...And Come Full Circle

Busy evening yesterday. I had physical therapy at 6:00 in Wind Gap, but on the way I stopped in at Curt's Cyclery & bought a new chain, a cassette, and new cables with housings, as well as a bar-mount HID light (expensive, but I really needed a new light). Then off to PT, where my arm was manipulated ("like flossing with the nerves" -- strange how the bike and hand problems are so similar), then home to check the email before installing all the new stuff, and finally stopping at Which Brew.

Tonight is the Easton Halloween Spooky Walk. Actually it's happening both tonight and tomorrow night, and I went out of my way to get a ticket for tomorrow night before realizing I had a previous engagement: Greg & Judy are having an "Island Party" to debut the promotional sailing video they were in. That's Saturday night, and so was my ticket, so I had to exchange it for a Friday at WB, nexus of all things Halloween in Easton. Good jazz trio playing, and some guy had an art/photo exhibit going on in the other room, pretty neat. Got into a conversation w/ young Pete about surfing...

But I did get the bike back up and running. Funny thing, I can remember when Shimano changed their derailleur springs to thwart the new Grip-Shift shifter technology, and Grip-Shift came out with those GoreTex-covered cables, maybe 10 years ago now. They worked unbelievably well, smooth shifting, like nothing you've ever used before -- for about two weeks. Once it gunked up or developed a little wear, it became the worst shifter cable you ever had. Moved to generic cable (mediocre performance, but the performance wouldn't degrade and you could clean/lube it to bring it back) and shimano shifters... now here I am 10 years later, using incredibly good Shimano cables that degrade within weeks, so much for progress.

Fourth Horseman Update: Neat science about the upcoming armageddon.

Back To Square One

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 9% BF

Last night was the Chain Gang meeting at Which Brew (who I still like, but I think they dropped the ball, service & food-wise last night). Good meeting, though.

The Money Pit: OK, I need new cable and housing for the rear derailleur, also a new chain and probably a new cassette. I'll pick it up tonight hopefully, also pick up a new handlebar-mount lighting system, slap it all on & be ready to ride tomorrow night.

Scopes Smackdown

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 8%

Nothing to say, really. Worked a little on the bike last night, cleaned/lubed, discovered problems with rear derailleur cable, must fiddle with it some more or, or... replace it yet again? Meantime, here is a little more about our homegrown monkey trial.

Big Time

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 12.5% BF

Looks like we made the big time: a mention in the NY Times via the (far superior) Clusterfuck Nation, and a little something something about Lehigh's own Prof. Michael Behe in the Morning Call. Lucky thing they're building that ballfield where the high-tech company used to be, and the gambling casinos where the heavy steel industry used to be, or there wouldn't be any jobs for all the new crowds... And speaking of gambling, I hear that the extra tax on stupid people Powerball Lottery is up to like $340 million.

In my world: Physical therapy last night -- ultrasound, stretching and some anti-slouch exercises. I hope that they're actually therapeutic and not some caprice of my slouch-Nazi therapist... Tonight I look at the bike, get it ready for some night rides.

Self Portrait

Lego me -- I did this a while ago, just remembered to post it now. You can build your own here. Can't remember where I saw this, kudos to some blogger...

UPDATE: Found it. Thank you, Culture Cat! I should have known it was part of the whole "needs meme" thang.

Weekend Report

No morning weigh-in (oops, not expecting/avoiding bad news, just forgot)

Friday I was going to go to the Pocono cinema to see Grizzly Man, but got out of work just at the tipping point of "too late to drive up there and be on time." I did some stuff at home, then went out to WB instead. A good night, but nothing exceptional.

Saturday was my "selfish day" sans workout (doctor's orders): bank, Coffee Works, then over to the Garlic Festival before getting a haircut. It was a nice day (finally!) so I worked on the bike and did a short ride, tried to wake up the legs for Sunday while doing some more recon & planning for the Halloween ride. Ran into my friend Scott from work, who was tooling around by Riverside Park. He was trying to find the guys who were marking the course for Sunday's adventure race, looking to help out.

Saturday night I went out to Allentown, met a bunch of friends (Doug & Lori, Greg & Judy, Brian, Eric & Janna, Debbie, and Eric & Kris, big table) at Lobaido's for dinner. Turns out it was Eric R's birthday. He kept it a secret though from the people he invited (like me), so didn't get many presents. The place is BYO, so I brought a bottle of Eco Domiani chianti; most others brought something as well. Still not a big wine fan, but there were a few I liked. Dinner of course, was awesome, I just wish I had room for the legendary homemade ice cream afterward...

Sunday was the All-A-Muchy 50k race at Allamuchy, put on by my friends Bob & Karen. Excellent day, and I did pretty good though my friends Greg and Joe did much better, coming in 11th & 22nd respectively. I did manage to get one good prize though: fell over at one point, landed THWACK! right on a rock with my knee, directly on an almost-healed scab. Spent the rest of the race with a rivulet of blood... Got home about 4:30, went to bed and didn't get up until this morning.

Speaking Secret Alphabets

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 175.5#, 7.5% BF (NFL)
(No Friday weigh-in)


Reading: Graves's The White Goddess. Tree-alphabets, stone-age religious secrets hidden in medieval poetry... speaking of arcane knowledge...

Regex: Sed vs Perl: Found the source of my problem playing with sed: the syntax for regular expressions in sed and grep (and probably awk) is different from the regular expression syntax I learned for perl. I've been having problems with sed errors, and I've been been busting out my perl reference manual and just getting myself more confused. (I also think that the syntax doesn't quite match what I think the man pages are telling me.) What I thought was a common (and easily discoverable) building block is turning out to be splintered, and quite arcane indeed -- luckily, google and wikipedia came through.

Tonight I'm seeing that movie Grizzly Man. It was playing around here but I missed it; I'll be meeting Bob & Karen, also Joe & Cindy at the Pocono Cinema. Deja vu.

And Now For Something Completely Waterlogged

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 10.5% BF

It's been raining a lot the last few days not much outdoor life going on. First PA, and now NJ got hit pretty hard. My cold is abating though, so I did do a short ride down along the Bushkill yesterday, maybe five miles of recon: creek wasn't up, and the silt/crap down there wasn't too bad so I'll be incorporating it into my Halloween ride. Saw a fish about 100 yards from shore, flooding must have been intense Saturday night. The Muskenetcong was amazing this morning, waaaay over its banks. Outta here after lunch, first day of physical therapy.

Deep, In The Heart, Of Darkest America

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 10.5% BF

Interesting encounter with wildlife while on my recent travels: I can now attest that Chicago's O'Hare Airport, in addition to its amazing Corridor of Epilepsy, can also boast of having mice. One mouse anyway: it ran out from along the wall & up to my carry-on bag, then scooted away. But before it left, it looked me in the eye and sang "Yersinia pestis, yeedle deedle deedle daiddle deedle..."

You've already paid for this, listen to my heart beat.

I Have Needs Too, You Know

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 8.5% BF

Weekend Report (loose ends): I went out Saturday night, saw The Foolz again, playing at Which Brew this time. I think this show was actually tighter and better than the one Friday at the FunHouse. Pre-show dinner was mozzerella & tomato "mini-me" salad and garlic-lime chili wings. I ended up talking to some couple next to me: they were making a short film, they were there to meet with a potential producer and, while waiting for him to show up, asked me to look over the script. Look for me in the credits, though I'm sure I won't see a dime...

Last night was spent organizing and archiving my digital photos. Everything I have prior to 2005 (incuding all sorts of stuff emailed to me) on one CD, and all my 2005 digital photos to date on another. Piece of cake.

Don Needs: Saw another game over at Pharyngula, Google "[your first name] needs" and list what comes up. Here's mine:

• Anger Management: DON NEEDS A DATE
• Reply, Elephant--Don Don needs his love--.
• Opinions You Should Have - Comment on Uncle Don Needs You
• RC Groups - Hey TAWG, Don needs one of these!
• Don needs to recognize that a variable mortgage will usually have a lower rate than a fixed one.
• Don needs our help
• Don needs a loan but doesn’t want to cash in his Certificate of Deposit.
• The Don needs underlings So hey, hey! Kiss that pinky ring!
  Give it to him baby! Uh uh, uh uh! Give it to him baby!
  Uh uh, uh uh! Give it to him baby!
• Using his wits, Don needs to rescue his buddies who have been kidnapped by the...
• The DON needs a corps of knowledge workers
• To do his job Don needs a car, a phone, a computer and a connection between his office and home.
• Big Don needs an outhouse so we are building one to house one of the two...
• Don needs more help weaving all these issues together in to a comprehensive work plan
• Darrell Beaver, a community resident, pops in to see if Don needs anything
• Don needs our help and support.
• Plus Don needs a new snow shovel.

Funny because it's true... though it's not as odd/cool as PZ's list, which may be because my name isn't as odd/cool as "PZ."

Reading: Caesar's The Gallic War. Also reread Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian on my recent travels.

Bethlehem Steel From The Armory Parking Lot

Bethlehem Steel From The Armory Parking Lot
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I took this shot last Sunday, when it was just a little better than today... rode out to Salisbury, met Doug & Rich who were finishing with trail work, took a few photos which I posted over at my flickr page.
Today was a little different: cold, cloudy & wet, no ride, and no photos, but I was up at Sals again (with Doug, Brian, Eric, both Gregs, John E and Dave L) for trailwork. We got a lot done, finished the "dead-end" trail in fact, by finally making the connection to existing stuff.

Sister Goldenhair

Back from Utah. Flew out at 5:00 PM or so on Wednesday, transfer in Chicago, landed 10:45 local time in Salt Lake City, then drove until 1:30 AM, which of course is 3:30 AM EDT... Got up, met colleagues at 7:30 & drove to plant, work work work & then drove back to Salt Lake City. Dinner at Red Rock Brewpub, then a 9:00 bedtime -- 7:45 AM flight, Chi-town layover, home by about 6:00 PM yesterday.

Getting from Salt Lake City to Provo was pretty easy, by the way, but Provo to Price was a bit tricky -- I stopped for coffee on the way, verified directions with the kid at the counter, and as I was leaving he goes "good luck going up the canyon, man." I was like "say what?" and he told me it was one of the deadliest roads in the US for 10 years running, just the thing to hear before your midnight drive... But hey I'm from Jersey -- at night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines. You know, sprung from cages on Highway Nine, chrome wheel, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line...

The road was all that though, twisty and steep, but I caught some good tunes which helped me through: singing along to the oldies ("...well I keep on thinkin' 'bout you, sister goldenhair surprise...") first, and then I found an alternative station, out of Provo I think. Jammin through the mountain passes to Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy and 311; the most perfect moment musicale was Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus, it was so Utah it hurt...

Anyway, got home yesterday evening, dinner at Porter's (with Brian, Doug & Lori and Greg & Judy) & a stop in with the crew at Which Brew, then over to the Funhouse with D&L to see the Foolz, also met Spanky there. The Funhouse, be it known, has cleaned and re-tiled its bathroom, not sure if the place'll ever be the same.

Nice Enough

No memory of weighing myself this morning...

Worked on the bike last night, after my visit to the doctor. Fingers are still pretty numb but Doc thinks it isn't too bad -- B vitamins, physical therapy are the new order of the day. I'll be starting PT sometime next week, after getting back from my trip to Utah.

Meantime, the bike: there's a squeaking & creaking, almost drove me nuts on the ride Sunday. I think it was either cranks or the suspension pivots, so I tightened this & lubed that; hopefully it'll be quieter on tonight's ride.

One Tin Soldier Rides Away

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 14% BF

Fourth Horseman: Really cool article about the Black Death and AIDS over at Daily Kos. What's not mentioned though, is the connection between rising standards of living (and population) in the 12th & 13th centuries, and the decisions, worldwide, to squander their built-up wealth and people in a series of wars -- thus making all of Eurasia ripe for the plucking when the pandemic finally came. How many horsemen?

Meantime, rode yesterday, the ride I wrote about. It was quite fun, but the weekend took its toll and now my legs are so tired they're sore...

UPDATE: Thank you, Fafblog!

Halcyon Daze

Beautiful day today. I went to the coffee shop, then the gym, then Nature's Way, then Genesis where I bought a new multitool, which is what caused me to beable to find the one I though I lost... Then I went for a hike at Dunfield Creek. That place sure looks different since I was last there, before the hurricanes of 2004. I miscalculated the amount of daylight I'd have left, and had to run down the mountain to get down before sunset but I made it in time -- good thing because all I had were my prescription sunglasses, I'd have been blind in the dark.

Now I'm off to Which Brew, where I-don't-know-who is playing (I expect the answer is "nobody") but they have Magic Hat Number 9, my all time favorite beer, on tap. Woo Hoo! Think I'll walk down... Tomorrow is a long day in the saddle, riding downtown (coffee shop brunch) then to Sals for a ride plus a little trailwork. The weather should be really nice again tomorrow.

The Beavers Are Moving East

Rode the towpath tonight, abbreviated ride because the wheel I'd had repaired had a flat, tube probably got pinched when it was put back together -- doh!! I happened to notice lots of signs of beaver along the trail, only much further east than I've ever seen them, very near to the Bethlehem Boat Club launch. Now more than ever, don't drink the Lehigh water...

Curses, Foiled Again!

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 178#, 10% BF
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 175.5#, 7% BF

Went to pick up my wheel last night. I dropped it off the night before, actually expecting the work to be done on the spot but the mechanic/owner wasn't in; when I went to the shop last night (plan: run in & get wheel, run out, rush to Jacobsburg before it gets too close to dark for a worthwhile ride) I find that the service tag left by the counter girl was cryptic, and the mechanic hadn't even started the job, "but I can do it right now for you." Well OK, but he's the only one there and a bunch of people come in, then problems arise during the fix... um, I didn't go riding last night. Very frustrating, should have just done it myself.

So instead I played around with awk, went to bed at midnight & forgot to eat dinner. Interesting tool, at least to me it was last night. Tonight is definitely the towpath, then maybe I'll go out but I'm not really in a party mood, so we'll see.

Meantime, here's more about those magic mice, and here's more about Korean stem cell medicine, and here's one about religion. In the immortal words of Emily Dickenson, slipping is crash's law...

A Fun Game for Bookworms

I found this via Pharyngula and Majikthise: the American Library Association has posted its list of the 100 most frequently banned books from 1990-2000. How many have you read? Here's the list; the ones I read are in red bold:

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

I got thirteen total, not great but then again they look like "young adult lit," with a bunch of "what is sex?" books thrown in -- in other words, the kind of stuff that:
1.a library would want to carry, and
2. would eventually get challenged by someone.

An Amazing Difference

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 12.5% BF

I got a new rear derailleur and cables/housing last night and put them on the bike, unbelievable how much of an improvement it is. Unfortunately, I found a broken spoke which I'll hopefully get fixed tonight. Went to Which Brew afterward for my usual Tuesday Night visit, and the usual crew were there. The music was pretty bad eighties, so I busted out my Rhino Postpunk Chronicles CD Scared to Dance, and we jammed to the "good eighties" for a little while. No exercise tonight, must finish up the weekend chores/errands that were pushed back by the VT trip.

Bounceback

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 11.5% BF

Ate an entire pepperoni pizza, all but one slice, for dinner last night. Guess what I'll have when I get home tonight? Meantime, I must pick up a new rear derailleur and cables on the way home, start fixing the ol' drivetrain -- other than that it's just laundry nite...