Yearly Archives: 2012

Winter Ride Through a Lightshow!

Posted on by

A generous benefactor paid entry for my motorcycle club (and some other clubs, too) to ride through a light show set up in a state park in the northern part of the county where I live. It was a great display, and nice ride.

The temperature cooperated, but chilled quickly after dark, so I’m glad we had the privilege to have exclusive first entry. I enjoyed the ride, though I’m not that fond of riding in the dark. And, regretfully, some of the other motorcyclists on this ride do not know how to ride in a group. Overall, though, I’m happy — not that often I can say that I took a motorcycle ride in December!

Life is short: ride!

No Ads Here

Posted on by

I’m sure many of you have been unable to avoid noticing ads on websites, blogs, or even web-based software programs that you use routinely. In my opinion, some of the worst of this advertising push is foisted on YouTube. Some of the videos require viewing at least 10 seconds of an advertisement before you can skip it. Also, Facebook presents a huge number of ads (to those who do not block them with browser extensions like Adblocker). There are hundreds of additional examples.

The purpose of ads, of course, is to generate sales that come from visits to the sponsor’s website. Website and blog owners who host ads receive a share of revenue for allowing the ads on their websites. The more sophisticated the web becomes, the more “directed” the ads will be. Ever notice, for example, that if you visit a website for a boot retailer, that the boot store’s boots show up in ads that stream on other sites you visit, such as blogs? Or suddenly boot ads show up on Facebook? That, to me, is kinda spooky, but not unexpected.

So what is my position on ads on my boots and leather website or this blog or videos on my my YouTube channel?
Continue reading →

Coming Out To My Mom

Posted on by

As I was growing up, I was among the youngest in a large family. I saw my older brothers and sisters date and then marry a woman or a man, then start a family. I saw all of my cousins — all 179 of them — do that too. Yeah, as I said, I have a LARGE family. We occupy a small country to the east of … well, there I go again, digressing on yet another tangent 🙂

I grew up expecting that I was straight. I never wanted to be anything other than straight. I had no reason to expect that I wasn’t straight. My admiration of boys my age were of respect of those who were much more athletically inclined (like my twin brother) or their boots. Honestly, that was it. I took a liking to boots on guys a long, long time ago. But I had no idea — no fathom of a thought — that I could or would like men in the way that straight guys like women.

But I finally figured it out, and have explained that process on this blog in many posts over years. But the hardest part after coming out to myself was coming out to my mother. See this post from a year ago about how my Mom learned to accept and continue to love me, regardless of my sexual orientation. This post is about how I “came out” to her.
Continue reading →

The House Wins

Posted on by

An expression in gambling is that “the house wins” when a bettor loses a bet. While my fiance and I do not gamble at casinos, or playing cards, slots, or betting on horses, sporting events, on-line, etc., we do have regular bets with two guys who ultimately always win. And their winnings go to our house.

Huh?
Continue reading →

Kiddie Pop Star Sets a Bad Example

Posted on by

Here is a photo taken recently in a story about a kiddie pop star who took a spin on a sport bike in Beverly Hills, California. The name of this kid and the report of his ride is here. I choose not to write his name here as I do not want internet searches for his name to wind up here. This blog post is not about him; it’s about stupid choices made by someone who gets a lot of attention in the media.)

Come on, JB, what are those stupid things on your feet?
Continue reading →

Unexpected Ride!

Posted on by

I had thought that it would have taken all day on Friday to clean up after our Thanksgiving event, but my family and a few senior pals did such a good job, all I had to do was take 14 garbage bags to the transfer station (what we call “the dump”), and that was it.

The forecast for Friday was 60°F (15.5°C), while the ongoing forecast was for the bottom to drop out of the thermometer in the evening.

I gave “one of those looks” to my fiance, and he said, “go get your leathers on and go for a ride!”
Continue reading →

Warm Glow Friday

Posted on by

Today, the Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving, is called in the media, “Black Friday,” as one of the top five days for holiday shopping. Contrary to popular belief, this day is not the #1 day for retail sales. The Saturday before Christmas is #1… but I digress. One thing I can promise on Friday — I am not going shopping! Instead, I’ll be basking in a warm glow all day.

I wrote this post before I collapsed into bed last night.

Yes, we did it with lots and lots of people…
Continue reading →

Thankfulness and Going Nuts

Posted on by

This post appears on the day before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Unlike others, my fiance and I are not traveling over the river and through the woods to grandma’s, or his mother’s, or anywhere else. But we are preparing, once again, to host a huge pot-luck Thanksgiving feast for about 100 of my closest friends. I explain our preparations here, and the actual day here. This year, however, will be a little different.
Continue reading →

Weekend: Bringing Happiness to My Fiance

Posted on by

This past year has been difficult, with my partner being so ill that almost every day, we could not do very much and I stood by his side, trying to help. Now it is one year after his first frightening symptoms appeared. He is slowly improving, and I am delighted that this past weekend, we had two good days in a row, where we had fun! You read about Saturday, where our “fun” was doing chores around the house, helping friends with grocery shopping, then getting some time for me to go for a ride on my Harley.

Sunday was a great day, too. It began, as we usually begin, with a warm, lazy snuggle while watching dawn break on the trees in the forest behind our house. It never ceases to amaze us how lovely this sight is to behold as the early red color of sunrise transforms to a bright gold contrasted against the dark grey bark of the trees.
Continue reading →