Archive for the writings Category

Upgrading to a V8

Posted in other products, writings on February 13, 2012 by jeffbedel

Ha, gotcha! No, this post has nothing at all to do with internal combustion engines. Instead, I’m posting about an end of an era as we know it; the store boughten, “not from concentrate era”, of orange juice.

I realize this is old news, but it has taken me till this week to think of and buy a comparable, and cheap, replacement to the hole left in, and for my heart. Most of you have read or heard about our overly manufactured orange juice and it’s quite a shame. Of course, I could, gasp, actually buy oranges and crush them to their deaths for their sweet, sweet blood; but alas I was watching Dr. Oz last week (the only doctor I can see without insurance) to recommend, gasp again, vegetable juice!

Now, after many, many Sundays (and well, everyday actually) I saw Wisconsinite after Wisconsinite woof down a carefully, spicy, well dressed alcoholic concoction of vegetable juice to my dismay (usually poured with a side of dice), the Bloody Mary. I never could understand, and seriously still don’t understand why you would choose that over all of the other fine alcoholic choices available but I digress.

So, after the Doctor of Oz gave me the thumbs up, off I went to Kroger (that’s a long O for you North Woods folk) to seek out V8, or the I’m broke as a joke Kroger brand equivalent. The price was right, about $2, and I reluctantly went home with my bottle of pulverized veggies.

I let it chill for a day and finally poured a bit and immediately it smelled like cold Campbell’s condensed tomato soup. After my drink I didn’t want to hurl, but I still wasn’t won over. I figured it tasted like cold condensed tomato soup too, and at worst I could mix some milk with it and make, well you guessed it, tomato soup. Tonight though I had a bigger glass of it for dinner and I tell you it wasn’t all that bad. Now I did have some kickass cookies for dessert so maybe that is the reason, but I feel really damn good right now. Maybe there is factual evidence of veggies being good for you. I still don’t know where the taste of the other 7 vegetables linger in the juice, I only taste tomato, but if this is what I have to drink until I can afford to eat properly again, or hire Jeeves to conquer the oranges (and the pulp) to return the days of orange bliss, it’ll do.

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My move to Cincinnati

Posted in new places, writings on February 1, 2012 by jeffbedel

Yesterday I was smiling so hard I could burst. I felt moved in more ways than one. One I was finally settled in enough to explore the city by bike, and secondly I felt moved to finally blog about it.

It seems nearly every night I’ve been here I’ve been going to bed way early, like 9-10pm, which without my Milwaukee time adjustment yet is like going to bed between 8-9. The first few mornings I slept many hours to recover from the long, arduous move. This morning I was ready to roll at 5AM. I wanted to leave the house sooner, but between trying to get out of the house while it was still dark, and still finding myself a few times a day rifling through boxes to find something I finally managed to find coffee shortly before 8AM.

A week ago today I woke up for the last time with a normal Milwaukee day facing me, and my favorite day of all; trivia day! I didn’t want to treat that day any different. Same ol’ get up and get coffee at Whole Foods, shuffle some questions, and make a stellar playlist. Once that was done I did have a few last minute things to accomplish that afternoon before the show which in turn actually rushed me to get to Vintage to meet my replacement host. Once she arrived I knew things were becoming more realistic. The the balloons showed up, and then my biggest crowd ever arrived. Vintage was stacked with 80+ people. Some had to leave because it was standing room only.

The show went on without a hitch except for my crappy mic. Nearer to the end shots began arriving and a few goodbyes starting rolling out as players left and a few friends left. Cake was even served, and I received some gifts. There were some t-shirts and a few other goodies, but the thing that jerked the tears from my soul was a big card that they passed around and have everyone sign. That card meant so much to me.

I continued to play music throughout the night and before I knew it 2AM rolled around and I got to hang out with the Becky & the bar staff for a couple of hours despite knowing that the task of moving had to get started right away the next morning. I got home at 4AM and couldn’t sleep, I cried instead till like 6AM when I finally found the comfort to sleep. (See previous post)

I woke up a bit after 8AM, made breakfast, and finally made my way to pick up the truck. From there, even though I packed and threw away a lot of stuff I felt like I hadn’t even started at that point. I didn’t publicly ask for help because one it was weekday, and second I’m so damn independent I don’t want to involve anyone really to disassemble my mess. I did recruit my hero for the day, Wally, to at least give me a hand getting my big stuff out. After an hour or two battling that I was left alone with a mountain in front of me I’d seen the last when I moved into the place. Now, with shortness of sleep and no sense of direction it seemed impossible.

I moved what I had packed and began packing the rest little by little. The biggest delay was I had to move everything twice because since I was delayed by getting up late, the carpets were due to be cleaned before I could get everything out. Then the carpet guy forgot something and was delayed another hour. I had everything packed into my kitchen and could barely navigate nor make progress. Guh.

I was waning by then, and at around 7pm when I had planned to everything moved and cleaned, I was in deep. I was unmotivated, tired, and felt pretty helpless. Moral support was all I really needed. I took a break, called my mom, and found the strength to keep picking away. At this point I figured even if I finished by midnight, how was I going to drive?

After a post I made on Facebook, Wally came back from class and delivered one of those bottles of Starbucks lattes and I was never so happy to have Starbucks. Just his visit and that drink was enough to get me focused again. Between that and Wally helping stage and load more things I concentrated on the cleaning as well. STILL, IT WAS 2AM WHEN I CLOSED THE DOOR BEHIND ME! To meet my brother by mid-afternoon in Cincinnati I had no choice but to leave. If I slept at Becky’s like I had planned I would have never woke up and my whole plan would have been busted. So, after a quick stop at Jimmy Johns with Wally for some white bread and Coke energy I finally pulled out of Milwaukee at 3AM.

With 2 hours sleep in nearly 48 hours I had to be cautious obviously. I knew I could afford some power naps along the way, but crashing a truck of course was not an option. Leaving Milwaukee I found myself going 45-50 down 94. Then I remembered I only had $3 cash after paying the carpet guy, and the tolls had gone up in Illinois. So, instead of making a silly stop for cash, I jumped off on 41 when I got to the border. Besides, I was only going 50mph anyhow. I was a moving accident out there on the interstate. I wanted to get through Chicago before resting, but my body wouldn’t have it. I stopped about 3/4 of the way to Chicago and tested my power nap skills. “15 minutes I told myself” since I wanted to get through Chicago before rush hour. Boom! 15 minutes later I awoke, grabbed a Coke, and I was ready to roll. I went through Chicago about 5AM and was a 9 on a 10 scale in alertness.

The nods finally returned about halfway between Chicago and Lafayette, IN. I took another 20 minute nap and gave my cat some food. She was a trooper. She was pretty upset for the first hour or so, but was pretty quiet throughout till the last hour or so of the journey. She never made a mess the whole way! I kept going with a short stop for some fresh air around Lebanon, IN and a final stop in Fairland, IN. There after a solid 30 minute nap I was renewed and said at the point “it’s time to take it home”. Three naps and 10 1/2 hours later I arrived in Cincinnati. By time I turned in that night I had gotten a total of maybe 3 hours sleep in 60 hours. Before I went to sleep though my brother, Greg, came to meet me get my big stuff out of the truck and by my surprise brought his wife and kids. We went to Dewey’s Pizza down the block and I took this picture of my niece, Amelia.

After unloading and taking the truck back I had another night of much needed rest. The next morning my parents made their way to visit. A trip to breakfast, Costco (for the all important best smelling laundry detergent, ever), and a walk around the neighborhood for some Aglamesis Bros. sundaes. Finally after their visit I put my place mostly back together and finally felt at home.

Of course biking is an all important element of my being and I had to venture out a bit. My first four miles were on Saturday evening and the traffic was horrid. No dedicated bike lanes and some very bad drivers made me feel like I was in the wrong place. Fortunately, paired with some unseasonably warm weather, I had to drum up my courage and research my maps a bit better and get myself back out there. Tuesday I had a fabulous ride to downtown mostly along the river. Then I had to find my way back up the river bluff to stop hopefully at Eden Park. Eden Park is seriously my most favorite place on the planet. Every time as a kid when we went on field trips to Cincinnati (zoo, museums, etc.) we had lunch and/or went to the Krohn Conservatory in Eden Park. The point overlooking the river towards Kentucky never ceases to make me happy. So yesterday I climbed the hill and found the park and the lookout and stopped for a bit. I was beaming to say the least. The ride to and from, about 15 miles, was trouble free and made me feel secure again biking in the city. Twas a good day.

Yesterday I spent the day looking for jobs and even had a couple of informal interviews. I have another today at the aforementioned pizza place too. I hope to have the job thing secured in the upcoming week so I can finally have the freedom to really indulge in what the city has to offer.

If you gotten this far in my TLDR blog post today, thanks. It wasn’t easy leaving Milwaukee, but already this week I feel inter-connected with a place spiritually. I feel like I know everyone here, and they understand where I come from and where we all want to be. The bottom line is, like I told my parents Sunday, I have some nieces and nephews to spoil. I have to get to work now to begin making that happen.

Thanks for being a part of making my experiment of living out of my comfort zone for four years to help me appreciate this place again a reality.

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Local woman gives endangered pandas a bright future.

Posted in community, world, writings on January 19, 2012 by jeffbedel

A JEFFBEDEL.COM EXCLUSIVE!

After decades of the bamboo industry depleting nearly every last acre of bamboo in China for the needs of cheap crafty homemakers, and the like, the panda’s demise is almost certain without the help of scientists and volunteers to meet the growing needs of keeping America’s need for cute alive.

Despite tireless hours of practice of ‘grooming children’ at a state budget strapped school, and wearing scrubs nightly for low paying fashion shows, Milwaukeean Amanda Walker still finds time to travel to her socialist, ‘commie’, run panda farm in China to mostly smuggle bamboo from local Michael’s stores in the area back to where it belongs, in the mouths of hungry China-men, er, pandas.

“I tried to convince them (the pandas) that discarded christmas trees are a delicacy, but them bears are pretty damn smart”, Walker notes. “Turns out that anything that tinsel has come in contact with makes their eyes turn black”. It’s kinda cute, but I found that burning the trees much more favorable than transporting all those trees by a slow boat to China.

She attributes most of her financing as ‘confidential’, though it’s rumored that she made out big before the Nigerian bank account bubble burst. “The economy is really bad out there” she claims “but I’ll keep the fire burning here and carry a big bamboo stick!”

Currently the panda farm has three young pandas (give or take a screw) that has playground equipment and a deal with several internet stock photo sites for the desktop wallpaper industry to assure it’s financing.

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Tuesday

Posted in world, writings on December 13, 2011 by jeffbedel

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-december-12-2011/war-on-christmas—historical-fact-checking?xrs=share_copy

Today my only motivation to go out (after my workout) was just to go have coffee. Usually when I go out to get coffee I have a multitude of things I need to do while sipping away at my cup ‘ joe; job search, tax course homework, trivia show, among other things. This morning, I’m just kinda surfing the net and not much else but reflecting a bit more (oh dear) while having my coffee.

Yesterday I took my final for the tax course I’ve been taking over the past few months. It was open book, but I didn’t use it; I didn’t need to. Though I made a few minor errors I hunkered down and did my best impersonation of a tax preparer and it went really well; five painstaking hours of parsing imaginary tax information into the right forms. Done. At the end I signed my I-9 and other employment forms for the first time in a long time. I start in January. Accomplishment is good.

This morning I don’t have much else rattling around in my brain except some stupid shit planted in my head by marketers. This mostly comes in the form of the commercials I have to endure while watching TV while working out. I try to run away from them but when you’re jogging in one place I unknowingly step up my pace. This morning I actually hit the maximum speed and had to up my resistance. Anywho.. here is a small part of my summary about the commercials:

- Evidently my generation thinks it’s still cool to have a(n) (expensive) watch like we did in school (long before cell phones). I spend enough on my phone and it has the time. Why do I need a watch?

- The 1% watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Because why else would they have several car commercials about giving a car to somebody else?

- Radio Shack sucks. Well, we knew that already.

- Evidently people who need a celebrity spokesperson to buy something are the same suckers who still think they need a credit card. Suckers.

- Having a really bad Britney Spears lookalike (with matching bad music) is how we motivate viewers to go (back) to school.

- The elliptical machine obviously needs a mute button.

In regards to Christmas, and all of the advertising spent on the importance of it, I hope everyone gets the electronic/car of their choice. Me, all I hope for is to get home and back without much drama, to hug my family, watch Rudolph with my nieces and nephews, have some egg nog, and fall asleep by the glow of the christmas tree. I don’t ask for much. I’ll await to wish you a Merry/Happy Holiday whichever when the day comes around. Seems to me christmas day is the day we’re all glad it’s over. Chew on that.

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Changes in Motivation: A Summary of my 2011.

Posted in writings on December 10, 2011 by jeffbedel

Granted there are about 20 days left in this year, but when reminiscing hits you better take care to let the words flow.

The biggest change of the year hit me this past week. I’ve been presented over and over again for the past several weeks/months to begin DJ’ing an all 80′s throwback show on Thursday nights at Vintage. Finally it came to fruition (I think) and I wasn’t interested any longer. Why? Drinking really isn’t a motivation for me any longer. Yeah, I still like to do it, especially when it’s free, but to remain in my current jean size (barely) I needed to find motivation to get my big ass back in the gym. So, since I don’t have cable, but the gym does, and my love for The Daily Show and the Colbert Report have only been sufficed at times through the occasional link via Facebook I figured, wah-lah, there is my reason to spend an hour in the gym. Well, I checked the times and fortunately/unfortunately the only time that seems feasible is at 8AM. Crap, you mean I have to set an alarm? Damnit! My other choices are the evenings when the gym is packed, and lastly 11PM and 1AM. Hell nah. So there we go. 8AM. But, drinking late at the bar (including trivia night) throws a wrench in this schedule. So I strangely find the importance in being in bed well before midnight instead of sucking down brews and playing music to some people I really don’t give a crap about anymore.

I haven’t been on a craft beer odyssey this year either. I haven’t purchased beer to take home in over two months. This is probably a direct result of learning how to actually save money in the past year.  A year ago I purchased tickets to go to Germany and had one hell of an odyssey there. It also changed my life but in indirect ways that I never expected. To be vague I brought a lot of eggs over in my basket when I flew over, and I didn’t really come back with anything but shells on my way back. This kinda threw me into a frenzy and I hope it wasn’t my last one. It was a good one, but with really bad timing.

Crazy me decided though I was unemployed, and greatly unstable in many ways, to seek out a sitcom style concept of dating that would make TV execs/writers cringe. I dated about a dozen women in a matter of a few weeks and though I knew nobody (including me) would be left standing after the dust settled and felt after, and still now, like it was a last hurrah. A month or so after this debacle I went on one more date, a great one actually, and yet it produced nothing else. I quit. It was shortly after that moment I decided to stop trying to make something “happen” here and start rebuilding elsewhere closer to “home”. It was the final straw and I decided to move to Cincinnati. Yes ladies, you can  have a life changing effect on a guy from one date.

Since then, it’s been a rather hard and lonely time. When you have nothing left to give in your place anymore it’s pointless to date and build friendships. What’s the motivation to go out? I really don’t even want to do the trivia show anymore because what’s the use is trying to build and maintain when it’s going to end, but I need the money. I do still like going out to watch the Packers, but even that seems disheartening going out pretty much alone. So yeah, it’s weird. My only motivation left right now is money which has never been a motivation for me before. I can’t wait to start working as a tax preparer in January. I hope I’ll be working 60+ hours a week. I hope I don’t have time for anything else but work. I hope I leave with a bundle of money so I can move comfortably to Cincinnati and actually do what I said without much thought to someone recently.

Settle down.

Ah, no…not like married or buying real estate stuff crazy shit settling down. Come on! :-P

More like relating to a place that I want to build the rest of my future in. A comfortable place close to my family (like I had posted previously). The next 5-6 months awaiting to date and build relationships again in a new place is going to be really hard for me during the rest of my tenure here in Milwaukee. All these words basically is to say one thing.

I feel really damn lonely.

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The Check

Posted in writings on November 17, 2011 by jeffbedel

I had a lot to accomplish today. My day was quite the whirlwind and the weather happened to be windy and cold. After an interview I had to swing into full gear to prep for a friend visiting. First things first though I had the joy of renewing my driver’s license. Despite leaving in a few months and rarely driving I didn’t want my license to lapse in case of emergency. So even though it’s good for 8 years that won’t quite be necessary.

Anyhow fortunately the last time I was there four years ago it was only a 10-15 minute ordeal and was hoping for the same and low and behold I was out in a flash. Now the only other thing I needed to do on my mad dash was stop by my credit union and cash a check.

This is where my day got longer…

All I brought with me was the envelope with my license renewal paperwork and my check (in the same envelope). Upon arriving at the credit union and locking my bike I placed my hand in my pocket and the envelope was gone. It wasn’t in any pocket. Gone!

I had placed my gloves, envelope, etc. in my helmet while waiting and I thought immediately I had left in on the counter of the DMV before I left. So I biked back to the DMV and checked the counter. Nothing. I stood in line again (much longer this time) and asked the guy at info desk if anyone turned in an envelope. Nope. I looked through the trash cans. Nothing. I looked though all of the trash cans on the 1st level of the building and finally contacted the police downstairs. Nothing. The police told me to report the check stolen and after scouring a few more trash cans I called about the check and moved on.

It did cross my mind at times that the envelope could have fallen out of my pocket, but even if it did on such a windy day it was going to be long gone. I biked back towards the credit union and kept an eye out just in the case of the impossible. I nearly turned a few blocks early but kept on my previous course. Two blocks from the credit union I seen some debris in the street which upon closer inspection was an envelope. What?! Could it be?! As I focused in I saw the green Wisconsin insignia on the back. I stopped, picked it up, and low and behold…

It was my envelope with the check inside!!!

As you can see below the envelope has a tire mark on it. Five minutes later I was telling the teller about the incredible missing (but found) check. I couldn’t believe it.

 

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P-review

Posted in beer, Just me, new places, writings with tags , , , , , , , on January 2, 2009 by jeffbedel

Happy 2009!  What a year.  After holding our collected breath for 8 years and ever so tighter awaiting the results of the 2008 election we only have a few more days of Dub in the White House with Barack Obama bringing us the change and hope we so desperately desire.  Let’s hope for the best.

My first day of the year for once wasn’t a hangover from hard partying but more of a psychological hangover.  I did some sleeping, a little shopping, watched some bad football, and well,  slept some more.  I woke up in the wee hours of the morning recharged though, so much that I began putting together the most aggressive and exciting plan for the new year than in probably 5 years.

I hit my wall this past week. My December was very active socially, costly financially, and detrimental physically. My weight is probably at its worst point in 5 years and it has suddenly left me lethargic and vulnerable.  It’s times like these though that set a fire under my ass and start making bold decisions.

In review last year was overall a poor year in the health department.  My job is mostly sedentary, only a mile away from work as opposed to two when I was in tip top shape, and it was my lowest seasonal bike total since I started 5 years ago, 1080 miles.  I did have a knockout finish though biking all the way from Milwaukee to the Illinois border and back in 8.5 hours.  90 miles eclipsed my old one day record of 70 miles from 2 years ago.  I got my wings late in the season unfortunately and now we are in the midst of an ol’ fashioned Wisconsin winter.

I did buy a trainer but I’ve only gotten on it occasionally so that will have to be an important part of my day, everyday, and endurance testing perhaps on a weekend day will be ever so important as last night I decided traveling was another part of the picture to be more successful at battling the bulge.

As adventurous as I am I haven’t been to a new state in over 2 years.  The last one was my first time in Wisconsin for Summerfest.  Heh, liked it so much I moved here.  I was hoping to make it out to DC and the east coast this month for the inauguration but Jeff got a little too fiscally liberal with the moolah and now will have to stay in the MKE.  That’s OK, there are still some fun plans for that day.

So this year I’m going to branch out a bit and take advantage of the Zipcar that’s available at UWM and put myself one day of allotted miles out (180) and spend a weekend somewhere biking.  Three places on my short list are to Tomah, WI which is near the Minnesota/Iowa border, Door County (on my own terms), and Northern Wisconsin to see the “North Woods”.  Also a bit more aggressive trips, one of those to Iowa wine country, another to the upper peninsula of Michigan in hopes of biking to Canada (my first time out of the country), and driving to my parents in SE Indiana then embarking on a trip to Cincinnati and into Newport, KY and back.  Finally a trip I wanted to take last year was a ride on the Lake Express from Milwaukee to Muskegon, MI where I will then take my trusty bike to Kalamazoo and visit Bell’s Brewery.  Sweet rewards.

With being destination oriented and my need to see new places this should keep me peddling and in shape.

So this year I’m not setting a mileage goal but instead just to see more which should help me naturally inflate those numbers.  I just hope my tires stay inflated.

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Dear Me,

Posted in beer, community, Just me, local business, new places, world, writings with tags , , , , , , , on December 30, 2008 by jeffbedel

I currently sit in the Riverwest neighborhood of Milwaukee on a vacation day I had to take or I’d forfeit at the end of this year, 2008.  There are two opportunities here at the Art Bar at the corner of Burleigh & Fratney: one, a two for one special that I will definitely be partaking of shortly, and second; a magnetic board of envelopes and letters that you can personally fill out and the bar will mail to you one year from now.  Each letter is started with “Dear Me,”.  I came here to write but have been sipping on a latte and surfing the web instead but I decided to get a bit nostalgic about my year and write my letter to myself here instead.

Dear Me, a year ago you were still that guy that you introduced yourself as “I just moved to Milwaukee” and it seemed to have a lot of short term clout.  Well one year later you can’t use that line anymore but you have learned more about your city than those who have lived here their entire lives.  You can navigate, suggest, and appreciate what a unique and beautiful city you live in.  You have experienced one of if not the worst winters in Wisconsin history, and have and not only adjusted but embraced it as well.  Living on the east side may be the best side and you’re ever so grateful still that you don’t have a car.  You can walk, bus, and bike this city with ease and it certainly is better than having to worry about parking rules and the nazi’s that patrol them whilst the snow worsens the issue by at least 10 fold.

It hasn’t been easy as some early friendships took some unexpected turns for the worse but by time the spring came you started to find your way and your comfort zones.  In an election year of historic proportions you most importantly found a group that supported your ideals and a man who would be elected President, Barack Obama.  It was a surreal and like living in another country when people celebrated in the streets of Milwaukee the night of his election.

Through the forementioned group you found community even if it wasn’t in your neighborhood.  Bay View has been your destination on a number of occassions for food, beer, coffee, haircuts, theatre, music, and even a bike pub crawl.  You can even plunge your bike into Lake Michigan on Thursday if you feel so inclined.  Your friend and co-host in liberalllllism, Jason, resides there as well, not in the lake of course.

Love has never been kind and is still the elusive trump card in this thing called life.  You had your brushes with it and had your imagination wounded with it too.  Turning 35 and having a deja vu milestone breakdown nearly put you down for the count again but you rebounded and took your shots, and still, basketball’s not your sport.

Postponing photography indefinitely is still pretty definite.  You only attended a few live music shows and never took a picture.  You decided that the thing that led you to photography in the first place is what you are tinkering with again now, writing, even if the blogs are cheesy and nobody is reading these.

Work has been a successful struggle.  You still don’t feel like you’ve hit your stride but management keeps telling you how well you are doing and your paycheck keeps getting bigger while the unfortunate part is that most of it has went to your waistline.  Hello 2009, we have to get to work on that.  You did by a trainer to help you with that, but hopefully after the new year you’ll hit your stride with that.

(Goes and gets another beer while having a deja vu moment)

Most recently your biggest problem has been your relationship with the family. The holidays seem to enhance the severity of it but taking a trip home to to improve or makeup for living far away seems pointless.  You were home for a week for Thanksgiving and 4 days for Christmas and you hardly talked to or caught up with your siblings to no fault of your own.  You traveled a long way and time with them was cut very short.  To top it off is those who wish at the end we had more time as my trip is over.  How much more time do you need?  There are two things you cannot change, one, you cannot go back and live in a such a small, rural, and conservative community.  Living in Indianapolis didnt make it any better so don’t even suggest that (you still f’n hate that city anyhow).  Second, you have accepted that your siblings having kids changes the whole spectrum and they changed that without you.  No more staying up late playing games and drinking, etc.  Your family has a clock now and when it approaches lets say 10pm the lights need to go out, it’s BST, bedroom standard time.  Maybe you need to grow up?  Maybe that just enforces that reason that kids are not in your future?  Maybe you’re happy?  Maybe not?

You thought up until recently you hated Christmas, and probably so more now than ever.  It’s strange the people who are religious that make this holiday a joke, not the ones who shun it.  They’ve made a mockery of their own holiday and somehow blame those outside of themselves for commercialism and consumerism.  You spent more this year on the holiday in recent history and yet you’re the bah-humbug type.  You spent about $300 this year (about $200 than last year) and your siblings couldn’t spend much more than 6 hours spilling over all the presents they received instead of you.  You enjoyed two Christmas plays at two independent Milwaukee theaters this past month and you enjoyed that more than the nightmare trip, gift opening, and fighting the flu that was no more than a personal obligation.

Dear me, not next year.  Please read this before you book a trip home next year.

I wonder if the Art Bar has a printer?!

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Sticky sweet

Posted in writings with tags , , on December 3, 2008 by jeffbedel

What if I told you I liked your leg warmers and your zebra bag? Would you have let me walk you home from the bus stop? I wished I asked so we could have seen the trees sticky sweet with the evening snow. That’s all I wanted to share with you but I opted for silence and our perpendicular ways. Here’s a picture though going south instead of east. I hope going east was as pretty as you.

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My reflection on the election

Posted in writings with tags , , , on December 1, 2008 by jeffbedel

I wrote this and posted on my Facebook on November 5th, 2008 after the election of Barack Obama.

Post 11-4

Today is such an amazing day. Albeit it’s 70 degrees in Milwaukee on a November day and that would usually suffice enough to call it amazing; but now it’s post 11-4.

Today, 11-4 should ring as loudly as the terror that brought our country to its knees on 9-11. Since that day we have been living in a post 9-11 world and it has had quite a grip on us in regards to our decisions and outlook in our lives. We have lived in such fear that it was used against us by our government to wage wars, pilfer our paychecks, and make irrational decisions to corrupt what is ours. We were blinded, and we needed someone to lift our imagination out of hopelessness and the mockery our country was facing worldwide. We were weak and not by any measure the greatest country on the planet anymore. The beacon of democracy that was trademarked by its freedom and dreams of a better life was suddenly in a fog of indifference.

Today, after talk in the past 8+ years of the need a revolution has been met. In America, protests are not looked upon favorably anymore and usually will just lead to unwarranted arrests. We needed another path to revolt, but in the quiet and calmest of fashions, one with focus, character, inspiration, and above all the hope we needed to regain a foothold in the country the people have lost. The quiet revolution has only taken its first step, only giving us a fighting chance, to look deep down and find back the fabric of who we are and rebuild what has slowly been taken away from us.

Today, at minimum I feel less tension and animosity between social divides. More so, I feel like there has been country of falsely created categories meshed back one, Americans. Last night total strangers black and white high-fived, hugged, fist-bumped, and more importantly smiled with glee, with an underlying understanding that the hatchet has been buried. It feels really good to exchange a feeling with total strangers on this day without saying a word.

Today, we should all begin thinking about those sacrifices we will need to make in order to make our country great again. It’s going to take all of us to volunteer, teach our children, go the extra mile, work a lot harder, and make choices, even if difficult, in the short term be for the best in the long run. We must not let this opportunity pass and we can put all of the hope and future on the shoulders of one man. He is we, and he is only guiding us and helping us shape of what he knows we have the possibility to achieve.

Today, like I said is an amazing day. We are celebrating the election of Barack Hussein Obama; a man with such a funny name my spell checker doesn’t even recognize it. I’m sure that’s another change we need in a post 11-4 world.

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