christmas

The Year in Review, oh, and Merry Christmas!

I used to be against Winter Wonderland at Falls Park but I have to admit, the pics on my bike this year have been good, so I guess I am okay with the city spending the same amount of money on this as what it would cost to refurbish the Brockhouse Collection ($850K). Speaking of that, saw an email this week from an influential party wanting to help save the collection and the city council and mayor have ignored them for over a year. I know, shocker.

Anyway, down to business. Instead of me wasting my time and a 12 pack of IPA’s this year with the year in review I am asking on my readers to paste in the comments their favorite post, OR, just tell me what was the best DaCola gem of the year.

Moving on, Merry Christmas or whatever weirdo holiday you celebrate. Believe it or not I will be sitting in a church pew on Christmas morning pretending to be a Christian (I do that a couple times a year). I do like Christmas and all the Kuchen I can eat!!!! (and it better have fried eggs floating on top!)

So this year was Detroit’s year of Laziness. If I didn’t have to do it, I did not do it. In fact I have been studying minimalism this past year but I can’t even do that right. I call myself a lazy minimalist. I refrain, half of the time 🙂

Here are some basic rules;

• If I can walk or bike, I do that

• If I can cook at home (for less), I do that

• I turn my heat down to 68 degrees

• I turn my AC to 75

• I only use lights in my house in the room I am in

• I only take 2 showers a week during the winter

• I only buy clothes and other stuff at thrift stores (books, music, appliances, art supplies)

• I enjoy the company of good friends and conversation over casinos

• Beer instead of wine (cheap liquor is ok)

• Personal hair clipper (I still get my hair cut from a barber, but I only go about every 4 months because I trim it everyday)

• A pet (I don’t have one now, but have been thinking about it again. They can actually save you money because you find yourself hanging with your bud instead of farting around at the bars and friends that talk back)

• Pay it forward. (this is the most important principal of minimalism and the hardest one you will ever do, but totally worth it.)

I wanna give a big shout out to my partner in crime, uh, I mean, not crime, my web developer. Some know him, most do not, but he has been with me since the beginning including getting me into blogging in the late 90’s. Let’s just say my previous moniker ‘Fat Midget’ was not loved. Let’s keep killing it Bro! What else do we have to do on a Wednesday at 11:18 AM? Oh, that’s right . . . PPPPPPIIIIIIIIEEE!!!!!!!!

What was your favorite Christmas Gift?

Share with me something you got for Christmas (material or not) that was your favorite gift that left an impact on your life?

Mine was my first bicycle (with no training wheels). I don’t think I ever had training wheels on my bike and remember riding around the block by myself wiping out several times and running into parked cars. It wasn’t new, I think my dad found it in a dump or thrift store. It was a Coast to Coast that he spray painted. I think that is why I still have an obsession with one-speed junkers. This year I bought my first E-Bike and I have been riding it almost everyday since I got it.

Does Noem really care about Main Street South Dakota?

Don’t get me wrong, I will admit, I order stuff online. But I always try to find stuff locally first. Between thrift stores, retail and groceries 99% of my purchases are in Sioux Falls and when I can, I try to buy from locally owned businesses. Like I said, I am not perfect, but am also NOT the Governor of South Dakota.

What puzzles me is that while our governor talks about wanting to grow local businesses, we really know she plays the back door Washington game of licking the boots of corporate America. So that is why it didn’t surprise me when I saw her Christmas card this year she ordered from an online printing company and a design studio out of California. CALIFORNIA! Don’t get me wrong, it was nice, and many of my family members and friends did the same thing, but like myself, many did not. They used a local photographer or printer. I have been coordinating with local poet Charles Luden for around 20+ years to create a unique card each year, and we always print locally. This is 2020;

I am wondering why the Governor of our state didn’t use a local printer in Pierre? There are several.

No skin off my back, and I don’t really give two-sh!ts, but the next time Donita claims to care about Main Street South Dakota, it starts with the small things like ordering your Christmas card from the printer in your town.