Sam Shepard (November 5, 1943-July 27,2017)

Posted on by October 16, 2021

I loved this movie when it came out in 1984….still do, although I haven’t watched it for a long time….but, when I took my Dad to the dollar theater to watch it, I don’t think that he enjoyed it all that much.

He grew up on farms.

He told me that he’d seen that kind of thing happen….and that he didn’t need to see a movie about it.

Sam Shepard died on the 30th of July….a couple of days ago.

He was really good in this movie.

Whether he enjoyed the movie or not, it was fun taking my Dad to see it.

That was a good time.

Always Begin…Never Too Late…

Posted on by July 27, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=490PwO57VR8

There’s never a point where you can’t change.

You aren’t a prisoner of the status quo.

I maintain, most days.

Sometimes that’s the best you can do.

You get to a point where you recognize that what you do make money is something like a “necessary evil”.

It might not be “right livelihood”….but it’s adequate.

That’s a big club that I’m in…the club of “pretty good”….the club of “I can keep us afloat” with the job or the life that I’ve settled into.

A “job” doesn’t come with the promise of being rewarding….sometimes it’s just a job.

But if it’s a “necessary evil”, then how long does it take before we wake up and know that living in an “evil” isn’t something that we want or need to do?

That’s b.s., really, though. We need jobs. We need money to take care of things. I’m fortunate to have a good job.

The thing that makes me pause, though, is that I wonder if there’s something out there that I would be happy to return to on a Monday morning?

I know that there are things that you could work at everyday of the week and not feel bad about losing the last minutes of your “weekend”.

I know that there are things that you can do that, when Friday and the end of the week comes, you don’t feel like you survived 5 out of 7 of your days on this Earth so that you can really live for a couple of days….live until you have to do it all again and push through another 5 days until you use the two and have to go back and do it all again.

There are things that people do to make a living that they are excited about “attacking”….even if they do it 7 out of the 7 days.

There are so many ways to skin a cat.

AWWWWWWW!!! I’M A FREAKING WHINER!!! I HAVE IT GOOD…NO MATTER HOW DEPRESSING IT IS TO THINK ABOUT THE USPS!! THAT’S NOT A BAD THING…TO DRIVE THE MAIL AROUND. IT’S GOOD TO HAVE A JOB. PERIOD.

What I Pour into My Head…

Posted on by July 27, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNXQIrtOJe4

I’m not careful about what I pour into my head.

I get tired….I get lazy….I become unmotivated….and I listen to or watch things that don’t help me and that don’t help my family.

They don’t help me live in a better way.

They are the path of least resistance.

You have to fight negativity.

You don’t lazily relax into having a positive mindset.

The funny thing about this is that the small things that I think are inconsequential pastimes can do the most damage long term.

It’s the trickle of water that eventually creates a Grand Canyon.

It’s the small and steadily increasing negative mindset that becomes a stumbling block for the rest of your life.

I need positivity in my life

I need to be supported….and I need to support.

I like all this “positive thinking” stuff.

Thanks, positive people!

So many interesting people….running.

Posted on by July 25, 2017

Oh my gosh.

There are a lot of interesting people in the world.

Our tiny world.

Check out this story of Indian ultra runner Kavitha Kanaparthi.

It’s pretty darn inspirational.

There is so much left to see.

I hope that I keep my eyes open all the time.

National Radio Quiet Zone

Posted on by July 22, 2017

I may have used this video before, but it got me thinking about our digital age and what it means to us.

I drive around with my cellphone on all the time.

I am reachable.

That’s good when you have a family….it’s good to be reachable.

My inner “luddite” makes me wonder if that’s always good or necessary….to have a phone with you all the time.

We have a lot of personal electronic devices that we suppose are necessities now.

Here’s a community where that isn’t the case.

Because of some big dish installations, wifi and cell phone use is outlawed.

So, some other guys big technology trumps the “small guy’s technology”.

They even have an electromagnetic field sniffer cop who drives around and measures who is “cheating” on the rules.

That’s nuts.

All the people who live on the property are renters, though….so they have to abide by rules of the government.

The government owns the property where the dishes are located.

They sign an agreement when they move here, though, so it makes sense that they shouldn’t cheat on the rules.

The people who live here seem to have a sensitivity to electromagnet fields….and move here to avoid them.

Funny that you have to be someplace with big technology to be mandated away from the small and pervasive technology we know as “normal” now.

All these smart phones.

What did we do before all these smart phones?

Alex Honnold’s New Van….

Posted on by July 22, 2017

I did a post about Alex Honnold’s old van a while back.

He lives out of his van…..so the van was pretty darn nice.

I really liked that van.

Of course, it’s a van for a dude to live in comfortably.

It’s not for other people to live in (at the same time).

So….that part I don’t like.

If you had a bus, with room for kids to run around in, well, that would make more sense for me and my family.

That being said, I liked that old van.

It was a tricked out “fun mobile”….and it suited Alex Honnold’s needs.

Here’s his new van.

It’s pretty darn nice, too.

I wonder what happened to his old van?

I would have bought it….if he gave me a deal.

Hardrock 100! Billy Yang!

Posted on by July 20, 2017

Here’s a short film from Billy Yang about the Hardrock 100.

Here’s the YouTube description:

“You really have to embrace the unknown. You can try all you want to script it – how you see the day going and have these plans. But the mountains don’t care. They’re indifferent to whatever plans, whatever hopes you have…”

The 2016 Hardrock 100 was supposed to be a redemption race. In 2014, The North Face athlete Timothy Olson hit a figurative brick wall halfway through The Hardrock and was reduced to lying on the ground, sick and unable to continue for awhile. He eventually finished but wanted to prove to himself he could do better. He got that opportunity in 2016 when he was selected to run the race again.

Unfortunately for Timothy, deja vu would rear its ugly head and a similar fate awaited him at the Hardrock…

All of Billy Yang’s films are great.

Check him out on YouTube.

stay….and thrive

Posted on by July 19, 2017

Here’s another great Dylan Magastar video….this time about a couple who spent 20 years working in “corporate America” (40 years collectively)…and then made a lifestyle change, sold all their belongings, bought a nice van, converted it….and started traveling around full-time.

That’s a constant with most of these videos….”leaving”.

What’s so appealing about that?

Leaving.

What’s hard to figure out is how to thrive where you are….attack the status quo and make it exceptional….and be happy.

You can’t run to happiness….the constant of “you” is going to follow you wherever you go.

You can distract yourself for a moment….but if you’re not a happy person, changing the view isn’t going to change your dissatisfaction.

You can’t run to happiness….no matter how fast you go.

That being said, I know that there are places that I love that wouldn’t be a drain on my good mojo.

I know the places that I love….and want to get there soon.

But….I’m already there….so it’s no stress.

Where my family is….is the place I need to be.

What’s hard about figuring any of that out?

adventure happens by accident

Posted on by July 23, 2017

I mowed the lawn yesterday, and, somewhere during the process, I must have stopped momentarily on a fire ant hill.

My ankle is swollen like a bag of rising bread this morning.

Those bugs biting me left a mark.

WHAT AN ADVENTURE!!

That’s funny about “adventure”….it can happen anywhere and in the most mundane ways.

We went to Tryon to check out the equestrian center last night.

They have something called “Saturday Night Lights” there….on Saturday.

It was a grand spectacle….but didn’t feel like an adventure.

Lots of rich people….horses….rich people riding horses….jumping around on horses.

We left before the horses really started jumping over stuff….the kids were tired and we didn’t want to buy expensive food.

But….the facilities are amazing….world class.

I don’t think that you take a planned tour for adventure.

I think that you just “go”….and then compensate for all the weirdness and random events that you encounter as you make your way through the unfamiliar.

Keep your eyes open and your heart tender….all the adventure in the world is close at hand.

Adventure will bite you if you stand in the right place long enough.

Even standing still….adventure will bite you.

Saturday Night Lights