I’m surrounded by computers and they’re all listening to me.
Last week, while explaining the simple, sturdy beauty of the attribution verb “said” to my newest class of young writers, I described a scene from the mob movie, “Goodfellas.” In it, Paulie uses a razor to slice his garlic so thin that it melts when it hits the hot oil, leaving behind nothing but flavor.
“That’s what ‘said’ does,” I told the class. “It melts into the story, doing the important work of identifying the speaker without calling attention to itself.”
It wasn’t long after, while I was back in my office, that I checked YouTube and there, perched at the top of my feed, was a short clip of that same garlic-slicing scene.
It was probably about 10 years ago when I first noticed the way social media follows me around, constantly regurgitating whatever’s caught my eye. Then, it was a fly rod I noticed on eBay. I wasn’t shopping, just looking for prices to see how much I could get for a similar fly rod I owned, if I decided to unown it.
For weeks I saw the ad for that rod every time I logged on to my computer until it finally sold.
I’m trying to think of when I last told someone how much I miss winter nymphing for trout while I was in earshot of my iMac because dudes fly fishing from snowy riverbanks is all over my social media this week.
This sounds like fast fun but I’m too far from a decent trout stream to squeeze in a trip this winter. And if I’m going winter fly fishing I definitely need a trout stream. There’s little about winter bass or carp that motivates me to layer up so I can spend an afternoon clearing the ice from the snake guides of my 10-foot, 4-weight.
The best guide-clearing technique method is to hook a trout large enough to take some line, by the way. If the icy drag doesn’t immediately break off the fish, your fly line will at least break a decent hole through the guides.
I also continue to be bombarded with posts about truck bed toppers. One of my primary activities last summer was talking to folks about the pros and cons of various toppers, or researching them online. I bought one in October, but the suggestions keep coming.
My personal review of the Smartcap steel topper is a solid thumbs up. The topper has more than doubled the secure, lockable storage space in my midsize pickup, and when the weather is nice the dog now rides in a kennel in back. She of course prefers being in the cab, but she’s also a dog and leaves a mess of hair and debris wherever she hangs out.
I camped in the topper for the first time in January and it worked well. The truck bed is only 5 feet, so I have to sleep diagonally to fit. I’m 5-foot-10 so there’s just enough room.
I used a 4-inch memory foam mattress topper for a bed, and while that worked OK, I didn’t know this type of cushion freezes firm when it gets cold. The overnights were above freezing and that foam softened as I slept, but it was never anywhere as plush as it is at room temperature. I might have to rethink that.
I haven’t yet had to test the rooftop-mounted positive air vent while trying to sleep through a rainstorm, so we’ll see how that goes. It leaks a bit in the car wash, but the interior stayed dry during a couple of less intense fall rain showers.
For the record, I’ve tried Paulie’s garlic technique and it generally leads to good outcomes, but so do other garlic-deconstruction techniques. Also, Vinnie does put way too much onion in his tomato sauce.
There, I’ve said it.