Travel & Entertainment

As you may know, I have no personal problem with winter—but I'm kinda whatever about January. It's just a clean up month. I clean up my house. I clean up my mind. I keep my head down, hacking my way through the tall grass of life.

Part of the cleanup is getting my taxes in order. You self-employeders out there know the joys of adding up a year's worth of receipts all in one go—or you don't, because you use a less antiquated accounting system. Regardless! 2013 was a clusterfuck. "Entertainment" was off the hook, but "travel" was depressingly small. And the amount of paper I put towards non-fun things like utilities and insurance is a crime, but whatyagonnado.

Doing taxes is a kinda sweet way to remember moments from my year, though.  The Deschutes River campsite receipt for the raddest (and what turned out to be only!) skate-camping trip of the summer. The 7Eleven receipt for two tall cans of Coors Light that were sipped outdoors under starlight with cute dog and cute boy. All the good meals I ate. All the coffee I drank. All the books I bought and consumed—breaking the spines and dog-earing the pages. The first time I tasted beer mixed with kombucha (a "raddler" they called it) on a sunny September eve in the East Bay with old friends. It's all good stuff. I'd pay money for all of it again!