I have been so busy the past month. I’ve gone from regular days to frigid winter riding, delivering Christmas trees by bike, appearing on TV and radio, moving in with Christina, right into Christmas shopping and Christmas proper. Had a “relaxing” break from Portland spent jumping around the Salem area with Christina and her family. [...]

Link: KGW Video
I’m ALL OVER this video. Mainly because I was there early in the morning for my race.
I get the honor of being introduced with “fat guys” on my local news hooray. However, I did get my other good quote there in the end and some nice footage of me walking uphill (when I [...]

Have you ever woke up at 6:45am on a Sunday, rolled out of bed giggling like a schoolgirl, so excited for the day ahead that you almsot pee your boxer briefs?
I have. And I’ll do it for at least 5 more Sundays this season.
Cyclocros is an incredible sport, and Oregon’s Cross Crusade is possibly one [...]

Dear Jasun Wurster,
You have failed, utterly and totally. You have climbed and you have fallen…far…and hard. I realize you did not turn over the signatures to authorities or release the real numbers as I saw support for your pitiful campaign. “We had over 30,000 signatures” yet you only have 3 facebook fans. (T-H-R-E-E facebook fans. [...]

An email address to my entire office email list:
Dear friends,
Now, I can understand the difficulty with peeing INTO the toilet 100% of the time. I “get” that sometimes you’re running late and need to almost run me over in the parking lot. And I’ve come to terms with the fact that yelling a 20 minute [...]

Christina’s mother, Dale, hooked me up with some horse riding lessons. I was previously fearful, but it was actually a bucket load of fun. Horses are pretty rad, albeit pretty temperamental.
Caruso (pictured left), was kind of a bitch as he apparently has been a teaching horse for some time and has kind of become a [...]

Hey dudes, I’ve got something to show you.
It’s hot, sexy, costs about $30, and it goes on your chest. Yea, dude, you know you want it. Mmmmm.
WHAT?! No, it’s a T-shirt you dirty jerks. It’s a T-shirt that will change your life. Forever. And ever.
Many, many moons ago when the world wasn’t plagued with economic [...]

Join me in my battle to the top!
I’ve launched an online campaign to win the contest at areallygoodejob.com on a whole platform at maxisgoode.com.
Whether you’re my friend, enemy, love my wordpress theme or my rantings, it doesn’t matter… GO VOTE! You can find the link on maxisgoode.com or go vote directly at http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=0Z4BrmOIqao
I promise to [...]

Hey everybody, FREAK OUT!!!!!
That’s right, Swine Flu is here in Oregon. I won’t link to the article as I don’t want to add to this ridiculous hysteria. You can google it yourself.
It’s madness here in my office. Mass emails are being sent with the second-by-second coverage of how scared everyone is. Not to mention that [...]

I actually saw your bike before I met you. It was my dream bike. A beautiful build, something bike nerds like me lust over. I figured you were some spoiled brat. I told myself, “that dudes probably some douche who doesn’t know what he’s got.” I met you shortly after. You were nothing like I [...]

Back from Vacation! Sadly, a bit more drained than when we left.
Christina and I had a great time adventuring southern California and taking a few of the 9 days relaxing. I’ll post some photos and stuff later. Been working twice as much this week trying to catch up with no time for blog.
Got a lot [...]

As a gift for my birthday, Christina surprised me with a Wine Blending class at Urban Wine Works. The Urban Wine Works tasting room in NW Portland is very laid back yet classy. It was really educational and fun. Not to mention that we got to drink the entire length of it.
Our instructor, Annie of [...]

I’ve had exactly 27 birthdays in my life (not including my actual birth). And of those 27, I can easily say that this was one of the best. I celebrated with great friends, great drink, great music, and a great girlfriend.
Through the hours of unofficial Kareoke, break-dance amateur hour, power-slides, frat boy wrastlin’, homophobic man-hugs, [...]

There seems to be a common misunderstanding with older bicycles.
Most old, rusty bikes ARE old, rusty bikes.
Not vintage nor classic nor retro nor collectible.
You know those bikes that Walmart sells for real cheap? Imagine buying one of those in 40 years for twice its original price and calling it a “classic” or a “vintage” bike.
Sounds [...]

I’ve been beginning to bald for a while now. It’s no secret, I just cover it well with my hairstyle. My brother has a widow’s peak that could cut vegetables so I saw the hair-loss coming.
One thing I never prepared myself for was the gray hair. This weekend while receiving a wonderful haircut from [...]

My 28th birthday this last Sunday roughly marked my 12th year as a smoker.
I grew up in a house of smokers, took up the habit fully at age 16, and have never really regretted it. Yea, sounds weird right? I was never a self-hating smoker. I enjoyed smoking, actually. I think I got more stimulation [...]

Dear Mom & Dad,
Thank you for what you have made of me. I carry Dad’s sense of humor everywhere I go and I weigh with his somber reflection when the moments arise. When not suffering Dad’s gastric-intestinal disorders, I am echoing his quips about boobs. Mom, I invoke your compassion when others need me and [...]

So, I hate FEDEX.
Yea. Yep. Pretty much. Seriously.
Despite the fact that I rarely send packages throughout the domestic US and even less frequently to the rest of the world, I can say FEDEX sucks.
“But Why Max? Why are they the shit-nuggets you say?!” You may ask.
Well, I’ll tell you. They have crossed me, now more [...]

That’s right, there’s a new key on my keyring. “Where does it open?” you may ask. The new home of Dan and myself.
That’s right folks, we got the house. Stay tuned for spring firepit parties, summer tiki bar, and some fun on our nice big flat of grass out back.
YAY!

CONTENT ADVISORY – NOT FOR THE EASILY OFFENDED
Many times in life we have these instances where we see something or hear something about ourselves and think, “When in the world did I do that?”
For some this is a small bruise after a night of drinking, for others it is reading a brilliant thesis from early [...]

Two awesome dudes looking for a place to lay their heads….and do some gardening.
That’s right, Dan and I are looking at houses in the Portland Metro area. We’ve come across one beauty just south of Powell, but are still unsure if it will pan out.
So if you have a hosue for rent, know of [...]

Christmas has this tendency to be rather self-absorbed. Not necessarily each of us within ourselves, but the country as a whole being self-absorbed. We think about spreading joy and sharing love, but normally that notion ends at our doorstep or our neighborhood, or maybe even as far as the city limits. It’s sweet, really, [...]

It’s snow!!! I was the biggest skeptic. I swore up and down that the snow wouldn’t stick today. I woke up around 7:30am this morning to drain some fluid. Nothing on the ground. I was totally right. Went back to sleep until 9:30am. Woke up, looked outside…and well….Fuck, I was wrong.
It’s beautiful outside. Icey and [...]

Yea yea, every body knows I love riding my bike everywhere. Old news…. So what? I still love blogging about it.
So I picked up a 5′er at the L’Arche Nehalem Fundraiser tree lot the other day. It’s a beautiful little tree that is supporting a beautiful cause. I suggest you buy a tree at [...]

God what a wonderful weekend. I didn’t want it to end. But now, sitting at work, I know it has. Wine, food, kites, ice cream, the beach, Christina….it was perfect.
But I won’t soil it with analysis. Photo gallery to come.

I’m gone to the Oregon coast all weekend with Christina. So you probably won’t be hearing a peep out of me. I don’t think I’ve EVER had an actual vacation like this weekend. And it is well-deserved. We have a place on the sand. It’s beautiful. But don’t worry, dear readers, I will return with [...]

A lot of people talk about the dreary Autumns and Winters of Portland. For some reason I’ve never seen them as all that dreary. Between the rain and grey gloom, we have these beautiful days. Days that make you forget the grey and the gloom and the soggy days. Days like today. A wonderful day. [...]

Link: 7-election.com
Rewind to November, 2000. A huge upset in voting recounts is happening. All news network polls, third-party polls, just about every poll in existence for the Presidential election between W. Bush and Al Gore is proving to be terribly inconsistent. All the polls compared against each other are proving to have such widely varying [...]

Gallery: http://maxisnow.com/photos/pony-fights/
While in Salem this past weekend, I had a chance to get in some Pony fighting. Those wild mother-effers are a handful.
Sidenote: I always thought a Pony was a teenaged horse. Apparently it’s just a “smaller” horse. Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony. I guess growing up a little boy who didn’t give two craps about horses really [...]

Gallery: http://maxisnow.com/photos/making-wine/
I hear a lot of complaints about Salem,  Or. Of course, I didn’t grow up there or have to spend much time in the city itself. When I’m there it’s normally for a reason. Working at Cubanisimo Vineyards has been the main one. But this time, while still being at the vineyard, it was [...]

You don’t make more than $250K, you’re not a licensed plumber….shit you actually owe $1,200 in back taxes.
“I’m completely flabbergasted with this whole thing and just hope I’m not making too much of a fool of myself and hope I can get my message out there,” – Joe the Plumber
Well Joe, showing that you lack [...]

America, the Bike VS Lamborghini Murcielago
If you ask me, America, the Bike wins every time.

*I was not parked in the handicap spot. And only one can of Diet Pepsi was harmed for this photo shoot.

Link: http://www.goholytrinity.org/cGreekFest.html
This is gonna be super fun. So I expect to see a bunch of you there this weekend.
They use “Talents” for their currency, and sell radical greek goods.
Plus Gyros…..awesome, delicious Gyros….. and other incredible food.

Me: Passing a Widmer truck on the left as it appeared to be stopping to unload for that local market. Then realizing it wasn’t as the truck driver angrily started moving again then blocked me out into oncoming traffic lane. My mistake wasn’t passing on the left it was thinking he was stopped for longer [...]

For Christina/Bonnie’s dual birthday party, I constructed a fine homemade salsa with half the produce from my Farmer’s Market adventure. It was a hit. While I wish I had some left to taste out for others, I’m glad it got honored on the taste-buds of the party.
Max’s Radical Salsa ingredients:

6 Early Girl Tomatoes (2 diced, [...]