Life of Bryan

Portlanders notoriously don’t shovel their sidewalks when it snows here. I’ve heard the argument that it’s pointless to buy a snow shovel when it only snows a couple times per year and melts fairly quickly. But guess what snow shovels are also great for? Soggy leaves on concrete! 🍁

I avoided this fallen can of soda water all week knowing full well that it would be there for me when I ran out of them on Friday. Here we are.

I decided to stop complaining about having so few friends as a middle-aged man and committed to a goal of one social meetup event per week. This week was trivia, next week is a writer’s group. With enough meds, I might even work up the courage to do an open mic night, but probably not. #anxiety

A pair of quotes that gave me pause today:

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.

— Pablo Picasso

There is a quality even meaner than outright ugliness or disorder, and this meaner quality is the dishonest mask of pretend order, achieved by ignoring or suppressing the real order that is struggling to exist and to be served.

— Jane Jacobs

My wife scheduling that JC Penney photo shoot the minute I break down and trim my Movember mustache.

Looking at open enrollment options and comparing insurance costs between my employer (government) and my wife’s (health care). Her premium for dental through the same provider is 8 times as expensive. This system is stupid.

Of all the scientific and technological advancements made in my lifetime, not one is more important than the Squatty Potty.

As much as I loathe DT and Musk, I unfollow people who body shame them. Don’t care if it’s punching up, that’s some right wing stuff I just don’t tolerate in my feeds.

My mother-in-law officially retired, so we’ve been getting a little relief with the kids lately. Last night we got out in Northwest PDX. I won a pretty decent gift card to Ringside a while back and we had to use it. Nice place, but not our normal thing. We would never spend that kind of money on streak had we not had the gift card. Spent some time shopping and had drinks beforehand. We had a lot of fun. NW is a beautiful area. I feel very fortunate.

Bridge City. Gloom rolled in, but we’re dry at the moment. Photos from the passenger seat.

A view of a cityscape seen from a highway, featuring tall buildings and a cloudy sky.A calm river is lined with houses and trees under an overcast sky, with dock structures visible in the foreground.