Friday Mindless Musical Mayhem

This last one is crazier than it looks.

Point of note.

Just because I like to keep track of these things. You know for posterity's sake.  Yesterday was my first bike commute of the year.  One full month later than my first ride to work last year.  I also rode today and dang it was cold.  25 degrees at 17 miles per hour make for cold toes and face.  That is all.

Tragedy after Tragedy (This is a positive post....Really)

The news coming from the black hole that is the media has been dismal this week, and we've certainly had no shortage of bad news recently.  I began to feel the black fingers of a deep dark dismal mood of despair starting to creep in to my psyche because between the Boston thing and the Connecticut thing and the news man telling me about all the other things that are happening in the world I was beginning to loose hope for humanity.  But then I read Patton Oswalt's take on the current state of affairs and it really started to turn things around.

"I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity."

But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.

But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will."

  And he's right.  We are on a planet with over 6 billion people and this was the act of a few disturbed people. The world isn't headed down hill (at least this isn't proof of any downward slide) we're just more plugged into everything that's happening everywhere.  50 years ago we had the daily newspaper and the evening news to tell us everything that's happening in the world. If you paid attention to those sources you got a glimpse of only the top stories because they all had to fight over the very limited space.  Tragedies were only the truly huge tragedies.  Then after you spent an hour getting that bummer update you concentrated on what was in front of you (maybe) your family, your community, your life.  You went on and lived your life.

Now we have 24 hour news channels, news websites, blogs, Facebook, twitter, YouTube, etc.  All filling your life with tragedy on a constant basis.  Each outlet is trying to mine for the newest outrage, tragedy, or sign of the apocalypse in order to win the ever raging war for viewers.  If it can be sensationalized or spun for its otherworldly awfulness, then it will because it will keep people tuned in.  If you pay attention to this ongoing parade of bad news, it's easy to see how one could become overwhelmed by a world headed to hell in a hand-basket.  Even in the face of honest to dog tragedies we now have to deal with 24 hour coverage where each aspect is dissected and analyzed, each video clip is repeated and replayed, until you can't escape the carnage.  50 years ago we would have read the headline, maybe the special edition, and watched the evening news, then turned back to our daily lives.

In light of the recent events in Boston, with these thoughts in my mind, I began to think about the world outside my window, not the world on the screen, and that world reflects Patton's words above.  I live in a vibrant community that is filled with and overwhelming number of kind, caring, fun people.  A diverse community concentrated in a small city where new immigrants and "locals" share cultures and good will.

And that is what I'm asking everyone who despairs at the state of the world (as seen on TV), lay off the media, look out of your own window, and judge what you see there.  Does that world leave you feeling down, and if it does is there anything that you can do about it? And when all else fails laugh, because evil hates laughter.  We want to be free from fear, free from despair, and free to party and not get hassled by the man!

Trailbuilders premier

Now I can say that the feature film is even better than the trailer builds it up to be.


The Trailbuilders (Trailer 12/18/12) from Tamarack Media on Vimeo.

My friend Josh the heavyweight behind Timber and Stone had a little party this past weekend to celebrate the release of the film, The Trailbuilders.  As Josh said, it was an excuse to throw a party for all the friends he has made building trails over the years.  Indeed it was a good time and by the end of the evening my hand was sore from all the high-fives I was giving out.  It made me realize that I don't often see a lot of people who are dear to me.

If you spend any time outside, you've been on a trail that was built by someone.  The film does an extraordanery job of opening a window on all of the work that goes into trailbuilding, and also does a good job of capturing Josh's sense of humor and how much fun it is to work with him. 

I knew this day would come

Back in December Luna was given a diagnosis and a prognosis and a short term expiration date.  We started preparing ourselves for the inevitable and tried to get on with life while making the most of the time we had together.  Well the end came yesterday.  After another quick two-day slide downhill we made the decision to end her suffering and put Luna down.  It was gut-wrenchingly painful and a great relief all at the same time.  I still haven't worked through the complex emotions that come from loosing what was essentially a family member.  As I've think about it I realize this is the first close death I've had to deal with in over 15 years.

Anyway I do have a lot for which to be thankful.  Luna was with us for over 4 months after a best case scenario estimate of 6 weeks, and she was wonderfully healthy right up to the last three days.  We went on lots of good runs.  She started coming to work with me.  I said yes more than no.  She even got to romp in the lake briefly.  (It was damn cold and she never got fully in but just running around on the beach and getting her paws wet had a huge effect on her happiness quotient.) Most importantly, we all appreciated her presence in our daily lives.  Nothing like a little death on the horizon to bring out the love, doncha know. 

Anyway, we said our tearful goodbyes in our living room, while the veterinarian administered the shot and she slipped away.  With her mission of love accomplished she slipped away from the pain and into an eternity of well earned peace. Then I dug her grave, each shovelful of earth was a tiny prayer, and set her in her final resting place.  And just like that this whole drawn out affair was over.  No more wondering when it will all happen, because it was done.  I have to say mixed with the sorrow for me there is some feeling of relief too.  Once I rid myself of the embedded tics of her presence (like thinking I hear her claws on the wood floor, the morning/evening walk routine, and wondering if I closed the front gate after I have left the yard) things will start to feel more normal.  Right now it's still raw.

Quotations

Sometimes a good quotation says a lot.

“He used often to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. ‘It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,’ he used to say. ‘You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring.

Disassemble to assemble

I've been doing a lot of this recently.  My wife asks me, "What are you doing down in the basement?"  and shakes her head with a puzzled look on her face when I say, again, "I'm working on bikes."



Disassemble To Assemble from Michele Colucci on Vimeo.