all about you

all about you
Originally uploaded by Jon Glassett

consider it a response to the expectations of others regarding your time and attention. consider it an indictment of the culture of self-obsession. consider it accusatory. consider it shit. i don't really care. i consider the matter closed.

In Good Company

Motorcycle Update!

Our good friends Scott and Ginella (and Brave Sir Liam) were by last weekend. Scott and I took the opportunity to go out for a quick ride. My first official ride outside the confines of my neighborhood, actually. That was a really good time. Got to take in some great scenery and get a real sense for what it means to see the world from the back of a motorcycle. As a beginner it was pretty awesome to have someone to tool around with and get some experience with "real world" riding, especially stuff like getting a bug in the face at 50 mph.

It was also interesting (read: hilarious) putting the Savage side-by-side with a very customized '94 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy:

It can be hard to tell them apart at first but if you look very closely I'm sure you'll appreciate the subtle differences.

One final note: I observed that the Supertrapp muffler which the previous owner put on my bike has the interesting effect of staying in your head for a good hour after the bike is parked. Now I understand why there were empty earplug boxes in the saddlebags when I first got the thing.

Scott, if you're reading this, thanks for about the twentieth time. All kidding aside, it was a blast.

How About a Box o' Halloween Awesomeness?

I recently ordered a tiny, twisted, handmade jack o'lantern from the Pumpkin Hollow Shop (an Etsy shop). This is what arrived yesterday:

The little guy with the hat in the foreground is what I actually ordered. Also pictured are two Halloween compilation CDs, a package of Ghostly Glow incense (which smells absolutely amazing, by the way) and a couple of Halloween pencils secured with two plastic rings: one skull and one bat.

These other items were thrown in for free by the artist and accompanied by a very gracious note of thanks for my purchase. I have to tell you that this is about as much fun as I've ever had opening anything. From the moment I saw the pumpkin and bat stickers on the outside of the box I knew that care had been taken to make this package special.

Pumpkin Hollow is run by Pumpkinrot (whom I've mentioned here numerous times) and bean, two very talented folks who have much to offer lovers of Halloween, horror and all things grim and gruesome. Pumpkinrot has started selling hand made props and stationery featuring his work while bean keeps a steady inventory of amazing, unique decorative pumpkins like the one that I bought:

If this sort of thing is your bag then I strongly recommend you pay their sites a visit. They never disappoint.

Heads Up

I've come to believe that looking at the sky for at least one full minute per day can save your soul.

Photo by yours truly.

Bliss...

My order from DarkCandles.com arrived today.

(click the image to see the massive, slow-loading version)

High-quality scented candles with dark themes (and lots of great Halloween options).

I was so happy with them I couldn't resist setting them up for a shot (along with a little Halloween prop in the background).

The clove candle (aka, "Temptress") is unbelievable. My jack o'lanterns are going to smell amazing this year.

Thanks to pumpkinrot for telling me about these.

Local Man Reunited with Estranged Shirts

I'm losing weight. I've lost about 25 lbs. since June 4th.

Don't be alarmed: this is intentional. It's not the result of illness or anything like that. I'm sick of my fat so I'm getting rid of it. Well, most of it. The doctor tells me I need a little bit to live or something.

You know what the best thing about losing weight is?

It's reclaiming your shirts.

What makes that so exciting? For one thing, one of the shirts in question is a "Zombie's House of Voodoo" t-shirt from New Orleans that I got in 2003 on our honeymoon. I LOVE that shirt. It's got a big, rotting zombie on it who's reaching out to tear at your tasty, living flesh. It kicks ass.

And now it doesn't fit like a frigging tube sock anymore. Nice.

Some of you might understand my excitement. Maybe you've been there. Maybe you, like me, went to the closet one day, tried to put on a shirt and to your horror realized that you could see your distended torso in the spaces between the buttons. Maybe you, like me, thought to yourself, When the fuck did that happen? Then you got depressed. Maybe ate some cake.

But then you got pissed off, sucked it up and started losing some weight. Then, after many days of focus, determination and discipline you marched to the closet and took back your shirts. And damn if it wasn't like like winning the lottery.

Well, that's me. I reached the point where I could no longer tolerate my physical state so I've been trying to lose weight. So far, so good. A couple of weeks ago I grabbed one of those "button stretcher" shirts and threw it on just to see what's what. The sonofabitch was actually loose.

LOOSE.

Hot damn!

When I put it on I started chuckling uncontrollably and couldn't stop. I wore it the rest of the day even though it was a long sleeve button-down shirt and it was a 90-degree day.

That's just the beginning. You know what I did last weekend? I bought smaller pants.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...

By the way, my wife has proved ONCE AGAIN how awesome she is with this whole thing because she has been helping me tremendously. I fucking LOVE that chick.

This is probably a little personal but what the fuck. This is what's going on and there you have it.