All Plaidout by Max Wastler

Remake the world in your image. 🪡🩳

For nature beats in perfect tune,
And rounds with rhyme her every rune,
Whether she work in land or sea,
Or hide underground her alchemy.
Thou canst not wave thy staff in air,
Or dip thy paddle in the lake,
But it carves the bow of beauty there,
And the ripples in rhymes the oar forsake.
- Emerson

When life is like a Guy Clark song….

Like a forest fire in a grove of domesticated oak trees, a sun rises, a hot orange orb, and with it a vestal spirit, unknown to me till now, dredges itself upon my shore. The dew glistens, frozen hard against the rocky sands of this lake. Great vision made possible by countless teachers, paid and unpaid, lays bare in the frozen waters of this time, this period, this stopping point. An impermanence pregnant with promise and possibility is purged of its potential. Too many p-s for so many q-s.

“Ask the world to reveal its quietude…. You are where breathing is prayer.” - Wendell Berry

🧵Desperately Seeking Something (Anything) Full-Time: 20-Year Brand Builder & Digital Innovator Ready for His Next Opportunity 🧵

TL;DR: For 3 of the past 8 years, I’ve been without full-time work. While cobbling together freelance consulting, I continue to apply for every full-time position for which I am qualified. In every application, in every pitch, I carry the rich hues of my past work, ready to blend them into the fabric of a new opportunity, a new story. Let’s weave a brighter future together.

 for the full story in my latest LinkedIn post. 

 After a decade of being told that my résumé reads as “too expensive,” I’m here, arms outstretched, begging for any pay to do what I do best. Any payment is better than my current situation: $0.00. I just want to do good work with good people who appreciate me. Please help.

What women don’t know is that every public urinal has a plaque.

Icon.

Repair > Replace. Just back from the cobbler, these Mountain Lights with a citified sole from the earliest Stumptown Collection, circa Summer, 2011.

The Italian-made Christy sole is renowned for its lightweight and comfortable design. Owing to its non-marking properties, it was initially used predominantly in the construction and service industries, but it’s now widely recognized for its comfortable, functional and utilitarian aesthetic. The sole is made from a blown rubber compound that provides excellent traction on various surfaces, and it’s known for being easy to clean and to detect when it’s dirty.

Le Metro

In the off-season, repair your clothing. Now’s the time to resole your summer standards.

“The learned man aims for more. But the wise man decreases. And then decreases again.” A mix for January up now on Spotify.

43. Another year, another step into the marshy paths of life's ever-changing landscapes, and what better way to navigate these terrains than with my trusty clogs, now a six-year-old tradition. Thanks to my family, this year's clogs are not just footwear, but a canvas of affection, showcasing the beloved characters of a testament to the subtle, profound philosophies I've grown to appreciate. This year, with a white base symbolizing a fresh start and an optimist's perspective, I'm embracing change, inspired by Einstein's wisdom: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Here's to a year of new paths and fresh perspectives. As always, my gratitude to my wife and our talented children for their artistic contributions, making each pair of clogs a chronicle of our journey together, filled with love, growth, and life's simple, yet profound joys.

Stuck on what to serve? Holiday Cocktail Inspiration is just a click away ✍️ 🎨 ✂️

“And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ’twill be in the valley of love and delight.” Have an All Plaidout Thanksgiving, my latest playlist for Spotify is up now 🦃

My parents used to print my blog (Page 1 of 47). 🍺

Patched, rewaxed, reunited, re-Twained.

No Mo’ Stinkin’ Thinkin’, my latest playlist for Spotify is a mix of mostly new music based on a popular phrase in our household, meant to banish and get back to all good things. Just in time for , there are some subtle nods to both films buried throughout. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/52XRheXyQ9YZUA8j7iXYHb?si=af650039c58f43cc

Took these city slickers to their first rodeo.

🧵🪡 Cabot Cove Sherriff and Kansas Coast Guard on a new black and a royal blue vintage Minnow Dipper.

Five years as these young women’s stepdad, scrappin’ and yellin’ and mixin’ it up…. Best five years of my life and they celebrated me better than I could’ve asked for: my well-documented love of soap and steak and inside jokes, a Chinese-made Targét mug that purports to be otherwise with its Midwestern decal, helmet, skin-colored running shoes and Willie Nelson [not pictured (yet)]. Chalk it up to their priceless mother, my loving wife who missed her calling as a calligrapher/birthday card designer/genuine marker artiste. 👩🏻‍🎨❤️

I have this thing with Madrid.

I have this thing with Paris.

ChatGPT: Please design me a poster for a super-successful summer Saturday garage sale. Keep the voice fun and light and a little sarcastic. Thank you.

All day long I dream about… barbecue sauce.

The greatest hits of -s past, and a new addition, a glimpse into my back pages: Druber’s Donuts in Newton, Kansas was my first donut shop. There’s an apocryphal story from my family of two salesman, a generation and a couple decades apart, walking into Druber’s to find that the townspeople were wearing trucker caps with the family name “Wastler” patched onto the front… a story for another time and place.

Be curious, not judgmental.

Geometry.

Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline.

Get your ass back to work and create something. - Where’d You Go, Bernadette