Chinese Democracy.

So when I moved here in august I brought my mountain bike to the bike shop down the street to get repaired and all that good stuff. Had several issues. Well...one thing led to another, and i sort of forgot it was down there. Sort of. Living in a new place has a funny way of draining money. I just went to pick it up yesterday. I didn't even know if it would be there. It still was. And the moment I got on that bike I realized that I had found my old love again. I don't know how I did without it. That bike fits me like no piece of clothing ever will. And damn, it felt good to be on. My road bike needs a new wheel, and I've had some shinsplints, so I've been rocking the spinning bikes at the gym for a while. What a difference.

I love that sucker.

Serious but short.

Post season baseball makes the fall perfect. I mean, the summer is fantastic, but man, I do love drinking a beer and watching some playoff ball.

Oh capital!

I voted today. Dawn and I went down to the register office and put down some funky fresh democracy on y'alls. I'll be honest, I like to vote, because I'm such a hudgge in so many other ways. I don't really volunteer (or at least can't do what I want to do until I have a few more months as a trained RN for the Int'l Red cross), I'm not interested in joining the armed services, and don't own enough bulletproof clothing to teach our youth. Voting is one patriotic duty I can do. I mean, I do give to charity here and there, but that isn't doing so much on my end. So, I read about the various candidates, looked over some literature regarding the propositions, and made an honest effort to vote my conscious. The only races I didn't really go over were school board candidates, but at least now I can now count on two write in votes for Mr. Potato head and Edward Scissorhands. One person had no competition! None! So I figured I'd write in some for them. Democracy in action! I'm hoping here that as things settle in, voting will only be one of the ways that I get involved in my community and government, but for now, its' a start.

On another note, Dawn and recently celebrated our anniversary. I came home from work that night to find a huge ass television in our house. Dawn is pretty bad-ass in that sort of way.

Oh yeah.

So in the last blog, I started writing about stores closing, and then I lost the point. The point is: I went to a really really cool bike shop yesterday, and I really really hope it stays around. They just moved to the hipster part of town, so we'll see how it goes.


Just wanted to add that.
Oh yeah one more thing: though the drink itself is one of my least favorites, bud lite's real men of genius is one of the best ad campaigns in the history of radio advertising.

The pinch

So it's been a few weeks since I really walked around hillcrest, but upon going to thai food last night I found that every single business that had opened in the last six months sans one was closed. Ordinarily I would have chalked it up to poor business decisions, locations, and a misunderstanding of the market. however with so many places gone so fast, I think it's safe to say that the economy has caught up to my main street. Which quite frankly comes as shock because hillcrest is supposed to be somewhat insulated from all of this, what with the woo-hoo fabulous people all around who are very savvy. However, the fact that I'm renting the condo I am renting for the price I'm paying is only because it failed to sell in the first place, so I'm sure it was "the correction" slowly encroaching before I showed up. Even still, when national news events start happening in front of you, it's a bit of a wake-up. I've been lucky for the past few weeks because with my new job, at which I am getting ever closer to being off new hire probation, the money has been better than ever for dawn and I. We're actually able to do things like go buy clothes and go out to eat...with cash!!!! shocking for me. So while for dawn and myself, financial are good, and getting better, for other people...well...I don't know. Makes me happy to have the career that I do (f'ing best job ever btw). Will it really affect me? I hope not. Hopefully I'm still young and dumb enough to think It won't matter. Or maybe I'm getting old. Either way, it's a wake up.

Autumn. Say what you will, it's the season of change. Elections, new school years, new fashion (if you are so inclined.). But mostly leaves. Ah yes. Leaves. They do not change here, in perfect weather "OMG-I-don't-even-know-is-it-winter-or-summer" San Diego. In other parts of the world, like Flag, and leafer mecca, vermont, the public is starting to get a wondrous little show that adds such ambience to life. Sets the mood. In memory of that, I'll share a favorite memory. October 2004, I was with the NAU cycling club somewhere in the peaks. We crested a hill and a glorious autumn rain started, barely perceptible to us, but it started a cascade of gold, orange, and merlot aspen leaves to fall. We were enveloped in leaves, and riding the trail was like riding a golden path in a world of orange. Somewhere along the line, I let the brake go and I just remember flying through the trees. Everyone has memories of special almost zen like moments. Most all of mine take place in the fall. Tour de fat, the first blister of cold, and biking around a deserted copenhagen at sunrise all sit there in my head, fall as the backdrop. Its a time of year that's good for the memories. So even if I can't have leafy memories this year at least it doesn't mean the end of cycling season. So maybe san diego has something going for it there....

Updates

I have things to write. I promise. Lately I've been super busy with school...I mean work. Work is like school right now, complete with homework. That's just the price I have to pay for my kick-ass awesome job. Life is still good, and when I get some time, if I can pull myself away from gta4 I'll tell ya all bout it.

A topic that I can't seem to start writing about.

Ah ok. So Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time Lance Armstrong was a famous cyclist in Le tour. Over a summer, I watched the tour to see him win. I repeated this several years over. After a while I stated to feel tired of the Lance Armstrong story, and I started to see where some of the detractors were coming from. And to be honest, If you don't follow cycling, then I don't want to start an argument. (For those of you who are new to this, to some people insulting Cancer Survivor and American Hero Lance Armstrong is like punching a baby with down's syndrome; unforgivable and shows lack of character.) Anyway, through all of those tours I was turned on to the magical wold of cycling. I was mystified by the exciting world as told to me by Phil Liggit and Paul Sherwin. I had dreams of dancing in the pedals. I went off to study abroad and only had a bike. I came back and got a real "big boy" bike of my own. And then I spent a bit more and bought a road bike. Lance quit. But I still watched. All the revolving characters, the drama. Even the damn doping made it tragic and fascinating. A few days ago, I heard Mr. Armstrong was coming back. He did Snowmass yesterday and his team won. I wrote a blog about it on my myspace. And for all the press he has received, for all the things I have read, I remain uncertain about how I feel about him. He is an "issue" in cycling, plain and simple. Ask around. Strong feelings for and against abound. Whether you love him or you hate him, there is one thing i will say for him. He introduced me to cycling. I read his book. I learned his story. I rooted. I did the yellow armband thing, one of the first in fact. Then as I saw more, I moved on. Lance was a hero to many for sure, but he only shined in July. Cycling runs spring through fall on a professional level, and mountain biking is always around. There are so many heroes, so much to celebrate. There is a lot to see and do. So if Lance does come back and rocks some sort of crazy badass, transparent coup, then well played. If not...well Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Corey Haim and Van Halen never regained their former glory upon return, and no one really blamed em'. Good luck dude.

Missing the old crunk goblet