under an old brass paperweight.

(to quote part of a toby keith song. ach.)
what i've done today (in no particular order):
.i done woked up. which is an accomplishment in itself.
.stressed about bills, rent, snow, how to swap an alternator on a '99 subie, that sorta thing.
.pooped.
.put on pajamas. (which, at 15.13 in the afternoon, i still have on.)
.looked up bike shop websites for towns around the country where there are grad schools who offer environmental ed master's degrees.
.stared at pictures of leadville and bikes.
.thought about bikes.
.ate breakfast.
.talked about eating lunch.
.looked at the paul components website. got a little disappointed, cos he only uses iso bottom bracket spindles. talk about snobby.
.ate lunch.
.drank tea.
.talked about drinking tea.
.looked at craigslist.
.thought about bikes.
.looked at service prices at various bike shops.
.thought about going to the united bicycle institute.
.thought about bikes.
.talked about bikes.
.looked at the website for the "cloud city wheelers" in leadville. (Pb.)
.decided Pb would be gorgeous this time of year.
.looked at phil wood's website. green ano hubs. totally 1993. and totally awesome. plus he makes a shimano 8/9/10 hub. time to rob some banks.
.read the line "The good and the very good, the bad and the very bad, and the incorrigibles. Have compassion for the kindergarten pupils, however, who are doing the best they can and do not deserve to be shot at. . ."
.drank tea.
.thought about joining the cloud city wheelers. found out that it'd be round near impossible cos they're in Pb and i'm in ballard. found out it'd cost about a jackson and a lincoln. thought about whether that's a prohibitive cost ITTET or whether the neighbour dog ("puke bark") is actually a government spy.
.thought about moving to Pb.
.put on a shirt. and another shirt.
.flushed the toilet.
.forgot to brush my teeth.
.thought about bikes.
.had some toast.
.and an eggie.
.tried to apply for a job at "cycles of life" in Pb, but couldn't find the "apply your awesomeness here" button.
.watched the chickens eat corn.
.watched the chicks run around being cute.
.stirred "hunny" into the panucaku batter.
.put vanilla in there, too.
.did dishes. thought about moving to "norway". (or "norge", but i still can't pronounce that as well as "norway".)
.thought about arapahoe basin.
.and loveland basin.
.saw a picture of my rental shop boss without his shirt on.
.drank some tea to keep the bile down.
.wondered why the crystal has a couple pictures of the liftline for the new gondola, but not the man who cut the trees to make it possible.
.thought about bikes.
.skis, too.
.bikes.
.bikes. bikes. bikwes . tghjkasdfgl;kjh 'hj;ldhkgfas ;lkIA AA A AAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
.looked outside. it's sunny.
and: SCENE.

Newfound freedom

How freeing it felt to comfortably eat alone in a restaurant, without my nose buried in a book, and with a sincere smile for anyone making eye contact. To accept the host's "just one today?" query without feeling little or lonely.

I achieved another bit of liberation today. The three word games (two being variations of Boggle) that I play on-line seem to have score ceilings for me. The best I've done in Boggle has been the middle of the "low" scoring line, just a tad above "very low", but well below medium. And I've been stuck at 990 point on PathWords for months. Periodically I trash the links and say "oh well" or something else that rhymes . . . .

But I like playing word games! So today I just decided "PLAY THE GAME AND IGNORE THE SCORE!" And why not? So that's MY new rule, and I'm stickin' to it.

making hammers out of pencils.

while perusing the jobs posting on craigslist (CL) (and sneezing violently into my elbow) i came across a position for which i would be perfectly qualified: city clerk/treasurer for the city of cascade, idaho. there's a long list of duties, all of which i can dispatch quickly and easily and "with effervescence". a "synod" follows, as always, conveniently bullet-pointed for the "feint of hart".
."municipal elections (through 1/1/11)." that's easy. i'm also the mayor and the city council and the police chief. and sheriff, for that matter.
."maintaining and collecting fees. . ." let's just shorten that to "collecting fees".
."preparation of ordinance & resolution documents as directed by city council". wouldn't hafta worry about that. there'd be no more city council.
."publish all required notifications in local newspaper as required by statute". i don't know why we gotta listen to a buncha stone or concrete peices of boring public art. scratch this whole deal!
."management of all city documents". i'll manage your documents. WITH A ROUND FILE!!!!
."providing information as requested to the public". what kinda socialist place you think ima run??? "public"? that's for commies and people who live in luxembourg.
."management responsibility for city deputy clerk position". oh shit. i get a "deputy"? guess you can find me at the golf course!!!
."attending all city council meetings and producing the minutes". i can "produce" (make shit up) all kinda minutes!
."preparing council meeting packets prior to meetings". ditto.
."other tasks as requested by mayor or city council". "go to the golf course!" "go home early!" done.
."maintain accounts payable". "no, we don't have any money. . .no, it ain't my fault. maybe next fiscal year. . .no, you can't talk to my supervisor. . .cos he ran off to fiji with YOUR MOM!!!!!!!!!!"
."maintain payroll". i know how to stack that paper on my own desk. what else i needa do?
."prepare monthly financial statements by fund". um. . .grant is on the left, benjamin is on the right.
."maintain general ledger & make journal entries". um, journals is private, bitchez.
."reconcile all general ledger accounts". ain't no "reconcilin" nut'n up in dis joint, aight?!
."prepare records for annual audit by contracted C.P.A. firm". um, records, journals, you guys wanna know ALL my shit, don't you?!
."prepare annual budget". easy: paper in my basket, copper in yours.
."other tasks as requested by mayor or city council". "buy yourself lunch on the city." "take a trip to antigua. on the city." "buy yourself a hummer. on the city." "contract your brother to be the 'drywall supplier' for 3 mil a year."
this job is AWESOME!!!

one other quick "news" item: also posted on the boise "jobs" page: "50$ CASh to break my U Lock". um. . .make that "1000$" in "unmarketed bills" and we'll talk. just don't talk to your crazy neighbour with the angle grinder and the weird glint in his eye. your "U LOCK" may not be all he breaks.
peace.