markson blog

Priming, Plumbing, and Paint

aaronmarkson — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:22:49 +0000

We’ve been working hard on the house every chance we get. We’ve also had the help of a couple of friends, which has been HUGE. With the help of my friend Caleb, and Jenna’s Dad, we have primed and painted a LOT. Painting all the woodwork in your house is a huge task, but I am glad we did it, because it breathes new life into an older house. We still have some painting to do, but it’s nice to see a little color on some walls. I also got the bathroom shower and walls ready to tile. That was a BIG task since they were so bad from removing the previous tile. I am pleased with how it turned out. We also changed the shower/tub valve in the bathroom. And by “we”, I mean mostly my friend Josh Miller with a little assistance from me.

Click to view slideshow.

House Remodeling

aaronmarkson — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:54:19 +0000

We have now owned our new house for 3 weeks. After only 3 days of owning it, we decided to start making a mess. We tore out some green carpet that was probably from the 60′s to expose the oak hardwood that was underneath. We will be staining them dark like walnut, and sealing them up with a waterbased top coat. In a In fact, I have a guy grinding the floors today in order to start that process. It’s one of the only things I am hiring out since I don’t have any of the proper tools, or experience with that kind of work. We removed everything from the kitchen, and took a wall out in between the kitchen and the dining room. The plaster walls really are not friendly on sawzall blades…or grinding wheels, or any other tool I have tried to use to cut them. We also took everything but the tub out of the main floor bathroom. This proved to be the most difficult job as there were plastic tiles that were glued on with some sort of construction adhesive. I’ve reinforced the subfloor in the kitchen and bathroom with plywood, and have my tile backer board installed, so both of those floors are ready for me to tile. I need to get the bathroom walls prepped to tile, as well as move the shower head up at least 16 inches…probably 2 feet. As of right now it hits me in the middle of my chest. We also scraped the “popcorn” texture off the ceilings in the dining room and kitchen. WE scraped, sanded, skime coated, sanded, skim coated, and sanded again… I am SLOW with that kind of work, but I am pretty happy wih the results. We did lots of other patching of the walls in order to get them ready to paint. So, once the floors are done, We can get back in there and resume our work… Paint…Bathroom floor and wall tile…sink and toilet instalation…complete kitchen remodel…lighting…still LOTS to do, but it’s fun for the most part. Hopefully we can move in someday.

Click to view slideshow.

New House

aaronmarkson — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:43:53 +0000

Jenna and I closed on our new house this past Monday. It is in Minneapolis in the Nokomis neighborhood. It was built in 1947, and we bought it from the original owner! It’s SUPER outdated, and feels a bit like taking a step back in time when you first enter…but that will all change over time. We have lots of plans for this house, and in fact have already started deconstructing lots of the things we are changing right away. Click to view slideshow.

POLITICS is the new SPORT

aaronmarkson — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:46:47 +0000

Does anyone else feel like politics have turned into a sport?…we cheer for our favorite “team” and curse anyone in opposition. Then we watch to see who wins and either boast about it or complain and whine. Then we essentially forget about it all in the “off season”. Furthermore, our loyalties are usually based on our geographical location or family biases. Also, it is a sport with no salary cap and so one has to have a lot of money to compete.

MOUNTAIN STAGE NEWSONG CONTEST

aaronmarkson — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:30:58 +0000

One of my very best friends and fellow band-mate in Farewell Milwaukee, Ben Lubeck, has been selected as a semi finalist for the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest. This contest is one of North America’s premier showcases of emerging performing songwriters. He will be be joining 11 other artists in New York for the ‘Award Round’ performance competition at Arts World Financial Center’s Wintergarden on Friday, October 22. I am going to be traveling with Ben and accompanying him on stage for this event. I have known for a long time now that Ben is a rare talent when it comes to songwriting, and have seen how hard he works to continue to grow as a writer and performer, so its great to see some validation in this way. For more info on the contest, go here: http://www.newsong-music.com/contest/index.html

HAITI + 2010

aaronmarkson — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:29:00 +0000

This coming November Jenna, Annie (Jenna’s mom), and I have been given the opportunity to go and serve in Haiti. Edina Covenant Church is sending a group of about 10 people to Haut-Limbe, Haiti to assist Dr. Manno in his medical clinic as well as continue work on the construction of an addition to that clinic.

WHY HAITI?

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line. Two-Thirds of Haitians depend on the agricultural sector and are vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country’s widespread deforestation. Haiti has also been plagued by political violence most of its history. In January of 2010, a massive 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti near the capital city of Port-au-Prince. An estimated 2 million people live within the zone of heavy to moderate structural damage. The earthquake is assessed to be the worst in the this region over the last 200 years. All this leads to an immense need for international assistance.

To learn more about the trip and find out how you can support us, go HERE

ART

aaronmarkson — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 06:20:18 +0000

One of the things I love in life is visual art and the creation involved in making art. I used to do a lot more of this when I was younger, but one of the ways that I still get to be creative in a visual way is by doing a lot of the artwork for the band. I design and create the website as well as design a lot of the show posters. I am by no means an expert in this digital form of art, but I really enjoy it and it keeps me creative. Someday I’ll get up the courage to actually break out the paint and canvas to get back to my roots in art, but for now, this will have to do.

PRE-PRODUCTION

aaronmarkson — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 22:01:09 +0000

Farewell Milwaukee has been working on pre-production this past week with producer Brad Bivens to whip some songs into shape. We have made a lot of great progress and the songs are coming together. I feel like we are being stretched as a band and are growing as individual musicians. At least, I feel that way personally. It good to have someone pushing me to break out of the ruts that I get into as a musician. I have lots of work to do between now and November 6th when we start recording, but am really excited to make another record with FM.

I’M STILL HERE

aaronmarkson — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 23:55:54 +0000

I am thinking about starting to blog again…