Marriage

Hello folks,

A couple days ago I was a bridesmaid in the wedding of a very old friend of mine. I wanted to be there to support her, but at the same time, I harbour some very strong feelings about marriage.

Before you go getting any set ideas of me in your head, I'm not one of those "Don't-get-married-you're- throwing-away-your-freedom" types. It's more that I don't really understand the purpose of it. Obviously, the original intent of marriage was to make their union holy. While I understand that not everyone out there is an atheist, I can also comfortably say that a good chunk of the population is. I know there are a lot of atheist spouses out there, so my question is why?

From what I have gleaned, my understanding is that marriage is apparently the ultimate commitment to your significant other. However, with divorce rates at 40% in Canada, it doesn't really seem to mean that much anyway. I'm not saying that people shouldn't get divorced. It's definitely the best option in a lot of cases. I'm saying that divorce is hardly different than breaking up now. To me, it shows a lot more commitment to stay together when you're not married than if you are. I think that people who should be together end up staying together, regardless of whether they are married or not, and I think that marriage is used as excuse for incompatible people to stay together.

Then, there's also the part where weddings are expensive. A wedding can put a couple into debt for a long while, which, in turn, puts more strain on the relationship. Why not just spend more time with your loved ones without spending money? Or you could take the money that you would normally spend on a wedding, and go travelling every year. Or start a business. Or go to school. You get my point.

I also believe that a lot of people get married for the wrong reasons. I'm not just talking about marrying for money or power. I'm talking more along the lines of marrying for attention. There's a lot of people who get married because they want people to make a big fuss over them. Then, once the honeymoon's over, they realize that they're stuck with this person that maybe they didn't even really want to be with, or that they didn't know well enough. I think there is also a prevailing belief that marriage is some ultimate goal to work towards, and once you have it, everything works out and you live happily ever after. The truth is that marriage is no different than any other relationship, except there's a million times more pressure to stay together. This can have catastrophic effects on even the best of couples.

Marriage is the byproduct of a ridiculous set of expectations for the most difficult to control of human functions. It says that you should love one way and not the other, one person and not the other. It goes completely against human nature, which is not monogamy as is seemingly the only acceptable path right now. It sets people up for oppression, confusion, and if they fail, disgrace, embarrassment and judgement. Marriage is not equally available for everybody. Marriage is defined differently depending on who you ask, and getting married defines you as someone apart from these other people who aren't permitted to get married, as different, or even better than these people. There are enough differences in the world splitting people apart, that marriage, the intended union of people, shouldn't be one of them.

Thank you guys so much for taking the time to read this, and I would love it if you gave me some opinions or feedback here, or at brett_bonk@yahoo.ca,

Brett

Dreadlocks: An Introduction

Hello there!

About a week ago, I gave dreadlocks to my very first paying customer. I have done several sets in the past, but they were for close friends, and it was very much a learning process.

These were my dreadlocks, the day after I got them.

Again, at about a month and a half old.

In the process of making Zach's dreads, using wax :(

This is my friend Zach, after about 4 and a half months.

 

 
My boyfriend's dreads immediately after completion!

Evan's dreads after I discovered the felting needle.

This is what Evan's dreads look like today, after 9 months. Pretty freaking awesome.

 While this milestone was understandably pretty exciting for me, it also got me thinking about how little people really know about dreadlocks. While most people my age probably know at least one person with dreadlocks, it is surprising to hear some of the ridiculous assumptions made about this unique 'do. I've had people ask if you're supposed to put honey or toothpaste in them, if you get them from not washing your hair, and the general consensus is that they are disgusting and dirty.

The first thing everyone should know is that they are not any dirtier/cleaner than regular hair. It is true that there are some people out there with gross dreadlocks, but I can say with confidence that there are a lot of people out there with really dirty gross hair that isn't anywhere near dreadlocks. The truth is that you actually need to keep them quite clean, or you're going to be waiting for a long time for them to lock up. Think about it; grease is slippery, and slippery hair is not going to hold knots. However, most people with regular, unlocked hair tend to over wash it, so the once every week or two washing might seem insufficient. When you don't wash your hair with commercial shampoos, you don't have to wash as often, which I explain in my very first blog post. Eventually, your hair can get to the point where you never have to wash it with anything except water, whether or not you have dreadlocks. This is admittedly a little easier when you have dreadlocks, because you don't really have to worry about your hair looking greasy in the transition phase.

The other thing I hear all the time is that dreadlocks are for lazy people who don't want to have to do anything with their hair. It's true that you can get a set of dreadlocks, never touch them again and try to let them work themselves out, but they're most likely going to look like ass. If you want dreadlocks that actually look maintained, there is a lot of work that goes into them, especially when they're fresh. Until your dreads are mature (at least a year old) they are probably going to require more time than you spent on your hair before you had dreads. They will want to grow together at the roots, so you'll have to take time to keep them separated. You're going to get a lot of loose hairs at the scalp, so if you don't want a big fuzz ball, you have to tuck those hairs in, and I really recommend a felting needle to help keep those hairs inside the dread, and not popping back out in a couple hours. You really have to make a habit of rolling your dreads to keep them round and rubbing the roots to make sure they grow in as dreads. There's lots of videos on how to do this stuff, but I would recommend ryanoriley1 on youtube. He obviously did a lot of research, because he gives a lot of really sound advice, and he talks about pretty much everything to do with dreads, and he also posts really regularly, so you get a chance to see the locking process, and realize that it's normal for dreads to look a little rough at first, and still turn out amazing!

One more really important thing to know is that you shouldn't ever put any substance in your dreads if you can avoid it. Big dread product companies like DreadheadHQ and Knotty Boy are usually the first links that come up on google when you're trying to find information on dreads and they do have a lot of sound information. They are, however, trying to sell something, so they try and make it seem necessary to use a lot of products, when they're not only unnecessary, but can be really harmful. NEVER EVER USE WAX. Please. Just trust me. It's uncomfortable, it looks bad, it will NEVER come out of your dreads, and it can cause it to smell weird and the worst case scenario is that it can grow mould inside the dreads and then the only solution is to cut them off.

Sad waxy gunk that stays in your dreads forever :(

 The only "products" I use on dreadlocks is baking soda for washing (occasionally), and maybe some saltwater to help it lock up a little faster (optional). You can use a lemon juice/water spray to lighten the colour, and there's a lot of different beads and ornaments you can buy, or even make. I would absolutely hate to see someone spend the time and effort that go into having dreads, only to have them ruined because some idiot told them to put toothpaste in their hair.

These are just a few main tips that I put down here. I could really go on and on. I'm probably going to do more posts in the future, and if anyone has any questions or suggestions for future posts, PLEASE let me know! my email is brett_bonk@yahoo.ca, or you can comment below. I would really love to get some feedback.

Catch ya later,
Brett

Living.

Hello friends!

We just got back from a road trip to British Columbia.

Needless to say, it was spectacular. I look forward to spending a lot of time there one day. 

It really made me think about why exactly modern human beings live the way they do. Why is the mundane life of nice house, beautiful spouse, high-paying job the penultimate goal? Why do people choose to live in miserable, cold, desperate environments where they have work so much harder to survive? 

Some would say that the most impressive quality in the human race is their adaptability to any situation, but in a way it's pretty sad. It means a lot of people spent most of their lives just trying to survive, rather than thriving in an environment they're adapted to. Obviously different environments spawn diverse and beautiful cultures, but if you have to change everything about your habitat to make it livable, that isn't very desirable or responsible is it? Why would so many people choose to live in a harsh environment for generations rather choosing one that is obviously more suited to them. Work smart, not hard!

I hope to never be fooled into working my life away, in pursuit of a false dream. I hope to never be convinced that I need things that I obviously don't. I hope I never decided to trade in my life for money.

If you think about it, money is a pretty clever trick. In return for what works out to about a quarter of your life, you get a whole lot of paper, which you trade in for what you are told you need to be successful and survive. Why not just spend that time growing, cultivating and creating what you really need yourself?

Just something to think about,

Brett

Knitwhit!

Hello blog cohorts!

If you've noticed that I haven't been posting a lot at all lately, it might be because I haven't been inspired to write lately. It might also be because I have been knitting and crocheting a heapload. Both knitting and crocheting are skills that I learned at a fairly young age, and have recently fell in love with. After about five months attempting to knit a sock however, my passion receded for a spell. Luckily it has been revived! I crocheted a toque, a cell phone case, a small bag, and a belt and knit a lovely scarf.

My scarf!

Aaand a phone case.

I can't really begin to explain the immense amount of gratification I feel being able to produce something that I can wear or use for years for such a small amount of money, all the while experiencing the joy of creation! The only problem is that now I want to spin my own yarn which isn't really feasible while I'm living in town with my boyfriend's parents... sigh. 

I think my spare time is going to be occupied knitting/crocheting gifts for people. Which is great because I hate gift shopping. And the ordeal of receiving unnecessary/awkward gifts. 

One very cool thing: I bought a home-mushroom-growing kit thing and it's so neeeeat!

On a totally different note, we're moving to Victoria! Yahoo! I am so excited, partially because I am hoping I might be able to attempt growing a bougainvillaea :) 

Also, the possibility of being able to grow a garden somewhere where the lowest average winter temperature is 3 degrees is overjoying. I think I could probably build an overwinter garden frame and be able to have at least some veggies in January!

I will leave you with this link to a awesome crochet toque pattern that I used that was super easy and only took about 4 hours!

Until next time,

Brett

Long Time No See.

Hey there enviromaniacs!

I feel bad. I haven't posted diddly squat in a while now.

I wanted to share an awesome book I found lately with you guys. It's called Homegrown and Handmade by Deborah Niemann.

I bought it a couple days ago at Earth's General Store, and it is quickly becoming one of my very favourite books ever. It's basically an outline for how to set up a homestead. When you think of the word "homestead", Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House on the Prairie probably come to mind,

but modern homesteading has changed since the days of the pioneers. Think more amazing garden vegetables and hand-spun wool and less fever-induced blindness and pigtail braids. In short, it's exactly what I hope to do. You should really ready it!

Big news: I recently purchased a new bike. It is great.

It is pictured here with our pretty little van, Sully. Evan also got a new bike and is currently biking 80 km to practice for the bike home from Jasper. I wish I could participate, but sadly, I think I would probably vomit or something unpleasant along the way.

Today I planted our flower beds! I, honestly, could not fall asleep last night because I was so excited to plant them this morning. 

I also made my first attempt at planting a basket. It is a little scraggly-looking, to say the least but I have confidence that it will be beautiful when it grows up a little.

Like I said, not much to look at for now but it will grow into a fine basket one day. I mostly just wanted to get the marigolds that Evan's grandma stuck in with my mutant geranium out of there. I loathe marigolds. 

That's all for now!

-Brett

Meat Yuckstitutes.

Hello Hello!

Last post, I talked a little about vegan/vegetarian diets. This time, I would like to share my opinion on vegetarian imitation meats, or any vegetarian/vegan product that is sold to imitate something that isn't veg-friendly. As you can probably already tell, I am not a fan.

First, there is the problem that no matter how hard you try, you're never going to be able to reproduce meat with vegetables. Not gon' happen. This is instantly problematic because people who are used to eating meat are not going to like the alternative, discouraging a meat-free diet.

There is also the fact that a lot of these products commonly found in your grocery store are not that healthy anyway. Many of them are high in fat, sodium, and are extremely refined, even though they have a vegetarian label on them. They are also commonly made with soy, a product that has gained a notorious reputation as of late, for a plethora of health and environmental reasons. For information on the problems associated with soy - check this out.

Another problem that I have with the imitation of meat products and the tendency to utilize meat-free ingredients to make meat dishes, is that it places limitations on the creativity of the chef. Vegetarian ingredients open up a whole new world of possibilities, they don't simply exist to imitate meat. It's really difficult to find good vegetarian recipes that aren't simply vegetarian burgers, steaks, etc. A really good resource for innovative, fresh recipes are raw food recipes. I recently bought a cookbook called Eat Raw, Eat Well. Every recipe I have tried so far has been so completely different than anything else I have cooked, and really tasty.

A final, disturbing fact for vegetarians is that choosing to purchase imitation meat or cooking veggie meats is basically admitting that they really need meat. It is saying that you are suffering so hard through your vegetarianism that you can't live without a burger.

I can't emphasize enough how rewarding it is to make your own food rather than buying it premade from a grocery store!

-Brett

Cookies!!!

Hey Guys,

Sorry it's been so long since the last post. It's been really hard trying to find time and motivation since I started working full time. Not that I'm complaining, my job rocks!

Recently before we moved, Evan and I decided to transition into a vegan diet. I celebrated my 5 year vegetarian anniversary this February :D and am ready to take it a little further. I don't mean to preach, but cutting meat out of your diet is one of the most effective things you can do to help save the environment! Livestock are responsible for more greenhouse gases than anything else in the world. There are also tons and tons of stats on the health benefits of vegans/vegetarians over their meat-eating brethren. Not to mention human and animal rights issues, food poisoning debacles, artificial hormones...

I've been thinking about how weird it is that we drink other animals' milk a lot lately. And the fact that we do it as adults! Think about how weird it would be if someone you knew told you they had human breast milk every morning with their cereal. Ew. And you don't normally see other animals drinking inter-species milk.

As a kid, I drank a lot of milk. probably around 3-4 big glasses a day, and this carried on until recently, when I started to look for milk replacements such as almond milk. Now that I rarely drink milk, whenever  I do, I feel sick within half an hour. Now I realize that I just never really noticed that I was feeling like that all the time before, and just assuming it was normal. Cutting milk out of my diet was a really natural step for me, especially with so many substitutes.

Eggs are yet another product of the livestock industry that I don't want to be a part of anymore. Chickens are farmed in outrageous conditions, which you only need look to Food Inc. to discover. Countless other Youtube videos for animal cruelty will show you the same thing.

I know a lot of people are scared of veganism, because they think that there's nothing left to eat at that point. Wrong! The key to vegan eating is cooking your own food. You can learn to modify almost any recipe to be vegan, as long as it's not meat-based, like steak. Here is an example of a recipe that I modified to be completely vegan!

Original Recipe: My Favourite Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 
  
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 
  
• 2 eggs
• 
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 
  
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 
  
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 
  
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Modified Recipe:

1/2 cup margarine

1/4 cup apple sauce

1/4 cup unrefined coconut oil

1 cup brown sugar

1 banana

a bunch of vanilla (who measures?)

1 1/4 cups multigrain or brown flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup porridge oats (a mix of whole oats, steel cut oats, flax bran and a bunch of other stuff)

1 cup quinoa

as many chocolate chips (vegan ones!) as you like!

1/3 cup of vegan cocoa

This is just an example of what you can do, there are so many different ingredients you can swap in/out!

Don't take my word for it! Thanks for reading,

Brett

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Hello friendly neighbourhood readers!

It's been a busy few days. We had a successful move, with no tears shed. It's great to be back home, living life at a slower pace. It's the closest thing to paradise I've felt in a while.

Today marked my first day at work at the greenhouse! I already know that I'm going to love it. It's can be hard work but it's really rewarding. The first thing we did when we got there was unload a full length semi trailer packed floor to ceiling with trees! It was difficult to believe that many trees could fit in such a (relatively) small space. I am on tree duty for the rest of the month! WaHOOOO! So excite.

Evan and I are also biking to work. I'll admit this is a bit of a challenge for me right now. 10 km of highway can be a bit nerve wracking, and today the wind was definitely not in our favour. I am exhausted. It feels amazing. I need a new bike. One that fits my abnormally long body would be nice.

Yesterday we visited our friends and helped with some herb planting and met their worm pals. Fun!

If I can give you one piece of advice, it would be to get rid of as much stuff as possible. Foreal. Stuff sucks. I can tell you that the first thing to cross off my list right now is to have about a jillion garage sales. STAT. Simplify your life!

Thanks for reading my blog. And stuff.

-Brett

Permaculture

Moving day is getting closer and closer, and all I can think about is how much I want it to be here now. It sucks sitting in an empty apartment full of boxes, just waiting for the day to come. If Calgary taught us one thing, it's that the city is just not for us. Don't get me wrong, I like having access to pretty much anything I can think of, but it really feels like it's sucking the soul out of both Evan and myself.

Now I'm going to share my ultimate dream-life-goal with you. One day, I want to live completely independently of any outside resources, on a piece of land where everything is hand built by me. I want to learn how to make everything I use, and never buy anything. I don't want to have a career, because I don't believe in only doing one thing for a whole lifetime. Who thought of that?!!! Ideally, we'll be able to produce enough to sell and pay our taxes, and won't need anything else. One of my fellow hippy friends shared the idea of a gift economy with me - one where nobody holds on to more than they need. When you have an excess, you give it away, and when you are in need, it will be given to you. Why doesn't this exist?!

Hippy communes aside, permaculture is a seriously awesome and simple idea that doesn't require you to go completely off the grid to utilize the benefits. It's a method of design whereby sustainable practises are used, and modelled after natural ecosystems. Nothing is just plunked down somewhere without having a reason for being there. The goal within a permaculture system is not only to have a net zero energy cycle, but to actually come out with a net positive. Think about how many modern inventions are more than 100% efficient... Still thinking? Every time the human race comes up with a new piece of technology, a new set of problems comes along with it. We're so busy thinking about how we can create new gadgets to solve the problem, that we don't realize that the original change was the problem. We keep telling ourselves we need things. That is the problem.

One important (and really cool) element of permaculture is the swale. A swale is like a ditch, except instead of existing to drain water, swales are dug level to capture and harness water. Swales allow you to grow plants needing little to no irrigation, using water that would normally be lost to the ground. In Jordan, one of the most inhospitable places in the world for agriculture, where nearly everything is grown in a greenhouse, swales were used to effectively revegetate the desert. Amazing!

Check out the video!

If we only put some thought into our actions as a species and took action on those thoughts, we could really make a huge difference.

Thanks for reading!

-Brett

Earth Day vol. 2

We bought the worm composter! But unfortunately, we won't be able to use it for about 2 weeks, since worms didn't come with.

If you get the chance, check out this blog, it's an up-and-coming permaculture group sprouted from Calgary artist collective Light and Soul. We got our composter from them at Market Collective today!

Also, today Evan and I invested in some super cool shoes.

I've been seeing these around for a pretty long time now and always thought they were pretty neat. Today I tried them on, and it was love. They feel amazing. I wouldn't say they feel like barefoot, but they are definitely the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned. In fact, I am wearing them right now. Inside. I like that they allow you to interact with your surroundings in a way we're not used to (here, anyway). The Vibram company is a part of the barefoot movement, which I think is really cool. Only 20% of the world's population wears shoes! Weird to think about, but shoes actually damage your feet! It makes sense, once you realize that, similar to shampoo, the human body did not evolve to need them. However, living in an urbanized locale can definitely present hazards to the barefooted. That's why these shoes are so cool! Going barefoot or wearing these shoes actually strengthens the muscles in your feet and ankles, and toughens the soles of your feet, restoring their original purpose.

For more information regarding Vibrams and the barefoot movement, visit the Vibram website.

Earth Day

Hey y'all,

So today is Earth Day. What exactly does that mean? Does everybody carry around a reusable shopping bag today? Personally, I believe Earth Day is a total gimmick. Every day has to be "Earth Day" or there won't be an Earth guys! So go plant a tree! But don't just do it because it's Earth Day, do it because it's necessary.

When I'm finished this post, my boyfriend and I are going to market collective to buy some worm composters! I'm pretty sure Evan is in love with worms. Super excited to move back home so we can put the little guys to work!

On a side note, I went and saw two of my favourite bands last night, Boreal Sons and Andy Shauf. Both of them just put out new EP's, so if you have a chance, check them out!

Andy Shauf - Bandcamp

There's a drummer too, but unfortunately he was hidden away in a little nook and I couldn't get a good photo.
Boreal Sons - Bandcamp


How glad are you that this post is shorter than the last one? Thanks for reading!

-Brett

SHAM-POO :(

Hey there,

This is my first ever blog! Please don't yell at me, I don't know any better. Anyway, the majority of my time and thought-space for a good while now has been taken up trying to think up ways to become completely independent from an ignorant, disconnected way of life. I don't want to be a part of a society that doesn't put any sort of thought into daily life. Lately, I've been putting a lot of effort (Okay maybe not an earth-shattering amount but still enough to occupy my thoughts pretty regularly) into eliminating unnecessary "things" that most people don't think twice about, and to start making as many of the items/products that I consume myself.

For my first post, I will share my thoughts about shampoo with you. This is a subject that I could talk for days about, so I apologize for the impending length of this post. Let me first give you some background information: I was born with very curly hair. At three years old, I essentially had a little ginger afro. After discovering the straightener, curl gel/mousse/spray/whatever, and repeating for several years, I was left with hair that was little more than wavy, very thin and fine, and which would never grow longer than a little past my shoulders. I washed my hair every day because I didn't want it to get greasy. After itching to for months, I finally gave in and got dreadlocks after graduating in May of last year. Now, contrary to what a lot of non-dreadheads think, most dreadlock owners do wash their hair, but you really shouldn't wash them more than once a week, because it leads to all sorts of nasty problems like mould :( Also, you use a special shampoo that has no additives, because regular shampoos will fill your dreads with nasty greasy crap that you will never be able to wash out. The great thing about this was that it got my hair used to this washing cycle, and I didn't have to worry about it getting greasy in the meantime because that was pretty much impossible with dreads. So, fast-forward about 6 months, and I decide to ditch the dreads. The first thing I experience is that my hair is completely wonderfully curly after the much deserved break. So I start washing with regular shampoo again. And immediately, I start to have problems. After washing, my hair is so frizzy and dry that it takes about 4 days to calm down to a manageable state, and in the meantime, I have to pour on the gel to keep it from turning into a giant fuzzball. This means I have to wash it more, and so the cycle goes... I started to do some research into shampoo and I found a lot of unbelievable information on the subject. It turns out that not only is shampoo completely unnecessary, but it actually damages your hair. What it does is strips all the oils clean off, which includes the natural oils your hair needs to keep from breaking off. To remedy this problem, companies give you conditioners to "repair damaged hair". Newsflash: All conditioner does is make the scales on each strand of hair lay down, and coat your hair with silicone. Which means you have to wash your hair again right away. Brilliant. Now if I went around trying to tell women that they didn't need to wash their hair, they'd probably back away slowly and make sure they didn't catch any germs on the way out the door. Think about it: How long have commercial shampoos been around? Obviously the human body didn't evolve to require shampoo, because it didn't exist more than 100 years ago. If you're really hardcore, you can try quitting shampoo cold-turkey, but I wouldn't recommend this method, because in the few weeks it will take your hair to adjust you may look like you went swimming in a deep fryer (okay, exaggeration). However, there is a very simple way to wash your hair without killing it in the meantime.

You're going to need (are you ready for this?) baking soda, apple cider vinegar and water. Add two tablespoons of each one into separate 1 cup portions of water. Put the soda solution in a spray bottle, and spray your hair until it's really coated, then scrub your head until your hair feels clean. Rinse, and pour the vinegar solution over your hair, making sure you get all of it. You're going to want to rinse your hair really well, or you might smell vinegary for a little bit. That's it. The baking soda will clean your hair without stripping the oils and leaving your hair frizzy, and the acidity of the vinegar smooths the scales down without leaving residue. My hair felt SO GOOD after the first time. I now wash my hair once every 7-10 days, and scrub with plain old water every day in between. It's great. My hair is shiny, healthy, and I'm pretty sure it's growing faster than it ever has before. And it keeps getting curlier. I've heard from some people that even if your hair has been straight for most of your life, discontinuing shampoo use can bring back natural curl that you didn't even know you had. I also recommend brushing your hair, and especially your scalp, to help blood flow, increase hair growth rate, and prevent dandruff, itch and other scalp conditions. Seriously, it's so important to stimulate your scalp.

If you reeeeeeeally want to pay for shampoo, make sure you buy those without sodium laurel/laureth sulphate. This little chemical potion is responsible for making shampoo all bubbly, and it's also responsible for skin irritation, acne, and all sorts of other health problems. If you have dandruff and nothing else is working for you, before you go to the doctor and try a fancy dandruff shampoo (which likely contains SLS) try an SLS-free shampoo. It could be the source of your problems.

If you want to know more about the subject, check out The Great Shampoo Scandal, it explains the problem really well.

Weeeeeell, that's my first post. If you're still here, thanks for sticking it out. It's been real. Y'all come back now, y'hear?

-Brett