The Irregularly Spaced Moments Of Exceptional Peacefulness

Here it is, the last day of the arbitrarily declared year of 2018.

I state "arbitrarily declared year" simply because someone, somewhere, decided to start counting days, months and years not based on a well-researched scientific calculation of any sort or anything even close to that - they just picked a period of time and named it "day one of month one of year one", started counting from there, and everyone's pretty much gone with it since.

Which is okay by me. Gotta start somewhere. If we used current scientific calculations of the Earth's age, we'd have to write "31 December, Year 4 billion two million seventy five thousand three hundred and sixty two" on our checks and such, and that is just to much writin'.

The year comes to a close on a fairly quiet note for me personally. Other than the usual vagarity of fate in regards to relationships, the losing and gaining of weight, the multiple road trips simply for the joy of going on road trips (and the various adventures and misadventures that go with them), the losing and winning, the running and resting...well, you know how life is...just a daily salad of surprises.

Yeah, that's a pretty crass summation I suppose, but it's the best I can deliver in my current state.

Oh, and favorite song of 2018 is probably I Don't Know Anything by Andrew W.K., because it reminds me of being young and alive with the energy of a million suns, still very, very confused about everything...but still thinking everything would work out somehow.

A Good Way To Spend A Cold Sunday

That Chemical Smell

I still have the smell of chemicals on me.

Chemicals like those used in fungicides and adhesives.

Primarily due to having spent the day using them.

Using them in the process of repairing damage to the breakroom.

That's what you have to do when you have a washer fail on a water connection that then proceeds to flood half of the breakroom overnight, and the bottom half of the particle board cabinets get waterlogged soaking up the water, and a small portion of the vinyl composite tile that was under the sink or close to it gets damaged as well...

The Society For The Promotion Of Idleness

On occasion I have been known to procrastinate. It has occurred to me at several different times in my life that it is highly unlikely that I am alone in this, and thus it might be a good idea to get together with a few of my like-minded fellows and form a club devoted to sharing in the many joys of procrastination.

But every single time I get that idea I put it off until a later day.

Feel Free To Take Off Your Bra, We Have Plenty Of Places To Hang It Up...

An After Christmas Conversation Between Seven Old Dudes

MJM and I gave PS a ride home last night after everyone else had left for their respective abodes. PS had taken the light rail from his new place in downtown Denver (not to far from Union Station) as he did not want to risk drinking & driving after spending the day in Lakewood eating and drinking.

MJM had not had anything to drink the entire day, so it was he who took the driver's seat (I'd had a few samples from a few of the liquid gifts I'd received, so I was just going along for the ride).

Had yet to visit the new apartment - PS had been living in the 'burbs like the rest of us, but after breaking up with the girlfriend, decided downtown was where he wanted to live.

His new place was pretty nice - it's on the third floor of a 3 story walk-up, and is probably at least 100 years old. It has been remodeled inside, complete with new HVAC and plumbing. He gave us the .25 cent tour when we dropped us off, and after another drink (me, not MJM), we said our goodbyes and MJM & I headed back to the manor house.

Except we didn't quite make it a non-stop trip back. About 3 seconds into the return trip MJM remarked that he wouldn't mind stopping someplace to get a beer, and I replied that the only place I could think of that might be open would be the R.

So we drove over to the R, and it was open.

There were 5 people there, including the bartender. HH was sitting at a table with Bob K. and somebody I sort of recognized but didn't really know, and another Bob was sitting at the bar just three feet away from their table.

Blonde L was working and she had MJM a Coors Light (in an ice cold mug, of course) and me a tall J & C almost quicker than we placed our order.

MJM and I exchanged holiday greetings with everyone in the bar, including the guy I didn't really know who turned out to be Dale, a fairly decent guy and one helluva pool player.

HH stated they'd been talking about bucket lists' when we walked in and asked if if either MJM or I had ever made an actual bucket list, or at least considered what we'd put on a bucket list if we were to ever make one.

Both of us looked over at the table the 3 were at and MJM went first, saying that he hadn't ever made a bucket list, but that he wouldn't have much to put on one other than a few places on the planet he'd like to visit that he hadn't had a chance too.

Me, I laughed a little and replied that yeah, I've made a few different bucket list, and that I usually make a new one or revise an old one every year, usually in the first few weeks of the new year.

HH then asked what I had on my current bucket list that had been on any of the other bucket list I had made in the past, and I blurted out "hike the Appalachian Trail" without a second of hesitation.

I just as quickly added, "but seeing as how my knees are now at war with the rest of my body, I think my window of opportunity for that has closed."

Which opened up a whopper of a conversation that revolved around pursuing dreams, taking risks, pushing limits, refusing to give up, etc., etc., for about the next 45 minutes to an hour, and even sucked in the 3 other people who came into the bar during that time.

Which led me to the conclusion that sharing items that are on a bucket list and then following that up with a stated belief that the items may not be achievable is just not something I should do. 

Ever again.

The Beat Poet's Christmas Carol

How many chimneys is that fat little man goin' down
Every chimney on every house in every town
Before he gets through this long dark night
Oh, this lonesome long dark night
Flying under the light of a moon as big & fat as
The dreams of every child in the world 
From Caracas to Kaliningrad to Nashville and beyond
Yeah, the dreams of every child in the world
Filled with hopes the fat little man will visit them tonight

His reindeer strain under the weight of his sleigh
Filled with toys for every good girl and boy
They streak across the sky like tongues of lightning
They fly on the power of faith, without the benefit of wings

As long as the good people continue to believe
He'll continue loading up that sleigh every Christmas eve
And drive those reindeer through the long, dark night
Drive that sleigh through the beautiful long, dark night
With a sack filled with toys built by slack-jawed elves
Who slave away in toy shops though they wear no chains
Their reward is the knowledge they play a key role
In bringing happiness to the world for at least one day

His reindeer strain under the weight of his sleigh
Filled with toys for every good girl and boy
They streak across the sky like tongues of lightning
They fly on the power of faith, without the benefit of wings

Bringing happiness to the world for at least one day

Bright Lights, Small City

Not Quite The Best Way To Cut Down Your Own Christmas Tree

Have A Holly, Jolly, Inflatable Christmas

Bending The Velvet

She said, "Your cat feels like silk, or maybe velvet...yeah, velvet.

I replied, "Maybe you've had enough to drink."

Handier Than Most

The Brian Speckner Method Of Selecting Horses From The Racing Form Or Telegraph

I have no idea who Brian Speckner was, but evidently he was a gambling man for I found his method of selecting horses from the Racing Form or Telegraph between the pages of an old book (circa 1950's) I bought at a garage sale.

Not being a gambling man myself, I have no idea if this sort of thing works or not. If anyone tries it, let me know your results.

   

A Keen Interest In Everything Coupled With Ambition

Being of independent means

Is really the way to go

If you want to be able to do, that is

Whatever it is you want to do

Bear in mind, however,

It is not the only way 

To be able to do whatever it is you want to do

It is just one of the easier ways

A Glance At The Old Steel Mill & Environs In Pueblo, Colorado

I Dedicate This House To The Griswold Family Christmas

Magniloquence

The word of the day is magniloquence. It is used to describe a pompous grandiosity in language, either spoken or written.

For example, instead of stating "This beer is pretty good," a person states instead, "The mellifluous tones of the oak tannins are barely hinted at, which gives a subtle yet pleasing buttery feel to the overall crispy richness of the beverage, even if the aftertaste is still a tad too structured."

As if they were a wine sommelier or some such character.

Magniloquence is in itself, an extremely magniloquent word. 

It's An Abstract, Conceptual, Interpretive Kinda Christmas Thing

Sunday Morning Chargers / Steelers Analysis

This morning I was upstairs wrapping presents for a very early in the month Christmas party I've gotta attend tonight, and downstairs MJM was watching Game Day Sunday Morning on the NFL network.

Out of coffee, so I picked up my mug (The one that has the island of Japan and Mt Fuji featured prominently on it that my brother TL brought me back as a souvenir of Japan, which I happen to love simply because it is a souvenir of Japan that has a big "Made in Japan" sticker on it) and walk downstairs to get a refill.

While in the kitchen refilling the aforementioned mug, I overhear one of the talking heads on the sports talk show giving an analysis of tonight's San Diego vs. Pittsburgh game state that "...the Steelers have something the Chargers don't have."

And I immediately shout out, "No, the Chargers have exactly what the Steelers have, and do you know what that is MJM?"

MJM shouts back, "No, what's that?"

I reply, "A loss to the Denver Broncos."

Laughs galore ensue.