poor stitching

I really wish summer and fall lasted longer in the mountains. The nights are getting cold and the leaves are changing. Before we know it, we'll have our first snow of the season. Get me the hell outta here before that happens. I need to be somewhere else so I don't break my shit snowboarding. I feel myself getting more and more brittle every day. I'm almost like Samuel L Jackson's character in the M Night Shamalam's super hero movie...the dude who couldn't walk without breaking a toe. I need to be somewhere warm and surfy anyway. Actually, it doesn't need to be warm, just surfy.

Heidelberg Hill-->Shadyside-->Eve's Gulch-->Citizen's-->Lane's Trail

Not very strenuous, but not very motivated the last couple days. Sometimes it's just fun to throw a leg over the bike and go for a spin in some stormy mountains with no goal except completing a ride and checking things out.

more cowbell

It seems like every time I close the bar, another incredible song by Rush makes me crank up the tunes. Last night it was the epicness of Xanadu. Turn this shit up real fucking loud and head bang your Bosley hair.

things got hairy

We get shit tons of interesting customers at the restaurant. Resort towns are filled with mostly-retired entrepreneurs who made their shady fortune years ago and just live the good life now. Usually I have no clue who the fuck they is. Then some busboy who played a round of golf with them earlier in the day points them out and we all make fun of them. Last night we had a guy that might be of interest to my follically challenged friends. The Doctor was in. Dr Lee Bosley of Bosley Hair Restoration. He must live around here cuz people with plenty of hair knew who he was. The 2 hot, enhanced broads with him kept caling him "The Doctor", and he wore an ascot. You don't see that shit very often. I like his style.

more #2 ahead

9-11 is quite a heavy day in America. It's also my birthday. Last year I had finally had it and dropped out. A couple major vacations and a move back to working nights set me free to shred 100+ days and be a giant flake. I was supposed to have figured out life over the last year then moved back to Santa Barbara for world domination. Shit didn't go as planned. A broken shoulder, super rad mountain chicks, and getting reintroduced to mountain biking changed the plan. Or what it getting reintroduced to chicks and super rad mountain bikes? Whatever. So today officially begins year #2 of the Mid-Life-Crisis World Tour. This time I fuckin mean it. No fucking around. In a couple weeks I'll be taking some time off and driving around the western US....the Portland/Santa Barbara/Idaho triangle. I'm looking forward to surfing Mira Mar and Rincon, biking, getting weirded out on the open road, urban car camping, business planning, slapping high fives, strong ass coffee, 3000+ miles driven fast, teryaki, and sleeping on beaches. And scoring a jobby job for the transition back to SB STAT!

the grinder

Summer's winding down and it's been incredible...besides the surgery and longer-than-expected-recovery, of course. It's been awesome getting back on the mountain bike. My legs are starting to finally get some sort of cycling shape. There's just so many trails around here and nobody on them. Yesterday we rode the Galena Grinder race course. While everybody was downtown boozing and watching the Wagon Days Parade, we spent the afternoon on a mellow ride up in the mountains. Back in the day, there was always the motivation for racing, racing, racing. Always training and making everything count come race day. Fuck that now, man, I'm old and broken down. These days it's all about struggling up the hills, checking shit out, not being completely spent afterwards, and having fun. The course we rode isn't super long, right around 17 miles. But it's one of the most fun rides I've been on in a while. Everything from big banked corners, to mandatory uphill hikes, to high speed decents and power switchbacks. There was some winding trough smaller ponderosa pines, tree roots and rocks to pop off, and several creeks crossing. After one gigantic, back breaking ascent, there's a long cruise at the base of the Boulder Mountains. It felt like bears and wolverines were everywhere. When China invades the US in 2012, that's where I'll start the revolution. Until then, I welcome fall and can't wait to get really muddy.

Welcome to the Thunderdome, bitch!

The restaurant's been crazy busy all fucking summer and I'm just about DONE dealing with massive amounts of ass clowns. The shear number of diners each night is staggering. We've got one more big weekend then all the kids are back in school, where they should be. That will slow us down a bit and we can take a little breather. The last couple week's been interesting though. We've had some celebrities stuff their face. I wasn't working the night Bjork came in. That woulda been rad. But Scott Glenn was in. So was Old Man John McCain. That fucker's retarded and very old, but he's a certified war hero so God Bless him. Then we had stinky ol Drew Barrymore in one night. It's amazing to hear how many fellow creepy restaurant dudes wanted to bang her after seeing her in ET when she was like 5 years old. I never thought she was hot, but she's cute in person, even thought she smells bad. The next morning I was telling a buddy that she was around when I smelt mother-fucking patchouli and saw her again way far away across the street. Yuck. I can't really remember who else we've seen, but it's a way to keep the shit interesting. TMZ out!