enframed wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 5:50 pm Today I jumped out of a plane at 14,000 feet for the first time. They were running late so had to hang around the base, which made good people watching. Very much had a "ski lodge" kinda feel to it, or rock climber kinda vibe, like it's a tribe and I was not part of it. Which was fine, really. I was more nervous about being crammed into a very small plane than I was about jumping out of it. I guess the freefall was about 9,000 feet, which means around 45 seconds long. It was not long enough.

Huzzah! Nothing like the 20 min. adrenaline rush, right? It was life changing for me, helped me dig out of a reactive depression. I have found that motorcycle racing and track days offer similar feelings among like minded folks, with perhaps marginally better odds on living through it. Not for everyone, but that buzz was certainly worth seeking out again for me. I do miss track days.

dontfeartheringo wrote:Holy fuck, that was one bad fucking dream.

Damn, you too?

I've been feeling spooked all morning. I had a war zone dream. And I had to piss the whole time. Not nice.

It hasn't been a good day.

I just found out that a friend of mine at work died on Friday. Someone I only knew at work but when I talked to him, we spent most of the time not talking about work but talking about music. Dude was maybe 8-9 years older but had a wife and kids and played in a band just like me.

His obit alludes to the fact he struggled with depression and died because of it. I had no idea.

Like I don't even know if a positive word at some point from me could have changed the outcome.

Fuck.

Long walk through the forest.

A river runs through a gulch that's been here since the ice age.

Hundred year-old clams live at the bottom.

I had a feeling I was walking through a pre-historic jungle, and I thought about how from the standpoint of some parts of this landscape, the passage of human time is imperceptible, or there is merely a repetition of the same life rhythms with no qualitative change for aeons.

Then I imagined a future where all these apartment buildings might be hidden inside dense forest.

The sound of a woodpecker on my way back.

jfv wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 8:54 pmI don't even know if a positive word at some point from me could have changed the outcome.

If he had reached the point of taking his life then no, a word or even a conversation would not have changed that. In fact being the friend at work who was prepared to talk about something more personal and important to him had already helped for as long as it was possible to help.

Smoky today, though nowhere near as bad as it looks on the east coast. Hopefully you all are breathing well out there.

Was just listening to "Rise" from Herb Alpert and to me that song brings back a childhood memory of watching Luke rape Laura on General Hospital as it plays in the background. I barely remember it much like one barely remembers early childhood memories, but it's there. Started doing some Internet reading about the scene and as I'm listening to the song and reading about how the scene went down, for a second, just for one moment, I began to smell the stick bubble gum that used to come in Topps baseball cards.

Excavating memories makes your brain do strange things.

jfv wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 6:26 pm Smoky today, though nowhere near as bad as it looks on the east coast. Hopefully you all are breathing well out there.

I realized the serious business of these things when a month ago there was a forest fire some 12km away, and by the smell outside you could’ve sworn it was just over the hill.

I used the airbrush I bought ages ago for the first time! Cleaning it took a bit.

I entered myself into a perfumery contest. It could be any style/category of perfume, the only restriction being we could only use 10 aroma chemicals to make it. After 33 attempts I am satisfied and batched it today, about 230ml of amateur gourmand (that means it smells edible) fragrance. It has to sit for a few weeks (supposedly six is optimal but alas three it will be). I'll be mailing vials out to those who are judging later this month. Excited to hear how I do!