Sportcoat and Manatee

Just found out that it’s Crohn’s and Colitis awareness week. The Senate said so and everything. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis exactly 3 years ago. Like other chronic inflammation diseases it’s a painful, life-altering, not fully understood bum out. Also, it affects every person differently so I’m always blazing my own trail of medications, supplements and diet. Thankfully I can do almost everything I could before — most of the time. It’s always there waiting to floor me though.

Multiple Choice

Baby Spiderman

There’s a pretty important minimoog on my floor today.

Howard Jones’ electronic percussion player killing it. 1985.

Some Dairy Queens used to have this crusty old catalog where you could choose between an office, RV, semi-truck, or 700 other normal things you’d think to put on a cake. Unfortunately, most have gotten rid of their old catalog and even their screening machines in favor of more modern ones. My nearby DQ just ditched theirs after a remodel. I emailed DQ HQ today to get the story, but since the stores are independently owned and operated, I don’t expect an answer. I’ve never been able to have one made (the machine was always broken), so I’m committed to getting one before they’re all gone.

Story:

For the past 3 years I’ve lived on an intersection with a two-way stop. Most people are unaware it’s two-way, so nearly every day I see a sketchy situation involving not only cars, but bicycles, pedestrians, dogs, babies, etc. One day I wondered if I, just one dude, could do something about the problem, so I went to the City of Long Beach website and emailed their traffic department to request a “Cross Traffic Does Not Stop” sign. Three months later, I got a reply from an intern asking me to call to discuss the situation. I called him, explained the problem and he said they would do some research. A month later, I got an email saying the sign was approved. Three months after that (last week) the sign was installed. Instantly the intersection became sane — no more brake squealing, people squealing, fighting, me looking out the window tensely as a bicyclist with earbuds in rolls through the stop without looking.

Lesson: sometimes you have to be that guy who calls the city to let them know there’s a problem, and sometimes they even fix it.

Animated arpeggiator giffage.