Rigorous Notes on my desk this morning, Oct. 14, 2012

ALWAYS KEEP RIGOROUS NOTES EVEN OR ESPECIALLY WHILE IN THE MIDDLE OF A SK8TR RIOT

It is an extremely important practice as an amateur scientist to keep specific and detailed notes. Your notes can come in the form of observational bullet points, interpretive sketches, feeling haikus or to-do lists. You are not limited to these note varietals although I do suggest starting here since in the beginning you will probably be medium to very terrible at keeping your Rigorous Notes. This is not your fault. You are new. It is also essential that all explorers and scientists keep a field notebook on them at all times. Scraps of paper or napkins are acceptable replacements in a pinch but I do not recommend the use of toilet paper or money as substitutes due to their extremely utilitarian nature.

The above is a fine example of Rigorous Notes, which I had pulled from my pants pocket and placed on my desk early this morning. You may recognize these notes as a to-do list. You may also recognize these notes as having been written on scrap paper since that is all I had accessible to me at the time the notes were taken. Several tasks occurred to me all at once while I was in the middle of a SK8TR riot on Hollywood Blvd. at 9:30 last evening, and so not to forget, never to forget, I wrote them on a scrap of paper I found in my purse. I am not privy to the details of this riot as I did not start it but it did involve 75 to 90 people on skateboards, a dozen child vandals throwing glass bottles at 25 child cops with rubber bullet riffles, 3 ghetto birds and one floppy haired hero in a black and white flannel who slowly walked up to the middle of the riot line with two stoic and triumphant middle fingers held high. Yes, I was standing as tall as I could on my tip toes to see over the police line as my beer grew warmer on the bar of the comedy club I had come out of to investigate the commotion. Yes, I was taking pictures to be later posted on instagram. Yes, I was high-fiving my friend Greg. But, like any good scientist I knew, when the moment of Rigorous Notes struck, I needed to seize it.

There is the question of what this note says. My honest answer is, I don’t know. Best guess is “Start Raising Stags,” which could be a cue to begin breeding male horse specimens. It could also be, “Start Riesling Spags,” which could refer to aging a cheap sweet white wine for the North East discount emporium, Spags. It is most likely a secret code, which I will decipher later with my huge brain. The question though, is not “What does this note say?”. The question is “Am I relieved, elated, no, proud to have recorded it?”. The answer, my friend, is a resounding “Yes. Yes sir. You bet I am.”

So keep notes team. Rigorous Notes.

You never know what kind of scientific horse based sparkling alcoholic drink might come out of it.

Child Cop with rubber pellet gun, Hollywood Blvd. Oct 13, 2012