Hey! Hey! Over here!

Hello! I've been distracted, lazy, busy, confused and generally unable or unwilling to write anything here for a while. Has everyone been well? I haven't been doing much blog reading either.

I deleted my Facebook account! Couldn't be happier, really. I mean I have this blog thing and Twitter if people want to check in on how I'm doing. There's something about facebook that is just tiresome (at least for me) compared to these other platforms. Perhaps it is the constant reminders of the ways in which I'm letting others down by forgetting birthdays, etc, because I don't go on it enough. Anyway, I'm gone from facebook and it feels good.

I hadn't been using Twitter much at all and thought I would give it a try. I'm kind of digging it. There is such a crazy stream of stuff (if you follow many people) that trying to keep up with everything isn't even an option. Going on twitter feels more like popping into a bar and chatting with or eavesdropping on some people you sort of know.

I've done a couple of things on Twitter that simply must be stored forever here on the blog. They are way too awesome to just get lost in the fast-flowing river of tweetiness.

First, there was a hashtag thing called #ReplaceALetterRuinATvShow that triggered my WTF Syndrome (see sidebar) pretty bad:

And today after work I did an animated gif thing that was kind of cool, I thought. It has since morphed into a video:





That pretty well sums up where I've been lately!Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Exhibitionism - I Passed It On

I have always craved attention, despite being pretty shy for most of my life. Even now I'm not exactly a social butterfly. But that's not the same as craving attention... you don't need to know people in order to want them to notice you. The result is a blogging cycling weirdo with a cam on his head and rantwick.com stickers on his bike. It does no harm, I get my fix and everybody's happy, or close enough. I'm totally cool with it and Mrs. Rantwick has accepted it as part of loving someone as awesome as me.

Anyway, it would seem one of my little apples has fallen rather close to the tree in this respect. Rantwick Junior, a kind young man who in his early years displayed heart warming messages inside the house has moved on to "look at my achievement" messages outside the house.

The Sidewalk Skill:

The Sidewalk Message:

The good news: He ain't no liar. I've seen him go that far. Honesty, sometimes to excess, is another quality we share. He can also do a bunch of freaky tricks that impress and scare other parents. I love it when they're scared most of all. Holy crap, do I ever love that kid.

Toot that horn, my man. Yeah!

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

PS - That makes two posts in a row about my son... please don't worry. I will return to incoherent ramblings about cycling and foliage right away.

PPS - Mrs. Rantwick has noticed that I like ascribing qualities in our children to one or the other of us, while her preference is to see them as individuals who would be wonderful with our without us. She is so wrong. They are wonderful in the ways we are wonderful, and bad in the ways their friends are bad, and their friends are bad in the ways their parents are bad. It is as clear as day to me; I don't understand why Mrs. Rantwick can't see it.

Ok, C'mon Now...

This is a quick follow-up to today's earlier post written by disappointed caveman. This just happened on my way home...

TGIF. Have a super Weekend!

R A N T W I C K

PS - I got another entry for TARATS today! I think I will unveil it tomorrow.

On Love

When it comes to the heady subject of love, many are searching for answers. How do I find it? How can I keep it? What is it? If you are one of these searchers and your quest has brought you here, I pity you. Nonetheless, I have a perspective to offer and as the banner of this blog proclaims, I just can't seem to shut up.

Love, of course, defies definition. We know what it is deep in our guts when we feel it. We know the lucky among us find it, while the less lucky find it only to lose it. As young people we fear that we will never find it and hunger for it always. Thankfully, love has a way of happening to many in one form another.

The love one feels as a teenager is not the same as the love one feels as a committed adult. My guess is that some people are addicted to the rush associated with young love and so move from one new relationship to another their whole lives. Others, like me, settle in to a longer lasting love that runs deeper and more quietly.

Love manifests itself in many different ways. It can sustain and protect you on even your darkest days. It can also result in somebody buying you wine on a day that has been less than stellar.

- second, unrelated text from Mrs. R omitted -

Oh yeah. Now that's what I'm talkin' about. Here's to Love!

Happy Valentine's Day Everybody,

R A N T W I C K