Long spans of time can go by and I don’t post and I feel shitty and then I get a few in there and feel better about myself.
The thing I just realized and it’s why I sat down to post, I am too fucking old to blog about Fresno in the way I wish I could.
The old days.
Work. Age. Life. They all keep me from running around the Tower or Downtown or some thing at Fresno State, with any kind of regularity.
So, I cannot be what I want, what the hell do I do?
There are only so many Save Mart & Whole Foods posts I can do (grocery stores are my number one social places these days).
This is not some setup to tell you I am quiting The Fresnan like that other time. I just need to tell you that I know things are not the same and they can’t ever be.
But I can still figure out a place for this blog and newsletter. It may be something else, but something.
Anyway, thanks for being here. Fresno and blogging rule!✌️
I always worry these kinds of posts are too hacky, but I am doing it anyway. It’s actually kind of fun going through the posts from this year because some of them I had already totally forgotten about.
Rather than boring you and posting each one, please let me just remind you of the ones that you, the reader of The Fresnan, thought were the most popular.
I pulled the nine buzziest, starting from January and ending now. These might not have been read the most but had the most “action” (sharing/reading/comments).
One of the more significant things to happen on Fulton Street this year. I have yet to set foot in the place but that didn’t stop me from posting about it.
I have been lobby two of California’s best indie breweries (that are building remote taprooms), Modern Times and Fieldwork, to come to Fresno. If they want to truly make some noise, they should. Now that Zack’s Brewing is open Downtown, this is less relevant. Still would like to see it happen though.
If I did this post today, I would choose Salsa. I did a poll on my Instagram and Salsa won. I personally use salsa as much as I use ranch but at the time I was ranching more so I went with it. This is a forever debate. Salsa now wins.
Having salsa but no chips left is a bad place to be.
There are many Fresno eatin’ holes that you have to wait to get seated. Too often, people get a table at these places and then linger while you wait impatiently, staring at these yahoos. Ya done eating? Then get the hell out.
6. I rode my bike to Pine & Palm and nobody flipped me off.
Biking needs to be more of a thing for me in 2019. I did some of it this year but not enough to talk about it, this time being the exception. I even found a “hidden” bike path.
It’s official. I became an old man this year. When the scavengers became too messy and started dumping my recyclables into my trash bin and on the street, I decided to take passive aggressive action.
While it’s true I live in the middle of Fresno. But I also live in a county island so I couldn’t actually vote for Measure P. That did not stop me from ranting about it though.
No drastic changes planned to the blog. My goal is to have a new post every week, at least, usually by Wednesday mornings. But I did not follow through on that for much of the year. Hopefully, I can do that all the way in 2019.
The one change you might see involves monetizing the blog.
I have never seen cash in my hand or in my checking account, because of this blog. You would think after blogging so many damn years I would have figured out how to make money at it.
I have tinkered with being an Amazon affiliate but it doesn’t work well for the posts I write and the traffic I get. Plus, Amazon is a pretty shitty employer, so I feel dirty working with them anyway. I will likey be backing away from that.
Target has approved me to be an affiliate but I have not started messing with that yet. Yeah, I guess Target has a slightly better conscience than Amazon so I feel …okay? using them
You might see me give that a try on a post or two or a banner ad. Oh look, there is one now!:
Google Adwords is a thing but throwing a bunch of banners around to make $20 a month does not sound worth it to me.
I’m thinking hard about starting a Patreon
If you have not heard of the website called Patreon and you are a creative, you might want to check it out. It enables people that like what you produce to donate money to you.
The cool part is, the creator has the opportunity to give extra content to the person willing to give them a few bucks a month.
We do it on the Perfect Pour and it has worked out pretty well. It at least is enough that the show pays for itself, which is a victory to me.
Anyway, man, thank you for reading the Fresnan this past year and whatever year you have read it. I’ll keep posting if you keep giving a damn.
There is still time to set your goals for the year. There is always time. As corny as it sounds, I am definitely the kind of person that needs to write goals down or they will not happen, and dammit, I have goals I need to write down.
In this case, goals to post on the Internet. Fresno and creative goals.
GOAL: GO TO ARTHOP AGAIN!
Very sad to say but I did not go to one damn ArtHop last year. Thought about it all the time. Every month I’d say “I gotta go to ArtHop this month!” and never did. I even have a 9-year-old that is a budding young artist that needs to see all the talent we have in Fresno (and hang out at the Culture Arts District Park, pictured above [stolen from here]) and I still didn’t go. PROBABILITY OF HAPPENING: 80%.
GOAL: SEE MORE LOCAL MUSIC!
I think I went to two, maybe three, local music shows last year and that was mainly because of Tioga Beer Garden and Goldstiens. I know I saw, Farooq, Light Thieves, Cockamamie Jamie and some other people. I used to go to shows all the damn time. Weak effort on my part. Hopefully, the old Club Fred/Audie’s Olympic location will manage to open this year and motivate me to see more shows. PROBABILITY OF HAPPENING: 72%
GOAL: SEE A FRESNO STATE BASKETBALL GAME!
Certainly, I have gone to these games in the past but I have not been for the past couple seasons. Save Mart Center is such an annoying place to sit and watch things. But the team is good this year and worth our attention, this needs to happen. PROBABiLITY OF HAPPENING: 65%
GOAL: EAT LESS AT CHAINS!
You know, it feels like I go to more local places than the average Fresnan. But necessity calls for the occasional chain.
You put chain restaurants on this list? Jesus. THAT is the most Fresno thing you’ve ever done.
Hey, you try to keep a finicky 9-year-old happy by not using Red Robin and Chilli’s and then talk to me about chains, brah! I think if I just cut back on Taco Bell, I will be fine. PROBABILITY OF HAPPENING: 90%.
GOAL: POST MORE & SEND A NEWSLETTER!
There are a lot of creative projects I have going on. But the most important of all is trying my best to be a good Husband, Dad, Son, Brother, Friend and employee at my day job. So finding the time to create posts here (something I fucking love doing) and sending out my newsletter, don’t get the attention I would like.
Plus, currently running in the background, I am trying to train myself/figure out how to become a professional freelance blogger, in case one day my day job decides it no longer needs my services. So there is that.
If I get better at time managing, this will become doable. PROBABILITY OF HAPPENING: 88%
Well, now that I have sent these goals to the Internet, they are more likely to happen, RIGHT!? Keep me accountable this year!
If you have Fresno or creative goals for 2018, I would love to read them in the comment section!
Since Amazon bought Whole Foods, people are a little worried about Amazon taking over all the things. I would be worried too except Wal Mart already did it, so let’s stop freaking out. Maybe focus on stopping Wal Mart and not worry so much about Whole Foods until they are dealt with.
Anywayyyy, the Fresno Whole Foods, located in Fig Garden Village, may not have a top ranking parking lot, but it is an interesting one (and I don’t mean because there is a Weztel’s Pretzels nearby).
I know what you’re thinking “Holy shit, this asshole is going to do another parking related post. What the hell is this site and why am I still here!?”
LOOK, BRO! People like this stuff. It’s like, everyday life and crap. It’s fun.
PARKING LOT BREAK DOWN
I’ll get to my favorite parking spot in a second. But first, the worst place to park? The Main Lot. You could also call this the Western Lot:
Oh sure, it looks benign now. But it’s tight and super annoying. You know how many Prius you have to avoid in this area? Look, I can see one in that picture already. I never park in this area.
As an extension to this lot, there is the area next to Habit Burger’s patio. I do sometimes park here, but only when going to Habit and not when I am just shopping at Whole Foods.
BETTER SPOTS
I’m not sure I would walk THIS far (even though I am a big advocate of walking instead of driving around searching for the closest spot), but if you’re feeling adventurous and really don’t want to park next to anyone, get out to the North side as it gets closer to the Wassabbi’s parking. No drama out here (except for a dude that can’t park straight):
This one has chargers. And hey, there is even a car getting charged up as we speak. Way to save some air, dude:
While not all of us can park in those particular stalls, I do like that lot to park in. The area closer to the apartments is a good one because it’s not busy.
But it’s not my favorite area to park. In fact, my favorite is not even an area. It’s one parking stall in particular. It even has its own restroom… Read More
I have nothing to write for my regular Fresnan Tuesday post.
So, here I am writing to fill the white space in my WordPress editor. Have you noticed yet this is about nothing? Dammit.
Now I’m just going to take random letters and form into fake words in hopes that it will shake loose an idea in my head that I can write a post about: kriskc mastrony lwffeo offing icluse mqwue, tieongon.
Fuck. Nothing.
Maybe if I just start saying “Fresno” some cool Fresno related idea for a post will come to mind. “Fresno. Fresno. Fresno. Fresno. Fresno. Clovis. Fresno. Fres. No. Fresno. Pinedale. Fresno Fresno FresNOOOO!”
Nope. Still nothing.
I was almost going to do a post around this picture of the old Courthouse in front of the then “new” Courthouse (from Historical Perspectives) because I thought it was cool:
Fresno County Courthouse construction, Nov. 1965
But then it felt kind of boring. So I trashed it.
Welp, still have nothing. This sucks. Doesn’t suck as bad as Clovis, but it still sucks.
The FUSD hotshot guy is bailing or some mess and said “Fresno was a place nobody wanted to be…” He also used the word “damn” when answering a question from the Bee. I’D LIKE TO SEE THE CLOVIS UNIFIED SUPER GET RAW LIKE THAT, DAMMIT!
.@michaelehanson slams @FresnoBee for reporting on FBI investigation, says its unrelated to resignation. "I'm not running from a damn thing"
Oh dude, speaking of the Bee, voting has begun for Peoples Choice Awards. Damn straight I will write a post that rips-off is inspired by these awards. But that will be next Tuesday or the Tuesday after I’ll write that post. Too much work right now.
But really, how can my brain function properly for Fresno posts when a new Star Wars movie comes out Thursday night?! It seems there are tickets left at all the Fresno spots. Still trying to decide what theater will I be taking in my first viewing of Rogue One at. I’m leaning towards Broadway Faire.
This post idea block is getting a bit serious, I’m still wandering here.
Maybe leave a comment about an idea for a post you’ve always wanted to see on The Fresnan. No NO! That makes me look like a hack. Asking people for ideas? What have I become?
How ’bout you just comment on what local theater you’re seeing Rogue One at. Or, what Fresno theater is your favorite to see the big ‘tent pole’ films at?
Wait. There is an idea for a post!: What Fresno theater is your favorite to see event films at? … ahhhhh crap, too late now, have to save that idea for another time.
Welp. Time to go get drunk. I have Dust Bowl “Therapist” triple IPA waiting for me in the fridge and it’s not going to drink itself.
