Aaron Aiken

Rare moment for me these days.

Quick Sunday project, working on a more refined variation of the leather fountain pen cases I sell.

Rough-cut matches.

🐌 Saturdays are for slow starts. Raining outside. Coffee, writing, and will be making pancakes shortly. Then I’ll be at a place to get into the day’s work.

⌛ Working a bit more tonight so I won’t have as much to do tomorrow.

🧠 So deep into my mind today, which is annoying, depressing, and highly unproductive! Hoping some upbeat music and making progress on a few larger orders helps to lift me up a bit.

🍚 Making an early dinner, then back to work.

Grateful log for Wed, 28 Feb 2024

1. Being able to put into words what and how I am feeling. (More vulnerability).
2. Rain and Thunder.
3. Dinner with my parents last night.

⛈️ Thunderstorm this morning. Strange for this time of year, I dig it!

Have had time recently to think about through branding and such. Iterated a bunch and happy with how this delivers, the way it looks and feels, the sentiment it provides.

🥃 Brain is too scattered to be productive. Cleaning up. Laundry. Writing. Bourbon.

Lovely leather match pouch hand-dyed in green. Hand-stitched with black thread. Solid brass button-stud closure. Sharp look on this one!

Grateful log for Mon, 26 Feb 2024

1. Mozzie and Lindsay arrived safely in Florida
2. Have Lucy for the week
3. Sunday state of mind

Every time I make something with this royal blue leather dye 😍

Grateful log for Sat, 24 Feb 2024

1. List is coming together for the furniture to build, first up is a new workbench.
2. Fresh haircut yesterday.
3. Feeling comfortable (slowly and again) to share what I am excited about.

A bit of context for 1 and 3, plus some photos.

Grateful log for Fri, 23 Feb 2024

1. Beard is gone, for now.
2. School day with Mozzie.
3. Hit 30,000 miles on my Sonata lease.

More words and some photos, too.

Beard shaved off. Immediately 10 years younger.

Grateful Log for Thu, 22 Feb 2024

1. Very restful sleep.
2. Cleaned my desk yesterday, removing dust and clutter.
3. A good evening with Mozzie.

More words.

Grateful log for Wed, 21 Feb 2024

1. The pull to write again.
2. Pure motives (related to above but also everything else in life).
3. One hour of thinking and writing those thoughts down.

Context on each here.

Unless my barber talks me out of it tomorrow, I’m set on getting rid of the beard. Started growing it in October because I wanted to, but now I’m finished with it. Could become a yearly thing for me, growing it for the cold weather and ditching it when I’m tired of it.

Grateful log for Tue, 20 Feb 2024

1. Massage yesterday - after a full year with her, close to 24 appointments, 36 hours 😳, I think yesterday was a breakthrough with identifying one of the roots to my chronic pain.
2. Connection
3. Finally recorded an updated about video for my leather website.

Grateful log for Mon, 19 Feb 2024

1. Time this weekend for Mozzie and I to pick out the furniture we are going to build together for his new bedroom.
2. Faith
3. A new week

Now that my future housing 99% confirmed, I am feeling extremely claustrophobic in my studio apartment. I am looking forward to walls, doors, and a staircase!

Grateful log for Thu, 15 Feb 2024

1. Planning backwards.
2. Massage today!!
3. 107 days until I move out of my apartment!

Grateful log for Wed, 14 Feb 2024

1. I am almost ahead on orders.
2. Progress is progress, even if slower than hoped.
3. Not as many clouds in the sky today, allowing the sun to shine!