Monthly Archives: December 2011

Happy New Year, from Fish & Bicycles!

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As the remaining seconds of 2011 tick away, I find myself reflecting on this blogging thing that I do.

Unlike last year, when we had a new decade to celebrate — even though, as I wrote, most people had incorrectly celebrated the year before — this year we’re ushering in just another mundane set of 12 months.

Sure, there’s all the Mayan calendar 2012 ridiculousness, but let’s face it, things really won’t get fun again until the year 2020, because it’s such a cool number, or 2112, because there’s a classic Rush album by that name.

Um…where was I?

Oh, yeah, reflecting on blogging!

2011 has been an exciting year, here at Fish & Bicycles. I feel like I’ve really hit my stride, like I’m in the flow, that the blog is serving it’s primary purpose of acting as an outlet for my creative expression. I look at the content I’ve accumulated since I started in October 2009 and I feel very proud of it.

Icing on the cake: my monthly page views have tripled since this time last year, and it’s more thrilling than I can say, knowing that folks from all over the world have stopped by.

Now, not all of my reflective thoughts about blogging are so positive. There are times, infrequent as they may be, when I question the value of doing this. There are times when I have nothing really burning to say, but I feel a sense of obligation to try to produce something. On my good days, I see this as purely good writing discipline, for many a writing teacher will tell you that writing something, regardless of the quality, every single day is essential to being a good writer, as it keeps the creative juices flowing. On my not so good days, I wonder whether or not I’m in need of an ego-trip check, that perhaps, rather than a commitment to a writing regimen, I might really be more concerned with how the blog looks, updated as often as possible, which, experts preach, is essential for attracting more regular readers.

I’m sure that a lot of creative types wrestle with this from time to time, especially those of us who do not do it for a living. Really, it’s that age-old question: Is it art if no one but you ever sees or hears it?

While I believe it most certainly is, I also believe that a lot of artists do what they do because they want to share the fruit of their labors with others, to entertain, to provoke thought and emotion, to contribute something born of the human spirit to the world.

I could probably go on an on with this subject, but that’s enough reflection for now. We’ll see how this next year goes.

In the meantime, thanks, as always, to everyone who stops by, however briefly, for taking the time to consider my humble contributions to the blogosphere.

Happy New Year!

Occupy Bellingham Getting Evicted

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As I type this, the Occupy Bellingham encampment in our Maritime Heritage Park is preparing for a forced eviction scheduled for 9am, a few minutes from now. Bellingham, Washington, a city of only 80,000, might not be a mighty metropolis and media hub, but our hearty occupiers have been camped out since October.

It is with deep regret that, for a variety of reasons, I am unable to join my fellow 99%ers this morning in person. And so, I offer up this blog post of solidarity, my humble effort to spread the word of this injustice, knowing, as I do from visitor stats and such, that I’m fortunate enough to have readers from all over the world, from the west coast of the U.S. to the east, from the west coast of Canada to the east, from England to The Netherlands, and all the way to India.

Lame Duck Mayor Dan Pike, whom I praised so highly for his stance against the coal terminal project, has ordered the eviction on the grounds that there have been complaints from neighboring businesses and reports of damage to park property, namely the grass where the tents are pitched.

I did stop by the camp before I went to work this morning, and was told by the brave souls there that they’ve been doing near constant outreach to nearby businesses, checking in with them to make sure that they aren’t disturbing anyone, and the occupiers have been planning on repairing any damage to grass or other park property, though they insist that the damage is minimal.

Meanwhile, Occupy Bellingham’s lawyer insists that the eviction is a clear violation of First Amendment rights, and he plans to take legal action against the city on behalf of the occupiers.

For anyone interested, you can follow today’s events via Ustream and on Twitter via #OccupyBellingham.

Stuff We Need: Scrapblasters!

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I haven’t posted a Stuff We Need installment in a while, maybe because I’ve been too overwhelmed with stuff lately, like moving 20 years of accumulated stuff from one house to another, and having been immersed in those stuff-filled days we call the holiday season.

But when I saw this, I knew I had to have one:

Scrapblasters are two guys from Seattle, Brian Westcott and John Brink, who do upcycling with great retro taste.

It’s not that I have a thing for vacuum cleaners, it’s just that a vintage vacuum cleaner repurposed as a boom box TOTALLY works for me.

And yet, looking around the Scrapblasters website and checking other things they’ve made, I came up with an idea I’d like more than a boom box.

Back in April, they posted this:

That right there is a speaker and sub-woofer in a 1910 suitcase, and what I’d really like is to commission them to construct a home theater sound system inside a collection various retro items that would sit around the TV room.

THAT would be so rad!

Happy Holidays, From Fish & Bicycles!

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Well, it’s that time of year again, when I’ll be heading over the river and through the woods, to grandparents’ houses for Christmas.

We’re halfway through Chanukah, had a great time lighting candles, playing dreidel, and eating latkes, but we’re an interfaith family, and now we get to load up all of our Jewish stuff to bring with us for the second half of the holiday, along with all of our Christmas gifts, and drive to Seattle for time with the goyishe relatives.

Typically, this means that I won’t be blogging much for the next few days, so things will be quiet here at Fish & Bicycles, probably until Monday.

While I’m indisposed, feel free to browse around Fish & Bicycles in any of the following ways:

  • Tags: In the sidebar, under Stuff About…, you can click on any of the Tags and see all the posts I’ve done that have at least something to do with those topics.
  • Recurring Series: At the top of the page, hover over the Recurring Series drop-down menu and select from options like Celebrating Eco-Progress, which applauds businesses adopting sustainable practices; Eyecatchers, a collection of photos, graphics, and videos that have, well, caught my eye; Video Fridays, my favorite video of the week pick; and more.
  • Archives: Towards the bottom of the sidebar, select a specific month to see everything I posted in that time period.

Cheers!