Road-worthy

  • by Drew

We were recently asked to consider a Skateboard Heroes signing event at a local comic shop. Sure we’re small-time, at least right now, but it seems like a lot of fun. The boys can get kitted out and we’ll sign some books, sell some t-shirts. Great stuff. But where’s the potential for taking this to the next level? I mean, most events like this that I’ve attended are either with major writers with dozens of books to their credit, or with artists who do sketches.

We’re lesser known, obviously, and our art is photographic in nature. I can’t exactly sketch something out. Maybe we won’t be going on the road in a tour bus after all – cancel the rv insurance quote.

Then I had an idea. with a camera and a laptop loaded with Photoshop I can snap fans with the Heroes themselves and then edit it in true Skateboard Heroes fashion. If I bring a decent printer I could actually generate some fan art in about the same amount of time it takes a comic artist to do a head sketch. Hmmmm. I am starting to see the potential for some real FUN!

Stay-cation

  • by Drew

I hate that word, but it pretty much sums things up these days. I just took a week off from work, mostly because I had to burn up some time. The thing is, with a family of 5, there is almost nothing to do. Two of the kids are in school, and half of the mornings and most of the evenings involve driving one or more of them somewhere and/or picking them up. I barely got anything done around the house. Just way too much going on.

It would be lovely to get on one of those family all inclusive resort type trips, you know? Then again, I don’t know where the 10 grand or so is coming from.

Blast!

Listen Up

  • by Drew

I’m an unabashed and very vocal fan of audiobooks. I fell in love with listening to stories almost 20 years ago when I was driving between Amherst and Boston for band practices and gigs. In the early days it was old time radio shows like the Shadow. A few years later I was living in Connecticut and driving to Boston to see my girlie. At a precursor to the contemporary dollar store I bought a few abridged novels. I was so hooked.

Some years later I discovered digital unabridged novels and started downloading to the old mp3 player like a fiends. I now have well over 250 in my library and I’m not slowing down.

I have friends who say they’d rather buy oriental car floor mats or a solid gold back scratcher than waste their money on having someone read to them. Hey, to each his own, but I listen to a couple books a months (aside from what I read because I still do actually read, believe it or not). Mowing the lawn, washing dishes, chopping wood – all chores that I look forward to because they involve audiobook listening. And the drive to work is a breeze. I am even calmer with all the aggressive drivers on the road when I’m listening. Sweet!

Insidious

  • by Drew

Thinking about my obsolete old scanner, I am reminded of this current personal computer ad campaign. There is a person who doesn’t think they need a new computer for whatever reason – mine is fine, new computers are the same as my old one, whatever – and so they turn that person’s home into a ‘computer store.’

I hate this campaign for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the series of smug annoying douches who are converted by this idiotic rip off of those stupid ‘while you were out’ type shows. I noticed subtleties early on that made me suspicious. They had people with accents, possibly in other countries. They have people of various ethnic backgrounds. They are clearly trying to hit us at a subconscious level with the concept that their product appeals to people all over the world from all types of backgrounds, whatever. But it’s all done in such a way that we can all feel comfortable in our bling-oriented America.

What really gets to me now – in the most recent commercial in the campaign, they have started aging the machines. It is no longer ‘my old computer’ but ‘my 4 year old computer.’ In other words, if your computer is 4 years old it is a piece of crap and must be replaced. And the fact of the matter is that most people are just fine with an old machine. They don’t need a bunch of new bells and whistles or a touch screen to navigate facebook. Sure it is nice ot have a new machine regularly, but we can’t let the guy who makes the profit tell us when to upgrade. Otherwise we’d all be driving a new car every 6 months.

If its worth the going…

  • by Drew

Some people want fame and fortune. They want attention, to be hounded by the media. They want their picture to be taken incessantly, their name to be a household word. Many of those people have never had anyone interested in taking your picture, and that’s why they think it would be great. But there are those who used to have a name bandied about the suburban dinner table who’ve now been exiled to fringe obscurity. Perhaps they crave the attention most of all. Need in the wake of loss.

But then there are people with simpler desires and goals. They want to do honest work for an honest wage. They want to find a great wine to celebrate with. They want to get off work in time to pick up the kids and go to the drive in. They want a good new book or cheap trucking stuff or an ice cream sundae or a car with decent gas mileage.

Some people just want to be left alone.

Hitchin’ Post

  • by Drew

I think I’m going to be pricing curt trailer hitches in the very near future because my father in law is building me a trailer. Yup. He built a frame, welded it all together, thought it out like a champ. No more driving across the bridge with a hand holding plywood panels to my roof as they billow up like boat sails. I mean, most of the time when that happened, I wasn’t actually on a bridge. Just that one time…

Well, looks like maturity is coming my way. Finally, I can tow Home Depot purchase behind my Subaru like a real citizen. Becoming a man, indeed.

Head Gear

  • by Drew

Working on the next Skateboard Heroes story I had to go BMX. Yup, kids on old school dirt bikes, raising hell. It just makes sense, right? Kids on skateboards versus kids on bikes. Could I really have gone in any other direction?

Thing is, I was having a hard time getting good helmets. I wanted old school dirt bike helmets for the photography and modeling, but man, those things are expensive. I mean, I wanted something that looked good, but high end gear like shoei motorcycle helmets was a little priced out of my league.

Insure this

  • by Drew

Memories of when we had the addition put on the house… I remember talking to one of the contractors about guaranteed issue life insurance. I never knew there was such a thing, but apparently it exists. If you smoke, drink, drive recklessly and get lots of tickets, have a family history of things like diabetes and heart failure it seems that some would consider you an “insurance risk.” for those of you not up on the lingo, that means you are a “risk” to “insure.” Yes, apparently providing insurance to high risk individuals is not the business of most insurance companies.

Who knew.

But there is hope, friends. A few benevolent providers are out there, willing to work with you. They can provide you and your family the peace of mind you deserve. Cuz let’s face it, your time is running out. FAST!

The cookout

  • by Drew

Last night was the camp cookout. I went with my camper and his little brother. They follow the activities (55 minutes of water slide and 5 minutes of plastic plate juggling for us) withburgers and hot dogs. Then they have a camp fire. The camp fire is a scouting thing, and is cute and fun. The kids group off and do skits, as do the staff. It is pretty enjoyable actually.

But once again, the parents (and their awful parenting) reallyalmost ruin things. Unsupervised kids running around like maniacs is a big drag. Also, the need for some of these people to bring folding chairs and side tables and all sorts of additional nonsense is, to me, somehwhat pointless. You seriously can’t sit on the grass for 10 minutes to eat a grilled burger? These people line their folding chairs up side by side and form ersatz bleacker rows of 10 or 12 people at a clip. It’s a wacky formation, as though they’re watching a giant outdoor move. I mean, you can’t effectively talk to your fellows, barely even the ones at your shoulders. And, of course, the kids run amok behind the line so the parents are blissfully unaware of their children’s mischief.

The most bizarre thing to me is the parking lot. In addition to the unemployed muscle car owner I wrote about, there are all of these massive, high-end SUVs. I just don’t get it. I see these guys who have their “uniform” from work on, so I have a pretty good idea what they do. And eavesdropping on their conversations, I confirm their jobs. I know this makes me sound elitist, but really, does a guy who works at the oil change place need to drive a brand new, fully tricked out Escalade? He should have a bumper sticker that says ‘my other car is a car payment.’

I’m not denying anyone their right to toys. I just don’t get why you would blow 75-95% of your monthly paycheck on a lease payment for a blingmobile. I think millionaire rappers driving Escalades is silly, but this…it’s just a waste.

I don’t know, maybe these guys are scoring with Goldfellow cash for gold and Grandma’s old jewelry. I just think things like health insurance and a college fund for Junior should trump spinning rims and a leather wrapped steering wheel.

Charge it

  • by Drew

Speaking of camp drop off, I need something explained to me. When I went for pickup today, a little kid with his Mom ran over to a Dodge Charger and was drooling over it. It was apparently a brand new model. All I can think of is the silliness of gas guzzling muscle car engines in this day and age, but whatever. The kid likes cars, I’m not going to be a hater.

The thing is, a while later when I was getting back in the car to leave, I saw the owner of the Charger. It was a guy who was there Monday morning making the same old stupid jokes and being tedious and annoying while we were waiting for the lady in charge to finish announcements and cut us loose. This was a guy who was talking to some other parents who were clearly close friends. He mentioned that he was still out of work. In fact, he had been out of work and on unemployment for over a year now.

So can someone explain to me how or why this guy who should be in the market for motorhome insurance is driving around in a brand new, meticulously detailed (recently) muscle car? What is wrong with this picture?

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