Winter-Spring contrast at Lava Lake

Emerald green at the M trail

Afternoon anti-inflation project (with instructions) • I’m close enough to work here in Bozeman to walk or bike in. So I picked up this Free Spirit Sunbird a few weeks ago. (I have no idea how old it is.)

It’s seen better years and needs a little love, but it does the trick. The only problem is that, since I have no desire to be a “road biker” (when I think of biking on the road, I think of my favorite picture of Christopher Hitchens), I strongly despise the drop bars. And since I also have no desire to buy new handlebars and can’t find any used ones in town, I decided to get creative with a hacksaw and make my own bullhorn bars. 🤓

First, strip the tape and remove the brakes and bars.

Flip the bars upside down on a flat surface and measure how high you want them to go. (Somewhere between 2 1/2” and 3” is good. I think I did 2 3/4”.)

Release the saw.

Remount the bars (now “upside down”).

Mount the brakes and retape the bars. (If you’re careful, you can even reuse the electrical tape you took off at the start.)

Ta-da! Now you’ve improved your ride, saved money, and put a little love into something very simple and old.

Storms over Belgrade

Throwback Thursday: The air band episode of Scrubs, which was absolutely iconic and hands down the most accurate health care depicting TV show

Finished Reading: American Journal by Tracy K. Smith 📚

I loved carrying this little anthology around in my pocket at work and having a good poem available at any moment. I couldn’t possibly say more than what Smith says in her intro. Here’s an excerpt.

Scenes from our favorite Bozeman after-work walk, Drinking Horse Trail

The narrative repeated by officialdom got established before the facts were in, and went on to play a causal role in the subsequent history.

While he is talking about early versions of the “cash for clunkers” programs, I love how casually this enormous line gets dropped into Crawford’s book. And it’s followed very closely by another subtle-but-massively-true statement:

When the factual picture is messy in this way, but on the other hand, there is a public consensus that something must be done , there develops a great thirst for answers. Speaking simplistically offers a kind of cognitive relief. This is what politicians specialize in.

It’s worth noting that this satisfaction-in-simplicity is something we can all very easily “specialize in.”

Fresco Café by Bozeman Creek

Currently Reading: Why We Drive by Matthew Crawford 📚

I’m a couple chapters in, and so far it’s everything I hoped it would be, and more. I’m pausing after just about every paragraph to let the goosebumps settle. Crawford’s is a sorely needed mind.

Futurism is a genre of mythmaking that seeks to generate a feeling of inevitability around some desired outcome, a picture that is offered as though it were a prediction.