Usually I don’t like to use the words “darn” and “socks” together in a sentence, but “Darn Tough” is how Ric Cabot describes the socks his family has been making for over 30 years. Outside Blog has just endorsed Darn Tough in their Gear Army section. I like the fact that these socks are made…
Could you go for 130 days without soap…washing your body with just water? Richard Nikoley gave up soap and shampoo about six months ago and reports that the results are amazing. His skin and hair are soft and silky. His wife comments that he smells good! Nikoley’s post begs some questions. 1. What is Soap…
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. That’s how Hunter Thompson put it. My plan for 2010 is to see how many destinations I can reach that are listed in Weird California: Your Travel Guide to California’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets
Not everyone has lights. Or an outlet. Or empowerment. But pretty much anyone can find a can of paint. Web Urbanist passes along 40 Fantastic-to-Freaky Christmas Greetings in Graffiti.
If I’ve harped on this before, someone should hit me over the head with a sack of oranges. I continue to have the feeling that there should be some kind of way to organize my life so that it wouldn’t be such a horrorshow. One central focus that brings everything together. You know what I’m…
As of 11 PM last night I became the proud owner of a 50,123 word steaming slag heap of a first draft novel. Yipee. So ends my NaNoWriMo adventure. What am I left with? Let’s call it the Winchester Mystery House of bad literature…hundreds of passages leading nowhere. I do have to say that this…
I’m on the road again. The road to hell, good intentions to blog my NaNoWriMo novel-writing experiment are lying like dead soldiers on the roadway. Early on I was going to post about Banging vs. Swooping. Kurt Vonnegut once said (and I swear I heard this on a public radio interview, though I can’t find…
Here it is, the eve before National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo,) sort of an ongoing joke started by Chris Baty where tens of thousands (150,000+ this year) of people line up like entrants of the Bay to Breakers marathon, and pound out 50,000 words of prose. This month I throw my hat in the ring,…
The number one choice of discriminating bruins? According to the LA Times black bears in Yosemite have come to think of minivans as their own personal “meals on wheels.” Minivans roll into the park wafting the aroma of spilled Cheerios and milk, and the bears seem to have learned that the classic Mom-missile is your…
Today’s frontier adventure involved snaking out the bathtub drain. First we tried using a Zip-It flexible strip. These plastic drain cleaners are a gross, yet effective way to de-gunk most drains. Problem is that a bathtub drain takes a left turn at Albuquerque, leaving you without much room to move the strip. Liquid Plumber failed…
Daughter Em and her husband Matt and their four dogs – more like a single four-headed whirling entity from Hell – landed on our doorstep two weeks ago. And it’s killing my routine. My attempts at running, attempts at writing, attempts at riding…everything has gone to the dogs. As it were. I’d like to post…
The plan was to be in Merced by now, well on my way to Yosemite, Bodie, Tonopah, Tuweep and parts beyond. The reality is that the bike is in the hospital, getting a blood transfusion. If they get the ABS system sorted out (soon let’s pray) then I’m changing plans and heading for the Range…
For those of you kind enough to be following along with my story arc, I set out a couple of weeks ago to lose some weight. My short term goal was to be able to fit into my Adventure Pants, so that I could…you know, have an adventure. I’ve been following a glycemic-index diet for…
So here is the first point in my story arc. I finished the first week of my new diet and exercise plan. My near-term goal is to get back to where I can fit into my Adventure Pants. Started the week at 230 lbs, ended at 227.2 lbs, two week rolling average is 229 lbs.…
In case you were wondering what you should do with the fuzzy cream cheese in the back of the fridge, now the U.S. government has the answer. (Hint, dry salami and hard cheese can be cleaned up and used. Toss everything else out.) You can also use this handy guide for your next backpacking trip.…
