Last night, I went down a rabbit hole around the music group Starland Vocal Band, and their weird one-hit-wonder sex song Afternoon Delight that reached #1 on the Billboard charts in 1977. I got to that after watching an episode of their summer network variety show (that was quickly canceled)| A Whole Lotta Nothing
This weekend in Portland (though Sunday!) the MADE bike show is happening again, showcasing handmade bikes and products from small companies around the world. I really love seeing the explosion of creativity every year at the event. Here's a quick bunch of photos I snapped this morning while looking through| A Whole Lotta Nothing
Back in March, my bike got stolen. I own a few different bikes, but the stolen one was my main rig. It was my do anything, long distance, off-road, on-road, gravel bike that covered 90% of my riding. It was a load-bearing bike. And I was lost without it. Planning| A Whole Lotta Nothing
I don't know why, but video game recommendations have always been terrible for me. I've owned every major console system and had accounts on Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft app stores for nearly 20 years, and yet, every time I go to a downloadable game store on a device, I'm met| A Whole Lotta Nothing
Every June, Apple shows off new features coming to their devices at WWDC, but it was only a couple years ago when I realized I was no longer working at a big company with security protocols that prohibited beta software, so I could install them on day one. So I| A Whole Lotta Nothing
There's a guy I've been following on YouTube for his food reviews in and around LA for the past year or two. He exclusively takes public transit to get from place to place, so I also love the bonus reviews of Metro trains and buses as they continue to grow.| A Whole Lotta Nothing
A few months ago my pal Joel mentioned a new car shopping app to me and even though I only buy a car once every several years, I love to browse listings or figure what my current favorite car is that I don't own, or be able to| A Whole Lotta Nothing
Last year I remember hearing about Lael Wilcox's ride around the world and how she was gunning for the fastest known time for any woman who has ever done it. Every couple weeks I'd check in on her dot as it shifted around the globe and when I was at| A Whole Lotta Nothing
There's an interesting trend in YouTube land lately, which is prominent creators talking about how little they make from YouTube/Google itself, instead needing brand deals to advertise a product inside their videos to truly make a living. For high-end channels that put out weekly videos, they often have a| A Whole Lotta Nothing
The other day I was reading my weekly update email from The Portland Japanese Garden and I know I've mentioned them a few times here in the past couple years, but damn, I have to admit they really treat members well. There's a monthly magazine and| A Whole Lotta Nothing
The other day I was walking the dog and as I was turning a corner amid a bunch of tall grasses, I overheard someone naming birds out loud. I secretly love when this happens because it reminds me of being at an art museum. I can't count the| A Whole Lotta Nothing
A bunch of friends sent me the announcement of the new Slate EV truck yesterday, asking what I thought. I was already looking forward to the Telo Truck, but the Slate looks even better and frankly, it's frighteningly close to my dream EV platform. What would an ideal| A Whole Lotta Nothing
I've been a lifelong fan of universal healthcare, albeit in a distant, envious way as I've never gotten to truly experience it myself. There are times where I had double healthcare coverage that came very close, and I've even gotten surgeries where all the visits and followups and even physical| A Whole Lotta Nothing
Since the early 80s as a little kid, I've been skateboarding and riding bmx bikes off and on, including sometimes at ramp parks, concrete pool parks, and other permanent venues. In the early days of skateboarding and bmx competitions, they'd hold them at the few skateparks| A Whole Lotta Nothing
It's best to go in cold. I had zero idea what the film was about, and had never seen a trailer for it. That made the impact of it hit harder. I won't spoil anything in this list. It's visually stunning to look at.| A Whole Lotta Nothing
I've been trying out a bunch of new podcasts lately and one recent find I'm enjoying is Walkin' About. The premise is simple: actor/comedian Allan McLeod goes on a long walk in a park, usually around Los Angeles, with someone from the world of comedy. Guests are usually people| A Whole Lotta Nothing
Here's a list of recent good videos I stumbled across and enjoyed. Torpedo Bats It's cool to see a bunch of semi-pro baseball guys on YouTube testing out whether the new torpedo bat designs are really amazing or if they're mostly hype. This one from one of the Savanah Bananas| A Whole Lotta Nothing
An annual highlight of Spring in Oregon is going to the Woodburn Tulip Farm to visit at its peak bloom. I took two trips out there this week, once with Kay, and once with Lucy to walk among the acres of brilliant colors and natural beauty. Here are some shots:| A Whole Lotta Nothing
Running a small business is tough. It's so unpredictable that most people have to run them as side projects alongside their day jobs, and you can't really quit your day job (with all its healthcare and predictable checks coming in each month) until your small biz is running so well| A Whole Lotta Nothing
A couple months back, I started freelancing with a new organization, helping people dealing with natural disasters. Getting access to previous work and plans was a pain at first, because I had to request access to items one by one with my personal email address. Soon after, I converted to| A Whole Lotta Nothing
In 1996, I took my very first trip to the state of Hawaii, where I spent 5 days in Oahu to attend a wedding with my then-girlfriend (now spouse). As a kid growing up in Southern California, I remember the rich kids went to Hawaii for xmas vacations but I| A Whole Lotta Nothing
Working in the open Waldo Jaquith writes about why he works in the open, and it's a great breakdown of why transparency is generally good in your own work, about how you'll be exposed to new ideas after people read yours, and how you'll also meet people working in the| A Whole Lotta Nothing
I've been a fan of Alex Goldman for years, going all the way back to when he was interning at WYNC and started a podcast with his fellow intern PJ Vogt. A lot has happened since and he's out on his own with a podcast called HyperFixed. It started as| A Whole Lotta Nothing
Years ago, my brother started volunteering at running races as a support guy and eventually turned it into a part-time gig. About 10 years ago, he started working on what is probably "The Big Show" of LA events which is the Los Angeles Marathon. After his first race there, he| A Whole Lotta Nothing
A couple weeks ago, I got a copy of Cory Doctorow's new novel Red Team Blues, and after reading about a third of it the first night I had it, I ended up switching over to the audiobook, and listened in one eight hour stretch during a road trip to| A Whole Lotta Nothing
I seem to have acquired a new annual tradition. For the past couple years, every winter I go on a long road trip and I stack up audiobooks to listen to along the way. Since 2023, I've taken trips that happened to include Cory Doctorow's newest book. I loved the| A Whole Lotta Nothing
🔒Editor's note: A friend of mine works in the federal government and wrote a guide for their fellow federal workers on how to use Signal. There are lots of good reasons for switching to Signal for messaging, and this does a great job of laying it all out. This friend| A Whole Lotta Nothing
A few days ago, the smoke alarms in my house went off at 3am, so we got up and took it seriously when we smelled smoke everywhere. But after 20 minutes of searching high and low, we couldn't find a source, so as a precaution, we called 911 to let| A Whole Lotta Nothing
I spent the last few months cramming to finish off the soccer stadium book, and I purposely stacked my first week of January with every annoying obligation I had (oil changes, teeth cleanings, etc) so the rest of my month was free. I planned the second week in January for| A Whole Lotta Nothing
As the year draws to a close, I figured I should look back at the highs and lows and take an assessment of where I'm at. So here goes. Highlights The biggest project I'm most proud of completing this year was the guidebook/travel guide to every US women's soccer| A Whole Lotta Nothing
I'm doing something unusual this week. Tomorrow morning, I'm taking off in a 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI on a road trip for over 2,500 miles to Indiana to drop the car off, then I'll fly home. Why I'm doing this is a long story I'll get into over the| A Whole Lotta Nothing
I just spent four days in Kansas City with a Kia EV6 rental car. It's something I've always wanted to drive and frequently considered as my next daily driver someday. Upfront, I want to state that I don't have any reflexive disgust for Kia that a lot of people I| A Whole Lotta Nothing
In 2022, for my 50th birthday I replaced my 20 year-old off road worthy Lexus GX 470 (that I'd been building since the start of the pandemic) with a brand new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe. This is a recap of the last two years of American car ownership and 40,| A Whole Lotta Nothing
A couple months ago I was hanging out with my aunt, and she mentioned her cable+internet bill was around $250 per month. I thought that was insane and that I should do something about it. She's a 75 year old retiree that watches baseball and the hallmark channel, and| A Whole Lotta Nothing
My father passed away today. It was a shock to get the call that he was "code blue" at his nursing home and the news that followed came as a surprise. But it was also something that hopefully gave him some relief after struggling with a long recovery post heart| A Whole Lotta Nothing
Right before the pandemic hit, I moved into a new house that was just outside of cable TV coverage. And while I'd dabbled in streaming apps for years, this was the first time I was forced to become a full-time cord-cutter. (note: I briefly considered getting DirecTV but every rep| A Whole Lotta Nothing