I’m not great at making t-shirts; designs at all really. The lack of success combined with my inability to completely understand Gimp and Inkscape has left me with no confidence in my ability to make a product that someone would want to buy. Still though, on and off I get inspired by something and begin attempting to put something together… Read more →
I lost my knife. I mean I don’t know where it is, but I am SURE it is in my house somewhere. I recently decked a portion of the attic and pulled out of my storage building that I have been sinking money into for an extremely long time. I am sure that I misplaced it somewhere in that… Read more →
“New Movement” might be a touch grandiose for the subject at hand. Let me start out by saying, I am not a fan of terrorist Ted Kaczynski nor am I making light of the three people he killed and 23 people he injured before being caught and convicted. What I am doing, or attempting to do, is to point… Read more →
LEFT LANE IS FOR PASSING ONLY: Left lane is for passing only. Left lane is for passing only. Left lane is for passing only. Left lane is for passing only. Left lane is for passing only. Left lane is for passing only. Left lane is for passing only. Left lane is for passing only. Left lane is for passing only. Left… Read more →
I don’t understand the salt life. Not when it comes to fly fishing, at least. Anglers from all walks of life have had astounding successes, yet for me it remains the Kobayashi Maru. I can’t for the life of me unlock the magic that I see on my instagram feed. Have you ever checked out what Austin Orr brings to hand? What… Read more →
What’s with the the hatred on the “over the shoulder fly rod” hero shots on social media lately? They showed up on my news feed recently along with a sudden anti-cargo shorts “movement” that I am currently taking personally. There are some aspects of it I understand, (the hatred towards the over-the-shoulder shots, not cargo shorts) as there aren’t very… Read more →
This isn’t just tacky name dropping, it’s horribly sleazy name dropping. Yet I continue with this poor taste post that I was bored enough inspired to write about; the first (or most lasting) impressions I remember from the fly fishing people I have met in my life. I’ll start with four names; if this vain, garish post doesn’t drive you away… I’ll post more. I remember the first… Read more →
Texas is trashed and I am not talking about Texas State University. I mean it has been filled with literal trash. The people who live there, the visitors that travel there, and the businesses that profit from the beach are doing their best to turn the “Third Coast” into a “Dirty Third”. Dirty however doesn’t begin to cover the mess, disgusting is a… Read more →
I haven’t been fishing in a long time. I haven’t written in a long time. What have I been doing? I have been managing a couple of Facebook Groups that I’m really proud of. I have also been working hard at my job. I have a position of some importance at a respected service company in Austin. I have reconnected with old… Read more →
I’ve wrestled with the idea of doing this post for a while. On the one hand, I don’t like when people seem to brag about the charitable acts they do. When a person speaks publicly about the selfless acts they participate in, I feel like it cheapens both the person and the gesture. Similar to a politician’s photo op, I… Read more →
I hate tying flies. There, I said it. Let the ostracism commence. I’m not sorry. I don’t have the genomes that allow me to enjoy being that miserable. It’s tedious and frustrating at best; at worst I get so angry I have to sit in the corner and count to ten. I have the heaviest thread I can find and… Read more →
Prologue: I circulate through social media randomly. There isn’t enough time in the day for me to keep up with all of them, so I randomly rotate through them for varying amounts of time. It’s usually until I get tired of the repetitiveness, or something new happens to catch and hold my attention elsewhere. After the death of MySpace, Facebook was king. … Read more →
Hemingway may have been on to something, but I missed it. He is quoted as saying, “Write drunk and edit sober.” Drunk me is a writer on the caliber of the ‘Fun with Dick and Jane’ books, “Brandon has a drink. Drink, Brandon drink!” Editing that crap would take too much time. The last time I was drunk, I laid… Read more →
Beards are pretty awesome. Buffs are pretty awesome. While both beards and buffs are impressively abled, beards suck at keeping the sun off your neck. Buffs are great at that, almost as if they were built specifically for that sole purpose. However the relationship between beard hairs and a buff is remarkably similar to that of a cactus and a croker sack. It doesn’t work.… Read more →
Hemingway said you should write drunk and edit sober. I guess maybe for spelling. I’m not sure if you want to be here for this, but I’m going to skip editing. I am drunk in Portugal. It happened because I wanted to try a glass of wine. The wine I ordered was delicious. Courtney’s wine was not. Mine was green,… Read more →
Troutfest 2014 One Bug is Fake participated in GRTU’s Troutfest on the 22nd and 23rd of February 2014 in a different way than normal. Instead of merely attending the show, I was a vendor! The following post is a link heavy, poorly photographed, and gritty rundown of the event. Most of you who read this blog in the past know that… Read more →
On the 27th of October, I attempted something I felt was a huge undertaking. I decided to quit smoking, but planned on still partaking in the alternatives. I failed at it within a day. For me, moderation is rarely an option. Especially when it comes to cigarettes. If I was to succeed at this, I was going to need to drop… Read more →
I’ve been trying to get back in the blogging world. Doing it with any pomp or circumstance feels empty. I feel like I have abandoned the few people who read what I had to say and thus do not deserve a glorious return. Instead, I should earn it back slowly; one post at a time. What happened to me?… Read more →
With all the blog issues I have had of late, it is very nice to be able to say that my site is clean! Winz. Read more →
Well, when last we met I was travelling to Texas. In my current job, ten days off in a row only happens once a year. In my company, those of us who teach cannot take vacation while students are present. Students are present all the freaking time. Once in a blue moon, I get lucky. Christmas is the only time… Read more →
People, I am alive. I have done a lot here since the last post summarizing the journey north. (I am out of writing practice as well, be aware, this will be as choppy as a Christopher Walken monologue.) The biggest change in my life since you last heard from me, is the permanent removal of nicotine from my system. I quit… Read more →
This journey, is still very fresh in my memory. So much so, that I shudder a bit when I get in the Jeep to go anywhere. I chronicled my trip by taking notes in Gmail thinking I would clean them up for a post. Instead, I present them to you in raw form with notes underneath to further explain (if… Read more →
One of the comments that I receive about my writing is that I am not afraid to expose the inner workings of my mind. To a point, that is true. I’ve also been raised to not “air my dirty laundry”… Truth be told, that’s why things have been fairly quiet over here at OBIF. It’s hard to write when you… Read more →
Today is the 365th day this blog has been live. Wow, and I was caught unprepared. Not only am I woefully behind on posts; but I didn’t have anything ready for this date like I had planned! I wrote this in one sitting, between 0600 and 0848 in between teaching so I would at least have something up to commiserate… Read more →
I finally got around to telling my side of the Coast Trip. I hope y’all enjoy it. Read more →
Lately, I have taken up the drawing of stick figures. Then I made them fish. Then I posted them as kind of a joke, but people seemed to really like them. So, I figured this would be a good place to showcase what I have so far. Read more →
So, this is a first… When this site first started, I added stuff that I had written to add some content to a new site. Since then, I have ALWAYS posted on someone else’s blog; then through the magic of the wordpressing I would load the page within the pages on my site… Like a dream within a dream,… Read more →
I love cool gear, I always have. When I had a chance to review one of the coolest looking vests designed for fly anglers, I jumped at it. Thanks to Ethan for the shot, and thanks to Cam for hosting it. I hope you enjoy! Read more →
This is the secret I have been keeping quiet about… Which keeping quiet about things generally throws me into writer’s block. If I can’t talk about one thing, the self censoring shuts down the rest of my “flow” so to speak. Now that the secret is out, I can get back to writing. I had a blast meeting Chris and… Read more →
The Airborne Angler, through a series of emails, asked me to talk about my last days on Earth… As well as a little bit of time after. I really enjoyed this unique and macabre line of interview questions and wanted to share it! I am proud to be the first subject of… Read more →