Soren Spicknall
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sorenspicknall.bsky.social
Soren Spicknall
@sorenspicknall.bsky.social
6.4K followers 1.3K following 20K posts
Chicago. Interested in how places are shaped. Friend to alley cats. I don't speak on behalf of my affiliations. he/him

"We know this world is good enough because it has to be."
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sorenspicknall.bsky.social
Living my truth
A photo of a coffee cup from Metric Coffee in front of a paper food bag from Taco Bell
November 23, 2025 at 8:22 PM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
Okay, for posterity: it's 3:15 and we're kicking off. Current mood is optimistic.
A photo of a blue 1990s car with its hood up in a garage
November 22, 2025 at 9:16 PM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
Big, big news in the neighborhood today - thanks to @leebey1.bsky.social for attuning me to it. The state has selected Celadon Partners as the awardee for redevelopment of the massive Hotel Florence, with a bold vision that includes affordable housing, a hotel, a restaurant, and a performance venue.
A screenshot of a LinkedIn post from Scott Henry, who works for Harley Clarke Development Company. The post reads: Excited to announce that Celadon was selected by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to redevelop the Hotel Florence in the historic Pullman neighborhood! The $85 million project will create a boutique hotel, bar and restaurant, affordable housing catering to performing artists, and will also create a venue space in the former Pullman Factory space. Our partner, Art of Culture, will help identify up and coming performing artists across Chicagoland and will also bring in big name national talent to perform in Pullman. Hotel Florence will also link with our upcoming Harley Clarke venue space in Evanston, IL that will create more amazing collaborations. A special thank you to Farr & Associates for their amazing design work to help make this dream come alive. More details to come!
November 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
11952 S Prairie and its identical twin next door were permitted for construction on August 17, 2007. Three days later, Capital One suddenly closed Greenpoint Mortgage, a subprime lender they had only just acquired. The next day, Lehman Brothers shut down BNC Mortgage. Thus began the Great Recession.
A Google Street View image of two one story brick faced houses with raised basements set on city-sized lots.
November 22, 2025 at 5:16 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
A two story brick corner building dating from the early 1900s, with Sullivanesque brick patterns on the upper level and former storefront windows recovered in cream colored brick on the lower level, sits across the street from one edge of an industrial warehouse.
November 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
An old Coachmen camper built onto the back of a small 1980s Toyota pickup truck is parked on a parking pad just off the street, in front of a garage whose off-white color matches the camper. It looks like it hasn't moved in awhile, with tape around many of its edges where water might get in and visible condensation inside the driver's window.
November 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
A two story end unit rowhouse from the late 1800s, reclad at some point in a grayish midcentury faux brick cladding, catches the shadow of something across the street so that the upper portion of its facade is lit by warm yellow light and the lower portion and front yard, featuring three oval-trimmed hedges, is in shadow. The rowhouse has a metal triple mailbox next to its front door, suggesting that it contains three apartments inside.
November 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
A one story storefront building, with narrow windows that suggest perhaps an old tavern, is seen with no immediate neighbor in empty lots on either side. It has a metal pole sticking out from the front of its facade where a sign used to be, and its front door is littered with advisory postings of some sort from a government agency. In the background, the edges of two two story brick buildings can be seen, and next to one of those buildings is a yard full of vehicles and various possessions.
November 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
A row of cars parked next on a city street to an old brick end unit rowhouse. Four of them are Volvo 240s, one is a 1980s Dodge pickup truck with an attachment for a snow plow on the front, and one is a late 1990s Lexus SUV. All of the visible vehicles are significantly rusted, and dead leaves form a barrier around their tires.
November 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
On another street corner, we see the back of a red painted two story apartment building with a severe looking concrete block addition on the back. Past it, we look across the street at an old brick apartment building with a central turret and a tall tree growing up in front of it, some of its fall leaves still attached and yellow in the evening light.
November 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
A photo of a quiet street corner on a block that abuts some sort of light industrial or warehouse property in the background. A two story wood frame storefront building clad in light blue vinyl siding sits on the corner itself, with faded signage for an old church called St. Titus One MB Church above its main floor awning. The block is gap-toothed, with lots of vacant lots. One lot has a tall, scraggy evergreen tree growing in front of it, taller than any of the nearby one to three story buildings.
November 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
A thread containing a small handful of recent photos taken around the neighborhood
A photo of a big old Hostess snack delivery van parked in front of a set of two and three story late 1800s brick rowhouses, warn evening light casting shadows of tree canopies across the white side of the vehicle. In the driver's window, scrawled in marker, is an asking price of $3,000 for the van.
November 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
real catharsis hours
The album art for Sinner Get Ready by Lingua Ignota, featuring a close-up image of the singer's head masked in lace and pearls and surrounded by pink smoke
November 21, 2025 at 1:20 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
I know that the '70s / '80s renovation here hasn't quite yet come back into vogue the way that true midcentury styles have, but I really enjoy this stuff.
In a bathroom, rounded countertop edges sit atop dark wooden drawers, and hanging pendant lamps droop from long cords. In the basement, a wood paneled room with drop ceilings features a big wooden pool table.
November 20, 2025 at 9:24 PM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
New favorite house for sale in Chicago

www.trulia.com/home/7914-s-...
A photo of a 1920s brick bungalow with elaborate patterns of brick embellishment on its facade mixed with stone accents The front door of the home has some original Craftsman style leaded glass, and leads to a short staircase and a second original door. All the key original wood trim seems intact and unpainted. In a living room, a photo shows a space that retains its original wood trim and an original wood and brick fireplace with built-in shelves, but has been given a 1970s or 1980s renovation at some poin twith carpeting, wallpaper, and a hanging faux crystal chandelier. In the kitchen, a set of simple late midcentury cainets is covered in a butcher block counter. Along one wall, built-in shelves are painted white.
November 20, 2025 at 9:22 PM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
The couple who ran Store Palma, a small general merchandise shop + secondhand store at 87th & Escanaba, were abducted by ICE this week. Their daughter has decided to permanently close the store, and is holding a sale Thursday to clear out the space and fundraise for their family's needs. Cash only.
A screenshot of a post in the Facebook group The Real East Side of Chicago, from somebody named Jairo Aleman, reads: Anuncio Comunitario Lamentamos compartir que un pequeño negocio de larga trayectoria en el vecindario de South Chicago se ha visto afectado por acciones de ICE esta semana. Los propietarios han sido detenidos y enfrentan deportación. Después de servir a la comunidad por más de 10 años, este negocio cerrará permanentemente. Para apoyar a la familia en este momento difícil, su hija está organizando una gran venta de liquidación. Todos los artículos deben venderse y se ofrecerán tal cual, a precios descontados. Solo efectivo. Las ganancias ayudarán directamente a la familia de diversas maneras. Animamos a los vecinos y miembros de la comunidad a pasar y mostrar su apoyo. ⚠️ Por favor, no asista si corre riesgo de ser detenido por ICE. --- 🗓️ Fecha: 20 de noviembre de 2025 ⏰ Hora: 10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. 📍 Ubicación: 8700 S Escanaba Ave, Chicago, IL 60617
November 20, 2025 at 12:44 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
Multi-platform owl content conspiracy happening here
A very blurry close up photo of a barred owl posted in a Facebook group called Fans of the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary, accompanied by text that reads: Please feel free to remove my owl photo if it violates any group rules/guidelines. My barred owl got mysteriously removed.
November 19, 2025 at 11:26 PM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
lol I didn't know the chart got another update this year
A Wikipedia band lineup timeline for Black Flag shows more than 30 members rotating through the band between 1977 and today, including a huge gap between the mid-1980s and a brief reunion in the early 2000s and another big gap between then and 2013. Recently, the band lost all but one of its members and recruited three brand new members: Max Zanelly, Dave Rodriguez, and Bryce Weston. The one lontime band members left, Greg Ginn, has been part of the band during four distinct stretches of time.
November 19, 2025 at 8:21 PM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
This four-unit building has been in the hands of one family for more than half of its 101-year history. I wonder whether it has salvageable original wood floors under those carpets.

Currently for sale at $175K: www.trulia.com/home/11806-s...
A photo of a two story rectangular brick apartment building on a corner lot, with its entrance on the long side of the building. Small stone accents break up the brick, with vernacular architecture cues likely dating from the 1920s. Inside, a living room is accented by a big pretty fireplace at one end with built-in shelves around it, and the room's moldings and window frames are unpainted wood. The floors are covered over in cheap carpets. In a kitch in one of the units, square vinyl tiles undergird a midcentury sink and oven, and an unpainted wooden door that looks original to the building leads outside. In another kitchen, an even older trough-style sink that may be original to the building sits in one corner next to the exterior door, and two other interior doors lead to likely storage spaces or other rooms.
November 18, 2025 at 3:25 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
A comic strip image of Dr. Manhattan sitting on a rock on a pink planet, saying "I am tired of Earth. These people. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."
November 18, 2025 at 3:11 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
Those brief hallucinations produce another cycle of grief, smaller than a week ago but still grief.

But in a way it's nice, because the memories I have of her in that spot come from before her frail final months, when she could still climb up there safely. It's a happy, carefree version of her.
A photo of a little brown tabby cat with a white chest and white hind legs curled up on the top shelf of the cat tree in a sort of goofy position halfway between rest and play, looking contentedly in the direction of the camera with sunlight shining on her.
November 17, 2025 at 7:36 PM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
We put a photo of Bula on her cat tree so that people who knew her from the sidewalk would know she's gone. But now the picture frame has become the thing that most frequently catches the corner of my vision when I'm unprepared and briefly makes me think she's there, kicking off realization again.
A photo of a standing picture frame positioned on the highest perch of a cat tree, in the middle of a tall window facing a small patch of lawn and a city sidewalk lined with rowhouses.
November 17, 2025 at 7:36 PM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
Easy choice if you're a deer deciding where to buy a house
A map showing a town called Deer Park next to a town called Kildeer
November 17, 2025 at 3:53 PM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
Out here doing my best Matthew Kaplan impression, but without access to any of Matt's cool lenses
A photo of the side of a vinyl-clad two and a half story house on a city lot with a wooden fence partially falling over next to it, and a large industrial facility situated just across the street, directly in view of the home's front porch.
November 17, 2025 at 3:39 AM
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
Now I've gotta figure out whether this text arrived because my dad saw this post and took pity on me, or divine coincidence
A text from Soren's dad reads: FYI, that brown heavy canvas fleece lined jacket of mine that you wanted is now yours. I just don’t use it. Do you want me to mail it or just hold onto it til Christmas?
November 16, 2025 at 11:37 PM