Farkles

Got all the cool things for your bike?

The do-dads.

Audio, accessory mounts, exhaust, power outlets, extra lights?
You only think you have it all...


You probably didn't even think about pontoons, did you?

Motherfucking pontoon-bike, yo.

Yup

Have a good weekend, y'all.

Don't blow your digits off, or anything...




(Yes, I am aware that the sloth-astronaut depicted is probably an immigrant.  We are a nation of those, you know.  Hopefully, the sloth's presence in this image doesn't upset any protectionist ideals you may have and diminish the pleasantness of this post's intentions.  It occurs to me that those wolves may also be Canadian, which takes us to healthcare.  You will need that if you blast a finger off, won't you?  The wolves will, if they lose protected status, for sure.  Suddenly this post has gone from a dumb picture to political commentary.  It was just supposed to be a dumb post with an eagle and flag, along with some nonsense.  Sorry about that, my bad.  Anyway, stay safe and cool this weekend.  Oh shit, now I am thinking about the EPA getting gutted in the name of climate change denial.  Goddamnit, it's just everything isn't it?  Just fucked by those fucking fuckers, the whole lot of it.  Damnit man...)

Harsh

Yo, look out Buckeye folks...


The Chicago Transit Authority has it out for you, apparently.

Commute

A trick my phone has started doing recently is letting me know how long it will take me to get home, during the day...


I mean it has done that for a while, a convenient feature when you are not at home and want to know how long it will take you get there.
You know, like if you commute...


I work from home.

And somehow, my phone says it will take me 23.5 minutes to get here.
To get where I am, the same spot.

Hmm.

Better leave work early, to beat the traffic, I guess.

Flag Day

Sure

Lead with your strengths, they say.










I could write a post on current events, but I would guess you are at saturation with that stuff.

Personally, my response to a news alert on my phone has gone from "I wonder what's happening" to "what the fuck did he do now" and will probably stay that way for a bit...

That's a lot of negative vibes, man...











There have been a lot of negative vibes all over, lately.
That whole euro tour, man, that was just one discouraging moment after another.
The stabbings up in Portland...


I could post about any number of depressing things...
Just don't have the head space for all those negative vibes, right now, man.

Reduce Crime

Simple enough...

De La

Yeah, how about a post about almost seeing De La Soul?
Well, that doesn't make for a good story.

They were booked for a thing, here in Bend, on Saturday.
Of course I have to show up for that, right?

The stage was less than full, as most of the group had some travel delays...
We got Plug-1 and somebody to run a laptop.
Which was, you know, better than nothing.
Dude did his bit from "Me Myself and I" which was pretty funny, given the situation.
And he had everybody put their hands in the air, for maybe three more songs.

I guess I can be satisfied by that...


It reminded me of this documentary thing.
It is worth a watch, maybe...
If you are in to that sort of thing.

Major Tom

Take your protein pills.




















Also, yes, I am posting a cat pic.
Just deal with it, OK...
They can't all be winners, here.

Keep Scrolling

Nothing to see here...

May Day

Yeah, so it's May Day.

Are you more of a dance around the Maypole kind of person?
Or an International Workers Day type?


Do people even do that Maypole thing anymore?
Somebody must be doing that somewhere, right?
Twirling ribbons while wearing special, little outfits and whatever.

How about that Workers Day bit?
You don't see too many marches for the working stiffs, really.
Maybe those Fight for $15 deals count?
I guess those count.

I think Trump declared today Loyalty Day, as well.
Given the measure of the first one hundred with that guy...
The application of May Day as a distress call seems to also work, today.
Stop trying to make Loyalty Day a thing, dude.


So, happy May Day...

If you are down with the May Day thing.

In It

So, what have we been here, two weeks?
Maybe it's three...
It's been a blur.

Still tourists, for sure.
A "local" badge is hard earned in these parts.
It may be a while before I earn that mantle.
But as mentioned before, there doesn't seem to be much hostility towards the new guy in these parts.
In person, at least...


The unpacking keeps us busy, still.
It's kept us out of the kitchen, too.
Which is OK, a good excuse to get out and about.

I'll call it a town here, 'cause it seems pretty small
Smallest city I have lived in since the hometown kind of small.
Don't quite need to use the GPS sized town, for me at least.


We have gotten to a few of the breweries here.
There are a lot of them.
Ventured to some restaurants.

This song has been heard at more than half of the places we have hit up.

Maybe there is some sort of town playlist, that gets passed around?


Strangely, there is a homogeneous vibe to many spots we have been to, beyond that song.

Every brewpub I have been to has some sort of beat salad, a pastrami sandwich and signature (similar) burger on the menu.
I guess that is fine...
Kale, I can't think of one restaurant I have been to that doesn't have kale all over the menu.
I've probably had more kale in the past few weeks than I had last year.


On another subject, my vehicle and dogs are entirely undersized, as compared to local expectations.
Maybe not expectations, perhaps standards...

Ideally, I think a lifted, crew cab, heavy duty diesel truck would be the rig.
Color options seem to be either white or back, with any accessories blacked out.
Flatbed option not required, but does score extra points...

There doesn't seem to be a preferred dog breed, but the bigger the better.
Obviously, husky or mountain dog breeds demonstrate ones commitment to the local cause...


And one behavior note, observed only in our immediate neighborhood...
There is still a fair amount of construction around our place, residential, new homes getting built.
Those job sites get porta-johns, honey buckets or whatever your local vernacular calls them.
They are just scattered around job sites and street corners.

Now in my experience, those plastic shit pits are to be avoided at all costs.
Nobody wants anything to do with anything in those things...
But here, they seem to function as public pit stops.
Mail men, random folks passing by, driving through.
More than three times I have spotted somebody stopping for a bio break and getting on their way.
Like it's no big deal to stop and dump in a random box on the side of the road.
Which is weird...


Also, a blue Patagonia puffer jacket seems to be required.


Anyway, let's not dwell on all of that.

It's the (not so) Wild West.
Freedom and big skies.
Actual tumbleweeds on windy days.
Ice cold rivers and snow capped mountains.


So, yeah.

Here we are...

Drift

Just gonna go ahead and back into this weekend...



(Photo credit.)

Dagnabbit

I wish I knew this a few weeks ago...

Minimalism

Talking about the interior design form of minimalism.

Not the artistic movement, or genre, or whatever the heck you care to classify thusly.

No, I am getting at the whole "simplify your life" jumbo.
Declutter, pare down, yadda yadda...

Big picture, modern vernacular "minimal" lifestyle stuff, I guess is what we are hashing over in this post.

I think all of that is fine for some folks, but it also has always had a false ring.
Couldn't quite figure out why.

Then, I spot this piece from the Guardian, which got right to it with this statement:

Because let’s be clear about what the minimalist aesthetic, at least as a personal style choice, actually is: it’s a way of aping the connotations of simplicity and even, to a degree, asceticism, without actually having to give up those sweet, sweet class signifiers.

I usually don't post/link things I think aren't worth your time, as a read.
If nobody in your circle has busted out "minimal" jargon in casual conversation, you can probably skip this link and go dust your collection of knik-knaks.


There has been some purging going on around here, with the impending move.
It is a strange thing, as a person who covets odd objects.
Bits of ephemera that conjure memories or thoughts.
Trinkets that have been deemed "art" because of some random doodle.
I have piles of that around.

Yet I love a clean, minimal aesthetic, in my head.


Probably two decades ago, I declared that I could never live with my minimal intentions.

At this point, I don't know if I want to...

That Time of Year

Happy 327.

Withe

Just putting this out there...

I think "withe" should be an acceptable substitute for "with the"


That is what comes from my fingers, nearly every time I type "with the" and I think you should just go along with it.

LOL

How about an update on the murder of that North Korean dude, in Malaysia?

Another arrest and more details on the whole deal over here.




Admit it, it's a good distraction from our own political pussy power grab.


And from dwelling on the terrible things going on in Sweden...

Falcor

So, the trending thing I am seeing this week (outside of bat shit crazy governance)?

Falcor.

This car, a research ship I read about, stories from opposite sides of the internet and even a brief conversation the other day.

For some reason, Falcor is resonating in the universe...