rambling Scars... When I was in middle school I cut open my index finger pretty deeply. It healed up okay, though I still have a noticeable scar there today. Visually and otherwise. When I lift weights if the grip I use puts weight on the scar (most of the time) I get
rambling No, Thank You... Last week was the week of "I'd rather not." I didn't work out, I didn't follow my normal eating pattern, I didn't write. I thought about it all, and then didn't. I'd rather not, thanks. Now
rambling The Red Card... It's possible to hold two thoughts in your head at one time. The red card was bullshit. The way it was reviewed, the slow motion and freeze frame, and not the context of space and intent. It was bullshit. Yellow, sure. Yeah, it's a foul. But
rambling 250... The big Happy Birthday America parade in DC was cancelled due to oppression. Oh wait, no because the country is too heated right now. No, let's try that again, due to oppressive heat. The heat dome did its work and the parade was cancelled. Didn't stop
rambling Feast... Fertilizing my flowers this morning and discovered a massive snail infestation. Now, we always have snails. It's Oregon. Usually I just pick them off and toss them into the yard. The birds can have them. If they survive the return trip to my flowers I toss them back
rambling June Gloom is OVER... Actually there wasn't as much June Gloom as there used to be. The joke used to be that summer in Portland didn't start until July 5th, but that hasn't held the past few years, the reason is a mystery, don't try to
rambling I Won't Do What You Tell Me... All week long I've wanted a giant margarita. A strawberry one, or a raspberry one. Then a frozen pineapple one. But a giant margarita. I haven't had a drink in over two years. I've had a sip of a few of Brent's,
rambling Strong Men... Over Father's Day weekend there was a gathering of conservative Christian men in Washington. During the retreat one of the pastors (disgraced pastor formerly from a mega church in Seattle) announced from the stage that Hetero, Christian, men were the new punk rock. I made the joke that
rambling Does That Mean it Worked? I don't even know how to feel about the news lately. Is it good? Is it bad? Are we seeing changes? Are we seeing things being entrenched? Are we on the verge of ending this mess or will it never end? The media is owned by people who
rambling Fit It All In... I'm most motivated to do stuff in the morning. I get up and make breakfast and Brent's smoothie then send him off to work. After that I make my own smoothie, clean the kitchen, do the first round of chores, workout, practice my Spanish, take a
rambling Tiny Taps, Tiny Taps... I've been watching the World Cup matches (as I've mentioned) and one of the most surprising things to me is how much I've been loving Zlatan as an announcer. Last night while we were watching the commercial for YouTube TV came on and I
rambling Money Troubles... Fourteen million dollars to redo the Reflecting Pool. (which is now, a few days later, bright green with algae) Three hundred million (and counting) for a ballroom that NOBODY wanted no matter how often he says everyone did. Who knows how much to repair the damage to the lawn that
rambling Reminders... This isn't going to be a long post, just some thing I needed reminding of lately so I figured I'd remind you as well. Every month I set out my intentions. My things to focus on. My mini goals. This month part of that was to
rambling Still There... The the thing with grieving is it's never a straight line. It feels like it sometimes. Like you are doing fine. But it's always there. And it sneaks up on you and you never know if it's going to be a little sad or
rambling Growth... Today's positive book contemplation was about struggle. How it's good for you to struggle. It reminded me of the saying that all growth comes from struggle. All change comes from stress. If you aren't struggling, if you aren't pushing, you aren'
rambling What's Different? In the summer of 1976 I was 7, though I would have told you I was 7 going on 8. I was still in that time where as soon as you had a birthday you were counting down to the next. Seven and a quarter, seven and a half... I
rambling Too Much... Okay, let's start with the warnings. BIG WARNINGS. I'm going to talk in some detail about The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb. If you are planning on ever reading it you should back out now. I will be spoiling almost everything in the book while
rambling May Yay... Another month done and dusted. Another month of can you believe this shit. We're still (STILL) at war with Iran no matter how bored the Toddler in Chief is with it. We're about to "celebrate" said toddler's birthday with a cage match
rambling Good to Be Seen... The other evening Brent and I were listening to the radio and Two Princes came on. Brent: So wait, he wants to buy her rockets? Me: Yeah, he aint in his head now. Brent: Okay, so she has to choose between two guys, and one of them is crazy? Me:
rambling Waiting... I'm waiting for the storm to come. Not in a weird Q Anon "the storm is coming" sort of way, but in an actual there is a storm coming and I'm waiting for it. The weekend has been really lovely. Sunshiney, warm, but with
rambling It's Got a Good Beat... ...but can you dance to it? Brent and I are keeping a list of the worst songs. To make the list we both have to agree that it's just the worst. These are the songs that you can't change the station quick enough when they come
rambling The Dawning of a New Age... Having coffee with my friend Raquel yesterday and we were talking about aging. How there is a total disconnect between how old we really are and how old we feel. Mentally. Like she said she still feels around 35 in her head. I am probably somewhere around there as well.
rambling More Clothes... Brent reorganized his part of the closet over the weekend which freed up a whole section I could use. At first I didn't think I would. My clothes all fit into the space I already had and the bar in his section was really high (he is about
rambling Dress Code... Portland is a very casual city. I say this having grown up in Albuquerque where we all had our regular jeans and our dress jeans. Portland is even more casual than that. No dress jeans needed. I bet nobody here has ever even ironed a crease into their Levis. Super
rambling Reputation Calls... A few weeks ago I made a comment to Brent that he took in a completely different way than what I meant. In fact I meant nothing at all by it, but I didn't push back because I could see exactly why he had taken it the way