Brian Anderson is Awesome

Brian Anderson came out publicly.

This guy is a legend, and although it was more than a little sad to hear how hard being in skate culture was for him at times I'm pumped that he is out now and living his best life.

Brian Anderson should be your favorite skater, even if you don't like skateboarding. The guy is rad. And not for nothing: he's fucking awesome at skateboarding.

Story of Your Life (Not Actually Arrival)

I read Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang many years ago. According to the helpful receipt I saved to use as a bookmark I bought the book on 2 Sept 2002 at around 9 PM. Details are fun! What was I doing at a (now defunct) Borders bookstore at 9 PM on a Monday? No idea. Buying books, obvs.

The story is a masterpiece, and it stuck with me over the years. The premise is deeply affecting, and the story itself is very well written. I loved it so much that when I heard they made a movie I dug the book off the bookshelf and re-read it again after over a decade.

You should read it if you like words, and books, and reading. The movie trailer outlines a much different narrative than the one described in the book. Also the story will probably take you less time to read. Even though the movie is getting great reviews they should be considered separately. The payoff of the story will be a lot better if you haven't seen the movie. So buy it, and read it. Think of the rest of the anthology as an excellent bonus.

As an aside: made a rare appearance at the local bar last night and a girl approached me and asked me if I was watching the football game on the tv. I said, no, not really. She said, 'oh because this time of year all the guys I know are obsessed with football'. I said, that's not me. She said, 'what do you do?' I said, 'I read books.' She would have been less surprised if I said "I kick puppies."

You're Doing it Wrong: Trick or Treating

Originally published this on 2 Nov 2015, but since IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN (GET EXCITED FOR HALLOWEEN) I'm reposting it. You're welcome(?).

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I guess this is a real thing that happened. A parent posted these around their neighborhood in Philly or its environs.

Someone forwarded it to me so who knows? The internet is full of things that are not true. But it is funny and sparked a discussion amongst the peeps. I mean a discussion beyond the gross helicopter parenting and projected sadness on display in the flyer. (It is hard to decide which part is the most lame. Is the the 'don't exclude anyone part'? Or is the part where you should hand out candy that is gluten free, dairy free, and nut free? Lord have mercy on this poor kid because his parents are failing.)

What is the lamest halloween trick or treat you can put in someone's bag?

This list is a very strong summary of utter garbage. Let's rate them on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a full size snicker's bar, and 1 being an apple or whatever.

• Carrot sticks? Go f yourself. (Not Rated)
• Smarties - Not good but they will do the job. 4 out of 10 wrappers in your pocket.
• Necco wafers - have only seen these in movies about the apocalypse because they are the last thing left to eat. 1 out of 10 zombies.
• Lifesavers - Could eat it if you were dying. 2 out of 10 red tongues. 
• Brach's Lemon Drops - My favorite, except that they ruin your mouth. 8 out of 10 cold sores. 
• Raisins - You are a troll. 0 out of 10 opportunities to be socially well adjusted.

There were some other options suggested by my friend Eames:

• Pennies. This was definitely the worst thing I remembered. 0 out of 10 pieces of garbage you rescued from your ashtray, adjusted for inflation.
• Homemade popcorn ball -  Depends on if it is caramel corn or not. If it is homemade caramel corn then that is actually good. 8 out of 10 pieces of popcorn stuck in your teef. If it is anything but caramel corn then it sucks. 1 out of 10 balls of sadness. 

Hope you had a good halloween. Mine was quiet. I loathe dress up, if you hadn't heard.

Jose Fernandez is Dead

Sad news out of Miami this morning as Jose Fernandez died in the early morning hours in a boating crash. Baseball is boring and lame - too much baloney about playing the game the 'right way' - but Jose Fernandez was neither of those things; he was the antithesis of boring and lame baseball. He was really good, and he was a joy to watch.

I'm reminded of something Shea Serrano wrote in a series he did on coaching middle school basketball (which I cannot recommend highly enough; read it here in its entirety). In describing one of his immensely talented, handsome, and charming players he said something like, "I don't know how it would feel to be a master of the universe, but it looks like a hell of a lot of fun." That's how I felt when I watched Jose Fernandez.

He was 24.

I Went There: Vancouver

(One in an occasional series.)

One of the reasons I haven't been blogging is that I have been on the road. First there was a lot of domestic travel (covered that in a previous post), and then I was visiting The Northern United States Provinces of Socialized Medicine Canadia and then a couple cities in Central America (more on that in a bit). 

Vancouver is a lovely city any time of year, but particularly so in the summer. I had to go out there for work (poor me), and one afternoon I had lunch down at the seawall. The great thing about Van City is that it is pedestrian friendly, the people are mostly nice, and there's a lot of cool neighborhoods to visit. If you like to shop while you do your sightseeing then you will be in heaven. (I'm not a big fan of shopping when I travel because there's nothing in other cities you can't buy in Costa Mesa, but if that's your thing, cool.) If good food and walkable areas and the occasional beer is your thing then you will enjoy Van City quite a lot. It is a very popular vacation destination for a reason.

A downside to Van City is the large drug addicted and able bodied homeless population. I had not seen anyone shooting up or nodded out in the streets in a while but all of that was a part of some minor sightseeing in Gastown. It's pretty sketchy down there in spots! Liberal cities are great until you see so many people completely uninterested in any kind of work. Again: there's no shortage of drug addicted and mentally ill homeless in my neighborhood but Vancouver had hundreds of young, able people sleeping in the streets. It's a fine line between lazy and addicted, and Van City seems to encourage the former while enabling the latter. Overall a fun visit. Recommended. 

Go to a Show: Sam Outlaw

Went to a Sam Outlaw show last night. It was great.
He wrote this song for his mom, which is also great.

Full disclosure: Sam and I have been friends for a long time. He has popped up in this space a few times over the years. Funny thing about Sam is that he was always a star, even when he was a 21 year old kid fresh out of college. He wasn't famous, but he was always a star. Some people are like that. Anyway, his music is good if you like melodies with some twang. It probably has more in common with the Eagles than it does with modern prototype 'country' music, but that's a credit in my opinion. And if you aren't here for my opinion then what are you here for?

Sam is touring now. Get out there and see him in person. If you're lucky he will do a live reading of the letter someone wrote his manager because they felt Sam was going to hell because he wrote/performs a song called Jesus Take the Wheel (and Drive Me to a Bar).