boy makes list

It's true; "Best of this" and "best of that", we can't help it. The wonders of the genome. It's that time of year when the yahoo music group starts to toss out our top ten CDs of the year. It'll all be correlated, tabulated, and put forth into a second round of voting for the overall champeens that I call the "Ommies". The whole process of voting sounds like a distant European election but the results are always excellent.

Just a start for tonight.

I had an inordinate amount of Ryan Adams today. First of all, I needed a new rear wheel for my townie bike "Dooley" (best bike ever!). I stopped in at College Cyclery on So. Virginia and promptly rolled my horribly mangled aft boot across the floor. The wrench working this morning, a dead-on Ryan Adams impersonator, said, "that thing don't even ROLL straight", and truer words were never spoken. After some twisting, banging, axle greasing, and all-around monkey business, I had a new wheel, two new tires and four tubes. Bingo. Back on the road for a brunch at Pneumatic Diner (up to number two on my all-time restaurant list) in downtown Reno. I diverged from the norm and ordered a Shredder Bazukka (third best on the menu) and listened to...an entire Whiskeytown (fourth best group ever) CD with Ryan Adams crooning away. Can't be any more, can there? Back to the car and the drive down to Soundwave CDs (best music store in town) for a look at the new CDs and a run through my list of 'to listens' (see above). What do you know but the new Ryan Adams (third CD this year) is staring straight at me. I'm sure you know the rest. Oh, and when the cashier girl rang in my order and punched in my phone number for my 'buy CDs get free stuff program" she asked if I wanted to use my $50 credit. What? I have no credit. The owner taps my shoulder and tells both of us that I'm not "suppose to know about that"...it's coming in the mail. Shopping local and hanging with the crew always pays off...

I'll be house and dogsitting over the next ten days. The girls (first and second best) get in on Tuesday...two dogs, two girls; seems fair enough. I'll have my cell...

Happy Hoidays to all.

x

t

black's

Will someone explain to me how my life has become intertwined with 'my people' in Reno and Christine? She's very pushy.

I have a very specific path that I run when in town on Saturdays. As long as I've been here I've chased the same rabbits, leapt the same holes, done the same thangs. I pitch my man-purse over my head when I wander into Soundwave CDs on West Moana. I have the discussion of upcoming shows with the (alledged) ingrate at the register. Yesterday we debated the merits of New Year's shows: the Blasters at Liquid Lounge in Reno (fifty effing dollars), or Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express in Oakland ($15). Hmm, $40 for gas...the Mission Express! You see, Soundwave ended up a part of a lovely (long distance) hunt that someone sent me on last year (who?). Also, I saw Chuck in Reno about this time in 2004 and pushed someone to see them in London three nights later. We have horribly goofy pictures of me with Chuck in Reno and 'her' with Chuck in London.

Before that I was in Dharma Books on the river. Christine wanted me to see if they had a copy of Black's (my thought exactly). There was a text fired back saying... 'dictionary', but it wasn't until I almost purchased the wrong Black's (rulings, not dictionary) that I was subtely guided in the right direction. Cheron (that's her on the right) didn't have any dictionaries but called over to the other locally-owned bookshop and found the fifth, sixth, and seventh editions available...and promptly had them put on hold. Oh, before I go on, you should know that when I walked into Dharma, Cheron greeting me thusly, "Hey. How's it going? How's Christine?" It never ends. Off to Black and White to grab a sweet copy of Black's seventh edition which cut my mpg back by about five. Why do lawyers need a whole seperate dictionary? The twenty volume Oxford ($1200 used at B & W) isn't good enough?

While on the river I stopped in to see the gals at Bussola. Hang on...the converation starts, "Hey. How's it going? How's Christine?" Really! She's never lived in Reno! She just another pretty face. Get over it! The girls at Bussola played in the hunt last year, volunteered to wrap and pack a 'pirate' book while we walked about in July '05, and generally are the coolest. I wouldn't be put off by a reference to 'Todd'...girls; can't do a lick with 'em.

Started the day at Pneumatic Diner with a plate of Huevos Rancheros. Fine. Yes. She's been there. Something about Sunday waffles, finding lost watches, smiles about the concert from the night before. I sat at the table reading the Times, glancing at the puzzle, wondering about how sweet it would be live near Tahoe: all the hiking, skiing, high blue skies, white-water kayaking. I remember walking down the street one night and some well-versed street person saying, "Hey, you two look good...have a nice evening..." I think it was her, not me, that drove that comment.

I stopped by the Nevada State Capitol as I headed back home. Gov. Kenny Guinn came out to say hi...the conversation started....nevermind.

and that's that.

t

but i must work

Near impossible to sort out what weekends are meant to be; relaxing, cleaning, crosswords, cooking, or combinations. In the end, what we choose to do on Sat and Sun reflects how we see life. Do we sit down and make sure we finish everything on our 'to do' list?; do we do some, forget others, and just get on with it? Is it a time of accomplishment or a time of just letting things move through the dynamic? I think I've got an answer...I have my answer. If you spent 48 hours pounding away at life, you've lost the plot. Life can be defined in so many ways...I'm using the 'todd' definition of "something that has to be done because someone told me it had to be done." Very simple. If you're spending your weekends traipsing down that little path...you need to think about the newspaper; think about a a long, easy breakfast with the ones you love; think about sitting on the back porch wondering when you'll get up to refill your coffee. "I think I should rustle up some grub for dinner. What? About three hours away? Perfect." Stumbling over a Will Shortz puzzle, listening to Garrison weave his yarns, checking on the plants, walking up the road to see of the horse and goat are still friends; nothing more, nothing less. I think it's a loss of time away from the world, and time with those very cool people in your life, that drives us down the road of misery. As Todd Snider says, "I'm only one man..."

Love to all. Come over for dinner on Sunday and we'll play games.

t

soup kitchen

Well, well. I recall chatting, not so many months ago, about how I felt Autumn in the air; the leaves changing and the fresh smell of MY new year. Now it's just a few weeks to official Winter, and my, how things have changed. Our second good snow of the year is fluttering down this evening and pasting the ground with a beautiful flock. Fallon actually gets very little annual precipitation (about 5"), so two snows by early December is near crazy. For those who get snowbound early year, you must remember that a 'snow' here is just a few inches on the ground...gone in a day or two. The Sierra, about 70 miles due west, gets dozens of feet each annum so the skiers have some resort. Funny enough, little snow up there so far; late openings at Squaw and Sugar Bowl with booming bases of 28". I'll be taking the girls up tubing over the New Year and I'm sure they wonder why sledding can be so difficult; after all, you've got to sit on your gigantic tube while the lift pulls you back to the top. Arizonans.

The kitch. Why make anything but soup when the temp changes? Exactly. Corey make some fab soup over Thanksgiving because you can't NOT make soup when the weather changes. You think it's a subtle thing, something you can control, but you can't. This house has been filled with sweet roasted peppers and a lovely lemon / egg / onion soup. Perfect.

I'll wander next week and find that thing who makes my life happy. The girls come out on the 27th and we'll spend a week doing all the cool stuff that kids do...okay, cool stuff that I do, which by default, is the cool stuff.

t