Lately I have been reading Bike Snob NYC, a blogger who primarily comments about cycling, but who is also just a jolly, cynical complainer. Awesome. The following is an excerpt from today's rant:

...'Because when Mini drivers order up their rally-inspired sticker kits and
strap themselves into their little fun boxes, they feel good about themselves,
and they think the rest of the world should feel good about them too.

But that's not how it works. You should respect everything, but you don't have
to like anything. When someone sees me out there in my moisture-wicking chicken
suit pedaling the ironic Orange Julius bike down to the Jamba Juice store in
order to throw rocks through the front window, they don't have to like me, they
just have to respect me as a road user. (And trust me, nothing commands respect
like a chicken suit.) Nobody's as cool as they think they are, and no matter
what, you look ridiculous to somebody.'

And that comment about Mini drivers (Minnie Driver?) was in response to angry emails about this previous post:

'...The Mini Cooper is the Felt Curbside of automobiles in that it's a neutered
version of something that was once authentic, it evokes racing for people who
will never race, and it's "cute" in a completely derivative and studied way.
As a cyclist, I find Minis particularly annoying, because the trendier
neighborhoods of Brooklyn are filled with them, and they're generally driven
by the sorts of people who text their friends to ask them what kind of wine
they should pick up for the party as they roll through stopsigns into busy
intersections. It's only fitting then that these rolling graduation presents
would be sold as a way to " go green." The people "going green" these days
are the same people who did graffiti or experimented with homosexuality at
their liberal arts college--they enjoy flirting with a lifestyle they don't
understand in an environment where it's looked upon favorably, but as soon
as it becomes difficult, unsafe or embarrassing they conveniently abandon it.
Fortunately for them, you don't have to give up your car to "go green." Instead,
you just need to buy a new one with marginally better gas mileage. And
fortunately, "going green" also allows you to measure just how pretentious
you are by calculating your "carbon footprint." Or, in the case of the Mini,
your "carfun footprint." Hey, if people want to "go green" by buying a car,
or they want to go vegan by ordering a hamburger instead of a cheeseburger,
who am I to complain? But I still think a much better ad would have been:
"Mini: It's Fun-tarded.'

This is great!

http://equivocalcatharsis.com/post/2099

As ought to be expected, Monday morning has proven to be, well; a true Monday morning. And getting out of bed is never easy, but during this last week or so leading up to today (today being the worst), throwing back those covers and turning on the light has presented more difficulty than normal. Bedtimes have been reasonable, so I suspect all this exhaustion is due to left-over fatigue and stress, finally catching up with me from these last few months of busy-ness. Despite these complaints though, life has been full of interest and opportunity, and a lot of change---good change. Everything is beginning to come together concerning our many projects, dreams, and various duties---I have been trying to mop up as much as I am able before baby arrives so that I have the option of relaxing during that time...

Summer is alway full of action and change. This one (so far) feels like one extremely long work week, with a busy weekend tacked on the end. Still got a month to go too, but there are still a few things left to accomplish before the school year kicks in. Then the frenzy will abate a bit. Autumn is the time for breathing easier, quieting down, reading. California has very little pronouncement when it comes to heralding the Fall, but you can sense it's subtle hints if you really look. Red and yellow leaves will be sparse down here, and the air won't really have that crisp edge you wait for if you are from anywhere much north of here; but I am still looking forward to it. Some long walks when the air gets cooler, long reads when the evenings are prematurely dark...

The damnedest thing happened the other day: I was in line at Starr Market, buying my groceries on an average sunny weekday, when I noticed that the cashier in front of me was my former neighbor from back when I lived at The Pines. He was the unmarried, co-habiting, stay-at-home stoner who used to sit up all night in the carport outside my bedroom window with his girlfriend (or whatever you call her), screaming and swearing at her between swallows of Modelos and puffs on a Marb light, while she coldly and quietly repeated over and over: "You are the Devil. And I'm in Hell". I used to slam the window really hard to try and make a point after trying to sleep through this for hours on end...I should have gone out and said something menacing, but I never did. Anyway, there he was behind the counter, (finally got a job I guess) and he certainly recognized me; there was a moment of brief small talk. Then, looking and at AC's pregnant belly, he asked: "'that yours?"

Do you ever wish some days that the sky would turn ink black and dump cold rain over everything?

California is too comfortable; too boring, easy, soft, weak and complacent. We need some rain or wind or some sort of adversity for our atrophied spirits. There is only so much BBQ-ing on the back porch in the heat of yet one more sunny evening you can handle before all the paradise and perfection turns your head.

Winter is the only somewhat good time here...

But even that is bad because everyone huddles in their homes as if there was a blizzard and whine about the 'horrible' weather, pointing a shaky finger toward the thermometer: 52 degrees.

California has it's good points, I admit. I have loved it and I have hated it. There is a lot to see, a lot of history and culture, and many good people. But I don't belong here anymore. I am too far from home, and it's time to go.

I've had the eerie echoes of a song called 'Eden' drifting through my head ever since Pandora played it last night while I was working out at the Ranch. The internet station was set to play music by and similar to Delirium, a band I used to listen to all the time in college---an eclectic mix of chamber, choral and techno; weird, trance-like and filled with gloom and darkness. Feeling nostalgic, I had put it on as a background to the unwanted mechanicing for the night. Once again, I was back out there at the filthy shop, in the dark by myself, plugging away on the old car and wishing I didn't have to be there, wishing the car would just go away...

...after enough time turning wrenches in the heavy silence of the empty ranch and outbuildings with that ethereal music all around, I couldn't help feeling some of the old pangs of loneliness from the years before my AC and the New One. Emotions that that are tied up in work, silence, old cars and houses, and most of all, being alone. These days I have all but lost interest in working on cars anymore, and invariably, that kind of work seems to carry my back to old thoughts and feelings that are somewhat out of place in the life I am trying to live now. With my current job I can't escape it, at least not yet, but as Dylan says, "The times they are a changin".

Last night we watched MirrorMask, a very odd and cool film with a screenplay by Neil Gaiman. It was weird and creepy and wonderful. You should see it.

I've got a bug. A very serious fever. It's a bicycle bug, and I can't stop thinking about BICYCLES. I'm working on a fixie right now...the allure of the purity and simplicity of one fixed gear and no brakes...

Been trying to get a handle on creating Photoshop backgrounds...

At the independent coffee house last night we were sitting around talking about the image of a battered or distressed girl, especially if she is young and pretty, and how those sorts of images always have a peculiar and powerful affect on a person. And it doesn't matter whether you think the notion is perverse or not; it's simply, uncomfortably true...

It should be Friday. I am too tired for it to be Thursday.

I am enjoying working on a new logo for Three Days Cafe though. I have also been commissioned to come up with a poster for Roomsound's next concert. Freelance work is picking up!

'Now and again...'
(Chainsaw roaring in the background),
But the conclusion to this thought
Is never quite formed, and
Therefore never becomes a complete sentence
Between the morning storm clouds that fill the head
And the interruptions of
A Tall Idea Guy,
Who doesn't have a clue what it is he wants.
Of course,
It was better to get up
Out of bed,
Than feign illness;
But this is illness, at least in some fashion.
A disturbance,
An irrational and fearful apathy bred
From lack of sleep and
Disorderly habits.
Coffee however
Has healing powers over
Body
And even consoles the spirit a little...

'Now and again. Feels small to be in the world. Tired. Now and again.
The sinner scans the horizons,
Looking everywhere
Restless;
Desirous of his Lord.

It has been nearly a month since I turned in the final project for my Color and Design class at Ventura College. I feel a little sad sometimes that I won't be going back there those sunny quiet evenings...but I am grateful for the free time now and the huge gas savings. Perhaps I will miss it mostly because I simply enjoyed being forced to sit down and draw and learn about design, instead of always feeling frustrated that I never develop my creative side. I'm not a very good self-starter sometimes, so it was really good for me. My last art piece for class is something a little different; multiple applications of masking tape and spray-paint on the inside of a disembodied Chevy truck window...the project dictated that it had to be a work based closely on an artist of our choice, including a brief written essay. While thumbing through a book on graffiti from around the world I discovered this extremely obscure French artist who calls himself HNT/Honet. I never did find out much about him, nor did I find many examples of his work, but the project was really a blast.