Crystal Jackson

Archive for the ‘cabin in the woods’ Category

book giveaway

In books, cabin in the woods on February 19, 2012 at 11:27 am

It’s time for another book giveaway. As with the last giveaway–Travels with Charley–this book is one that I have an emotional connection to. A book that transports me away from where I’m sitting each time I open it up. The book = Tiny Homes – Simple Shelter by Lloyd Kahn.

I’ve often mentioned Lloyd Kahn, a writer/builder/creator/small house movement leader/badass dude. He posts in his blog every day, often more than once, sharing stories about life in N. California. He has a zest for living that I find inspiring, and I aspire to be a little bit like Lloyd in my daily life – noticing beauty, enjoying other people’s talents, paying attention to the details, dreaming, taking risks, making shit happen.

Tiny Homes – Simple Shelter was released last month and is already in its second printing. One reason the book is so popular is it embodies the housing/lifestyle movement of the moment, as people look to get out from under suffocating mortgages and simplify their lives. Another reason for its popularity is that it’s a beautiful book–gorgeous, glowing and green. Even if small houses aren’t your thing, you can enjoy it from a purely artistic standpoint. And I think by the end of the book, you’d find that maybe you are sort of interested in small dwellings.

Here’s a video featuring Lloyd discussing the making of the book.

If you want to see what it is I keep prattling on about and would like your own copy of Tiny Homes, leave a comment on this post about a dream that you have for the future. Big, little, crazy or sane. Whatever you feel like sharing. I’ll pick a person at random next Sunday to receive the book. Make sure to give your real email address when you leave your comment (only I will be able to see it), but feel free to leave a fake name if you’re shy.

I’ll start. Some day, I want to live in a place with no mortgage. Where the area outside my home is as much a part of my house as the inside is. A clutter-free space with room to breathe, lovely views, a fireplace, a bed in a cozy nook, lots of books and music, dogs and James. And wifi. The air is crisp and green. There’s water nearby. Ideally, this place will have been built with my two hands and my back, and the hands and backs of people close to me. It’s located within an hour of a major city, but far enough out that the sheer volume of stars is overwhelming and humbling. A place where the zombie apocalypse probably won’t reach.

Your turn.

gimme shelter

In cabin in the woods, things that make me happy, writing on September 21, 2011 at 2:19 pm

I subscribe to about 50 blogs and visit a number of others on a semi-regular basis. Some make me laugh. Some provide fodder for my dreams of the future. Some give me a glimpse into a life that’s totally different from mine and way more interesting. All offer a point of connection to my fellow human beings.

One blog that I always find inspiring is written by Lloyd Kahn. He is the creator of the hand-built home porn/book Shelter (and others since). Sometimes he writes about handmade shelters. But most of the time he writes about his world and shares things he finds of interest. He lives north of San Francisco in a cool dwelling that he built. He eats roadkill and wild mushrooms and makes pancakes with cattail pollen. He finds joy in the details of life – a stunning sunrise, a beautiful flower, a bleached animal skull, a man fishing in a kayak on the water while his dog waits patiently on shore. Lloyd’s approach to the world reminds you to pay attention to the little moments because they’re what adds up to the bulk of your life. And there is the potential for much happiness and inspiration in the world if you keep your eyes open.

This is a recent post that grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me up a bit. Lloyd’s simple trip down the mountain on a longboard (he’s 75, by the way) made me think about what I do with my time, where I live, how I interact with my environment, the level of physical activity in my daily life, if I do enough things purely for the joy of it, how I can break free from old patterns and whether or not I’m paying attention to the right things. Powerful stuff.

Lloyd and The Bloggess and my little brother and this dude and my friend Andrea all inspire me with their unique approaches to life. Not the workaday macro bullshit, but the wonderous micro. The details. The expression of joy, whether buying a large metal chicken to irritate your husband and make your friends laugh or carving something by feel and not by pattern or setting up your camera and taking a picture of yourself running away just for the fuck of it or baking something delicious as an expression of love. I enjoy going on their journeys through life, and I appreciate those of you who are going on my journey with me. Thanks for picking up the phone when I call with a new blog post. It’s nice knowing someone is on the other end of the line.

Some great Lloyd Kahn entries from the past few months:

Friday list

In animals, cabin in the woods, dogs, family, food and drink, the internets on March 11, 2011 at 12:47 pm

- I need to send around this link to the entire office. We have a number of offenders who “reply all” to practically every email they get. The only problem with sharing the link is that I know a number of people will reply all to say they totally agree, and that will make my head explode.

- My recommendations on Amazon are becoming a bit…unreliable as I purchase more and more stuff for my niece and nephew. The first book on the list for me right now? My Big Girl Potty. I may not know a lot, but I do know how to go potty. Because I’m a big girl.

- I saw a Chick-fil-A billboard yesterday that featured a couple of cows writing about eating more “chikin.” You know, because if you’re eating chicken, you’re not eating cow. All of the company’s cow-related marketing features kitschy bad spelling, which makes no sense. If a cow has somehow learned how to communicate in English and hold a pen or paint brush in its hoof to write out its thoughts, it is obviously off-the-charts brilliant in the bovine world and would probably be a pretty good speller.

- This video of little kids playing guitars doesn’t look real, like maybe they’re robots or their baby heads have been photoshopped onto adult musician’s bodies. I can’t believe they have the finger strength to pull this off, not to mention the artistic ability.

- One of my favorite bloggers has his moment in the New York Times. I’ve mentioned The Field Lab before (and literally have the tee shirt – for a while he was selling gray tees with THE FIELD LAB stenciled on the front with red spray paint) (because I’m a hipster), and I find Wells’ actions out in the West Texas desert inspirational as I daydream about my future cabin in the woods.

- A man performs CPR on a dog, saving her life, and it was captured on video. Because isn’t everything? My grandfather Ted once saved his Welsh Corgi Toby’s life by giving him mouth-to-snout resuscitation. That dog hated everyone but my grandmother and spent the majority of his life under the table in the kitchen. My grandfather also saved my grandmother’s life, giving her the Heimlich Maneuver over dinner. Ted had a profound impact on everyone, dog-level on up, and was obviously paying attention during first aid classes when he was in the military.

you say potato, I say RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! THERE’S A SNAKE!!!

In animals, cabin in the woods, Houston, the outdoors on February 27, 2011 at 6:42 pm

sssssssnnake (in its natural habitat, a beer cooler)

Stella the Ratdog and I were just settling down for our usual Sunday afternoon snooze when James came into the room to tell me about the SNAKE he’d caught in the backyard. Our backyard is usually a jamboree of squirrels and birds, especially as the days get warmer. Saturday morning, there were easily 100 robins pecking away at the ground. But the arrival of a snake was not expected, nor was it welcome. At least on my end.

James has an affinity for the creepy and the crawly. There’s an aquarium near our dinner table with three albino frogs swimming around in it. Yes, I’m a patient woman. When he suggested that maybe he should keep the snake he’d caught (and placed inside a cooler that we usually put beer in), I responded with a most definite “HELL NO.” I knew he wouldn’t kill it. It was probably an eastern hognose, and they aren’t poisonous, so no reason to give it the death penalty. But I did request that he give it the far-away-from-our-house penalty. I go outside barefoot, man. And am easily startled. And have a little dog.

It’s bad enough that the flying cockroaches will soon make their reappearance. I don’t want to add snakes to the fear and loathing mix. Though, really, I need to deal with my fear of flying insects and slithering reptiles. When I have my cabin in the woods, there will be plenty of both. Can’t be a mincing wad of fear and maintain my tough exterior.

Unrelated: instead of watching the Oscars, I’m watching Morgan Freeman’s Through the Wormhole. This episode is about time travel, and Freeman just uttered the words “stygian depths.” Won’t hear shit like that on the red carpet.

Related to the unrelated: thinking about time travel reminds me of this guy Cliff I used to know. He was my trainer for the brief, glorious nine months or so that I worked out at a boxing gym (a gym where professional boxers worked out – an unairconditioned, two story metal building downtown that no longer exists – NOT an air conditioned grrrll-power puff place filled with motivational posters and tampon machines). We became friends outside of the gym, and he often made…bad decisions that I felt obligated to point out to him. We’d have an awkward conversation about whatever it was (this was back in my preachy 20s), and he’d say, “I can’t wait until a week from now when this has passed.”

I think of that statement any time I’m in the midst of something painful, unfun, awkward, scary or boring. I think about a week or a month or a year from then, the moment when whatever the situation is has resolved itself in some way. And, amazingly, it brings me a little peace. Because this too – whatever it is – shall pass. Eventually. That’s a sort of time travel, I think. Emotional time travel.

Part Three: Big Sur, the digs

In cabin in the woods, family, things that make me happy, travel on December 20, 2010 at 7:44 pm

You know how I'm always talking about that writing cabin in the woods? You can imagine my delight when we entered our second floor dwelling at Deetjens - Upper Creek - and I saw this view. The window is just behind a little desk with a lamp. Perfect. Tohner and his family stayed in the lower half of the house - Lower Creek, natch - so we were able to access their fireplace, and they could hang out on our balcony.

Here's the same view after the fog rolled in. We were lucky to have experienced rain/fog on only half a day during our trip. Unusual for Big Sur this time of year, I think. It provided the opportunity to take a break from the hiking. Though James and I both lead fairly sedentary lives, when we go on vacation we're all about hiking and being in nature as much as possible.

Here's the foggy view from our balcony.

In Upper Creek, in order to sit on the terlet you have to sort of turn sideways. The shower is also pretty small. If you drop the soap, you either have to hit your head against the wall or hang your ass out the shower curtain to retrieve it. All part of the fun.

This is the main room of Upper Creek, which is also the bedroom. It opens onto the balcony. The foundation of the little two-story house sags on one side, which means the floor tilts on both levels. Which further means that the bed has quite a pitch to it. I had to fight to stay on the bed. I know the small bathroom and pitched floor makes our stay sound like no fun, but it really was. Deetjens is a rustic place with a great vibe. You're not staying there for modern conveniences and things like level floors...

Here's the other room of Upper Creek, which features the writing desk and window shown above. Another cool thing about Deetjens is they have journals in each room that date back a couple of decades and are specific to each room. Visitors are encouraged to write an entry when they stay, though not everyone does. We've stayed in the same place at Deetjens two times, so my previous entries are in the journals of New Room. When I wrote my entry for this trip, in Upper Creek, I sat at the cool little writing desk, stared out the window and wrote about Mason. While the journals of some of the other rooms are often full of sex stories (Deetjens has that sort of vibe to it), the journals for Upper Creek were a little more tame. I think because the floor creaks when you sneeze, and many families stay in both storeys together, so... you know.

We didn't just hike.

Links

  • Deetjens Big Sur Inn Each time it gets more enjoyable.
  • Nepenthe Restaurant Meals with an awesome view. If you get there before sunset, the view goes on for miles.
  • Trader Joe’s Why oh why doesn’t Houston have a Trader Joe’s? I’m sure it relates to distribution issues and bullshit like that, but come on. We bought 12 bottles of wine, a bottle of Macallan, fruit, pumpkin bread and a number of snacks for $150. Wine is much cheaper in California, just as gas is much cheaper in Texas. Suppose it’s a supply thing. I’d prefer to be in the place with cheaper wine though I’m pretty sure I use more gas on a volume basis.

come on baby light my FIE-YUH

In cabin in the woods, holidays, spooky, the outdoors on November 1, 2010 at 1:27 pm

building a fire

Since it’s been slightly sorta cool-ish, James and I have been enjoying a fire in the chiminea and a glass of wine in the back 40 each evening. I took this shot Friday night and thought, “Oh lookie, some orbs. Cool.” I know, I know…orbs are caused by particles in the air captured by the digital camera blah blah blah. I say, Chamus the Famous and a few other spirits were out for a visit. I took the next shot 8 seconds after the one above (I checked) and was slightly disturbed:

holy shit!

Uh, James? You might want to come back inside the house. Very slowly. And don’t look behind you.

I ended up taking lots of shots Friday night, and all featured some pretty amazing orbs. A few had a lot of color – one was orange, and when you zoom in you can see flecks of green and blue. Trippy. I’m glad we have an outdoor evening activity – I usually spend my nights surfing the internet or screwing with one of my eighteen writing projects. It’s good to get some fresh air and unplug. We had fires each of the last three nights, with the one last night adding to the spooky Halloween vibe.

Halloween is one of my favorite nights of the year. I love seeing little kids dressed up in costumes, and the choices they make provide an interesting glimpse into the younger demographic’s zeitgeist (or maybe that of their parents, who often tend to be younger than I am too). When we lived in the Heights, we always had at least 100 kids come knocking, sometimes arriving in groups of 10 that jumped off the backs of pick up trucks and came running. I miss that. Our current neighborhood isn’t set up for high traffic in the trick and/or treating arena. That’s partially the reason we moved here – to get away – but this is one crappy side effect.

I bought one small bag of “just in case” candy, which is a good thing because at about 7:45PM the doorbell rang. There were six elementary- to middle school-aged girls at the door. They claimed to be the only group out and about. The huge amount of candy in each of their baskets would suggest that a) our neighbors bought some just in case candy too and b) they didn’t have anyone to give it to so these kids hit the mother lode. Though I’d be slightly creeped out walking up the dark driveways in our neighborhood, I can see that it was worth it on a risk-to-candy-retrieval ratio.

After our one set of candy-seeking visitors, it seemed no one else would be stopping by. So we turned off the lights in the house and hit the backyard. We have a couple of those fold up fabric chairs like you’d take camping. The cup holder in the arm rest perfectly holds a bottle of wine. Our back yard is so deep (and there are so few lights) we can’t see the end of it at night. We see hints of the sky and a sprinkling of stars through the trees, and it feels like we’re out camping. Only in this camping reality, we get to use indoor plumbing and sleep in a bed. A slight fulfillment of my cabin in the woods fantasy has come true, and I am grateful.

Friday list

In cabin in the woods, lists, question, sartorial issues, the internets on September 24, 2010 at 12:44 pm

this is the gravestone in our backyard for Chamus the Famous, who we assume (hope) was a dog - I like the way Stella looks like she's flying up out of the grave and toward the camera and how James' arm/hand looks animal-like - just an odd photo - we get a lot of those in and around this house...

- If I’m still alive when the inevitable “end” comes and find myself sitting in a tent gnawing on the hindquarters of a skinny rat in the moonlight, I will think back upon this dessert as a sure sign of what was to come. A society that creates this bullshit deserves a kick squarely in the ass.

- Facebook went down for a period on Wednesday. Had I been in the office, I might have assumed that the powers that be blocked the site. Since I was at home (and am the power that be), I knew that wasn’t the case. Googling the issue, I ran across Down Right Now. The site gives you green light/red light updates on three blog services, three email services and three social networking services, including Facebook. So you’ll know whether or not it really is just you. Nifty.

- I’m wearing a new bra today. Every time I move my left arm, the underwire creaks. I don’t like it.

- The guy who unwittingly made my day last week when he walked down the street exactly in time to Stayin’ Alive – I saw him again yesterday morning. Only this time his jacket was in the plastic wrap of the dry cleaners and dangling from his hand instead of casually slung over his shoulder. And my iPod was playing Dire Straits instead of Bee Gees. That’s okay. It was sort of a one time thing anyway.

- Have you seen Tubedubber? You search for videos on YouTube and then choose a song to accompany the video to pretend like you’re creating something new. Here’s a combo I just made. (the song will start right away, so be warned)

- I am in dire need of releasing my barbaric yawp, but I can’t quite figure out how to make that happen. I’ll work on it this weekend. Wish me luck.

Friday list

In cabin in the woods, food and drink, lists, the internets on September 17, 2010 at 12:50 pm

A quick Friday list because I’m trying to finish a play over my lunch break.

- Watch this short film for a bit of insight into Lloyd Kahn. He creates really awesome books on hand-built shelters and is currently working on his latest book, which will be about tiny houses. Many of which, I’m sure, are cabins in the woods. Bliss.

- Normally I drink “good” coffee at home and don’t touch the stuff here. This week that has been different. Guess I needed more caffeine. Anyway, each time I’ve visited the coffee machine, there has been only about half a cup of coffee in the pot. Which means that the previous person who got coffee left just enough in the pot to not feel like they had to make a fresh pot. Man, people can be so fucking lazy.

- I turned off Google Instant. Too presumptuous for my taste. And obviously a lot of other people.

- Back to the play. It is interesting to me that as I continue to write plays, I’m writing fewer and fewer profanities. Yet my work is getting more and more edgy. I dig that. Can’t say the same for my fucking blog.  I still cuss like a motherfucker here. Shit yeah. Tits.

cabin in the woods

In books, cabin in the woods, hermit, running away, spooky on July 15, 2010 at 12:38 pm

When I talk about my little writing cabin in the woods, I picture a place sort of like this (except smaller):

cabin in the woods

It has lots of windows, is surrounded by trees and is a beacon in the night. In the case of the cabin above, though, it is also in my living room and is the bottom of a lamp.

cabin in the woods in my living room

My parents gave me this awesome lamp a few months ago. I put it in our living room, which features a large stone fireplace and old school knotty pine paneling. The living room itself is like a fake cabin in the woods in my house, and the lamp is like a little cabin in the woods in my fake cabin in the woods in my house. Trippy. The only catch is, if the bottom of the lamp is the only thing on at night in our dark living room, it takes on an eerie feel and I half-expect a little person to come out the front door in a plaid shirt carrying an axe over his should in search of firewood. Or someone’s head to chop off. Though with an axe that tiny, it would take a lot of chopping. And I’m not even sure how he’d get down from the chest that the lamp sits on, scurry over to me, James or one of the dogs, then manage to climb up to head chopping level and start swinging. Ahhh, now when I hear something in the middle of the night that sounds like tiny, scurrying feet, I’ll be able to roll over and go back to sleep. Lucky me.

Tohner recently alerted me to the fact that Lloyd Kahn has a blog. He’s the guy who did the book Shelter back in the ’70s and since then has published two beautiful books (here and here) that feature homes built by the people who live within them. Many of the dwellings are small or extra-small, and they are the closest thing I have to pornography. (Kahn also wrote The Septic System Owner’s Manual, which I have not read yet and hope never to have a need to read.)

For further small dwelling porn, check out Tiny House Blog, Little House on a Small Planet, Yurts: Living in the Round and, for balance, Unhappy Hipsters.

huh

In cabin in the woods, luddite vs. iDevice on June 30, 2010 at 12:45 pm

When I went to bed last night, I was sure that when I woke up this morning Hurricane Alex would be bearing down on Houston. Usually when the weather guys tell us to “hunker down” because a storm is coming straight at us, it ends up going somewhere else. Figured the reverse would be true in this case. And, hey, it hasn’t made landfall yet, so anything could happen.

A huge bolt of lightning struck a light pole in our neighborhood last night and caused something I’ve never seen before. It was like this: the crack of thunder, our lights went out, our lights immediately came back on – but only at about 25% power. It was eerie to see partially burning lights throughout the house. I thought, perhaps, that an alien invasion was starting, which wasn’t really that surprising though it was a bit alarming. Then I called my dad and he clarified the situation for me. We were experiencing a brownout, which is something I’ve always associated with New York in the ’80s.

I told James I was going to call “HL&P,” which shows that old habits die hard since the company has been called Reliant for years. Eh, I still call Lakewood Church the Summit. I may be sliding backwards as far as buying new stuff goes, but there is one area where I am definitely NOT sliding backwards and that is my iPhone/laptop/internet connectivity area. I love the internet, and even when living in a cabin in the woods, that place will be wired for wireless. Last night I appreciated my iPhone. I got on Reliant’s website, found the number to call, pressed the number on the screen and my phone asked if I wanted to call it. Yes, yes I did. Went through the automated system to report the outage. Called back an hour or so later and a recording told me what the problem was and when it would be fixed. Sure enough, it was fixed an hour before the estimate. Then I received an automated call from Reliant to make sure our power was back on. Not bad.

[In case you missed my post the other night, here's my guide to getting through a major storm event. Pass it on.]

too much stuff

In cabin in the woods on June 21, 2010 at 5:38 pm

Over the past couple of years I’ve been reading (and fantasizing) a lot about small house design, cob building, yurts, earthships, etc. What I’ve found in a lot of books and reading blogs like this one is that many of these places are built out in the desert. Which begs the question: why? I understand that a lot of people prefer the desert climate, but there has to be more to it than that. Is land cheaper? Relaxed building codes?

When I fantasize about my future little cabin, not only is it in the cool green of a wood, but it is also in a place with four seasons. And the summer part of the four seasons isn’t this 100 degree bullshit we’re in the midst of in Houston right now.

I know where a lot of the small dwelling desire comes from on my end – it’s a direct reaction to feeling like I own too much stuff. If I spent my 20s and 30s amassing stuff, I think my 40s will be focused on slowly getting rid of stuff. I will keep my books, but I will get rid of clothes, kitchen items I never use, furniture that no one sits on, stuff like that.

For instance, I have two stand mixers – one from my mother and one from my grandmother. On the very few occasions that I use a mixer, I pull out the small hand mixer, ignoring the larger machines. I think I’ve kept both out of a sense of nostalgia. But, really, would moving my grandmother’s mixer from house to house while never using it be more meaningful than, say, cooking a recipe that she used to make and having that taste memory?

In an attempt to not feel wasteful just throwing things away, perhaps I’ll post a list of stuff as I go. Maybe I can find new homes for these items. Want some stuff?

conflicted

In cabin in the woods, luddite vs. iDevice, running away on June 9, 2010 at 1:44 am

I have conflicting desires in my heart of hearts. One part of me wants to live in the middle of Manhattan, seeing plays at night and working some bullshit writing job during the day, hustling from my tiny apartment to the coffee shop to the subway in a fit of type-A focus and aggression. The other part of me wants to go off the grid* and live in a yurt out in the middle of nowhere, growing beets and honey bees and meditating in my zen garden. Which begs the question: What the fuck is wrong with me?

Are you conflicted like this? Do you have desires that are at cross purposes? Am I trying to satisfy both urges by living in the city but on a one acre lot, growing a little garden and patronizing Houston’s indie theatre once a month? It would seem that the half-assed commitment to each lifestyle isn’t a long-term solution. So what is?

No clue. As I struggle with the (fucking cliche) mid-life crisis, what happens next? Pick one option and go for it? I’m not moving to NYC. I have no interest in being totally broke in an expensive town. Plus, my books wouldn’t fit into whatever tiny place we’d rent there. But the beet farm…I’m not sure I’m ready for that either. I’m definitely ready for sitting in a shack and writing my manifesto. That’s been brewing for some time. But I’m not ready to move into a yurt, which also wouldn’t have room for all of my books.

I guess for now I’ll keep tending my tiny little garden in my big back yard in the fourth largest (and first hottest) city in the US. Just until I get pulled more one direction or the other. For now, this tug of war is at a standstill because both sides are pulling with equal force. Which means? No momentum either direction.

*I would have to have internet access whatever I did, so I don’t think I could escape the grid completely. But I could run on solar power and be at least partly off the grid. Right?

{side note: Just reading over this begs another question – is this some bullshit hipster ennui? Am I mere steps away from being the type of person who drives me crazy? Jesus.}

TGIF

In cabin in the woods on June 20, 2008 at 5:34 pm

Why do adults lisp? I understand that children often can’t understand the subtleties of tongue and teeth placement, but it seems like an adult would be able to not only get it but would also be able (and want) to control his tongue.

I had lunch with a couple of playwrights this week. We were talking about our current projects. “Current” for me means that I have something percolating on a rusty hot plate in the back of my mind. I’ve only written one page, and that was three months ago. For some reason, I think that this one is going to be a full length play. My first. So it’s been bubbling there for a while, ignored but not forgotten. I told the writers about page one, and their enthusiasm for the image conveyed in that one page made me excited again about the piece. So I hope to get cranking on it soon. I have no idea where to go after page one, but I’m not going to worry about that until I get there. It’s a shame I’m not drinking right now. I didn’t worry so much about the blank page when my eyesight was fuzzy.

Re: writing cabin in the woods – I have decided that if I can’t have it in actual woods, a Japanese tea garden setting would be really cool. Beyond the structured beauty of the design, there are interesting rituals that are supposed to take place in a tea garden. For instance, there exists a little structure, separate from the tea house (or writing cabin), where guests wait for the host to invite them in for tea. I like the thought of people who come to visit me in my cabin having a nice little waiting area. Mostly because I like to occasionally torture the people in my life. Barring finding/building a cabin, I could always get a yurt.

hhhhhmmmmm

In cabin in the woods, douchebags on February 3, 2008 at 4:04 am

Though it might be weirding some people out, this not drinking (much) thing is really working for me. I feel better than I have in a long while, and I’m focusing on some things that have been sitting neglected and dusty in the corner of my brain, and my liver is singing a song (if I open my mouth and lean slightly to the left, you can hear the faint strains of “Tequila” – how ironic). I haven’t completely quit – I doubt I ever will – but a glass of wine here and there is close to quitting compared to where I was. So, good for me. I’m sorry that I don’t feel like hanging out in bars very much right now. Guess I’ll catch some of you on the flip side. Flippy.

This whole not waving when someone (me) lets you into their lane is bullshit. I’m now waving way more than necessary, just hoping the people around me will resume the habit. If I see a chick with a cute shirt, she gets a wave. A guy with a particularly well-groomed mustache – wave. Someone in a late-70s green Buick – wave. I realize everyone is busy with one hand on the wheel and the other holding a cellphone, so maybe a slight shoulder roll would work. Just some acknowledgment that I and the rest of the world were not put on this planet to get out of your way as you speed to your ass bleaching appointment. Bleachy.

When I finally get that cabin in the woods for writing, I hope I can build floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall bookshelves. And fill them. I fucking love books. I have a running Amazon wish list for birthday and Christmas, and I’m always pleased as punch to receive books as gifts. I don’t buy them as much as I’d like (even though I buy a lot) because I ran out of room for them a long time ago. I keep doing some creative stacking and finding new places to store them, but I’m reaching maximum density. If I don’t watch it, I’ll become one of those people who starts stacking shit on the floor. That’s not going to work with my non-crazy-person design aesthetic, and that’s why my writing cabin will need lots and lots of shelving. And a small desk. And a toilet. And a water filter. And at least one window. And electricity. And non-scary things outside when it’s nighttime and I glance to my right to look at my reflection in the window and then my eyes refocus to look outside – it’s important to me that I not see anything scary looking back at me. It is also important to me to always kind of worry about that. Kooky.

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