Hey Hey Sparky Everyman

Morning weigh-in: 166.5#, 4.5% BF (dehydration?)

 

"The best part of the emergence of blogs is when you can match up John Updike with Roy Edroso and they play to a tie. Both brilliant." -- Tbogg

 

I guess I wasn't the only one to notice, Alicublog does rock... I checked out that John Updike thing by the way, a review of the new Charles Schulz biography. That was brilliant, and now I might have to get that book.

 

The Money Pit: Anyway, wrenching last night, put on the new handlebar and also new tires. The WeirWolfs just don't look as aggressive as my (apparently now defunct) all-time favorites, the MotoRaptors, but some friends swear by them. We'll see tonight on the shakedown cruise, and tomorrow at Allamuchy, and so on, and so on. (Actually, I think they sent me the wrong ones -- the downhill rather than race version.) Well, if I don't like it I'll just get another one... Meantime, I think I'm going to need a new front derailleur real soon.

 

Oedipus With a Twist: Hit Which Brew for dinner last night while the laundry dried, hanging for a bit with the bartender and her (relatively new) boyfriend, who has a young, say toddler age, son; I'm guessing he has partial custody from the general drift of the conversation. At one point she said something along the lines of "he hates me." Well, I would run with with "just feels threatened," but that still must be a tough situation.

 

Tonight is Philly Funk Authority, tomorrow is the Allamuchy birthday ride, and tomorrow night is the Brew Ha Ha -- and I cannot find the beer I want to bring.

Ima Think Out Loud Here

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 10% BF

 

Yoga last night, felt kind of inept, not quite the "be here now" that I would have liked. Oh well, always start with where you are and move forward... Dinner afterward was pasta & tuna with wilted greens. Haven't made that in a while. Tasty, I made it super-extra-garlicky, and I have enough left over for dinner Friday, which may or may not be a good thing:

 

My friend Karen (better half of "Bob & Karen") is a singer, mostly studio work and wedding bands. I've heard some session tapes, and one time on vacation she banged out some tunes on an old honky-tonk piano (at the only saloon in Downieville, California: locals were tipping her with gold nuggets), but in the fourteen years I've known her I have never seen her perform for real. That will change Saturday, because she's singing with the Philadelphia Funk Authority at the Stanhope House, and a bunch of us are going to check it out. I'll be crashing at Joe & Dawn's new place, which is nearby and also right up the road from Tranquility Farm, because we're doing a 40th birthday ride out of Tranquility for Joe on Saturday morning. (My bike parts arrived yesterday, and I'm blowing off the gym to slap them on tonight.)

 

I can usually get away with a bit of garlic on the breath -- with a little help from gum, or hoppy beer, or whatever -- at Which Brew, since garlic is pretty popular there, and I'm normally not the only offender by a long shot. Friday night's crew will be a bit on the conservative side though, not quite white-bread-and-mayo, but close enough that my food choices will make it harder to blend in.

 

Saturday night I'm going to Kathleen & Lisa's "Brew-Ha-Ha" beer tasting. I'll be bringing the Weyerbacher Winter Ale if I can get it, otherwise it'll be Autumn Fest. Probably stop at WB tonight, grab dinner and pick up a six pack of whichever one they have. My routine is gone: I am back into the rocks, water will flow disturbed for a few days or a few weeks more.

Errata Stigmata, Yadda Yadda

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 7.5% BF

 

Car: Finally it was finished, and I picked it up around 1:00; I was at work by 2:00. Worked late to make up for some of it.

 

Bodywork: Hit the gym on the way home, did my long workout. Cruised through it, like a hot knife through butter, even added some stuff.

 

Loose Ends: Took care of laundry, and stopped in at Which Brew for dinner. I was under the impression that I might have left without paying on Saturday, thought I'd better take care of that ASAP. Felt some trepidation, didn't know what kind of reception I'd get, but everything was cool, probably would have been cool regardless but in fact I had paid -- good! I can still walk in there with my head held high... I think I'll be cutting back on the nightlife anyway though, since it doesn't fit in with my other plans, and I've had my party.

 

Pass The Popcorn, part 2547: We-heh-hell, another one bites the dust... I saw something once that compared "the closet" with "the patriarchy," the same self-loathing, denial, the same enforcement of its norms even by its victims. Granted, the only gay people I know -- that I know are gay -- are of necessity out of the closet, but they seem like nice, grounded, ordinary people, maybe even a little boring at times. (Also granted, I know them as people, not as some bizarre Other.) These guys however -- the current Republican Freakshow crowd --  seem driven and tormented by personal demons, too bad we all have to suffer along with them.

 

Roy On The Arts: Yet another great post. It's funny, speaking of "new cartoon paradigms," I first heard about Achewood from Alicublog.

 

Parting Shot: One from the Doghouse.

 

Tonight is yoga, though that means I'll be missing Trick Or Treat. Oh well.

Downtime

Morning weigh-in: 165.5#, 11% BF

At home right now, just got back from my 2nd trip to the garage (they're just around the block from me). I thought I'd be able to pick my car up first thing this morning, but nothing seems to be happening...

Got A Car I Got, Car Trouble

Morning weigh-in: 169#, 9.5% BF (whoops! good weekend I guess)

Rode the Giant in to work today; the car is in the shop. I'm guessing that the battery got run down a little bit, since apparently I didn't shut the door totally when I got home Saturday night -- the door is a bit tricky since the car got hit last year. I saw the door somewhat ajar on Sunday morning, and then the car wouldn't start, so I figured that the interior light must have been on and drained the battery. I walked downtown for breakfast -- my original plan, except for the "walk" part -- and on the way I stopped in at the garage, asked the guy to give me a jump, and then decided I wanted an oil change, also new belts and hoses, and my wish list kind of snowballed from there. They picked up the car in the afternoon, and I figure I'll be car-free for a few days.

Bike Trouble: The commuting actually fits in with my current agenda, I can call this the start of "Phase 1." It was supposed to start Friday night but...

There's a saying, "I've forgotten more about [area of expertise] than you'll ever know;" it seems that I'm in that boat right now with cycling. It was raining Friday but hey no problem, I've got the gear so I went to do the towpath. It was coming down pretty hard, and my glasses were wet and all fogged up... anyway, the towpath is wide, and flat, and easy to stay on even with limited visibility, but every so often they have anti-vehicle poles to keep cars off, and I rode right into one, at speed. Didn't flinch, never even saw it until -- WHAM!

I was rattled but stayed upright, and I thought I was none the worse for wear until I noticed that I'd broken my handlebar. I finished out a very abbreviated ride after that, but was still suffering from visibility issues the whole rest of the way. I used to have a whole set of infrastructure for dealing with this, anti-fog products etc, but don't have any right now, and went out unprepared and not even thinking about the issue. I guess there will be many moments like that in the next few weeks, where I realize once again why I used to roll this way and not that.

After that was dinner at Which Brew, then over to Porters where I discovered that the nuts still all roll towards me -- I swear, they must smell that I'm an easy victim or something. Some woman buttonholed me at the bar, and over the music (Post Junction, or why I wanted to be there in the first place) I learned that:

1. Her dog can kill me!

2. Her husband is hooked on crack, that's why they live in Easton now.

3. None of my friends would rescue me.

I left right after that, didn't feel like waiting around for the UFO-abduction stories to start...

Saturday was the gym, then the Which Brew Halloween Party, which was lovely -- I think it was their best party ever. By the way, you can see my pictures here . Sunday was the car, and breakfast, and then I just worked on the bikes, and played with the computer (uploading pictures, buying bike parts) until bedtime. And now it's Monday!

UPDATE: Edited for clarity.