matts blog!

Hi everyone. Just trying to stay in touch with my friends and keep my memories in order.  

Right now, Thomas and I are driving through Iowa and my laptop is in my lap on a hotspot. We just left a Country Inn and Suites by Ramada. [PAST]

Now though, on Oct. 29th 2026 at 8:54PM EST, I am in my apartment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. [PRESENT]

This is just like a very basic format, so yeah, and the page called "Writing" at the top right is just more random stuff going all the way back to like 2014 or something.

[Oct 29th, 2026]

I've biked in Prospect Park since living here, but past instances were more casual rides. Today, I put on my chammy on under my shorts and I wore Thomas's helmet because it is less bulbous and embarassing than mine. 

I still feel more embarassed and self concious in NYC than I did in Davis. Point being, I really suited up for this ride becuase it was for workout purposes, and it was the first time I've done that here. 

[Hey, this was written back in 2020!]

It was New York City and being a glorious little pedestrian, wearing my sneakers that would never need an alignment, balancing, or front-end job, or engaging in the most untimely and ridiculous journey a cash-strapped, modern half-youth can fathom. That is, searching the 2020s used car market for a reliable vehicle under 10k. 

My first outlook was one of optimism. Catalyzed by the thought that lit a bonfire under me, which was, hey,  this is more money than I’ve ever embarked to spend on a single item in my life. Finding something cool to blow 10k on can’t be that hard. I began to search the usual sites for a cool, reliable vehicle. To me this meant not a Nissan, not a Kia, not a Hyundai, not a Honda (unless it’s the right one, you know, the Element), not a Ford (unless it’s a Ranger or an unabashedly unabused, grandfather’s F-150, think “THIS IS NOT A WORK TRUCK” headers). My cool pretty much meant a Toyota or a Subaru. And before you roll your eyes and say get back to Boulder and why don’t you shove crystals in the ball joints while you're at it, know that I was gunning for 4WD/AWD reliability. What else is there to consider? An XJ? Maybe. But I’m very afraid of overheating.