Dragged Down by the Stone
Published July 18, 2011 | 
Gotta stay awake, gotta try and shake off this creeping malaise.
If I don’t stand my own ground, how can I find my own way out of this maze ? – floyd
Blogs have changed a lot since I started blogging 3 PCs and 22 kayaks ago… Well, that was how I was going to start off this blog, until I thought a bit more about it. Not ALL blogging has changed, but for some it has. It used to be that a blog was simply an online journal. While what we wrote back in the day was certainly available for anyone to read, it wasn’t primarily written to be read. It wasn’t a business an online publication or an e-zine. It was simply an outlet. Anyone who’s ever visited a therapist in their lives knows the value of keeping a bedside journal and the extended value of sharing it. Of course the whole exercise begins to get distorted when you become overly mindful of the audience.
Posted in Commentary & Rants, Paddling, Quixotica, Random Thoughts | 
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2 CommentsChecking In From The Dry Hotel
Published July 11, 2011 | 
I woke up this morning to a blood-red dawn, dark around the edges with flashes of white. Before the sun could light up the day, heavy storms squashed the light. As I walked the dunes I came across a deer standing on one of the high mounds silhouetted against the glow. An amazing sight! Continue reading
Posted in Coaching, Commentary & Rants, Events & Symposia, My Paddling, Paddling, People | Coaching, door county, rolling | 2 CommentsIf the renaissance is now dead..,
Published June 9, 2011 | 
I always said he’d come to no good / In the end your honor.
If they’d let me have my way I could / Have flayed him into shape.
But my hands were tied, / The bleeding hearts and artists
Let him get away with laughter.
Let me hammer him today! – p. floyd
Leon Somme is one of the most talented, creative and most importantly, inventive coaches I know. He’s obviously getting a bit frustrated with self-appointed experts as of late. Aren’t we all!? Every bonehead on the planet has a Youtube out there showing the “proper” this, that and the other.. Bah! In a recent short commentary for Adventure Kayak Magazine, Leon writes about a really bad idea and asks, “What is an expert in Paddlesports?” Then he goes on to say that “Peer review is one of the most powerful tools we have to keep up standards and to make sure disseminated information is worthwhile. Peer Review”, he continues, “advances new ideas and methods and moves the sport forward at a faster rate..” Peer review? Can we pause there for a moment? Continue reading
Ceasefire
Published May 25, 2011 | 
Please, put down your guns, lower your weapons
Oh, I declare a change of heart – My Latest Novel
It’s all about content. In our world these days it seems we all must write and record most everything we do. There’s plenty of hay being made out there about our society’s social media addictions, some of it justified and some of it not. For my part, social blabbery or as the pros say, “content creation”, is not simply (just…? only…?)an ego-driven addiction. It’s how I pay for groceries and put gas in the car. The downside of all this technological craziness is that it’s hard to just put the camera down. The world never sleeps. Yesterday, for a couple of hours at least, I declared a ceasefire… Continue reading
No Exit & The Age of Sea Kayaking
Published May 19, 2011 | 
Times when the day is like a play by Sartre / When it seems a bookburning’s in perfect order
I gave the doctor my description / I’ve tried to stick to my prescription
Someday I’ll have a disappearing hairline /Someday I’ll wear pyjamas in the daytime
Afternoons will be measured out /Measured out, measured with
Coffee-spoons and T.S. Eliot –
I’m sorry I’m old. Really. I didn’t start out this way. I used to be much younger but then the sun came up and went down a bunch of times and I got older. Now I’m 45 for some reason. I’ll be 46 in about a month. I’m sorry for myself too. I’m sorry that there are probably fewer years ahead than behind. I’m also sorry that I’m pretty much on the young side of your average sea kayaker. I didn’t even start in the sport until I was in my late 30s. By then I had a business that was doing OK and the ability to buy the stuff necessary to get into sea kayaking. (Well, barely!!). Come to think of it, I’m sorry we’re all old. What will become of us? Continue reading
Posted in Commentary & Rants, Events & Symposia, Fitness, Outdoor Recreation, Paddling, Quixotica, Random Thoughts | age, Paddling, symposiumPaddling A Thin Line
Published May 18, 2011 | 
This is major Tom to ground control, I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today
Here am I floatin’ ’round my tin can far above the world
Planet Earth is blue and there’s nothing I can do – bowie
I was flipping through a copy of CanoeRoots Magazine a few days back and I came across this Old Town Canoes & Kayaks ad. Actually, I’ve scanned over it a few times. Something was buzzing away in the back of my crazy mind, but it wasn’t until this morning when it finally came into focus. The ad shows dad (?) and daughter canoeing. Above it says, ” Your stock as a parent just skyrocketed. In an age of electronic gadgetry and instant-connectedness, it’s the real moments you spend with your kids that make a lasting connection. Like your outings in…” and it goes on to sell the product. Later it continues, “…Back on shore, It’s a return to nonstop texting and emailing, but for now, it’s just the two of you creating endless memories.” O.K. I get that. Now let’s look at the bottom of the ad… Continue reading
Posted in advertising, Commentary & Rants, Outdoor Recreation, Paddling, Quixotica, Random Thoughts | Facebook, social media, technology, twitter
I think about a world to come
Where the books were found by the Golden ones
Written in pain, written in awe
By a puzzled man who questioned
What we were here for
- bowie
So, I was walking down the beach when from behind, a disembodied authoritative voice said, “What’s that supposed to mean?” In that split second before I responded I had to realize he was talking to me, then that he had read my shirt, then try to discern if the question was genuine or sarcastic. From the tone of voice I figured it was the second. I just turned, smiled and shrugged my shoulders. He then said something to the effect that it could say any sort of nonsense, like the old Steve Martin line, “My mama dogface banana patch.” Yeah, I figured he wouldn’t understand. Continue reading →