The Myth & The Majesty

Hopping on Facebook today has been strangely heartbreaking because of this. As far as I can tell, there are exactly two acceptable scenarios for the disappearance of Poet's Table: 1. Forest fire, because there's no ultimate control there. 2. A park decision. I'd be pissed about that, but as they are the official landowners, they would ultimately have the right to pull things out. (And in theory, would be willing to preserve the history of the area in an appropriate fashion.) This, though? This is just plain wrong. Besides being confusing as hell, it goes against the very idea of the table itself as a peaceful destination in the woods. At the heart of things, it's disrespectful, shortsighted, and just plain mean.

An xkcd from a week and a half ago is speaking to my soul this weekend. This has something to do with my role as various people's personal IT guy, a couple of fun phone calls, and the brakes on my bike (which, luckily, fell into that under-2-hours section). I do, however, fear for Sophie's air conditioning, knowing how long that one might take. Never a dull moment.

Actual decades have passed since I started school (almost three of them) and I have, at last figured out how I prefer to study. Yeah, that works.

"So, Ashley, what are you up to these days?" It's a question I've come to dread. The expected answer seems to be, "Oh, not much," since I lack Big News. But that answer is also a blatant lie. That's the answer that implies nothing of interest. Allow me to fill in a few blanks. Here are some things I haven't been doing: - Moving to Denver. Actually, I now have an apartment in RC with the other Ashli since the previous Denver gig fell through. Thanks to multiple circumstances -- like Ashli, The Plumber, and Daz's move to SLC -- Denver is no longer in the cards. This decade, anyway. - Staying caught up with whatever show you're watching. - Riding my bike enough. - Travelling. This one makes me sad. - Robbing banks. - Writing here. ... I should work on a couple of those. What I HAVE been doing is feeding 80 tiny humans on a daily basis for a few months now. It's not glamorous, but it leaves my afternoons open to pursue a bunch...

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Backing up a couple weeks, because I'm even behind on my xkcd reposts...

It's been awhile, hasn't it? I'd love to blame the holidays for my lack of posting -- after all, it was a bit before Thanksgiving when you last saw me here -- but the truth is simply that I don't wanna. Yep. Don't wanna. But as it's the end of the year -- the end of a very long, very strange year -- I figured it was time to reappear. How are you? ... Yeah, that sounds about right. Had you asked me a year ago, I would have said that by now I'd be in Denver, maybe even back to living alone and enjoying what my early thirties have to offer with a full complement of health benefits and a 401(k). I'd have gone on a couple of road trips and perhaps I'd be saving up for a big trip overseas. As I've mentioned previously, however, this year has not gone as expected. First, of course, was the job situation. When the initial change didn't take, I ended up with a temporary gig ... that just keeps reappearing. Then a few months back, my...