Both!

Since my kids were young, we’ve made it a tradition to go out to forest service land and cut down a real tree (with a cheap permit), which helps with wildfire mitigation. The trees are usually kind of scrawny and awkward as they’re not grown on a tree farm where they’re all spaced apart and tended to during their growth, but the experience is fun. We put our cheap, lightweight ornaments on that.

Our main tree is a fake one that we can put up earlier.

I have the same SDRE tee from the Diary anniversary tour. Plus, you’ve got a cat and chocolate pie - good life choices all around.

In my teens in the mountains of Colorado there were tons of lightning strikes. One summer, a lightning strike in our driveway took out our garage door openers and a TV.

This past summer, I did a 40+ mi bike ride that covered some very open areas of the CO plains. At my turn-around spot I could tell a storm was moving in quick and thought, “ah well, some sprinkles will feel alright.” Then I rode for about 9 miles in a downpour with lightning crashing around me while on a dirt road with just about nothing else around me (me swearing aloud the whole time). Finally got to some relative safety of some tight rock outcrops with overhangs. I was still outside and not totally safe, but it felt good to get out of that scary situation as much as I could for a bit while the storm passed.

It was chilly and rainy most of the day. Had written it off as a do-nothing afternoon/evening and then I got word that I didn’t get a job I’d applied for. I knew if I just sat around I’d be miserable, so I got on some warm biking clothes and headed out for a ride. Still bummed but glad I tried to do something to better my day rather than just feeling despondent.

Still here some 30+ years later. For a lot of people it was a passing phase and there was a lot of tough-guy bullshit that I think many people who felt marginalized bought into. But not everyone…

I read an interview one time (I think with one of the guys from Snapcase) that SE is just the beginning. If all you did was apply that label to yourself but not use that as a stepping stone for anything else in your life, then what good was it. That resonated with me a lot.

I don’t really go around advertising SE because I’m a middle-aged dude at work or at his kid’s volleyball game and I don’t really define myself by one label or lifestyle choice anymore. Being punk/alt/whatever at almost 50 looks different than it did at ages 16-22.

I’m grateful for the HC/punk family I grew up with and the memories of that scene I have and that I was able to avoid some of the pitfalls around me in my younger days.

Bookmarked to check this out. Thanks

Bandcamp is great, but man trying to keep track of what’s happening there is a chore. I really wish artist store pages would give an insight as to what’s already in my library, already on my wishlist or what might be marked down for a sale or pay what you want.

DJI Mic Mini that arrives today to pair with action camera and cycling.

I probably won’t get a ton of use out of it, but any time I try to capture my rides just for family to see what I’m up to, it’s all just wind noise.

Nah.

Hello, HR? Yeah, my coworker brought a knife to the office and is ranting about how he’s going to make things a lot more efficient around here…

Customer: “You whittled off a sizable portion of the product just so you wouldn’t have to work as hard while your competitors delivered on the specs. Contract denied.”

Thanks for the reminder to go delete my old comments and posts. Reddit is dead to me. I stopped using it two years ago. I’ll occasionally go there if there’s a legit looking search result for what I’m looking for, but I don’t bother logging in or interacting with the platform. Reddit is blocked by my work, which is typically what I’m searching for from there so it’s useless anyways.

Mass Effect: Andromeda - I knew 1 & 2 were held in high regard, but I hadn’t played them. Actually, I’d played about 10 minutes of one of them a couple years before and it just wasn’t what I was in the mood for at that time. So, I went into Andromeda without any expectations really and thought it was a perfectly fine game.

Titanic.

Kate Winslet stays human.

The network TV spin-off for this FBI task force is going to be great.

Cycling now that the weather’s warmer. My family and pets. Coffee and word games.

Thanks for the reminder to look for the good. I often feel like there should be so much more, but I know that’s more than some people have, so I should feel lucky.

Enjoy counting how many times I tell it it’s a piece of shit on a daily basis. Half the time it doesn’t play anything remotely close to the artist/album I request when listening to music. Other times it just flat out doesn’t work. We got a few years ago when they were discounted around holidays - don’t think we’ll be buying any more.

…and nothing of value was lost

Trump has been trash since the 1980s. He was a garbage president in 2016. If you “fell for it” in 2020 and/or 2024, you’re dumber than dirt.

The Past Is Still Alive by Hurray for the Riff Raff.

Easily one of my most played of 2024. Shame I missed them when they came through my city. Loved the songwriting, the music and the singing. The whole album was strong and the vibe resonated with me.

Mar-a-Lago local legend. He’s the current KOM on the golf course / McDonald’s segment.