i dun fell off

computer crashed over a week ago at home. lots of holiday traveling has kept me away from the office, so no computer access for me. it's helped curb my ebay habit at the very least. it's also helped me realize i don't need to check email and blogs so frequently--let's see if i can get any work done today and tomorrow...

i had a great vacation, hanging out with family, eating lots of food, especially sweets and beer... movies: The Hangover (classic), Role Models (super great), 500 Days of Summer (meh), and soon, PaperHeart (?).

2010 is rollin up fast--no resolutions, just hopes for a healthy wife and baby. Maybe less computer. Finish the basement before Baby Girl arrives.... awesome garden that produces all summer long. Less sleep. A tattoo. And no Ebay. Did I just say that? No Ebay. Wowie. Less Ebay, meaning not checking it everyday.  Hey, it's not 2010 yet. I still have some time to amend my resolutions...  Oh, and at least 800 miles on my bike.

at work

i am useless today
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in other news, the newest converge album, axe to fall, is "more than awe-some. She's awe-quite-a-bit; she's awe-a-whole-lot..." That's from How I Met Your Mother.

"Goood ENOUGHFFFFFF!"
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Oh yeah, watching Cleveland Cavaliers play is great.
And so is Columbus Brewing Company's 90 Shilling Ale.
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Added a Surly rear rack to the Cross Check yesterday. It's more heavy duty than I imagined.
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Oh yeah, Christmas is coming up. Where did 2009 go?

happy winter solstice

even though this weekend kicked off winter with a bunch of snow, today is the shortest day of the year. a great excuse for celebration. i guess i wont be partying tonight, but i will be content in knowing that days will be getting longer from here on out.

i rode my mountain bike to work. not as fun, but a nice change (except for not putting on the rear fender and having a wet butt this morning)

bike... cold... food...

i wish i took more photos. I've been upgrading the bike a little bit since the last photo(s)... Cadence double straps... MKS Sylvan track pedals... soon, I'll have a rack up on the back, and hopefully some panniers for getting a boat-load of groceries.

i've been really enjoying the weather lately. last night i got suited up in lots of layers and biked down the road to pick up a week's worth of bagels from Panera and a couple hot chocolates for C and myself. big ups to Starbuck's "signature hot chocolate"--soooo flipping good. C believes it is the black coffee of the hot chocolate world. it's cause her taste buds aren't as mature or refined as mine...

by tomorrow i should receive a package in the mail that includes a Smartwool balaclava to help keep my head/face/neck warm on the brisk mornings/evenings! can't wait...

C has been baking like crazy, and making really good meals, including my new all-time favorite: meatballs with kale over pasta. i DID take a photo of that and will post it up later too.

Quote: Bike/ city planning

In Copenhagen they make cycling easier for people through city planning, but here we prefer to make cycling easier by quite literally trying to take the effort out of cycling. However, it doesn't take an Einstein to figure out that crappy streets are still crappy streets regardless of how much electrical assistance you have, and even someone who can't spell "nonplussed" surely realizes that getting hit by an SUV will suck... Bike Snob NYC

Drums, Break Up

After hearing White Rabbit's crappy song, cryptically named "Percussion Gun," I was going nuts trying to think of where they bit that drum part... after some super-sleuthing, a clever gent posted this comment for the song on Lastfm.com: "C30, C60, C90, Go!"

C30, C60, C90 Go - Bow Wow Wow

Hell yeah! The Bow Wow Wow song. So good. When I was in high school I had this on my "Best Punk Album in the World... Ever!" compilation, alongside X-Ray Spex, Iggy Pop, The Buzzcocks, XTC... Devo? This is also the group that sings "I Want Candy."

Similarly, C was trying to figure out what was sampled for Mario's "Break Up"--which I contend might very well be the best song of 2009.

She claims it was from Beyonce's "Diva"... tawlk amongst yuhselves

Commute

Weather this morning: 20 degrees "eff" - with wind chill? "feels like" 7 degrees "eff"

Made for a chilly ride to work, but I was well prepared with 1 pair of gloves under one pair of wind-proof mittens, 1 gore-tex shell over a puffy coat, synthetic thermals under work pants, a fleece beanie and fleece neck gaiter... booyah