Hi.

During the past few weeks I’ve been transitioning to a new blog found here. It’s called Remember the Frontier and represents a fresh direction for my writing and creative projects. I hope you’ll continue reading and contributing.

Practical will no longer be updated. Please continue reading thoughts, essays and observations from Kirk Wimberley at www.rememberthefrontier.com/blog. Also, if you have Practical bookmarked on your blog or website, please take a moment to update the link to Remember the Frontier.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to more interactions on Remember the Frontier.

“Kirk,” said a voice amidst the city in motion.

Cars, bikes, buses, people all determined to get from home to work as fast as possible. Horns signaled discontent if the pace slowed. I figured it was someone yelling at their demons.

Mentally unstable transients always congregated where I stood in Westlake Square—an open-air halfway house for vagrants contemplating their next move.

I continued reading the latest issue of The Week, engrossed in the story of Estelle Getty’s career, as traffic thundered by on 4th avenue.

“Kirk,” said the voice again, but louder and articulate. I realized that someone was calling out my name. I couldn’t imagine who would recognize me in the crowd of commuters waiting for buses in downtown Seattle, but I looked up.

“You know me, I’m all teeth and nails—aggressive.” -FW

Quote from an acquaintance on Facebook:

“McDonald’s global sales have increased by 8%. evidently, people eat more terrible-for-you, crappy-ass food when they’re broke.” – KT

I understand everyone’s angst against McDonald’s. I haven’t been to McDonald’s in years. But does anyone think back to their childhood when going to McDonald’s was a treat? I didn’t know any better. I loved the chintzy toy inside. Looking back I would have rather had In-n-Out, but I can’t change that. I walk by a McDonald’s everyday on my way to work and fight the urge to buy an Egg McMuffin and devour it like a hungry wolf in the dead of winter. I never do because I’ve been conditioned to think otherwise.

Two articles I recently read about Hipsters:

The Hipster Must Die
http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/features/4840/why-the-hipster-must-die

Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html

Visit the store’s website here

Last night was one of those rare nights, and too few and far between nights, when nothing will satisfy my hunger like a Dick’s Deluxe burger and some fries and a chocolate shake (Unfortunately not this time).

I was out with a group of friends reconnecting at Quinn’s on Capitol Hill. Most of us had never been there. Immediately upon sitting down I ordered a Manhattan. Others ordered wine and foreign beers. Eventually we ordered food off the menu, which contained, among other delicacies, sweet bread and a bone marrow dish.

My wife and I ordered one small plate and large plate to share. She wanted the gnocchi and I opted for the cube steak. When the meals came we noticed that the portions were small, but we didn’t mind because the conversation was full. We ate and shared our meals with the rest of the table.

Previously posted on Facebook and reposted here for readers who do not have Facebook accounts.

“Transform Anger Into Activism”

I can’t remember exactly when I thought of this statement, but I think it was around the time I was working in Hollywood for a community development organization.

While working for that organization I confronted racial and economic tension and anger. I thought it would be more constructive to get active (volunteer, rally, vote, etc) than to just sit around fuming about troubled circumstances.

The “transform” sticker is a collaboration between Joseph King and me for Practical—a creative vision we both worked on more intentionally a few years ago. Today Practical persists in the pages of my notebook.

The past few weeks I’ve been thinking about “my career.” At 28 years old I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. Yes, it’s true. I have a bachelor’s degree and ample work experience, but still no clue about what it is that I should pour myself into. It’s cliché I know.

Yesterday I decided to pour myself into some career quizzes and personality tests that I found through Jobhuntersbible.com. I ended up at this site called Tickle, which is a social networking community for people who like to take tests. There are hundreds (probably thousands) of tests from what I’ve seen on Tickle.

“I’ll punch you in the fuckin’ mouth,” said one young male bus rider to an older male bus rider.

The older rider asked the younger to move farther back on the standing room only bus—the 2 to downtown Seattle, which is always eventful.

The older man yelled up to the bus driver that a passenger was threatening to assault him. The bus driver mumbled something in the microphone and eased the bus back into traffic. Nothing happened.

What I couldn’t believe was that the kid (no more than 21 yrs old) was so aggressive in his clean-cut appearance and tailored-fitting North Face jacket.

My first thought was, ‘I hope that kid gets a beating to teach him a lesson.’ Then I thought, ‘I wonder if he gets beatings at home.’ Perhaps he gets the same violent reaction when he talks back to his dad or mom’s boyfriend—”I’ll punch you in the fuckin’ mouth.” Who says that with a straight face? Most likely people who have actually been threatened with similar force.