The Fair

1) In a not-so-fun fun house
2) On the ferris wheel
3) Travis and Jamison (ahhhh)
4) Very impressive horns
5) Cute and cuddly thing and a stupid dwarf cow-left to right respectively

"Summer Camp" Bend, Oregon

Posting pictures is sooo much easier than writing a blog. These are photos of The Decemberists performing during the Summer Camp festival in Bend, Oregon. Then, ofcourse, there's Fern staying well hydrated.

The Wedding

Here's my favorite shot of Ben and Devlyn's wedding. This is the moment when the parade of attractive bagpipers, children throwing leaves, and bridesmaids finally stepped out of the aisle and all that was left in front of Ben was Devlyn. As all who were there know, she looked absolutely stunning. The look on Ben's face says it all. Together, they resembled a royal couple.

Joshifer on the Fisher Creek Loop

Cold As a Mountain Lake

Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve Ale: The Choice of World Champion Log Rollers and Beer Lovers Throughout the World.

Jennifer on the Dock at Redfish

A picture is worth a thousand words, so...

Tomorrow is just a day away

I've started blogs and journal entrees before with whining prefaces about not feeling inclined to write whatsoever. Sometimes its a struggle and I've got to let everyone know about it. "Wah!! I want to eat a bowl of cereal and watch 'America's Wildest Police Chases! Boo hoo, 'Crime Scene Investigator' just started!" When I get this whiny about something as easy as typing a few words for friends and family to hear what's on my mind or what I'm up to, I mentally bitch slap myself and do it anyway. Here's me doing it anyway. Fascinating so far, huh?

Tomorrow at 4:30, Fern and I are hitting the road-the pristine Redfish Lake our destination. We're looking forward to a mountain bike ride over the legendary Fisher Creek loop. Fern has recently made a noticeable jump in fitnesse and finesse on the bike, so I know that she will especially love the ride.

It's been five years since I last romped around the Sawtooths. Its almost embarrasing to admit that, because they're only a few hours away and so startling, so pristine, that its a crime not to visit every summer. This won't happen this weekend, but I'd love to hike up to one of the dozens of blue, glassy high mountain lakes and set up camp. Maybe in the next month or two Fern and I could manage another trip to the Sawtooths in order to enjoy a more intimate campout in a slightly more remote location. Fern keeps mentioning a place called Blue Lake. Apparently, only she and like one other person have ever set eyes on the area.

We're making the trip to Redfish Lake for the purpose of attending our friends' wedding. Originally Fern's friends, now mine I hope (can I atleast hang with you guys?), Devlyn and Ben are tying the knot at one of the most beautiful locations on earth. And to think that the backdrop for so many marriages is a cross, steeple, and maybe some stained glass! How could a couple do better than a glacial lake surrounded by thick pine forest and towering jagged peaks? Really. I want to know.

From what I've heard, there's going to be some quality social bonding going on between a lot of people. Fern is supplying a five person tent, in which we will attempt to shelter five people from the bitterly cold mountain nights. I'm going to be in there somewhere, I think. I like the idea. I think it will be fun. I just hope that people are mindful of what they eat the day before. Smells happen, I know, but still, there's a degree of prevention that everyone might want to take. Maybe Fern and I won't do Pollo Rey for burritos after all. At any rate, Fern and I have a game plan for dealing with a potentially loud or distracting bedtime. We call it "A Flask of Southern Comfort".

Anyway, all of Fern's (and my) friends are a hoot and a half, so I'm really looking forward to having a lot of fun in such a beautiful setting.

Stuff People Do and Stuff

Let's return to our more sober, serious, life altering blog subjects, shall we?
I'll warn you, I'm really not going to put much effort into what I'm going to write. I've had one beer tonight, and one is enough. I'm so drowsy I can barely stretch my pinkies out enough to type my Qs and Ps.
So, truth and stuff. Check it. There are some things that we believe that we take for granted as true. The sun will rise in the east sort of stuff. There's some stuff many of us take for granted as givens that seem just as obvious to us. For example, our beliefs.
I contend that it is these things that are so accepted as true that deserve to be challenged the most. Many beliefs/practices persist through tradition merely because people don't bother to seriously question them. And they fill an emotional need.
Jennifer and I have a hard time understanding why people want to have kids and why so many do, when having kids enslaves the parents in so many ways. Ofcourse, "enslave" is a harsh word, but parenthood really, truly goes a long way to narrowing and selecting the sort of lifestyle a person is going to have for years and years. No, I can't fully appreciate the emotional rewards people recieve from having children, and because of that, Its rather dumb that I even say anything about it, but I have an ideal, and that ideal is a life of freedom, personal growth/enlightenment, and such... I just don't see how having kids would make me freer.
Living together. Here's something else people tend to do. Husbands and wives, and quite often, boyfriends and girlfriends. I've felt pressure to do it with my girlfriend as well. At times its an attractive idea. But I recognize that living together is "something that people do", and just like "something people just believe", living together might not actually be the best thing for happiness n' all. Thus, a little rational thinking might come in handy... and after having done this rational thinking, I've come to think that the idea of living together is largely irrational. 'Course, this isn't a final conclusion. And of course, everyone is different, and different living arrangements might be better for different people. The way I put it to Fern tonight was--every day we look forward to quality time, and its during this quality time that we are in our best moods and have the most fun. These are times after work, or on the weekends, when we aren't kranky, tired, whatever...when we've mentaly prepared ourselves the entire rest of the day for the good time and good mood that we will have during those few minutes or hours of quality time that we intend on having. I believe that it is during these times that we should come together and revel in each others good will/mood, attraction and feeling. .. anyway, that's how I put it, more or less. Fern actually brought up the subject and sentiment...having expressed similar sentiments before, I could only concur.
But, see?? Having kids, sleeping together, living together...here's some things people just do, yet I have serious hesitations about... anyway, told you I wouldn't try. Hope I can make it up to my bed... any thoughts?

Yeehaw, I'm feeling like I'm about to puke and I'm not sure why. Am I having bad caffeine withdrawls after drinking a Mountain Dew a few hours ago? You know, I'm not sure things the color of Mountain Dew should be consumed. Plutonium and the green slime you buy in coin machines are the same hue as The Dew. Would anyone reading this take a swig of those things? I would hope not. Alls I gots to say is that I'm real glad I'm a member of the smartest species on the planet, sos I can learn to avoid me some neon green food items from here on out.

Er, I suppose there could be other reasons I feel naseous. The minivacation I took this weekend, for example. Last night Fern and I arrived back in Boise after spending a couple of days in Bend, Oregon for the purpose of attending the first annual Summercamp music festival. The trip was sooo worth it, but long drives for short vacations have a way of making a person cranky, irritable, and ready to puke. I mean, long drives for short vacations and almost no sleep make a person cranky, irritable, and ready to puke. Rather; long drives for short vacations, almost no sleep, sitting in the hot sun for hours, wandering around a downtown that lacks a personality, eating random things at random times, sitting in geese poo, getting lost in a strange town while your stomach consumes itself, listening to Pedro the Lion give up on life through music, waiting 3 hours alongside a highway while emergency personnel cart off a dead body and clear the scene of a fatal head-on collision, and driving down the curviest, deeriest road in Oregon---can all add up to make a person a little cranky, irritable, ready to puke, and in need of some quality REM.

Now that I'm home, and just an hour or so away from burying myself in my sheet and comforter for the night, all of the less-than-perfect aspects of the trip are as good as forgotten. Sure I'm feeling some residual effects and sure it might take me another day or so to get back to being my usual jubilant self, but I saw the Decemberists in concert damnit!! Sweet Jesus it was cool. I'm a true fan, and if you were there you would have been able to tell that I'm a true fan by the sheer amount of wooing I was doing, by the permanent grin I had on my face, and by the creative jigs Fern and I performed thoughout the show. It was cool, just trust me.

The two things that really made the vacation for me were seeing The Decemberists and experiencing it all with Fern. This person, this Fern, aka Jennifer, is hilarious (if you hadn't figured that out by now). So silly, so expressionate, so emotive, so cute. Of course, its nice that she can engage in an enlightened conversation with me if the mood hits us. I could go on and on, but I'm overly aware of the fact that this is sounding like I'm shamelessly buttering up one of my loyal readers-Fern herself-when in fact I'm just writing what I feel inclined to write. I could continue upon special request, but right now I've got a big bowl of Chex calling my name.

What happens when I'm not in the writing mood but I write anyway

I really don't have anything to say tonight. But check it out, I'm writing anyway.

I just finished reading the live coverage of a European "Classic" road race called the Hew Classic. No, the race didn't just happen-it took place a couple of days ago-but its still fun to read how the race unfolded, kilometer by kilometer.

In case you didn't know, road racing can be quite suspensful. In the Hew Classic this year, three riders "broke away" early in the race and had such a tremendous lead on the peleton that even the commentators were doubting that the group would catch back up. But sure enough, the chasers timed things perfectly so that the breakaway was caught with just a few kilometers remaining.

While I read the race report tonight, I ate a big bowl of Rice Chex mixed with Wheat Chex and a little sugar. I love cereal. I really really do. Last night I allowed myself to buy whatever cereal I wanted regardless of price. I went with two boxes of Chex and a box of Wheaties. I had been out of cereal and milk for well over a week, and I was sick to death of being without my comfort food...thus, I splurged and bought cereal that cost over 20 cents an ounce. I've yet to feel a tinge of regret.

[I just poured myself another bowl. This time I went with the Wheat Chex by itself. I have such a hard time deciding which Chex I like best. It may be impossible.]

Before eating my cereal and reading the race report, I saw my girlfriend off with a "sleep tight" and a kiss. I shut the door and she headed home.

Its not news to some, but Fern and I don't sleep together; and by "sleep", I mean a state of unconsciousness, dreaming, and REM. On some level we both would really enjoy falling asleep in each others arms, but on another level we are glad that we're so much alike when it comes to sleeping-we are extremely finicky/sensitive. Atleast we both have the same problem falling asleep when we're crowded next to each other with imperfect bedding n' such. We both enjoy sleeping so much that we don't feel too bad at all going our seperate ways at the end of the day and splaying out on our own beds, hogging our own comforters and pillows.

Today after work, Fern came over so that we could engage in some two wheeled fun. That we did, as we road our bikes through the BSU campus (with me feeling quite gleeful for no longer attending the school), climbed a steep sidewalk, descended a rocky path, circled a large park fountain, rolled over wooden bridges, swerved around trees, bounded up and down humps, dropped down steps, popped up curbs, and played bike limbo with parking lot flags. All skills that come in handy when one is riding technical terrain on singletrack.

Work today was a titch hectic. We were missing one employee who had gone on vacaction. Since that one employee is a guy named Rick, I wasn't feeling too upset about the fact that I had to hussel more than usual. Rick is Mr. BA, and not just about customers, but about fellow employees. Rick working at a bike shop is like someone who faints at the sight of blood being a paramedic. Its like a Marine sergeant being a hair dresser. Or a midget playing in the NBA. You get the point.

Well, tonight is the first of my two Friday nights of the week. I'm off tomorrow, and then its back to work Wednesday, followed by my second Friday of the week, Thurday. I'm off Friday. Comprende? I'm actually in a state of mourning because today I found out that starting the 21st of this month we go back to working five 8 hour days. I really like the way things are right now, with my two Mondays and two Fridays a week. I enjoy my 3 days off. Anyway, not much can be done about it. I'll still have Friday and Saturday off, so atleast I'll have a full day off that I can share with Fern. Boise is a great place to live if you want to set out on single day adventures. The Owyhees aren't far off. True mountain wilderness is less than an hour away. And of course, there's one of the country's best trail systems essentially out my back door. This all reminds me of a blog I've wanted to write entiteled "You've got to be crazy not to live in Boise."