgeously detailed red brick building. A beautifully aged copper steeple sits atop the roof, but a scene stealing tree drips red, orange, yellow and green leaves in front of it all.

Color detail of a band of tan stone corbels alternating with gorgeous brickwork. A tree aglow with luminous orange autumn leaves pretends it doesn't see you looking as it nonchalantly dips in from the top of the frame.

You can tell these trees wait all year to go off like this & pull focus from the incredible brickwork & terra cotta of the facade

Christopher Elementary
Architect: John Charles Christensen, 1927

Two-story dark orange brick building that used to be an engine house for the fire department. It has a flat roof with brick dentils and another pattern that looks like a line of Legos. There are three arched window openings on the third floor with smooth stone window hoods, each with a giant keystone. In between the keystones are two large stone circles. Dividing the first and second floors is another row of brick Legos. Below that is a large arched opening that I assume was for the fire engine and, to the left of that, a tall narrow arched opening for a pedestrian door with a window above it. On either side of the doors are inset narrow rectangles with rounded corners (is it a rectangle if it has rounded corners?) and in each of those is a brick diamond. Two of the diamonds hold electric lights at the moment.

Sublime brickwork on former fire department engine house at 1242-44 N. Wells, Chicago.

Snippet from the New York Times about a cranberry curd tart with photo of some cranberries and a very delicious looking tart.

Don't tell me that you didn't read this as "turd."

this Trump Watches commercial is now running on Fox & Friends as well

Two-story red brick building with a gable roof. The wide eaves on the front are supported by paired brackets and decorated with dentiling. The windows on the second floor have stone lintels and sills. The brick on the first floor has been painted gray and a large area of glass block replaces whatever windows were there before.

#FormerTavernFriday 3336 S. Lituanica, Chicago

Thousands of rare American recordings — some 100 years old — go online for all to enjoy The project, which will include some 50,000 songs from private record collections, is a collaboration between UC Santa Barbara and the Dust-to-Digital Foundation.

A treasure trove of rare and historic American music is now available online for free.

5,000 songs from private collectors have already been preserved and uploaded, and "thousands more are in the pipeline".

laist.com/news/arts-an... #MusicSky

Let us all thank JD Vance’s tuxedo shirt studs for doing the lord’s work. This could’ve been a lot worse without them. #ThankAStud

To everyone saying that people in our military already know not to follow unlawful orders, how do you explain almost 100 civilians murdered on fishing boats in the Caribbean so far?

i do like this idea. #QuietPiggy

Thanks

Black and white photo of two leafless trees snuggling together on the edge of a corn field.

On the road in Wisconsin

Apparently dipshit Hegseth’s “lethal warfighters” landed inside the Mexican border by mistake and created an international incident.

A month-by-month look at Nick Ulivieri's 2026 desktop calendar. The graphic features a large photo of the cover depicting Lake Michigan with 12 smaller images for each month of the year.

My 2026 #Chicago desktop calendars are now available!

You can get hem here > www.etsy.com/listing/4403...

Any President who calls for the opposition party to be hanged should be immediately impeached and removed from office.

A man who sees his power collapsing and is trying to claw it back. This is weakness, not strength.

DESIGNED IN THE RICHARDSONIAN ROMANESQUE STYLE, THIS TWO AND A HALF-STORY BANK BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED FROM 1906 TO 1907 BY THE GENERAL CONSTRUCTION COMPANY OF MILWAUKEE. (SEE BIB. REF. A). THE STRUCTURE FEATURES A RECTANGULAR SHAPED PLAN CONFIGURATION, A STONE FOUNDATION, SANDSTONE EXTERIOR WALLS, LAKE SUPERIOR RED STONE TRIM, AND A TILE-LINED GABLE ROOF. INTERSECTING WITH THE MAIN ROOF ARE GABLED DORMERS. RECTANGULAR SHAPED WINDOWS WITH STRAIGHT LINTELS APPEAR IN THESE DORMERS AND IN THE ATTIC STORY OF THE OPEN GABLE ENDS. LARGE, ROUND ARCHED OPENINGS DISTINGUISH NOT ONLY THE WINDOWS ON THE FIRST AND SECOND STORY, BUT ALSO ON THE FRONT ENTRANCE. THE SECOND-STORY WINDOWS ON THE FRONT ELEVATION ARE ALIGNED TO FORM AN ARCADE, WHILE THOSE ON THE EAST ELEVATION ARE ALIGNED IN PAIRED GROUPINGS. A TRANSOM WINDOW AND SIDELIGHTS ARE CONTAINED WITHIN THE FEDERAL-STYLED DOORWAY. (Wisconsin Historical Society)

Former First National Bank, Mineral Point, Wisconsin. 1906-07. wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Prop...

THIS TWO-STORY HOUSE FEATURES A RECTANGULAR SHAPED PLAN CONFIGURATION, A STONE FOUNDATION, A BRICK EXTERIOR, A WOOD TRIM AND AN ASPHALT SHINGLED, GABLE ROOF. THE DESIGN OF THE HOUSE IS PATTERNED IN THE GOTHIC REVIVAL STYLE, WHICH IS APPARENT IN SOME OF THE ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS, SUCH AS THE STEEPLY PITCHED MAIN ROOF. THIS ROOF IS INTERSECTED IN THE FRONT BY AN EQUALLY STEEP, CROSS GABLED ROOF. AN ELABORATE BARGEBOARD WITH A GABLE PENDANT APPEARS IN THE UPPER PORTION OF THIS CROSS GABLE. DIRECTLY BELOW THE CROSS GABLE IS A DETAILED FRONT PORCH. IT HAS A FLAT ROOF SUPPORTED BY SQUARED POSTS, WHICH REST UPON FILLED-IN RAILINGS. DECORATIVE BRACKETS AND EVENLY DISTRIBUTED PENDANTS FURTHER EMBELLISH THIS PORCH. SHELTERED BY THE PORCH IS A ROUND ARCHED, MAIN ENTRANCE, DISTINGUISHED BY DOUBLE DOORS AND A FANLIGHT. PROMINENT LINTELS AND SILLS ARE PRESENT ON THE WINDOWS OF THE FACADE. A BAY WINDOW APPEARS AT THE SOUTH FACE. (Wisconsin Historical Society)

George W. Cobb House, Mineral Point, Wisconsin, 1855

THIS ONE AND A HALF-STORY, GOTHIC REVIVAL HOUSE WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1868. IT FEATURES A RECTANGULAR SHAPED PLAN CONFIGURATION, A STONE FOUNDATION, STONE EXTERIOR WALLS AND TRIM, AND A TIN COVERED, GABLE ROOF. DECORATIVE BARGEBOARDS AND WOODEN BRACKETS ADORN THE EAVE-LINE ALL ALONG THE DWELLING. SEGMETAL ARCHES DISTINGUISH THE WINDOWS ON THE FACDE, AND STONE LINTELS CONFORM TO THE SHAPE OF THESE ARCHES. THE FRONT ENTRANCE, ALSO SEGMENTALLY ARCHED, IS DESIGNED WITH A FANLIGHT AND SIDELIGHTS. A LARGE, TWO-SIDED PORCH IS SUPPORTED BY SHORT, TUSCAN COLUMNS ON MASONRY BASES. THE RESIDENCE IS IN GOOD CONDITION. (Wisconsin Historical Society)

W.H. and Annie Curry House, Mineral Point, Wisconsin, 1868

THIS ONE STORY HOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1867. IT FEATURES A RECTANGULAR SHAPED PLAN CONFIGURATION, A STONE FOUNDATION, A BRICK EXTERIOR, A WOOD AND STONE TRIM, AND AN ASPHALT SHINGLED, FLAT ROOF. A SLIGHT PARAPET WITH ANGULAR BRICKS APPEARS ON THE FACADE, AND STONE COPING APPEARS ALL ALONG THE BUILDING. STONE SILLS AND LINTELS DISTINGUISH THE ONE-OVER-ONE WINDOWS. A FRONT PORTICO - DETAILED WITH TURNED POSTS, SPINDLES AND DENTIL TRIM - SHELTERS THE MAIN ENTRANCE. AN ETCHED GLASS WINDOW ADORNS THE FRONT DOOR. THE RESIDENCE IS IN GOOD CONDITION. (Wisconsin Historical Society)

334 High St., Mineral Point, Wisconsin. Built in 1867. wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Prop...

If this nation had moral standards, a pedophile would not be allowed to host a murderer in the Oval Office.

I don't, sorry.

Now, now

White ceramic cook jar in the shape of a teddy bear. The bear has a depressed expression, probably because someone put a dot of red paint in its belly button. The eyes are wide open and have long, creepy eyelashes. I would not put my cookies in something this disturbing.

The world's most tragic cookie jar