VICTORY

UNION PACIFIC

I'm getting really good at making excuses lately. Every time I get inspired to write something, I find a reason to talk myself out of stopping and jotting it down, or noting my inspiration in some fashion... My thought is "I'll sit down at the computer soon and focus on really nailing down this thought or that feeling." I never do, and like today, by the time I get to it, most of those thoughts and feelings are merely ghosts of themselves. But I've got a lot on my mind, so I don't think all is lost.

I think this sort of procrastination speaks to a larger part of my life. There always seems to be a better time or better circumstances to do something. But it's a lie. When I look back on my past, its dotted with instances where I should have done or said this or that, and I didn't and things would have been a lot better if I would have listened to my gut.

PORTLAND

Five days isn't enough, nor a lifetime, I would imagine...

ROADSTER DREAMIN'

So my buddy Jay sent me the link to the YouTube video below, and after watching it, I once again began completely enamored and obsessed with pre-war style roadsters. There is just something about them, and the time period that they represent...

Which then led me on a search for various ideas and inspiration for when I finally get the chance to build our roadster...

This one is my personal favorite, something about the lines... a Model T on '32 rails with the '32 grille and the tall stance just looks so so right. Almost like its just itching to blast off on a 150 mph run down the dry lakes.

INDESCRIBABLE

It doesn't happen very often, but every great now and again, something stops me dead in my tracks... it grabs my attention and it will not let go. Recently, it was the following music video from a guy named Willy Tea Taylor, a musician who's skill and passion are not easily equaled. This song is haunting and truthful and the accompanying video is equally impressive; it is impeccably photographed and artfully depicts a simple farmer's life. Both the film and music in their own right would be an inspiring piece of art, but the two combined are indescribable. Please, do yourself a favor and take the three minutes to watch and listen. Be sure to check out the rest of his work on YouTube and his website, Taylor is an amazing artist and is worthy of your attention.

FIX IT YOUR OWN SELF

I just re-read this post and I hate it, but I can't stand just tossing something out. So I'll leave it as is... I'll write up something better later.

Self-sufficiency is a dying art in this country.  Shop class is all but wiped out of public schools in the face of budget cuts in favor of other programs. Higher education is no longer a luxury, but an expectation; we are graduating more and more over-educated, under-qualified, over-entitled people into the workforce than ever before, all carrying the burden of federal student loans… and into the weakest economy and job market that our country has seen in decades.

God forbid if you end up damned to a career of manual labor.

FALL

Fall is my favorite season, with Spring being a close second. There is something about the temperatures being just right and the changing of the scenery all around. The leaves are vivid yellow, orange and crimson. The skies crisp, clean blue. The lower temperatures call for an extra layer, making it possible to don your favorite outerwear. The smells of spiced cider, holiday cooking and the sounds of crunching leaves under the feet of pedestrians.

I get really... mellow, in the fall, I turn a little more introverted and start to assess myself and the events of the past year. It's almost an annual review of sorts that I perform on myself. Not in the literal, I have a checklist of performance metrics that I have to hash out, but more of a quiet reflection.

29

I've been through this before... I'll start writing, then stop writing, start writing, stop writing. And it never works. I set some goals or get wrapped up in some tangent or halfhearted cause and it all gets lost in the end. Well, who knows if this is going to stick this time, probably not, but unlike all of the times before, I'm not making any promises. Besides, this is for me, not you. Don't take that the wrong way, but lets be honest, who really, I mean REALLY writes or blogs or draws or paints or whatever their art solely for others' enjoyment? No one, that's who. Fret not, I will still take you into consideration from time to time.

But that's the beauty in turning 29, I've found.

RETURNING SOON

This might make a comeback... depends on how I feel tomorrow.