Mountain Biking In Ice, Slush And Mud

Swamps to the left of me
Boulders to the right
Here I am
Stuck in the middle with ice

Mountain biking on a 6 mile trail covered in ice, slush and cold mud was not the smartest thing I ever did; but it wasn’t the dumbest thing I ever did either. Oh and it sure was fun, and I would gladly do it all over again! 😉

It is also said by historians, that these rocky hills of North Jersey, were partly instrumental in General George Washington winning a war of attrition against the British. I can see why. LOL!

First burrito of 2019!

My first burrito of 2019! Burritos are warm and comforting, like puppies. Except that instead of being covered with fur, they are covered with a tortilla. And except that instead of holding them in your arms, you eat them. But aside from that, they are just as warm and comforting as puppies! I do know for a fact that puppies even like eating burritos.

Served with a side of homemade, tomato, lime, cilantro sauce. And a keyboard in the background.

food. music.
music. food.

First batch of home made cold brew coffee

During Christmas break, a family member was raving about home made cold brew coffee. They warned me up front that I will have to use a LOT more coffee grounds to get it right. With their suggestions in mind, I made my first batch of home made cold brew coffee, and it sure tastes delicious! But I gotta say – even though I loved it, I’m just used to coffee being hot. Also, after 1 week of experimenting with variations on the recipe, I have to say that cold brew coffee does not taste great with a little bit of coffee. Rather, it takes at least 12 to 16 times the amount of coffee grounds, to get a deep, flavorful tasting cup. In the long run, that’s too expensive for me.

So yes, cold brew coffee tastes great. But it’s still COLD, and it’s still expensive. And for me, it’s just not worth the expense. I’m glad I tried it though. You should too. Lemme know how your experiments work and what you think of it.

– – –
My favorite formula was this –

I did 6 ounces coffee. 26 ounces cold water. Let it sit on countertop overnight. It’s like drinking chocolate!

Walking Dumb

After next week, I’m likely done with Walking Dead. It’s turned into being silly and not thinking forward. Killing off Carl, then killing off Rick, kills off every future story arc from the comics. Sure, they can take Rick’s part in the comics, where Negan taunts him from the cell, and give that part to Michonne (which it seems like that’s exactly what they are doing). But it doesn’t work, and it will not work, because for the past almost 2 years of shows, Rick and Negan have an antagonistic relationship. Michonne does not. From the moment they met, Negan tried to mentally break Rick on top of the RV. Negan tried to break Rick at Alexandria. Negan tried to get to Rick through Carl. Negan’s interactions with Michonne were never on a psychological and personal level, as they were with Rick. AMC can attempt to do that, and it seems that they are with Negan bringing up Michonne’s son Andre. But that’s only exposition, and we never actually see or have met Andre. Exposition is much, much weaker than actual interaction.

To compare it with other stories, you can’t take the Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker antagonistic relationship, then kill off Luke in the middle of the story, and then replace that adversarial foundation that the reader has with a confrontation between Darth vs. Han Solo. It just doesn’t work. In a literary comparison, you can’t take the Agamemnon vs Achilles, prematurely kill off Achilles, and replace all his story lines with Agamemnon vs Ajax. Sure you COULD swap characters, but because they have no prior history of antagonism built up, the story lines, the tension and drama do not not work the same way, because they have very different motivations, strengths and weaknesses when played off of each other, change everything about the story going forward.

Kirby Stock Exchange

During the past 2 years I have shot over 20,000 photos and videos, and made a decision to monetize them.

Along the way, I met other web developers, photographers, video shooters, music composers who are contributing from around the globe.

We will be making all of this content available for sale, as we continually create more content.

Therefore I am happy to announce that Kirby Stock Exchange is open for business!

Kirby Stock Exchange

 

Coexist / ☪☮⚥✡☥☯

So my choice today was,

1. Drive 35+ miles to mountain bike in an area where I’m pretty sure hunting season is happening with either a bow, shotgun or muzzle loader (Morris, Sussex, Passaic, Hunterdon counties) -OR-

2. Mountain bike closer to me, but it’s illegal, because hippiecrites in towns like Maplewood, Montclair, Berkeley Heights, don’t know how to share their tens of thousands of acres of parks and many miles of trails with bicyclists, so they pay police to impound bikes. -OR-

3. Don’t ride at all

I chose 1. Because life is short. And I’d rather die doing with I love, than sit in my butt and be safe doing nothing. I stuck to the main trail, wore tie dye clothes, bright red helmet, clamped a rattling device to my handlebars to announce my presence with noise. And I was fine.

Now if we can only get those “tolerant” people in Essex and Union counties to learn to >>>

Coexist / ☪☮⚥✡☥☯

 

 

America’s Spiritual Capacities

“For America has developed powers and capacities greater and more wonderful than other nations. While it is true that its people have attained a marvelous material civilization, I hope that spiritual forces may animate this great body and a corresponding spiritual civilization be established. May the inhabitants of this country become like angels of heaven with faces turned continually toward God. May all of them become the servants of the Omnipotent One. May they rise from present material attainments to such a height that heavenly illumination may stream from this center to all the peoples of the world.”

The Promulgation of Universal Peace
‘Abdu’l-Bahá

16 April 1912 – Talk at Hotel Ansonia to Baha’i’ Friends of New Jersey