I’m deadlining this week and also dealing with the aftermath of my crushed roof, so posting may (or maybe not; we’ll see how it goes) be light. But here’s some good reading. This summer (and now, this fall) Vin Suprynowicz has been running a long series on what happened (and may yet happen) at the Bundy ranch. His first episode (1 of 6) is here. His latest (5 of 6) is here. I don’t see a good chain of links between them, but you can find them by searching one of the archive categories they appear in, like private property.…
Category: Rural and small-town living
Life far from freeways, Starbucks, malls, and other benefits/distractions
I’ve linked recently to Ryochiji’s posts about his Serenity Valley cabin’s very, very — VERY — close call with a wildfire. Lots of other worthwhile stuff at his site, Laptop and a Rifle. Back in the winter of 2011, when his property was less developed than it is now, he vowed to spend 31 days there under a strict set of rules. He called his experiment Project 31 & despite the rigor of his terms, it was a success. Here are all his posts about it Very Joel-ish. Without the curmudgeonliness.
So there I was this afternoon, waiting for BHM to come back online (seems that failed security update was a doozy), listening to the sound of roofers overhead. Scrape, scrape. Thud, thud. Bang, bang.
Then — suddenly — BOOOOOM! Absofreakinlootly sonic. What? What? What on earth have those guys done? But the sound seems to have come from the front of the house and they’re working on the back. They also go very, very silent very quickly.
I look out the front window and there are … wires. Not just wires. Big, thick cables hanging down.
I look further:
If I start referring to myself in the third person like some TV celebrity, or using “we” when I’m really saying “I,” smack me silly. This could go to my head.
Seven fair entries. Ten ribbons.
Safe spaces. Why not for geeks, too? Safe spaces for gun owners? Anarchists? Oh, the possibilities … So if you like both kale and bacon, does that make you a libertarian? (Via Alphecca) Oh, Kevin Wilmeth. Ouch. Only in The Onion: “The pros and cons of militarizing the police.” (Stolen from Wendy.) I think Egyptian officials are having a little fun at our expense. Not sure whether this is high-tech creepy or just Cold Warish enough to be weird. Gov’t listens in on scientists listening to marine life and … well, it’s complicated. (H/T H.) You have the right to…
But I think the whole table thing is going to be a bust. I got my entries to the county fair today. Five arty items checked in at one building, two crafty projects checked into another. The art check-in went okay. The young girl accepting my work wasn’t sure about anything, but she was patient and asked. There was some intense discussion among the check-in ladies about whether colored pencil drawings actually qualified as pencil drawings since they weren’t black and white. Maybe because of the color they were actually pastels? (Fortunately the artists on the other side of the…
Too hot to accomplish anything right now. Gads, it’s so nice to be able to say “too hot” when talking about the coastal NorthWET.
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One thing I did accomplish this weekend: I got my entries ready for the county fair. Tomorrow is submission day for all the artsy-craftsy stuff.
Feels kinda silly to be doing this. I wouldn’t have entered anything in a fair when I was 10. Or 14. So why am I doing it now that I’m (mumble mumble)?
Everything — everything! (except memberships) — is 25 percent off at the JPFO store through Thursday. And even with memberships, there’s an ongoing 25th-anniversary special. Much good stuff. Prices low enough to enable you to share many items with friends. Books. DVDs. Targets. Bumper Stickers. Those wonderful, EZ-read Gran’pa Jack booklets. Tee shirts & hats. More Izula knives! I wish I’d thought of this line myself, but I’ll steal it from David Codrea, who headlined his post about the big sale at Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership with, “Have we got a deal for you!” 🙂 —– And…
… what these are? Or more pertinently, how they were originally used? They’re tin and appear to be of a kind and vintage with old stamped metal ceilings. I picked up a baggie full of them at a thrift store yesterday for $1.50 and despite what I said about using only items already on hand, I think they’ll have a place in my funky table project. I see gold spray paint in their future. But I’m curious about their history and purpose.
Ah, the good old days at the Funny Farm. But that’s another story. No basketweaving, these days. No therapeutic leather tooling. No drugs (damn)! But I did spend this weekend on other mental-health therapies.
To wit …