Pour Me A Story, Vol. 10
featuring twice as many guests! and also Weird Al, who is not one of the guests
howdy friends, welcome back (or welcome for the first time, I suppose) to Pour Me A Story, the only newsletter in the world that you’ll receive today written by me.
can you BELIEVE we’re 10 editions in? thanks for subjecting yourself to this for a solid two months, your readership means a lot. looking back, if I’d started this project in March, this whole year would’ve flown by. as it stands, October through December have absolutely blown past me at the speed of light because I swear I blink and it’s Thursday night again and I owe you guys a few hundred regularly scheduled words.
speaking of which — can you BELIEVE next week is CHRISTMAS? after the absolute minefield of a year we’ve all slogged through, it seems impossible to fathom that we’re on the brink of having to remember to write “2021” when we write the date. relatable, right?
Anyway, We Have Company
to make up for the absolute circus last week (wherein I interviewed myself as my deadline approached), I’ve procured two terrific fellas as our guests this week. we’ll go in chronological order of who I spoke to, so first up let me introduce Nate Butler. Nate’s a fellow Denverite who I met on Twitter but also got the chance to hang out with during my shifts at the bar back in the Before Times. Nate’s story is super cool so I’ll let him tell it rather than ruin it in the preamble.
AC: hey dude! where in the world are you at this very moment? HOW in the world are you at this very moment?
NB: hey man! right now I'm just hunkered down in Denver, specifically sitting in my van outside a Starbucks stealing their wifi. I was moving around for a bit and visiting national parks, but with covid cases spiking, i'm staying put right now. and I've got coffee in hand and a dog at my feet, so I’d say I'm pretty damn good!
AC: technically I think if you bought coffee you're entitled to their wifi for life, so you're absolved of stealing. but you've painted a great opening scene, so: which one do you wanna tell us about first, the Incredible Van Project or the new sidekick?
NB: haha well the van came first so I guess I'll start there. that originally came about because this past April, my roommate/landlord told me his girlfriend was moving in and unfortunately I'd have to find a new place. he was super nice about it and gave me a few months notice though, so I started looking for places and it hit me that there probably had never been a better time for me to just go for it and move into a van. I found one pretty quickly and got to work. it still wasn't done when I had to move out of the house, but I found this place on craigslist with a workshop and no required lease, so I moved there while I kept building, and as soon as the van was liveable, I got my security deposit back and transitioned to van life.
AC: just incredible. I've been saying for like 15 years that I'm envious of the kind of free spirit and spontaneity required to make such a move. have there been any things you miss about having a fixed address?
NB: yeah a couple things. like I touched on earlier, I either have to use a hotspot or steal wifi to get work done, so that's not ideal. especially during a pandemic when I don't want to sit down in a coffee shop. but other than that, it's the obvious things, like a shower, privacy when I need to use the bathroom but have company (the toilet is right next to the bed), stuff like that. overall though, I really enjoy it.
AC: haha yeah I can imagine juggling the bathroom situation could present problems. but like anything, if the positives outweigh the negatives, you're ahead of the game. what are the best spots you've visited since hitting the road?
NB: probably the coolest has been the grand canyon. I've been there before but this time I camped 5 minutes outside the park and got up at 5 am to go catch sunrise over the canyon, which was one of the most peaceful and beautiful moments I've ever had. on the flip side, I actually isolated in the catskills by myself for a few days while waiting for covid results (I was getting tested every other week while on the road) and did literally nothing except play music and make good food. it was the opposite of what I'm used to, where I'm constantly trying. to find new trails to hike or things to do, but I really enjoyed the solitude and the opportunity to slow down for awhile and just enjoy the autumn colors. plus the test came back negative, so that was a big plus haha.
AC: personally that sounds like it beats the hell out of quarantining oneself in an apartment with a bunch of TV or whatever, and obviously that is terrific news about your test results. and now you have a wingman named Goose who's riding with you?
NB: hell yeah I do. according to the shelter, he's a 1-year-old Australian cattle dog/border collie mix, but I think he's got some akita in him too. he was SUPER shy when I adopted him, but in the past couple weeks he's already really come out of his shell and now he goes running and hiking with me and is always by my side. he's been an insanely good companion already so I'm super excited to have him around. def makes the van a little more exciting :)
AC: hell yeah. that absolutely rules. how’s the running coming along? that knee holding up okay?
NB: ehhh it's doing alright haha. I can still only run a few miles at a time but I'm slowly building up. this is the most serious injury I've ever had so it's definitely been frustrating. I just keep reminding myself that even if I'm not running as much as I want to, I'm sure as hell running a lot more than I was back in march when I could barely walk lol
AC: it’s all a matter of perspective for sure. when I started a few months ago I had to learn about bad runs and how even if I felt like a run was a bad one, it’s still better than what I was doing over the spring (read: nothing.) alright dude I don’t wanna take up too much of your time so one last one. what’s something you’d like to plug or give a shout out to? anything’s fair game!
NB: definitely The Access Fund, which is a conservation group that works to keep outdoors spaces, especially climbing areas, protected and accessible for everyone. I've been wanting to do a fundraiser for them on tiktok but apparently you can only do that for a predetermined list of charities with Tik Tok, so if anyone seeing this wants to donate to the access fund or even join it that would be awesome!
AC: I think platforms should let you do fundraisers for anyone you damn well please. I mean you specifically in this instance. thanks so much for sharing some of your time with me dude, I love seeing you thrive living van life!
We Have More Company
next up we’re joined by my pal Zach Mullis, another Certified Good Tweeter who lives out east. Zach had a cameo in the very first edition when we briefly celebrated his new job. TOLD Y’ALL I’d get him in here eventually.
AC: hey dude! thanks for taking some time out of your evening. how’s things going out there in NC?
ZM: Things are going well over here, getting cold, but not nearly as bad as I've seen in other places.
AC: that’s the ticket. I like the cold weather but there’s a balance to be had. what day of the [Apple Watch daily activity goal] move streak are we on? I gotta imagine the cooler weather makes it easier to get out there?
ZM: I'm on day 99! The hard part is that I get off at 5, and it’s basically dark already. But I've gotten to the point where I feel a compulsion to go and do some kind of exercise, after work. My job is pretty physical, so it’s tough sometimes. But I still do it. That’s the main difference between now and previous attempts. I WANT to exercise. That even sounds weird typing out loud.
AC: oh hell yes. what a great milestone. sometimes I feel like I’m...cheating? to have the watch streak as a motivator to go out and exercise but then I realize... who cares what the driving force behind it is, doing the workout is better than not doing it. and you started a new job fairly recently right? can you share what kinda work you do for everyone reading along at home?
ZM: Yeah, I started a new job, but in the same(ish) field. I now work at a regional airport here in the Charlotte area, out on the ramp. We have a general aviation terminal, so private charters and personal planes ppl own, plus there’s a bunch of flight schools based here. So we bring em in, service and fuel the planes, etc. It’s a pretty good place to work, so far!
AC: damn, the world is in such a weird place that I haven’t even thought about airports since March, but the world does roll on. do you need a security clearance and everything for that? I know back home at some regional and even major airports back home you can often still board your flight by walking out onto the tarmac.
ZM: This airport doesn't have the TSA like a normal, bigger airport would have, but there are security procedures. It’s the kinda place that a person could rent basically a garage to store their Cessna in. Mostly hobbyists.
I will say, I used to work at a much bigger airport, with all the ensuing crush of people, and I am so glad I no longer work there. I'm betting I would’ve gotten covid if I was still there. They had mask rules, etc, but it was so crowded all the time, even when flights were down. Now, with all the flights for the holidays? Forget about it.
AC: yeah man that’s a risk for sure, I’m glad you’re not in that kind of position, especially since you’ve got young family. and that’s my favorite wholesome Zach content right there, your little nieces. what’s the best part of being an uncle?
ZM: Oh man, I love being an uncle so much. I talk to them most days, we facetime usually before bed. It’s got so they can say my name, they call me Zachie. It bout kills me every dang time. And I love lacing them up, getting em Nikes n stuff. They’re gonna be fresh at daycare because of me. Believe that.
AC: oh man I think I’m gonna lose my shit when the baby starts saying my name. that’s so adorable. alright man lemme get out of your hair, but one last one: what’s something you wanna plug? anything goes!
ZM: I want to suggest people watch something that has brought me much joy recently: the Studio Ghibli movies on HBO Max. They’re all so wonderful. Watch them!
AC: love your style. thanks again dude for sharing some of your time with me! hope you and the family have a great Christmas.
ZM: Y’all too, man!
‘Tis The Season
we had our office holiday party on Wednesday night, and while it was unconventional compared to all the other ones I’ve ever been to, LOOK AT THIS YEAR.
we did a Zoom cooking class where Food Lab Boulder provided us all with a kit of ingredients to make paella, then had a chef talk us through it in real time. I was initially a little skeptical because “making dinner” is something I do a few nights a week, so it was an odd choice of celebration or relaxation, but against my hasty judgment it was a good time.
last week I splurged on a long-overdue (and yet still early) Christmas gift for us both and bought a new set of pots and pans. I’d never bought a whole set before so this was extremely exciting stuff, and the paella was the first actual meal I cooked in it. we even managed to get the crust on the bottom of the rice! chalk that up as a win. anyway, please enjoy this photo of my culinary efforts and don’t roast some minor detail in the image. thank you.
Worthy Consumables
you mean apart from that delightful paella and the arugula salad with sliced apples, manchego and orange supreme? okay fine, I’ll come up with something else.
next week I’m gonna share just a TON of stuff that I commissioned for work this year, but in the meantime take a trip down Memory Lane with this oral history of Limewire — that’s right, the software that gunked up your family computer while you tried to download MP3s for free. I distinctly remember one of the first tracks I ever stole from the internet, for some reason, was Limp Bizkit’s Indigo Flow. 1999 was a weird year man.
Parting Note
our guest Zach was talking on Twitter this week about Weird Al Yankovic and how it would be devastating if he turned out to be problematic, like so many of our faves have. thankfully Al seems to be a guy on the up-and-up, which is a relief. I asked for his album Running With Scissors for my 14th birthday (again, 1999 was a weird year man) and when I played it at my birthday pool party, the girls who bought it for me were mortified to learn that they’d spent their hard-earned allowance on it. Morgan Flint and Angela Stonier, if you’re reading this: I’m sorry.
anyway here’s one of the funnier tracks from that particular record.
thanks again for sticking with me through this jumbo 10th edition of the newsletter. hope y’all are continuing to enjoy it! until next time.
— adrian ✌🏻