No, Spokane doesn't suck, and neither does your mom...

OK, a guy moves from TEXAS and finds that Spokane is nice. That shouldn't be a surprise. When he runs into the locals, he finds that they put down their hometown. That shouldn't be a surprise either. Spokane is a polite place. Most of us love it here. If you can make a living in Spokane, there are few better places to live, in my opinion. But, we are pretty self-effacing about it with transplants, especially if they are from such an awesome place like TEXAS.

What is surprising is that this guy made a kickstarter account and is making money with  t-shirts emblazoned with "Spokane Doesn't Suck."

If you are from Spokane and you wear this shirt, I think it makes you sound a little defensive.

My first reaction was to make a shirt that looks like this:

But, wouldn't that be mean?  It seems like it to me. However, if his "Spokane Doesn't Suck" t-shirt is supposed to be complimentary, I guess this shirt would sound supportive. Maybe it is. Anyway, potentially hurting people's feelings is not how I role (as the kids say). So, here is the shirt:

If you want one, and really I don't know why anyone would, you can order it here.

3D Manito Duncan Gardens

Click on the picture of your choice to make it bigger. Cross your eyes to form a third picture in the middle of the two already displayed. Look at that middle picture. Hey, it's in 3D!

Lists

At work, I usually have very little control over the day. There are things that must get done each shift but all those "musts" can fall by the wayside when the bell hits. I can bike through the station doors with the best of intentions. A list sits in my pocket with some specific training evolutions or station work scribbled in only to have the plan shitcanned due to a big fire, unscheduled training by admin, multiple medical calls or other emergencies that pop up during the day (the real job). A shift with twenty calls leaves little time to do more than drink some water and take a leak between the calls. I have to say that these are my favorite kind of days. I like being busy and I enjoy running calls. My grandson Jack gets it!. Thanks to my daughter-in-law, "Li'l Sarah" for the picture.

On my days off, I schedule my activities, or at least I always have a to-do list. Which is pretty weird, I guess. I would imagine most people have very scheduled workdays and look forward to not having a specific schedule on their days off. When I am not scheduling things on my days off, it is a conscious decision - "I am taking a break today." Yesterday, was like that.

Sarah and I did Spokefest yesterday. She hasn't missed one! The only one I missed was last year when I had to work, and to be honest, it took some weight off my shoulders to end the streak. So, yesterday we did the Classic Loop, rode back home, ate and drank at Benneditto's, watched the Seahawks lose, napped, ate popcorn and watched Sense8 episodes (a new favorite here). What a great day!

This morning, I was back on my schedule. So what did it look like?
Run 3.5 miles
Pay some bills, other admin stuff
Errands - Station 11, Library, Grocery shop
Rake pine needles
Pick vegetables
Study for my paramedic recertification
Edit poetry book
Obtain ISBN number, Library of Congress info for poetry book
Design cover art for poetry book
Spokanarama post (hey that's what I'm doing now)
Reading (soon)

These are pretty common tasks. I do something I call "The Spaz Workout" twice a week. Sometimes, I will have longer runs. Haiku Friday takes up time some of the days. I will design new t-shirts and then have to print up shirts as well.

It was a great weekend. My son Ike and I hung out with my brother Joe in Saltese. The heir to the Russian Crown brought us goat milk, bread and a dish towel commemorating George Washington's dad's birthplace. Why am I not blogging about that? We flyfished. Sometimes, you have to deviate from the schedule.

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Eleven Years of Spokanarama

To many, it seems longer.

I realize there have been many ebbs and flows in the blog. Issues of quality, content, timeliness and overall WTFery have not been a concern for the last 10 years or so. And it shows. I promise to continue this lowering of the bar.  If necessary I will shovel.

There have been some recent developments in my sidewebbiness. I have made or will make sites for all the side projects this blog has spurred. If you go to www.spokanarama.com, there they all are - smack dab and unaesthetically at the top. Some of you know other wacky projects I have shepherded. I will get some of those up there too.  It is not a very nice looking website, but it is functional. Thank you former USSR for design inspiration.

I have two main side projects that I have been involved with lately - Haiku Friday and a book of poetry that I would like to see on the shelves of your local poetry-warehouse/convenience-store sometime in October. I have also thrown my hat in the ring for Poet Laureate of Spokane. What I lack in actual works of poetry, I make up for in a can-do attitude and pluckiness. I promise to bring rhyming back!

Spokanarama has always been my number one. I try to celebrate Spokane more covertly in all my other work, but this blog has been, sometimes,  a gushy love letter to the weird and wonderful place I live and love.

My real job has become busier and I have a lot of work that I will be doing in the upcoming months off duty. I think this will help me get more of the web, writing and art stuff done. For whatever reason, when I am busy, I can really add more stuff on, and it seems to help propel all projects.  

Thanks for your readership and participation.