Weekend end

I had a particularly good weekend this past...um...weekend. Friday, my co-worker Kashmira brought me a tub full of beautiful bright orange day-lilies to transplant to my yard. As soon as I got home from work, I plugged them in our front yard around the eyesore we call a gas line. Saturday, C and I were up by 6:30 a.m. Can't remember much of what we did, but the day seemed to go by pretty slow... Sometime that afternoon, I bought a brand new wheelset for my bike off a guy for an unbelievable price (in my novice opinion)-- apparently this guy, who is the manager of a nearby bike shop, bought a complete bike, and replaced the wheels with his own custom set. The wheels are unused, and outfitted with tubes and tires. What's more, for those of you who care, the rear wheel came with a flip-flop hub and a freewheel. At some point in the afternoon, I think C and I went to the gym and worked out a bit. We also had a really pleasant dinner at Westerville's Uptown Market Bistro... and maybe it's worth mentioning that C found that one of our zucchini plants produced a monster zucch, compared to the other fruits it's been putting out. By Sunday, the new day-lilies were putting our brilliant new blossoms adding a terrific display of firework-like color to our front yard of solid green foliage. I bought a new bike chain and tool and successfully finished the conversion of my bike to a single speed. C and I biked a long way to get some good food at the "good Skyline" and went swimming at the Community Center (and my wheel and new chain stayed on the entire trip!). Later in the day, C made some perfect-as-usual pizza and we took Aldy downtown to check out Comfest and a local band called Pirate. While we were there I got a really great compliment ("Niiiice kicks") on my new shoes (an early birtday present from C). We hung out with J and Bella, then came home to eat some more good pizza and homemade smoothies... Fortunately this work week is a short one, due to the holiday weekend, so hopefully we can make our next mini-vacation even better than the last.

always

be good

More about bikes and car culture

Why would it seem that cyclists are disproportionately obsessed with bike culture while a majority of motorists are largely apathetic to the world of classic cars, customization, car-related sports and fashion? I wonder this as I am trying to resist obsessing over bikes too much. I've reached one conclusion. That is, our society as we know it, and the infrastructure that defines it, has adapted to the needs and abilities of the automobile (i.e. it is "auto-centric"), so much so that cars are expected, lacking uniqueness, and taken for granted. For example, the phenomenon of suburbs are the result of our car culture. We can easily reverse the common analogy that arteries are the roads of our bodies and say that road are the arteries of our cities (or economy) that allow the transport of blood cell-like automobiles that carry the oxygen and nutrients (information and money) to other organs (distant communities; and in reverse, like blood flowing through veins back to the heart with waste, we bring home junk that is essentially pollution). These "arteries" have been constructed exclusively for cars, trucks, and other high-speed vehicles. In the face of all this, the cyclist that rides a bike beyond just a recreational/leisure activity is essentially a renegade. I would argue that a bit of courage is needed to bike on roadways for transportation. If we can accept that the average bike commuter has chosen to ride a bike and is part of a minority in an auto-centric society, it is easier to understand why cyclists cling to or are attracted to bike culture (art, fashion, etc.)--it's part of a sub-culture identity, from which you [get/give] validation and support [from/to] others.

For as long as I've been able to make decisions on my own, I've been drawn to sub-cultures and have been weary of the mainstream. This gets me all sorts of bothered when things like environmentalism or skateboarding or "metal-core" become absorbed by popular (pop-) culture.

Note about a stupid advertisement

Last week I caught a commercial on television, and saw it again tonight, and was so blown away that I decided to write about it... I'll keep this short. The catch line was: "How do you get even better gas mileage out of a Suzuki? Free gas." A lot of companies have resorted to paying for customers' gas to stir up business, playing on the fear in each of us that the end of our auto-centric lives is near. Even a local mattress company is giving away gas cards with every purchase. This particular car company has taken it a step further to suggest that [by paying for a year's amount of gas] their car has better gas mileage (i.e. more miles per gallon; this is NOT the same as miles per dollar). A car with truly better gas mileage would, in effect, provide relatively better gas mileage over the life of the car, beyond the first year of ownership. Gimmicks like this one drive me crazy! All it is doing is subsidizing our dependence on non-renewable oil and keeping us from reaching renewable and sustainable energy resources. People are convinced to buy this particular car (which probably has shitty gas mileage) for the temporary, short-term "savings," instead of buying into a more efficient technology or an alternative altogether. They're stuck for a multitude of years paying off their loan and living with terrible gas mileage while better technologies come out every year afterwards. This isn't a really deep critique, so maybe all you can take away from it is that I am constantly disappointed with subversive marketing.

On a positive note, I am increasingly excited about biking and learning more and more about it. I got a compliment about my bike frame from a local bike mechanic over the weekend and learned that the irritating noise I've been hearing is superficial and not a real problem, which boosted my confidence in the whole ride. I'm trying to figure out what needs to be done next to convert my bike to a single-speed and I hope to get to a specialty shop downtown very soon...hint hint!

Other things of no particular interest to anyone:
-Jordan O' Jordan will be in Columbus on Wednesday! This guy is Niceness embodied
-Striped Cucumber Beetles have found our squash plants
-The tomatoes might survive, but the red bud is gonna die
-I hope to enter another big art contest very soon and get some cash-ola...
-I'm tired and dreaming about being a tattoo artist...jeah right
Stay up

Think Obama

Here's a great blog I tracked down in search of pro-Obama reggae music I had heard a while back. I visited today and searched around the site. There are some pretty inspiring videos embedded throughout and one of the "top posts" features a table of information from Salon.com and CNNMoney.com that highlights the 2008 Presidential candidates' net worth. I remember back to the 2004 election when I wanted to bash Bush's wealth, only to be beaten back with stats on the Heinz fortune that floated Kerry's boat. Well, assuming these numbers are true, I'm comforted to learn that McCain's net worth is 31 times that of Obama's, whose net worth is estimated to be $1.3 million. [It just occurred to me, that if Obama could make $1.3 million each year, by the time he is about McCain's age, he would be worth the same amount!] Why would I be comforted by those numbers? Relative to McCain, Obama's supposed net worth is [relatively] closer to my family's, and, if I take another leap, perhaps his life experience is closer to my own and an overwhelming majority of Americans'. That is not to say that I have too much in common, economically, with a guy whose house is apparently worth $1.9 million.

My half-hearted attempt at research (above) led me to this other little gem of information: "[John McCain's] wife Cindy is the chairman of Hensley & Co., the Anheuser-Busch beer distribution business she inherited from her father" (money.cnn.com). This means, in case you are in support of McCain, you might care to start drinking more products with labels like: Budweiser, Michelob, Bass, Hoegaarden, Stella Artois, Rolling Rock, Busch, Bacardi, and Natural "Natty" Light, to name a few. Or not... In fairness, Cindy is cited for founding the American Voluntary Medical Team to help disaster-struck and war-torn third world countries in 1988. Also, it is noted that all royalties from every book John McCain has written have been donated to charities. Even I know that money can be redistributed for good. Don't ask me why I am so against people inherit inordinate amounts of wealth. Excess in a world filled with so many poor and suffering people (many of whom are victims of first world exploitation) just disturbs me beyond much reason. I'm sure there's also a significant amount of jealousy inside of me. ("Get money," right?)

GObama!

Love Life

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.
Benjamin Franklin, 'Poor Richard's Almanack,' June 1746

This weekend I was fortunate to be a part of the beautiful wedding ceremony and celebration of Michael and Jessica MacMaster: two people I love very much for all they are and all they do. I'm not going to try to rival C's speech/toast from the reception, so I'll keep my discussion short... for now. I do want to admit that watching Jess walk down the aisle had me tearing up and it was all I could do, including turning around to look at the bridge behind us, to hold myself together. I think my emotions were the result of a combination of being ecstatic for Jess and Mike, remembering the feelings from my recent wedding (which included so many of the same people), and the selfish happiness I was feeling for being part of such an awesome family that now includes Mike.

Life is flying and we need to keep up with it. It's easy to forget that time is precious and I'm glad that the past four days were spent with family and good friends from out-of-town and across the country. This morning, Mom and Dad Love were the last of those out-of-towners to leave and I was sad. There's nothing better than being around people you love and enjoying their company. Everyone put in a lot of effort to make this weekend great. I want to give a special mention of the selfless efforts of my beautiful and generous wife, C, that I was able to witness, first hand, over the past several months. I can't begin to list all that she did, but would care to say that I am constantly impressed and always proud and hope that soon I might develop her intuition and absorb even only a fraction of her generosity.

Mike and Jess, I wish you a long life of happiness together and hope that the four of us are never far apart (literally!) for long.
See? That was selfish.

Enjoy it before it's passed.

Rainy daze

Today, central Ohioans woke up to the second day of rain in what is supposed to be nearly a week of continuous downpour. Throughout my post-adolescent life, I've grown to be so mentally affected by gray and rainy weather: I get irritable and lethargic, depressed and offensive. I trace this back to the days when Ryan and I would skateboard in the streets, sunup to sundown; when our only enemies were cops, cars, and inclement weather. In more recent years I've started mending my relationship with the periodic nimbus cloud. Above all other reasons, it brings the rain that helps my garden grow.

As you may know, I've fostered a new, fervent interest in wheeled transportation: this time, of the two-wheel variety. It's not that you can't bicycle in the rain, but the various metal parts are so sensitive to water. Also, as a bicycle commuter, a ride in the rain equals a soggy arrival to work. Cycling in a shower is actually pretty refreshing, maybe cathartic. It requires that you stretch your comfort limits and really embrace the weather that might otherwise make a modern suburbanite cringe as they look out of their insulated window panes, pent up in their isolated, climate-controlled domiciles. I will admit, I don't necessarily jump at the chance to commute to work in the rain, and in fact would prefer to not. But today I was forced to make a decision: bike in the rain, or drive? I knew at the moment the question was pressed on me, I needed to bike. The decision was an effort to prove to myself that I am not (or don't want to be) a fair-weather bicycle commuter. So, I packed my lunch, a thermos full of hot coffee, and some dry clothes into my backpack; donned my swim trunks and a rain jacket; slipped into my sandals; then took off to the bike path on my mountain bike--which is my all-weather tank. I'm not sure which made me more wet: the falling rain or the massive puddles I had to bike through, though I suspect it were the puddles. Anyways, I arrived at work like a wet dog, wiped down my bike, and changed into my dry clothes. Knowing that days like this will be few and (hopefully) far between, I'm happy now that I decided to ride--it was a great way to wake up. Also, I know I will be sitting behind a dry desk all day, staring at this computer...
Enjoy it before it's passed