My Hood

I love my neighborhood. You already know that I like my house but the fact that I am within walking distance of my friends is a gift. A house ain't shit if people don't come over and today was a day that made me smile because I had visits. Jon rang the bell shortly after work with 2 beers in hand. He was just saying, 'hey' and wanted to show me the cruiser bike he bought for his son. So we checked out the bike and he got fixated on a weed in my yard and then it turned to my front jungle/flower area. His eyes got a glossy look and he became in a trance like state. I have no idea whats in there but he does. So he goes from pulling a simple weed to a full on assault on my much needed jungle area. A few orders to Tristan to bring gloves and a shovel and it was on. I call him napalm now. Roughly an hour later he had to go do football stuff with his son and 6 full sized bags of shit are waiting for trash pickup. I wasn't even done bagging up the stuff and Jesse rolls home from work and sees me so a beer is in order. Some chit chat and he's off to dinner. 5 mins ago he emails that there is something at my front door. A beer and a book he'd just finished. I have others sets of good friends that live almost as close so I am in good supply. I told Jon while we were working that if somebody had shown me a video 2 years ago of what we were doing at that moment I would not have believed it. Working on some weeds with what would have been a total stranger in a house I didn't recognize. I had to smile and the friends I have in other places know I got enough love for everybody. Peace and love 2nite and btw ..my yard looks much better.

Jealous of the Moon

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and a pic of the king of newcastle....brown ale
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Heard this song for the 1st time on the radio the other day at work. Hit me upside the head but no idea why. Bought the download on Amazon and played it a bunch. Mentioned it to my sis and she said it was one of her all time favorite songs so it must be good. No idea what it means to me but I love it so for my thousands of viewers.....Nickle Creek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzJc_TrJN3U&feature=PlayList&p=467F40FD3796133F&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=8

Trying on a brand new dress
But you haven't worn the old one yet.
You've come too far, to turn around now.
Giving up a good fight.
You're as strong as anyone.
You're back when you started from,
I see you're back where you started from.

Staring down the stars, jelous of the moon
You wish you could fly.
But you're staying where you are,
there's nothing you can do,
if you're too scared to try.

Drag your pretty head around
Swearing you're gonna drown with a beautiful sigh and a river of lies.

Staring down the stars, jelous of the moon
You wish you could fly.
But youre staying where you are
there's nothing you can do
if you're too scared to try.

Why don't you call me, I could save you.
Together we'll find a god we can pray to that will take you by the hand.

I hate to see a friend of mine,
Laughing out loud when she's crying inside,
but you've got your pride.

Staring down the stars, jelous of the moon
You wish you could fly.
But you're staying where you are
There's nothing you could do, if you're too scared to try.

You're staring down the stars,
You stay where you are,
You're jelous of the moon, but there's nothing you could do if you're too scared to try,
If you're too scared to try.

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and 1 more...when in Rome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylslcF-fUeE&feature=PlayList&p=632BCD371A680C9E&index=0&playnext=1

Work Poop

Now this story doesn't rank all that high as far as poop goes...But today I had the worst experience with having to hold the shit within the boundaries of my colon. I wasn't able to ride at lunch so I went for a quick Whopper. My co-worker was desperately trying to explain something that I would have to finish as this Whopper was making its way thru my system. I sat there wondering if I should apologize for my stomach making noises or just ignore it. There was a 5 minute stretch of road that I wasn't sure I could make. I was listening and concentrating on what she was saying AND how not to shit myself. To make a short story long I didn't make the entire turnover session without leaving for the toilet. I was about 1 colon foot short of completion before I had to run. It got so bad I actually eased out of the chair and put all my weight on 1 arm as I squeezed my sphinker ...prison tight.....During the raising out of the chair I came to my senses and realized I needed to go no matter how long it might prolong my coworker having to stay....So I went and then a little later Buckwheat Zydeco came on the radio with a Led Zeppelin song, 'When the Levee Breaks' ...and my world was right again. And poor Donna has no idea I almost shit myself in her cubicle but the rest of my co-workers do because I love a good poop story.

Up up and away...1st furlough day.

Friday was my 1st furlough day and I thought I didn't want to waste it although I'm not a huge believer that doing anything you're into at the time is a waste.So I started the day by dropping a full container of coffee all over the kitchen floor. I decided I wanted to ride my mtn bike from my house and climb to Spooner Summit and make my way back. I was armed with 2 water bottles - 1 of which I lost early on, a camera and no real agenda. I put the mp3 on random and it was amazing how many good songs it seemed to pick.I took a ton of photos just to show the elevation gain more than anything else. I made a little slide show to a song my sister had sent to me during more difficult times. So the song lives under less difficult times and gives some of the pics a little more life. Thank you sister for giving me meaningful songs over the years that kept me clawing my way forward. For the 2 of you who check on me you have a choice of either looking at the pics or checking out the slide show/music vid.

http://www.vimeo.com/5762604 (my slideshow vid)

http://picasaweb.google.com/srussel459/1stFurloughJuly24th?authkey=Gv1sRgCKy9j-TrjJqVWQ# (just the pics)

Get Lost - as featured in Bike Magazine

WE RIDE FOR MANY REASONS - FOR fun, for fitness, or as an excuse to enjoy the company of a few good friends. But mostly, we ride to escape-to escape the stasis of a life constructed around a 9-to-6 job; to escape the streets of suburbia; and, most importantly, to escape the expected.

On the trail, whether is traverses remote mountains or slices through local parks, anything is possible. Those slivers of dirt, the best of them not more than 18 inches wide, contain infinite possibilities. Each corner brings forth new risks, and new rewards, leading us further from home and deeper into the unknown. So we pray at the altar of dirt, and what we ask for most is an adventure.

Our sense of adventure leads us to local trails and distant destinations. But over the years, even those far-flung places--Fruita, Moab, Pisgah and Whistler--become mundane. Sometimes, another road trip to Utah has all the excitement of running to the grocery store. Even those of us who have never ridden Moab or Whistler have seen enough photos and YouTube clips to wash the excitement clean off those places. Written by Lou Mazzante
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I would just like to add that riding the same trails 100 times can sound boring. There are, like Lou mentions above, new risks with each corner. So the progress of acquiring mtn biking skill is a never ending endeavor. As you age some things you never gave a 2nd thought about become things that require attention. Old bones don't heal as fast as young bones and there is that freeriding thing that I have respect for but it's just not something I care to subject my body too. I'd rather live to ride another day. The picture above was taken in the Lake Tahoe area when 11 of us did a loop that was partially new to most of us and best of all it had many aspects that make up a good day...Challenge, a bit of suffering, feeling of success and the camaraderie that goes along with knowing each and every one of us had to pedal the same 50 switchbacks that became harder with each turn. A few beers doesn't hurt either. So wether you search the world for new trails or ride your backyard singletrak it's all good.

ps....This is not the real reason some call me Rodeo.

Heaven and Hell Part - Who knows.....

Today's heaven and hell theme will start with the idea of those born agains. The almighty born again fucking Christians who have somehow gone off path and feel such guilt that they need some sort of acceptance/forgiveness. The issue I have with this is that if its a simple matter of accepting Christ into your life then why does it matter how you live on earth? I'll tell you why ...Because regardless of Christ most of us have a conscience and that very thing that is implanted in us and makes us feel guilty for behavior that might not really be up to standards. So we pretend to accept this forgiveness and go on about spouting off about the glory of Christ when all I'm really seeing is a motherfucker's who's guilty of making some mistakes in this life and not doomed to hell for it. Leave Christ out of it and live your life! And the funny thing is most born agains don't believe in reincarnation. Go figure. My theme for the month has nothing to do with anything other than Heaven and Hell. I'm not pissed at any Idol Worship that may see you get thru another day. I am pissed at all of the fearful folk who think they may burn in hell for being created by a creator who supposedly created us in his image. Happy Independence Day!

Fathers Day

Fathers Day
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Started off without a hitch. These types of days usually don't get to me but this past fathers days was very different. I somehow flopped in my pops chair and started flicking channels mid way through the day. I came across a documentary on the Travel Channel(I think) called, 'Dream Riders'. I only caught the 2nd 1/2 but what I got from it was this: A father probably mid 40's and his son probably early 20's rode bicycles across the country in hopes of gaining insight into their misunderstandings about each other. Music can bring laughter or tears in a nanosecond with me and it wasn't long into this thing I heard some good music that allowed a nice fathers day remembrance/purging/cleansing. Whatever you wanna call it. It builds, it releases and you continue and the cycle will continue forever and 1 day if you're lucky somebody will have the same thoughts about you regardless of parenthood. Your memory will live on. Concerning this documentary I was weeping and wouldn't you know they rode right through a town my pop played minor league baseball in. Olean, New York. (http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Olean_Oilers) So believe it or not it felt like he was speaking to me and it made things even more intense. In the end this father and son worked through a ton of misunderstandings and finally as they were at journeys end the son said to his father, 'I love you'. He had enough resent to hold off saying this until the journeys end. So the message is that some things are misunderstood and some things are very understood but need to be healed and there are those things that can probably never be healed. If you still have a pop try your best if possible................The lyrics to the song that got me were as follows: I take it as spoken from the father but I could be wrong and now that I re-read, it could go either way but it's beautiful to me. I immediately went to amazon and bought the soundtrack to DreamRiders(Ari Hest and Dewey Kincade)

Lyrics to One Line Epitaph :
So you say you know just who I am.
But I'm afraid that you don't understand.
'Not a line written in your book.. 'not an angel, and I am not a crook.

You see black and you know just what that means.
You say "no" with so much certainty.
You see a world drawn out on a grid, running from oceans where the buried treasure's hid.

Don't squeeze me in to your photograph.
Don't sum me up to a one line epitaph, skipping from the graph.. a one-trick pony.

Life is simpler when you know just who you are..
til the breakdown comes and you find that you were wrong.
That oppression comes for an extended stay.. stand on the shore and watch your future drift away.

Don't squeeze me in to your photograph.
Don't sum me up to a one line epitaph, skipping from the graph.. a one-trick pony.

A one line epitaph, skipping from the graph.. a one-trick pony.


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and in my mindset I wrote my simple thoughts:
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Fathers day
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I can hear harmonica
I can see a baseball
I can feel laughter
running around my memories
that survive
my father is with me
every single day
and now and again I am reminded
just how close he is
signs come from left field
sometimes I smile and sometimes I cry
today I miss him
but I know I'm not alone