THE DESCENT.

One time in Montana, I went floating down a giant rocky river without shoes.

You gotta use what you got, and sometimes if you don't got it, you still do it.

But life is a lot easier with the right equipment.

Like shoes on a rocky river.

CLIFF-JUMPING VS. BASKETBALL.

@countessbecca asked me recently : “Didn’t you used to love playing basketball? How come you don’t play anymore?” I said : “Yeah. I did used to love playing. But after 41 years of existence, most of the injuries I’ve had came from basketball or organized sports. What’s important, more important, to me now, is to be able to hike, and run, and be active in every way with our kids. I want my body intact for that. I wanna be cliff-jumping at 80.” So yeah. River jumping trumps hoops. Maybe both again someday. @7makeitcount7 I wanna hit some jump spots in Montana sometime in the next year or two! Whaddya say?! ___ Thx for shooting, @countessbecca ...and in slo-mo! #washougal #44washougalcamas #pnwonderland

A post shared by Joseph Long (@josephivanlong) on Jul 15, 2018 at 1:08pm PDT

MY FAVOURITE LIBRARIAN.

Right before our first child was born, I told our families, "...I don't like all this 'I'm gonna be favourite uncle, favourite auntie' stuff I keep hearing from people. I know it's said to be funny, but guess what? Some of you are going to see our daughter more frequently, others less so. This whole "am I your favourite uncle/aunty?" thing starts off funny, but eventually feelings start getting hurt. Thank you for loving her already and being an important part of her world, now it would be awesome if we can all can build the best thing possible with her that is unique."

Unique. I've held to that through the births and development of our other children. The idea of building relationships that are unique and special, not better. Do some end up stronger than others? Do some end up deep and frequent and embedded? Do our kids gravitate to some family more than others over shared interests, personalities, and familiarity?

Yes, certainly yes. That's how life is. But we have never referred, or tolerated the idea of some relatives or family being referred to 'as favourites,' even in jest. Because again, those jests are a short distance away from cutting deep eventually. The types of cuts that can lead to resentment, jealousy, hurt, and the devaluation or damaging of relationships.

We're all hypocrites, of course.

My favourite librarian is leaving.

My sister-in-law. More than a sister-in-law and more than a librarian, but those are good starting titles.

I am a hypocrite. Because she is my favourite.

I love our little community library for many reasons. The books. The environment. The employees. A peculiar, odd, unique little public library.

And she is my favourite. Technically, she's not a librarian, per se. She is a library assistant / supervisor (Librarian is a term generally denoting the director of the branch and is a specialized and specific degree...I think). But since the article says 'librarian,' and I've referred to her as such accidentally and not over the years, I'll continue to use it here.

I have watched and marveled at her patience, kindness, and genuine affection for patron after patron who comes in. Anyone who thinks public libraries aren't relevant today hasn't spent time in one. You want a cross-section of humanity? Go hang out for a couple hours. The academics, the homeless, the cultured, the students, the kids, the parents, the teens, the city employees, the millennials, the elderly, the infirm, the thinkers and makers and adventurers and discoverers and inventors and wanderers and wonderers and...

they're all there, with their infinite personalities and questions.

And time and time again, she helped with a smile. A real smile. I think of the many times after work, outside work, where she would affectionately refer to different experiences or interactions and her love for her job and the people who inhabited and passed through. To say nothing of the joy she passed along at being able to talk about and recommend books across genres. It was real. A real and true investment of pride and love that she made for sixteen years.

I remember when she was working hard to get a position within the library system. Working another full-time paid job, doing unpaid volunteer time at the library to get hours, going sunup to sundown to pursue her dream of working there. And then she did, and has left a mark, and is leaving for another dream.

I'll go back. But she has been such a joyful and vibrant presence for so many years that...it's gonna be hard.

I will go back. But I'll have to work up to it. And it's gonna take time.

Au revoir, Rach. Thanks for your service, always with a smile, and frequently accompanied by humorous banter, witty observations, and interesting recommendations.

You were my favourite.

BOY IN LIBRARY.

Whatever idiots think public libraries are no longer relevant or necessary obviously haven’t spent much time in one. News flash: two non-obvious things you can do at one are check out books for free AND look for cookies to eat that other patrons might have left. Little known fact: Public libraries have the cleanest garbage cans in the world. On a lucky day, you might even find a chocolate chip one (pictured). Thanks for your kindness, humor, and general awesomeness always, this particular little library with best library staff ever. Seriously and truly. ___ #publiclibrary #fvrl #44children #washougal #pnw #44books #libraries #childhood @fvrlibraries @wandervogelsoul

A post shared by Joseph Long (@josephivanlong) on May 6, 2018 at 7:40am PDT

IS IT POSSIBLE?

Is it possible to listen to too much Leonard Cohen? Is it possible to have too many photo editing apps on your phone? Is it possible to have too many friends?

I don’t have answers. I suspect there is a limit to the former, as I have pushed the edges of what’s possible over the last month and forged through 1967’s sweetly bitter Songs of Leonard Cohen all the way through 2016’s magnificent bittersweet You Want It Darker. I took no stops in between for live albums or collections, and found myself straying back to New Skin for the Old Ceremony more than a few times. Okay...I strayed back to every album more than a few times, and have managed for the most part to hold back tears knowing I will go to my grave never having experienced him or Johnny Cash or Freddy Mercury perform live alive. So I don’t know. Have I listened to too much Leonard Cohen this fall? Possibly.

I have tried countless times, without ever resorting to Google, to imagine Leonard holding a phone in his hand, laboring over just the right filter to use on a selfie. Or in his case, a self-portrait. I imagine him only doing self-portraits, as opposed to selfies. Would he carefully straighten the horizon line in Snapseed? Would he punch up the blacks in ProShot? Would he gently drop the highlights a smidge in Litely? Or would he lovingly pay ninety-nine cents for the perfect flash on Hipstamatic? Would he be bogged down by endless options? Yes, we would be, yes, we are, yes, there does exist the reality of too much being too much.

Can you have too many friends? I would guess that if you won a big lottery, the answer might be yes, which is why I have chosen to not win one. I have been better at investing in people than stocks, and my social security statement will likely back me up, although I am advised that it is a good document to not go throwing around in public.

A short time ago from now, I was alerted to the arrival of an old classmate; a fellow who once had long hair, and with whom I exchanged pleasantries with five to thirteen times in college. His arrival to the surrounding terrain was not a solo one; he was accompanied by a beautiful and personable wife and a gaggle of somewhere between two and four adventurous boys. Our paths crossed.

And they have continued to cross in the past months, and they have recrossed and crisscrossed and involved pancakes and coffee and rope swings and chainsaws and Everestian height-scaling* and donuts and tram rides and conversation and...

...a shared love of the outdoors, of coffee, and of raising children. No particular order. I do not know their feelings on Leonard Cohen, but I would like to remain friends with them long enough to someday find out, and should they not find him agreeable, then...*deep breath* I will hope the level of our friendship can carry us through it. You may be wondering why we are holding mugs. That is my wife (on the right). We are holding mugs that were given to us by our friends. Our friends that we like, even though we do not yet know their position on Leonard Cohen. Inside the mugs - both mugs - are 9.5 ounces each of StumpTown coffee. I will not tell you which one. That is a secret. But it is a good blend. And they are friends that we are happy to know and be able to start sharing some holiday memories with this season.

Thanks Chad and Ronda Jean Mundy, for being you. For being fun, adventurous, kind, generous, and for passing along those traits to your three awesome boys. Cheers, friends. And thank you, many friends of theirs, for sharing them.

And remember, people, when in doubt, ask yourself this: what photo editing app would Leonard Cohen use?

____

*Beacon Rock

THOUGHTS ON COMPETITION.

Sometimes, it's not the winning that's important, it's the simple act of competing well and enjoying the process, and making sure you come in ahead of everyone else.

IN WHICH WE CONSIDER KINDRED SPIRITS.

In which I think deeply about a recurring theme in the Anne of Green Gables sagas about this person or that person being "...a kindred spirit" - a sort of shared bond over a particular outlook or insight on life. Always have loved that idea. Got to make some good holiday memories with some new buddies who are kindred spirits; good conversation is a quality I treasure greatly and every human in this selfie is a titan of vibrant discourse. Kindred spirits with vivid personalities and infinite array of topics to kick about from one end of a Thai table to the other. I think one of my defining characteristics is an interest in simply having interesting conversations and repartee with people of all ages. I've never really understood the concept behind talking down to children, in that sing-songy, uplifting-at-sentence-end voice that says: I am treating you like a kid because you're not on my level yet. Of course adults have experience and knowledge that simply comes from being around longer, but it doesn't necessarily make you a more interesting person or better at dialoging, and it doesn't, I think, provide justification for speaking in a tone and manner that shrieks condescension. Anyway, off high horse. Every time I'm at a small town public event in December, it reminds me of the previous year's resolution to become a multi-mega billionaire, so I can hire an architect and city planner to build me an idyllic winter retreat modeled EXACTLY after Whoville; the Seussian winter wonderland utopia populated by New England charm, cirque du solei antics, and cheerful building design equally inspired by Calder, Kafka and Rube Goldberg. Somehow, the 'make a billion bucks' plan keeps climbing down my priority list and I forget it about. Possibly because I'm too busy focused on some microtopic convo with a sub-ten year old, such as: is corn actually a grass? (Yes, I was reminded, it is) So yeah, it was a pleasant evening of hanging out with great peeps, seeing a giant tree light up (thank you Edison, thank you Tesla), and chowin on some Thai cuisine over acrobatic dialog. #christmas2016 #camas #longx4 #pnwonderland #parenting 12-02

A post shared by Joseph Long (@josephivanlong) on Dec 4, 2016 at 11:18pm PST

SIMONE BILES DRINKS TEA.

Can I have some of your coffee?
our daughter asked casually, confidently reaching for my drink.

No.
I said, pulling it away.
You're nine, I think. I'm not giving you coffee.

Well,
she said.
I like coffee.

Why?
I asked, ignoring the historical fact that she had been caught usurping my drinks more than once.

Because,
she said.
It makes me happy. And also, it makes me smarter, and it helps me have more empathy for people.

Wow.
I said, quickly finishing my drink.
You are good.

AND THE SKY WAS BLUE.

VIDEO GAMES.

Playstation (Deluxe Classic Edition with Unlimited Bonus Levels*).

Washougal River / ©2015 Joseph Ivan Long

*until bedtime

THE PURGE.

Goodwill for humankind. Ahh, the start of a new year, where people get to move treasures from their house to someone else's and get a tax deduction. ____ #44washougalcamas #washougal2015 #Washougal #goodwillindustries

A photo posted by Joseph Long (@josephivanlong) on Jan 2, 2015 at 5:22pm PST

MATRIX REBOOT.

Time to reboot The Matrix franchise. I nominate me, Chris Nolan, and Joel Cohen to hammer out a script. Jonny, Jonathan, and Ethan, why don't you come hang out too?

HOMAGE TO FRANK GEHRY.

The "process of creativity" is pretty simple most of the time:

1. combine a couple things in a way nobody else has thought of
2. do it with thoughtfulness, focus, and attention to detail
3. turn would-be mistakes into unique attributes
4. keep going

This is a "...giant sculpture for people to go inside of."

I dig it, and I think that possibly Frank Gehry might as well. Or maybe he wouldn't. I haven't talked to him about it.

I AM BOOK.

First off, thanks to Sharika for the Echo Donut Lounge recommendation! Been there twice now; love the space and the people
Second, my mom came up with the great idea, while we were coffee-ing and donut-ing, to each choose a book on the shelf that best described us. We approached this task with thoughtfulness and careful deliberation.

HELMET.

Always Help Those You Love Do Dangerous Things in the Safest Way Possible, or if There's No Safe Way, Help Them Anyway).

LOVE, EVERYWHERE.

Homage to Hannibal, Mississippi

Ballet Performance: "Touch the Sky"

LEGO, Lincoln Logs, Convo and Summer Here Kids

Every once in a while, I feel especially cool. It is a strange feeling. But I feel this way right now because I have spent a night engaged in conversation with people who, instead of shoegazing at their phones while talking, have been busily building LEGO constructions. Seriously cool. And then I looked down at what I have been building and stopped feeling quite so cool.

LEGO parties. Good stuff. Next up: Lincoln Logs.
____

Summer Here Kids

...What are you listening to? (Chris Brown, Rihanna, Sean Kingston)

...What do you listen to while you're driving to work? 

I asked the early-20s brunette cashier at True Value Hardware. 

- "Well...I listen to either the radio station, like Z100, or I have YouTube on my phone so I plug that in through my car stereo sometimes." 

Oh. I said. When you're listening to YouTube on your car stereo, what is something you might put on? 

- "Umm...Chris Brown. Rihanna. Sean Kingston sometimes." 

Cool. I said. 

- "I'm a dancer," she explained. "I like music that's uplifting. That makes you wanna dance, like hop hop." 

Okay. I said. So you're a dancer? 

- "Not professionally. I just like hop hop. I dance to hip hop for fun. It's more of a hobby." 

Right on. I said, and turned to go, with my box of 2" drywall screws in hand. Have a good one. 

I walked out into the sunshine, where it felt like I was walking on sunshine, or even dancing. On sunshine.