Toonland ho!

New paint! We're just getting started, too. At this rate, our house will soon look like the inside of a box of crayons. Sweet!

Susurrousness

Today's image is brought to you by the letter S! S is for sex. And ...something else, I'm sure, but I can't remember anything else right now.

That kind

Part of a photo-'essay' we're putting together for Phil's students. They're under the impression (granted, facetiously) that he hikes 30 miles every day before school, so we're giving them 'proof.' Yeah, we're that kind of adults.

Vacationing work/working vacation

We're finally getting down to redecorating the front room. Here you can see the pasty not-quite-yellow color we're replacing. We primed the walls yesterday. Today, the plan is to apply some color. We might go so far as to get fabric for new curtains, but while I have some ideas, I'm not sure how I want to do that yet. The most important thing is to make good use of Phil while he's on vacation.

Phil's vacation time kinda dictates my work schedule, for that reason (you don't really get a vacation when you work for yourself- in a sense, it's all vacation, but in another sense, it's all work). When he's off work, we can get things done around the house that I can't on my own, like painting, installing bookshelves, organizing the space in the cellar, or cleaning the gutters (hey, Hello Kitty won't help with the gutters anymore, and somebody has to hold the ladder when you're 25' off the ground!).

The Road to Sheep Canyon

One of the goals I've set for myself this year, is to hike to Sheep Canyon, on the shoulders of Mt. St. Helens. Trail guides I've read say it's a really beautiful (or interesting) place, so I wanted to check it out. I tried last year, but was thwarted by several challenges, starting with this mess in the picture.

What you're seeing is the sign (which normally stands about 7.5' tall or so) at the parking lot of the trailhead to Blue Lake (see the map at the bottom of this page). And I had to walk to get there, because so much road is washed out that you can't get any closer than Forest Road 81.

I tried twice last year: the first time, I couldn't even find a trail from here forward. The second time, it seemed that someone else had been there since I was last there, because I found preliminary trail markings (plastic markers tied to trees, or rocks marked with chalk or paint, indicating the direction to the next marker). I was able to follow these for a mile or so, until the 'path' crossed a creek that was too wide to jump (and me without my jet pack!).

So unless the park service has done a LOT of work over the winter (ha ha), I expect to find the area in about the same condition as last year. It's going to be a challenging hike, not only because of the trail-following problem, but also because it's long and probably hasn't been maintained in a few years. Should be beautiful, though, and very remote. I'm excited! Who's with me?

What a difference a day makes

Filters.
Focus.

I've spent the last year or so in the process of slimming down my life. Left to my own devices, and with no significant externally-imposed restraints, I will be interested in everything -architecture to zoology. And why not? It's a big, beautiful, fascinating universe we inhabit: why shouldn't I want to know everything?

Well, because the pursuit of Knowledge of Everything isn't really practical if you have Other Things To Do. One ends up wasting food coloring by putting drops in the toilet after you've filled it with milk, or filling one's yard with holes in order to see what's under the lumps that were there originally, or getting involved in politics. You know, that kind of thing. If I had a few billion dollars sitting around waiting to be spent (like Mitt Romney), I wouldn't worry about focus, but I don't, so I do. Er, did. I'm trying out some new filters, to help me screen out things that might enthrall me but which are not particularly relevant or helpful.

So here I sit in my new, streamlined life. It's not that I'm interested in fewer things, or that I'm less interested in anything; rather, I'm just resolved to not chase every metaphorical rabbit that runs by, because chasing every rabbit means that you catch none. No, I'm just going to do what every other rational, normal-ish person does normally, and that's focus. Just like my friend Mike Dickson told me to, in no uncertain terms, some fifteen years ago. He read me like a book. RIP, Mike. You're missed.

Focus.

I realized, a few days ago, that I have not set any goals for myself in ...years. I've had visions, ideals, dreams, ...but no real goals, and certainly no achievable ones. The last real goal I set for myself was to graduate from KU (bam! cum laude, thankyouverymuch). I had plans beyond that, but not firm or well-defined, and that lack of definition tripped me up on the road to grad school. Instead, I got a mediocre job to stem the tide of bills, and got sorely sidetracked for the next six years, until we moved.

What a difference a year-and-a-half of meditation makes, though. I finally feel like I'm back on my own track. My vision is clearing up again (not that kind of vision- my eyes are fine). My sense of metaphysical direction is returning. I'm setting new goals. I have a plan.

Work, home, self. These are my priorities this year, very broadly. Work: to include leather and printing work, sales, production, design, wwweb marketing, shmoozing, photography (for documentation and marketing). Home: to include repairs, improvements, non-ordinary cleaning, gardening, landscaping, general chores and errands. Self-stuff is more difficult to nail down, but I intend to balance my work/home life with plenty of time hiking, playing, and exercising.

And if you can't believe it really took me this long to figure all of this out, you're not alone. I can't believe it, either. I just hope I don't lose it again.

Hello, world!

pwned

We started the election process too soon. No one is going to remain interested; hell, even I'm not particularly interested. Why isn't Bill Richardson getting any press? He is the single most qualified candidate out there. When was the last time a sitting senator got elected President? Over 40 years ago. How many have tried, since last time? Probably dozens. We just don't like Senators-as-Presidents, apparently (and who can blame us? hello? After Warren G. Harding?).

The political process has been pwned. Results from locally-organized polls (around the country, not just here) seem to show Kucinich or Edwards leading the Democratic hopefuls, while nationally-organized polls all seem -anomalously- to show Clinton or Obama in the lead. Golly, how might that happen? Possibly because publishers are telling their editors to make it so. I don't know, obviously, but here's a hypothesis we can use as a test: now that Obama has sworn off corporate donations, he too will fall away from the lead, leaving Clinton in the lead. If this happens, it would certainly (strongly?) suggest that I'm right. Let's face it: it's a corporate game, and if you don't play in their arena, you don't play.

Please, don't take anyone's word for gospel in this election year. Think for yourself, and don't be shy about it, talk to your friends/co-workers/neighbors about it. Take the selection process back from the mainstream media: we don't need them to have a conversation.