mejor en bici

This week on my bike ride to work i saw some workers removing the word "elephant" in cursive script from the side of a building.

I also rode through a construction site by skirting around the edges whereas a car certainly would have had to take a large detour!

SJC

mejor en bici

Yesterday, September 30th, the lifetime odometer on my bike read 405 miles. This means that from the beginning of September 'til the end of September my steed and i registered 225 official miles of riding distance!

Included in this figure was a short, yet hilly ride my dad and i tackled in San Francisco from the parking space to Candlestick Park and back. We enjoyed the football game in which the 49ers beat down the Detroit Lions. I also got to hear his version of my brother's an my (and others') birth stories!

Also, on my bike ride to work yesterday, i saw a labyrinth sketched in chalk on one of residential roads along my route. What are the chances?! (probably pretty good...Kyle: my apologies again for the shoddy labyrinth i tried to draw for you...)

Will report back for the month of October.

INNER

Last week there was a fantastic New York Times crossword puzzle which made me feel all warm & fuzzy inside.  The Times crossword puzzles are a bit of an institution around, um.... my institution.  Some of us teachers (the coolest or perhaps the dweebiest ones) work together to "get 'er done".  Often we are successful.  

Though i didn't work a whole lot on the puzzle i'm talking about which made me feel fantastic, it really did make me feel great!  And thusly, i'm sharing it with the blogosphere.

The theme's  across clues ended up being the 2nd half of the answer to one of the down answers.  The down answer was "INNER".   So putting them together the theme answers read:

INNER BEAUTY

INNER STRENGTH

INNER PEACE

INNER CHILD

:)

Draw Your Swords!

Maybe it's from a lot of recent LOTR in film form, who knows?, but for whatever reason on my bike ride to work this morning the phrase "Draw your swords!" popped into my head. I was compelled to say it aloud in a British-like accent. Olde Englishe if ye wille.

Anyway, i then imagined some whimsical comic book character, perhaps the three Bone cousins from sinister to clueless hearing the phrase shouted by Grandma Ben: "Draw your swords !"

Or maybe a meek Scott Pilgrim (after realizing his enemy has a sword and running away like the p*&^@ he is) facing a challenge from his opponent who cries out: "Draw your sword!"

...after which SP or the Bones immediately draw a sword, as in whip out a pencil and sketch a sword on a sheet of paper and then hold it up with a huge grin across their faces.

That's what i want to do. That's how i would like to think about life, things.

But no.

This week is a real battle, this life a real war.

And we must draw our swords for realz.

And stand.

No $#@%!

From Plug-In America, if you care to read the fine print and for more links.
"As the Solar Taxi winds down its American tour and heads north from the east coast into Canada, we want to wish inventor voyager Louis Palmer and his talented tech team the best. If you haven't had a chance to witness bits of this remarkable journey, enjoy its complete documented trip. ... And for an insider visit and a "spin" behind the wheel, Plug In America documentarian Stefano Paris video-taped his ride.

Solar Taxi is a battery-operated solar electric vehicle that has logged thousands of miles driving across America -- north to south, west to east -- the ultimate road trip. Its mission is to circumnavigate the world to raise awareness about solutions to climate change. When Solar Taxi was in Los Angeles, it captured the attention of Jay Leno, Larry Hagman, Tony Shalhoub and James Cameron who came out for rides. While en route to the east coast, Solar Taxi made a stop at General Motors and when it reached New York, it drew the attention of the United Nations Secretary General. We wave a fond goodbye and look forward to its return!"

mejor en bici

-For the entire month of August my bike computer registered 180 miles in commuting distance.*

-Last week I registered a new personal best of 30.8mph! I've taken 'er up to a close second at 30.7mph and a few others over 30mph...

-...you know it! Speeding without a motor.

*This figure, of course, does not include various leisurely trips taken on my cruiser, nor the times i either forgot entirely or forgot to hook in my computer display/info receiver.

...but in zee Munich Zirkus I was known as zee Incredible...

Nightcrawler.  Now his skillz would be a good trick for getting across busy intersections and trouble spots.  A real time saver!  Plus it would just be lots of fun.

P.S. are people aware that the actor portraying that "Teutonic wall-walker" in X2 is Scottish?!

golden deliziös MutterWurst / Schrei nein zum Winter

"There's a snake in my boot!"* and by that i mean, "Someone's been sleeping in my bed! ... "** and by that i mean, "Someone's been messing with my Deutsche Magnetpoesie!" ...finally!

Well done. Very well done, whoever you are. I have a few suspects, but if you'd like to come forth and identify yourself, O Mystery Dichter, please do! If you'd rather your identity remain a mystery...um, fine. Be that way.

That being said, i'd like to put out a call to all German-speaking, and/or Deutsch-attempting goons out there to come over and make their mark on our refridgerator! It's been far too long since the Magnetically Poetic Days of Olde back in the War Room. Slim to no prior knowledge of German required!

wunderbar! Thor and his Enchanted Hammer make half of a cameo appearance in the bottom-left corner of that shot.

essentially the same photograph as the first, but i liked how the light came through redhandlightcolored when i blocked the flash w/my hand.

And whatever you do, always ALWAYS: benutz eine fantastische Dschungelstimmung.

* Toy Story

** Goldlöckchen und die drei Bären - or if you're feeling like a more colorful and entertaining versionette (and the end to this quote), check out (RIP) Burgess Meredith's rendition of the tale as Grandpa Gustafson in "Grumpy Old Men"

Yikes!

?!?!?!??

The lady at the front counter said it was because of the bleach or detergent or what-have-you that they use in the dishwashers and whatever chemical residue may remain on the groceries they buy and use in their fares. Scary...

Also: so many "Or"s! Which parts should i believe?!

mejor en bici

Last week on my bike ride to work i reached a velocity of 30+ mph!

The Modern Warrior (Study)

The modern warrior.

A few choice weapons on each shoulder, should he need them. Battles can be piercing, wrenching, messy. (Protective eyegear strongly recommended. Keychain for easy access, style points.  Laptop computer = "+500 exp."*)

Here we find him backed by his mighty sometime-steed (Backup mighty steed, really. Just in case. You know, like when he needs to get out the big guns. Plus joyrides, etcetera)

Cast upon him thy rosepetals lest he fall in battle.  Affix a pin of blessing abreat his T-shirt (shirt pocket, shoulder strap). Lift up a prayer for him as you fancy.  Battle rages tough, these things he could bring to bear.

*-B.L.O'M.

The pie chart says most

This has been a long time in coming: 'twas created over a year ago and it took a while until i scanned it last August and am now finally directing it to where it needs to be! Thanks to my good buddy Dillon for allowing me to publish his artwork!

yet another battle in the war

As my good friend Van Morrison says, "You gotta fight everyday to keep mediocrity at bay."

Date Night: trip to the internet

Squirrel Nutkins!

Squirrel Nutkins is an acrobat; a veritable tightrope walker!

mejor en bici

Today on my bike ride to work i:

-stashed a mostly great-looking futon for later retrieval

-saw a party in progress on a front lawn.
From what i could tell as i whizzed passed, 'twas being conducted by & large in ASL.

headfingers

my fingers are cold, my head is hot—put them together, now they are not!

waiting

waiting

“people watching
watching people
waiting”

waiting

1. breathe!
2. pause, relax
3. close your eyes
(inhale…exhale…)
4. sit up straight
(breathe deeply)
5. listen
(keep on breathing throughout…)

listen for something
listen for sounds
try to pinpoint voices, footsteps of passersby, familiar sounds, strange sounds even.
much more bedeutsam than that though: animal noises, the rustling of the wind,
now and again overhearing what little kids are saying/snippets of other people’s conversations; which are often hilarious, or at least slightly amusing—enough to make you grin.
to make you turn up the corners of your mouth, smile, laugh quietly to yourself.
(before you closed your eyes, you could see what the tinyboppers were doing too, which was often more hilarious than the chatter! …or more hilarious overall, both things combined)

imagine a Native American man; the Native American people!
nativos, ursprüngliche Einwohner, indigenous persons

sounds in the harmony of the forest: more natural
ability to discern. to listen. to hear!
the buffalo, “the wolf cry to the blue corn moon. the voices of the mountains.” the Voice.
sounds of modern machinery? of course not.
…certainly not like that plane you’re hearing overhead
(floating peacefully, feather-like—turbine jet-engines notwithstanding—up toward the stratosphere, though it will never reach it)
…certainly not that gas weedwacker or lawnmower or hedgetrimmer or whatever the deuce it is

today i sat and waited.
imagined my perpendicularly planted feet extended into the concrete, into the topsoil, into the earth’s crust, the tectonic plates, the Heart of the Earth.

waited

waited

waited…
.
.
.
waited for an Earthquake.

Providence meets 11:59pm – 12:00 am

Today i had one of the most hectic days i’ve experienced at my current job. ‘Twas challenging; i was there late, i locked up after everyone else had gone home.

Aeroplane rising, lifting, drifting, soaring into sunset. Wind through my hair, wind at my back, wind in my face, wind pushing back.

My brother.

On my bike ride home from work, a punk in a black pickup truck deliberately tried to nearly hit me. I was trying to make a left turn and had my hand out to signal said intention. Some horns blasted, his truck grazed me on the right, i leaned left. I somehow also managed to knock his truck on the side with my knuckles. I made it home without so much as a scratch. Some people in a nearby apartment building must have seen or heard the incident and were peering out their screen door on the second floor. A guy and a girl. The girl asked, “Are you ok?” Me: “Yeah. Thanks.” Pheromone seems to be much more empathic than testosterone most of the time? Concerned about the proper things.

Kirsten and Baby + Elizabethtown + dinner.

Come to find out all the dishes are done! The first round of baby shower items is stacked nicely on the second couch, just waiting to be put in storage, be dealt with, duplicates gifts returned to the store.

Life is grand!

“God is alive, magic is afoot.” –BSM

Please share the road.

Birth forthcoming.

Baby.

…y bendiciones.