Desert Bound

The mag is done. Same goes for the Buyer's Guide. Settled. Bear of an issue.

Headed into the desert over the weekend. Felt great to get away. Hotter that hell out there. The highest was 117 degrees. Amazing climate. Rose and Bridges were along. It was a good team. Good conversation in the rig, wild exploits at every stop. We did our damnedest to follow route 66 wherever we could. That desolate mojave stretch was the best. Desolate.

The quote of the trip was,

"Draplin, I'm a legend of the open road." -Pat "the eYe" Bridges

Good living out there. Flagstaff, Hackberry, Kingman, Zzyxx...

Submit The Fuckin' Pages Already

Still fightin' this thing out. Couple more crucial pages and it's over. Lookin' forward to getting out of here for a couple days to clear the 'ol thinker up a bit. maybe off east to the mojave desert or maybe even further to the grandest of canyons? Gonna let the wind pick my course.

Each cotton-pickin' morning we come in here and exclaim, "Alright, no more fuckin' around. The pages are going out TODAY! Arrrggghh!" Then we break the huddle and head back to our little stations. Then we "work." Brawling it out with the usual racket of executive lunches, upper management meetings, AOL love chats, interview-hoping "pro" riders and wondering interns seems to set up a network of forks in the road. Can't get shit done.

My sister Sarah called and said, "How come you don't update yer site?" I thought I did. So this one's for her. I guess she got herself a new car, a Blazer or something. Y'know, something sturdy for battling the wilds of suburbia Detroit.

Went home last night at 5pm. Imagine that. Felt weird to be leavin' this joint with daylight to spare. Really. Went home and got the tube goin'. Watched a cat try to outrun the fuzz up in cesshole LA. I was absolutely transfixed with the whole thing. "Late Breaking News", man throwing his life away on channel nine...see it here live! He finally ran out of gas after looping around freeways for four hours. He rolled to a stop and sat there for another three hours or something. The "thorough" reporters covered the whole thing. Lots of speculation, lots of wondering, lots of bullshit commentary by ex-cops and plastic surgery anchorfucks. Good livin' down here. Fun for the whole family.

"Hell Week" Is Behind Us

The toughest week of the year is behind us. We're wrapping up our september issue right now with flying colors. That's our biggest issue of the year, and the ugliest to compile. It's damn near finished. Look for it on the stands in August. A year ago right now we were caught in quite a shitstorm. We redefined the parameters of being "really late" on our page submissions. We set new records and almost broke the bank. We fought, we bloodied, we fucked the edges up...but nevertheless, the issue was pretty good, even for a first time effort.

Melissa is leaving on July 31st. Real excited to get the house back to normal. The space will be lonely, but welcomed. Gonna splay all my legos out on the floor and get a city going. Dining room? Hell now, that's the couch. Lego room?, you bet. Excited to see her going. She'll do better back in Minneapolis. Bit sad too. Oh well.

The new Whiskeytown album is amazing. I'm a sucker for this shit for some reason.

My Mom had a birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday to the greatest mom ever. Really. She is an amazing woman and I love her more and more as these months go by out here. Simple conversations make me want to quit this bullshit and head home. The wheels are outside and ready. So Happy Birthday Mom, I love ya.

Touching Base / Leah Congrats

Been touching base with good people from my old days...

Elon Cameron of Chicago dropped by. Amazing. She is fascinating. Stay tuned.

David Brust, man of mystery, cleanser of the colon, buff in photography dropped by the Factory Floor Digital with his update. It was good to hear from him. We'll leave it at that, due to the peculiarity of his words.

Congratulations to little Leah. She graduated over the weekend, the final graduate in the 'Draplin Kids Trilogy.' 18 years old, the world at her fingertips, high level negotiations took place securing her future financial relations with her older brother. I'd like to think of it as a "simple incentive plan." Due to her success in her schooling, the Draplindustries Design Company proudly offers a monthly stipend based on the following requirements:

1. Keeping her nose clean.
2. Staying out of trouble.
3. College: 3.0 GPA or above.
4. Monthly Updates filed with local DDC Field Offices.
5. No babies.

A little cash in her pocket to pad things a bit. Gas in the tank, money towards her car payment, what have you. She's a good kid with a good future, and what footsteps to follow in...phew! Older brother, older sister, both doing their best to kick ass in the big leagues.

Leah, congratulations. Give 'em hell out there.

Chad Smith

I had the most amazing chat last night with my buddy Chad Smith. Full of spirit, excited with his new direction, I hung up missin' him more than ever. He's doing real good for himself back in Lansing, Michigan pursuing a photography degree. He made a tough jump out of Bend, Oregon a little over a year ago, back to Michigan to dig into school. That stuff isn't easy, believe me. Lots of uncertainty. I made it. He made it. I'm so proud of him, and someday, I hope he'll head up the photo studio our design firm. Campbell-Draplin-Barrett-Floyd-Bridges-Smith. The list grows and grows.

We've had many adventures together. We were renegade carnies together for a summer fighting it out in a pizza wagon, hap-hazard road trips across the west and other follies in Northern Michigan. Chad Smith keeps shit simple.

And another brush with greatness, I made a bunch of calls on sunday to old friends back home. Sundays get me sentimental for some reason. Anyway, one Cal Steinorth ringed me back and we caught up with each other. Man, let me testify about the character of this fella: A good man, thru and thru. He's doing good back in Traverse City with his wife Laura. It's amazing to hear of people's directions. I'm thankful to have good people in my peripherals. Cal's a environmental consultant. Noble gig. I've been calling old pals cuz I'm trying to figure if I should trek back for my 10 year reunion.

I think I'm gonna go. Fuck it. Sounds fun. Drive back, dig the road, see the parents, throw down with the classmates and drive on back. Road trip, parental visit and Class of '91 in one big loop.

Hope everyone is doing well out there. Take care now, y'hear?

Time Flies When You Are Busy As Fuck

Another week behind us. No shortage of stuff to do around the office. The buyer's guide action is piling in, as well as content for our editorial pages. It's gonna be a good cycle.