Vintage Oil

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I was driving to work Friday morning when NPR advised me to stay away from 6th street due to an oil spill.

Pardon? This is not exactly an industrial area, and unless the Driskel Hotel has been drilling for oil (not sure why, they make enough money on the exorbitantly priced rooms), there’s not really anything down there that would would cause 20,000 of gallons of fuel oil to be running down sixth into Waller Creek, unless someone had parked, say, 500 Volkswagens on the street.

Well, actually there is. Turns out a water main broke and flooded a long forgotten oil tank, used in the mid 19th century to heat and light homes. Apparently this giant tank of oil has just been sitting under there for 100 years or so minding its own business, until it got flooded out.

Ok, so a downtown reenactment of the Exxon Valdez. The flooding and subsequent closure of the State Theater in 2006 due to another water main break. Three years to rebuild Barton springs (a mile-and-a-half stretch of road) because crews had inaccurate maps of the piping under the street. See a trend? Our tax dollars at work.

Ed Hillary

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It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. – Sir Edmund Hillary.

The self-described bee keeper, philanthropist, and first person (along with Tenzing Norgay) to climb Everest, back when no one was really sure if it could be done, died to day at 88. Here’s hoping there’s some type of climbing and exploring fun in the afterlife.

300ish

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This marks the 300th (give or take) post to the site. Possibly the longest ongoing creative endeavor I’ve taken on or at least stuck with. Rather than do my King Leonidas impression (very few people want to see me in spartan garb, although having a sword would be nice) I’ve dug through the site archives and found some of my favorites (some of the links are dead, and some of the punctuation is bad…I apologize but I pay the server bill, so not to be rude but get over it).

This year we discovered the joys of New York and drinking on the lower east side, tempered with the hardship of the great domestic realignment of 2007.

We also ate and were chased by large quantities of meat in Sonora.

This summer the hotel Subaru traveled a bit the American west for a much needed walkabout.

Then there was the death of hippy wade.

On the subject of hippy’s, the speculated hippy wars would short and funny.

Then there are the joys of eating BBQ with strangers in South Austin.

New Years of 2007, I got to discover snowboarding, winter-time air travel and my incredible family.

Then there was the week or two when my ibook died, and I was forced to watch television.

Apparently, I enjoy self-deprecating humor.

However, I enjoy moving much less, especially where uhaul is involved.

Back in the day, I was a bit obsessed with mowing. Not sure why.

Sitting in a pressurized meal tube always seems to get the creative juices flowing, as does travel in general.

Ah, the glories of Ice Dancing.

And finally, the Trebuchet.

And that’s it for gratuitous self-linking. The whole ‘blog-thing’ is a bit strange sometimes, especially when you read it in order. A public chronology of your life, accountable to the faceless masses of the internet. A bit like the ultimate architecture critique. Maybe its a creative reset, maybe its cheaper than therapy, or maybe it’s just something I can get away with doing at work when i don’t feel like designing another sad-purple-lady brochure. Irregardless (which is not really a word), here’s to the next 300, and hoping it doesn’t take me another 2 years to get there.

Kottke's Best of 2007

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Say what you want, the guy finds some damn good content.

Obama

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In an unprecedented move of NOT nominating someone with high negatives, Democrats in Iowa have pushed Obama to the front of the the ongoing political menage a trois. If Middle-America can elect a black man with a muslim name, we may yet get out of this crazy hand basket we’ve been riding in for the past eight years. And the ‘change’ message is nice and all, but lets face it, that sans-serif typeface they’re using is what’s really driving people to the polls (or maybe that’s just me).

Oh yeah, and that other party went for another white guy who likes to shoot at people. Nice trend guys.

Tres Cuevas

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I am an idiot to be even considering this ride.

The Ocho

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As Indiana said, “ it’s not the years honey, it’s the mileage.”

I used to think in terms of good years and bad years, but it’s not as if the fates really conspire to confine their plan for us to a specific three-hundred-and-sixty-five day period. They have the cosmic luxury of throwing as curve balls whenever they feel like it. The trick is what we do with the pitches that come our way.  There’s just the short time we have and what we do with it.

Live large. Enjoy 08.