I'm currently under the influence of an opiate, and I couldn't be happier. I've got two lines of stitches in the roof of my mouth where tissue was removed, in order to supplement the receding gums on three of my bottom choppers, while some kind of dental plaster is lumped all over said mandible in an attempt to hold fast the transplanted material. It feels just like being punched in the jaw, but the pills wash most of that away. The only constant is the feeling that two bristly caterpillars have parked on my palate and my tongue is no match for their tenacious prolegs. Here's a look.
I just got back from my first actual mountain bike ride, ever. It was an event sponsored by Independent Fabrication, it was at Lake Powhatan in NC, and it was, by far, the best ride I've ever encountered. We did lots of climbing and ended with a white knuckle descent. Here's a view of the speedy stuff (though the last big climb was as beautiful, or more so, in its brutality). It was much, much greener when we rode it.
The IF guys were great, and the fact that they brought along a bean bag toss sealed the deal. There was lots of food, lots of beer, and we were the only dealers there, so things, thankfully, didn't wander off down Propaganda Path or Ego Avenue. There was one annoying owner in attendance, but that's mostly because he brought his incredible rig into which IF put their time, sweat, and souls, but which he obviously rides very little...if at all. It's just a shame to see something designed for such abuse serving as wall candy.
I just registered on eBay. I'm doing this so that I no longer have to ask friends to sell stuff for me and so that I no longer have to pay them $5o or so each time I decide to hock (though, I've only sold two sets of wheels through a friend in the past...it isn't even close to being a habit). This is really just about selling the Eclipse for enough money to get a leg up on the IF to which I'm committed. Club Racer here I come.
So I had this dream about Daniel Tosh. I've caught a good bit of his show on Comedy Central, and laughed my ass off a few times. On the other hand, the dream put me in the role of the butt of his jokes, and I was left feeling like I just wanted to kill him or myself or both. I don't blame him, alone, for these mental meanderings, though, since so much humor has become so caustic and degrading that I'm amazed I find anything funny anymore. So many things, even the most sacred (I'm thinking Kids in the Hall), have led us in this direction, and I'm not sure it can be turned around. Let me know what is funny to you, these days. Maybe I'm getting sensitive because of the girls, but I also think it stems from the abundance of denigration, or destruction, humor out there (I love It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Arrested Development, The Office, and such things, but they precisely define what I'm talking about). It's nice to think that those that act selfishly and rudely get what's coming to them, but the truth is that they rarely do, and even if it does happen, they don't deserve the kind of soul-splitting retribution that is so common in these shows. Yeah, yeah...I know...just stop watching television.
So, my nose finds itself in "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" by Studs Terkel, and "The Island" by Aldous Huxley. The first is because I've loved everything he's ever gathered for books, and the second is a reference from "The Power of Now." The first is about death, and it has me thinking a tad about the dignity deserved by all, as if the previous paragraph was not a hint in this vein. I'm hoping the second will be a more understandable version of what Tolle was trying to say, even though presented in metaphor (is it feasible that we need the "story" version of the story to really get it?).
A Lungfish tune just came on my random generator. It was "Instrument," and I stopped typing for the duration. For the sake of all that is holy, would you just go out and buy some of their stuff, already? On the music tip, I just downloaded some Gil Scott Heron, Brother Ali, and P.O.S., though I think some old Subhumans is on the way in the near future (Worlds Apart and 29:29 are true gems), as might be some of that really early Government Issue and Youth Brigade.
We picked the hell out of some blueberries with the girls this year (two trips=4 gallons=berries for breakfast cereal and oatmeal for over a year!). They had a blast, and went, without me, to pick blackberries, too, though not as many of those came home. Hopefully, our actual friends will invite us to the only organic strawberry farm in the region next year, so that the girls can gather all their berries on their own and get used to the seasonality of such sweetness. Our non-friends went, they just forgot or neglected to extend the invite...as if anybody on the planet would turn down an offer for strawberries. I mean, really, who do you know that doesn't like strawberries? Is there even one person on the planet? I am, however, talking to a friend who has some ballasts that I will equip with full-spectrum lamps for just this purpose if he ever gets them to me. I'll make the room in the garage if it means fresh strawberries...damn the piano that Andrée wheeled in there from the neighbor's curb the other day! Of which, though, I must say, the girls are already insanely fond. Besides, how's that for a dumpster find?
On that note, I came across 8 huge cypress boards (around 3" thick and 10" wide) and around 200 bricks within the last week. I just cannot believe people put such things upon curbs. We are truly demented in our quest for physical space simplicity and I think it might reflect how much we would like to simplify our mental load...if only we could.
Go search the curbs on your bicycle and find something that you can use. I promise it won't clutter your mind. It will, however, facilitate some creative thoughts. Trust me, you have the space.
Oh, and here's a really cool use for six-pack rings if you, like I, have a penchant for Organic Blue Sky sodas.
Here is the most recent shirt creation. Send me a shirt if you want me to screen one for you. 1628 Sanford Road, Charleston, SC 29407.
