3.31.2007


Logan with four cups of coffee.

"I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day."
Rob Ford - Toronto City Councillor


If you beg to differ with the honorable Councillor Ford, let him know at:
Councillor_ford@toronto.ca

3.28.2007

Oliver SWM 6 months old



Oliver F.

Oliver is a libra and enjoys rolling over from his stomach to his back, watching tv with Isaiah, biting uncle Logan's hand and then barfing all over him.

I didn't care much for horoscopes but this information about Libras describes him perfectly!


General character:
Libra (the balance) is said to be the most desired Zodiac Sign. You are charming, good looking, gentle and kind. You are a good judge of character and have many good friends. You do not like it when your decisions are challenged, and are impatient with people who criticize you. You hate people who are cruel to others. Libras enjoy the arts more than science, so a career in the arts would be a good choice. You will understand other people's views and sympathize with them. A negative Libraian (there aren't many) flirts and seems shallow. They also are impatient with a daily routine.

3.27.2007

my bike

It's getting increasingly obvious that my bike is all wrong for me. I ride on crappy roads/gravel; the bike has an unforgiving aluminum frame and skinny little tires. I carry a days worth of gear with me, sometimes in rain: bike has no fender or rack mounts. I have lower back issues: bike has far too aggressive geometry and doesn't even fit me that well leaving me with a perpetually sore mid-lower back. And so on, etc. The morals of the story: many bike shops really don't give a shit about what you need, and I need a new bike. I would like a used bike (for price and environmental reasons), with a steel frame, room for fat tires and fenders, 700c or 650b wheel-size, fender and rack mounts, upright riding position, and I wouldn't mind if it looked sexy. Maybe a pastel colour. I was reading the surly blog recently and they've posted pictures fom their recent trip to Japan featuring several pastel bikes that are quite attractive. Maybe a trip to Japan is in order.

3.26.2007

spam sandwhich


I had 7 emails today, two of which were spam and the third a message from my dear friend Danio. Danio is currently residing in China where he teaches English language classes and gets engaged. Danio's emails are always a treat, and he typically concludes them with wonderful questions for me to answer in my next email. My favorite from this email is:

What's you favorite shirt (living or dead)?

The spam emails were also intersting, and I have no idea what purpose they serve. The text from the messages read as follows:

Spam 1: "I havent the slightest idea since it was never conveyed to the This was greeted by cries of enthusiasm and we replied with nods, detector away and turned to face us and handed me a key. all, white-clad and standing firmly erect. But his face was wrinkled being grated together. Your shoes contain molebind projectors . saints who had accomplished so much good. You can find it-now. Our timing was pretty good. The wave of good feeling and energy was reformed drug addicts and we must think and feel that way. Someday, if Understandable, Admiral, since it was found to grow unstable with enthusiasm we played two more numbers before I called a break. Get out of there and get behind me, I called over my shoulder. And the loathsome details re Liokukae, let you see what information we Yes, great, I agreed. But I looked back to make sure the porters we believe him when he shovels a lot of bushwah about the artifact? Do"

Spam 2: "this nonsense. What are you playing at bastardacoj? I shouted; Humane torture to Im Ljotur, Sergeant of the Guard. You all take it easy while I call loud voice that slashed the silence. a speech occulter. unhappily and tragically turned out to be Liokukae. explosion was tied in with the theft; sixty-seven percent. What on, get started. Did red mean off, stop? Maybe. But what about white Then I was batted from the air. As big as he was-Iron John was just the bottom of the pond as soon as your bones heal. Svinjar, more Thanks, I said, as he gave my hand a good crushing handshake. And quizzical manner. I took slight umbrage. all of it too loud. In the end I turned off the sound and watched the One of the guards dropped but the other one, with a stronger neck, Floyds help. And stopped. Museum? I inquired offhandedly. I simply love museums. cultures of the union-"

Now, in both cases the text appears to be randomly copied from books or stories of some sort; perhaps included in the emails to foil spam-filters, but why THIS text and why not let it make sense? Bizarre. I also had a forwarded email from my mom with "cool balloon art". The above image was included in the email. The balloon girl is incredibly realistic.

3.25.2007

Disneyland 2

Back from Disneyland; it was fun but I really wish I'd had my bike with me. I was only able to handle the crowds and lines at Disneyland in increments of 4 hours or less. Thursday wasn't too crowded but all the good rides were closed. Pirates of the Carribean closed after we'd waited all the way to the front of the line. We go to it on Saturday though and it was totally worth the wait, that ride is just as good as I remembered it. They modified it somewhat to include Johnny Depp's character from the movies. Indiana Jones closed while we were there too, aparently a girl got thrown from the ride. On Friday we went to Universal Studios which was neat; it was exactly as I remembered it and the lines weren't too long. The tour was the best part, though it wasn't quite as scary as I remebered it from when I was 10 or so. It was scary enough to terrify Burley though. I'm exhausted: we only slept about 6 hours a night due to Don's insistance that everyone wake at the same time no matter what time they went to bed. I also feel bloated from eating restaurant food all week. I'll post pictures soon.

3.20.2007

Disneyland

I leave for LA tomorrow with Amanda. Our flight is at 5pm so I don't know that we'll be going to Disneyland until Thursday. That's okay with me, as I'm more excited about just getting out of town than anything else. Even if it is LA. At least it's the coast. In 20 days we're going to Fort Bragg; THAT will be good. Fort Bragg is my home away from house. I think we're going to Universal Studios too which will be fun. And at some point we're going to meet up with Gabe for lunch or dinner. He's treating (Gabe, if you're reading this, you're treating).

3.18.2007

Ukulele weeps by Jake Shimabukuro

This is much less depressing than missing cats.

Fatcat - you will be missed.


Fatcat, the cat who adopted me as it's owner many months ago was stolen in a brazen, daylight robbery on St. Patrick's day. Suspects include the cat's actual owners, my neighbors, who moved yesteday. The cat was last seen laying on the bed that I purchased for her after gorging on the expensive cat food and treats that I loving fed to her. She is grey with white streaks and has hazel eyes. Fatcat answers to Fatcat or Greycat. Also answers to Tummy, but only when Isaiah says it. Fatcat, you will be missed. Every time I walk out the front door without stepping on you I'll think of you.

3.14.2007

driving school

I just completed online driving school. I took the class to avoid getting a point on my record as a result of the speeding ticket I recieved when I wasn't speeding back in November after eating dinner with my grandparents. I took the class through easyonlinetrafficschool.com and it was a breeze. All of the questions were common sense questions with the exeption of the "Speed Racer" questions. Interjected into the text I was supposed to be reviewing were dozens of random facts about Speed Racer including his pet's name, favorite food (sour-cream and cheese nachos), etc. and there were corresponding questions on the final. I circumvented this potential pain in the ass by scanning for the name and then reading those parts. The whole shebang from start to finish took about 30 minutes so it was relatively painless. That said, I wasn't speeding so I shouldn't have had to bother. This is one of many reasons to ride a bike.

3.13.2007

Fritz' gas-price conspiracy theory


Fritz from cyclelicio.us might be on to something with his wacky gas-price-conspiracy-theory!

dahon bikes



I've always been interested in Dahon bikes as folding bikes are a great idea and Dahon has a pretty good grasp on them. I own a Dahon S1 which is a discontinued single-speed-commuter that they made for a while; Amanda gave it to me for my birthday last year and we take it on vacations along with hers. They continue their tradition of excellence with a couple new bike models that I think are very impressive: the Smooth Hound is a miniature bike, which means it looks like a normal bike but features 20" wheels and folds flat. It's also a classy, italian inspired road bike with a Brooks B17 saddle and bar tape and vintage, two-tone racing paint job. All this can be yours for the low low price of $849. The Tournado is a full sized, steel road-bike that breaks in half and can be packed away in 15 minutes to take with you in the car and the plane without paying additional airline fees. It also comes dressed in Brooks and additionally features an ultegra drivetrain, making it a steal at $1,999. You can see these and their other fine models at Dahon's website.

tibet.com

If you are interested in why so many people are upset about the 2008 Olympics being held in China, read this recent artice from Rolling Stone Magazine

You can also read all the latest news posted by the Tibetan Government in Exhile at tibet.com

Isaiah and Logan



This is a picture of Isaiah and I being tough. I'm not 100% sure he understood the assignment.

3.12.2007

riverbottoms

While going over the bridge on my way home from work I can see a camp beneath the railroad trestle where a woman lives in an orange tent. There are several chairs around the tent and the door is usually open. Today there were two men and a dog around the tent, and the woman was having an argument with one of the men. It occurs to me that I'm one of only a handful of people that knows she's there because there are only a few people that walk/bike over that bridge each day and the side I ride home on is the less-popular side. I don't know why I mention this, but it's been on my mind for some reason.

3.07.2007

Alaska





Sometimes when I'm riding to work here in Marysville, I miss Alaska. These are all pictures I took of Alaska when I lived there.

macbook is here

How exciting. Like a kid in a candy store full of boobs.

3.06.2007

Monty Python: Bicycle repairman!

I'm going to learn spanish by watching this repeatedly.

3.05.2007

DAY OFF


It's my day off and I don't know what to do. This was never a problem when I was a kid. I think I'll go for a bike ride. My computer has shipped and I am biting my nails in anticipation. Having blown my entire nest-egg on this computer I'm having to reign in my new-bike plans, now I'm thinking something under 1k. Requirements: steel, fender/rack mounts, upright position possible, fat-tire compatible, 650b would be nice but not likely to happen for me, moustache bar would also be a plus but that could come later. I think that's it. The sad thing is that I just described any road-bike from the 40s until the 90s. I'd love to find the perfect bike on ebay; for like $20. Here's another girl on bike picture for your viewing pleasure.

3.03.2007

I bought a mac.

I just ordered a macbook. I am quite poor and so this is a big thing for me. I'm justifying the purchase because I'll be more productive with a laptop, as I'll be able to write, edit video, etc. on the go. Hooray for me! It'll be here later this week.

3.01.2007

Lotto winner buys bikes

Wouldn't you buy $65,000 worth of bikes and a $12,000 car if you won the lottery? This guy did.