💜 From the rooftop of Aurora, Illinois.

#photos #sunsets

Do you know what one of the best feelings is?

The feeling that someone will love, support, and encourage you no matter what while you’re off chasing some crazy dream. That they got your back when you’re panning for gold under a starry Californian sky or planning a tater-tot party for two hundred.

Here’s a simple story because those are the best for emphasizing a point.

One time I entered some dumb contest to win tickets to a StarTalk show in the Bronx.^[1] It was on like a Thursday, six months away. I told someone my plot for adventure on the high seas and what I heard in return was:

You’re not going to be able to go. How would you get there?

I didn’t really care about actually going.

I care about dreaming because it makes me feel good, that I’m not letting life just pass me by while I’m sitting on the couch watching Bill and Ted and eating burnt grilled cheese.

And I also care about how people make me feel.

Any book is an important achievement, and you’ve put your heart and soul into this.

Pat someone on the back after they’ve busted their ass and you’ll have a best friend for life. Go out of your way for people and you’ll change how they feel about their place in the world. I missed that spiritual clue for the better part of my life.

Because it’s not about dreams coming true. Most don’t. It’s about the journey, of course. It’s about sailing those high seas with people that see the stars in our eyes and the wind in our hearts.

Sharing the ups and downs, the ebbs and flows with someone who cheers us on while we cheer them on with whatever^[2] their dreams and pursuits are.

When we love and enjoy regardless of what happens, life is magically voluptuous.

And then dreams we never knew were coming come true.

#photos #flowers #lovewins

1. If I would’ve won a ticket to that Bronx show I would’ve just kept it. Then I could say, “and then there was that one time I was the glorious winner of a golden StarTalk ticket. But I didn’t go because I don’t like talking to people.” ↑

2. Dreams have to be within reason of course, especially if there’s money involved. I daydream all the time but I also tinker with realism and know when to quit. ↑

I’m glad I got to meet you once!

#rip #starwars

…with shitloads of cheddar cheese.

🧀 #photos #goodeats

I’m convinced my vapors (or e-cigarettes as my dentist calls them) are rewriting my DNA. I’m totally serious, too. I never joke about nicotine stuff. Because have you ever been in nic withdrawal?

Anyways, this genetic rewriting conviction has me thinking that my bio cells are decombining and recombining, disappearing and reappearing, defocusing and refocusing, de’ing and re’ing in all sorts of ways the short term vapor health studies could never have possibly imagined.

My future generations will simply be fucked when trying to trace their ancestry via genetic cookie trail.

Looking on the bright side (because today is the best day ever) maybe I’ll become your local neighbor Spider-Man.

🚬 … 🧬 … 🕷

#photos #ecigs

You guys remember when Bill and Ted said, “be excellent to each other.”

I loved that line and that movie but being excellent all the time is hard. Like I’m driving and some fuckwad cuts me off, and then comes to a near complete stop when turning right. Excellence is the about the last thing in my fingertips.

Put them in the iron maiden 🤘

You guys know about washing machines and when they agitate clothes. I can feel a similar emotional agitation.

But then one time early in the morning while Sara was asleep I read something most triumphant in her Pema pocket book:

be 100 percent decent

After reading her words I felt a momentary peaceful release. We don’t have to be heroes. We don’t have to be Lincoln or Socrates. We only need to be decent in life.

It’s easy for me to hold myself to high standards and then end up disappointed when I fall short.

I can be decent though.

Most of the time.

PS- the photos are from Sara and I’s rental when we were in Louisville at the end of March. The statue and the painting were both romantically in the bedroom. They kinda/sorta go with this post though.

#photos #advancedsoul

These copies are signed ones available here on tcrbang.com. If you ordered from me yesterday or today, no, one of these is not yours. I sold all my local stock and am having more printed. Yours will be in the mail soon. And you may get a free gift. 😉

Of course you can get non-signed ones in both Kindle and paperback formats on Amazon.

$19.99 on Amazon for the paperback.

Also, what do you guys think of me doing a video recording of me reading entries from the book? Would you watch it? 🤔

#diariesbook #forsale

Get the diaries for 2018 book

Guys there’s some kinda emergency thing going on right now at the intersection of 1st Street and Prairie Street in St. Charlies. Firetrucks, ambulances, police cars — the whole works.

My guess is that Chef Roby of Geneva was up bragging about his latest Food Network show and the local aggressive geese didn’t like it. Maybe Sammy and his mad bikes were involved. I don’t know.

Anyway, avoid crossing the mighty Fox River via Prairie if you got somewhere to be this Wednesday afternoon.

#photos #trafficnews

Do you ever go to turn the the dials on your dashboard and then think to yourself, “I can’t do anything with these. Changing them isn’t go to make my life any better. It’s not going to solve any of my struggles, ease any of my pain. It’s going to do absolutely nothing for me if I twist anything here.”

I thought so.

#photos #truckthoughts #thestruggleisreal

What else could you ask for?

❤️ #photos #sara #icecream