More on Marty Moates

Yesterday would have been Marty's 50th birthday. I had been thinking about him since reading about that in the RacerX online magazine. They post a weekly listing of upcoming industry birthdays. I had planned to post pictures of Marty that I took in Europe. The previously posted intent of creating an MX Heroes blog is still alive. I feel a need to remember those days. Maybe others will too.

After posting the news about Marty's death, I received a comment from a family member. That emphasized to me how powerful the blogging medium is. I have to be careful what I say and how it is said. People actually do read some of this.

For those who care, I did meet Marty. I found him to be exactly as he is described in many of the recent memorials, open, honest, and friendly. When I talked to Marty at the French 500 Motocross World Championship in 1982, he made me feel as if we were friends and had been for a long time. That interview was not published. I don't remember if any of my pictures of him were? This is a portrait taken at that meeting. I'm also including this action shot. It too is from the French 500 World MX Championship in 1982.

If friends or family should happen to read this, I want you to know that my thoughts are with you. Please accept my condolences.

Click on this link for more memories of Marty Moates.

L8r

I enjoy sleeping

I slept well last night. It was a very pleasant sleep. I don't know that I enjoy it enough to stay in bed? Last night may have been especially pleasant because my wife was here. She has worked so many "overnights" lately that I was really missing her. I wonder if it is something about the additional body heat? Anyway, she'll be home tonight. I should enjoy another night of sleep. :-)

Marty Moates

A well-known member of the motocross family died yesterday. He took his own life. That upset me. He seemingly had a very successful life. I wondered if it was depression, some chemical imbalance? It is sad.

Cold...

It has gotten very cold. I suppose that should happen at Christmas. It doesn't make me like it though. The arthritis is much more painful in cold weather. I need to move around more than I do. Keeping the joints loose seems to help. And, I've heard, drinking more water is good.

My wife is still enjoying her sleep. She is very tired from so many hours of work over the past week. She has to work again this afternoon. I wish she didn't work so hard but have been unable to convince her that it isn't necessary. Maybe she wants to keep moving; fight off the arthritis.

Guess I'll move around some more, loosen the joints and think.

L8r

Now What...???

I added a counter and statistical analysis program to the blog and got some wierd reactions. First, it turned the background WHITE! I fixed that. It was something stupid that I did. Everything seemed to be okay until I added a new post. Now, all the profile data, links, and previous subjects have been moved to the bottom of the blog????? Obviously, I need to learn much more about blogs before trying to create a spiffy MX History blog. :-(

L8r

Creeping apathy

I'm not doing a very good job of maintaining the blog. I lost my enthusiasm. I read the Dilbert blog daily. I just can't get inspired. Scott Adams cracks me up. He makes people laugh about serious subjects ... and some not so serious. Trying to emulate his writing style used to be enough to inspire me.

I'm disappointed in the response to my queries about the MX History blog. None were overly encouraging. Some were ignored. Maybe that is what I should have been writing about, my disappointment. I shouldn't be disappointed. MX wasn't the original inspiration for this blog. This blog started as more of a daily diary than an effort to share history ... even if it is a history that I love sharing.

With the Democrats winning the election, my passion for politics also diminished. I need to get inspired. The Toronto SX jump-started the old ticker. I was checking the RacerX Illustrated website and following the race hype. I was shocked to see that they had exploited my idea. I was going to query them about hanging my blog off their website. Damn! damn! damn! Steve Bruhn has a new blog hanging there. He's a photojournalist at RacerX. The subject matter is different but the idea is the same. Again, I'm a day late and a dollar short.

Today is Danny LaPorte's birthday. He is America's second MX World Champion. Following is a picture of him at the final race of the '82 season, Swedish 250 MX World Championship in Vimmerby Sweden.

I still have a few ideas for getting the MX History blog "on the air." But, for now, I think I'll stick to blogging about the general day-to-day flow of life in the slow lane. :-)

L8r