I work at a group home
where I care for adult men that have severe and persistant mental illness.
An important aspect of being an effective staff person
is that I take advantage of my days off and do things that relax me.
An overworked Laura is an untheraputic Laura,
one that sucks to be around.
So, I craft a thing that I call my 'Burn-Out Prevention Plan'.
It's my guide for surviving the chaos of my job,
it's my guide for de-stressing my life so I can be a happier person.
If I lived in Tremont,
I would spend all of my time at The Loop.
It would be a reoccuring stop on my Burn-Out Prevention Plan.
I imagine getting a hot cup of coffee and
thumbing through rows of records.
Sipping in some coffee and enjoying the feeling of the records,
the sound of the soft 'pafft' as each record falls against the last.
The little bit of air that pushes out
from between the records as they fall in to each other,
sending the old musty cardboard smell of the record sleaves.
This would be my therapy.
I was visiting some friends in Lakewood
and they took me over to Tremont to show me around.
There was some art crawl thing going on while I was visiting,
so The Loop had a band playing in the lower section,
as part of the festivities.
I sat at a table on the 2nd level loft area,
after having skimmed through a few rows of records.
I enjoyed the band and the viewpoint I had.
There was some artwork posted on the walls
that was for sale.
I like when places feature art from the locals.