Shop Wall Wisdom

True wisdom is found written on the walls of bicycle shops.

I feel like such a voyeur.

And if that's not cute enough, check out this.
Via CuteOverload.

Here's hoping

David Foster Wallace is one of my favorite writers and so I am both excited and worried about the release of the "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" movie which is based on the David Foster Wallace book by the same title.



Here's hoping it doesn't suck.

Art & Zod & Stuff

A friend of mine, Alison Tharp, will be exhibiting some of her art work this weekend at the Compound Studios & Gallery (located at 6602 San Pablo Ave in Oakland, Ca) as part of a series put on by Obi Kaufmann and the local art magazine, Oakland Swee(t)art.

The show, entitled "The Bright Darkness" will be going down Saturday, September 11th, from 6pm-9pm.

I met Alison through Jesse, who I worked with while at the Missing Link. It's telling that I still consider those days I spent working & slacking with Jesse (et. al.) at the Link some of the bestest thus far. Jesse, who was obviously meant for more than tagging & receiving bike parts, flew the coop & settled, quite comfortably and successfully, at Peter Thomas Hair.

Jesse is high on the list of people in the Gay Area that I miss the most, which is kind of surprising as when we were slacking at the Link, we didn't really hang out in a non-shop environment, and even after he moved on to cutting hair & dispensing the worst dating advice I've ever heard, we weren't all up in each other's bidness. Nevertheless, Jesse is a friend of the highest order (probably because his sense of humor achingly reminds me of a friend I lost, years ago, to suicide).

Anywho, back to Alison: I met Alison because, like Jesse, she is also a senior stylist at Peter Thomas Hair. Furthermore, Jesse & Alison are a bit of a thing and as such, I've been lucky enough to add yet another undercover overachiever to my list of friends*.
And they have a wee little dog. Named General Zod. Which is awesome.

Finally, if you live in or find yourself in the Gay Area & are in the need of a haircut, I'd highly recommend the people at Peter Thomas Hair. Especially of course Jesse and/or Alison; they give good hair.
And, I'm not the only one who thinks that is Peter Thomas Hair the ne plus ultra of Bay Area hair- the 126 reviews of Peter Thomas Hair over at Yelp carry an average mark of 4 outa fivers.
I especially like this review because of the conflicting emotions it inspires in me- do I want to bear this reviewer's children or kick their PBR-drinking, psuedo-complicated, elitist hipster ass?



*As a plain, old, traditional underachiever, I sometimes find it a little embarrassing that all of my friends are so talented while remaining so irritatingly nonchalant about their talents. Fucking christ, if I can't be a winner, can you all at least own up to your über alles status so I can bask in your glory?
Thank you.

Don't forget your wig.

Thanks to Steve Smith at All Hail the Black Market.

Khede Kasra

"Though the road to full gender equality is long, this simple campaignable act was the first of its kind in the whole Arab region and the first important step in the right direction."




Via Feministing.

Take 2

Ah, yes. Title IX was rad.

You're fooling yourself if think that's all we* need tho. "Babe, set and match: How looks count for more than talent when Wimbledon decides which girls will play on center court."
Oops, 'scuse me, centre.
Why are we calling women girls? Aren't we past infantilizing women by calling them girls?
And I won't even get into the obvious racism involved here as well.


*And by we I mean everyone, because even the dudes have wives, sisters, daughters, mothers, friends, girlfriends, cousins, doctors, teachers, etc. who have been negatively impacted and are still today impacted by sexism.

Infinite

Can't sleep.
Again.

Reading Infinite Jest.
Again.

The first time I read it I was in high school.
Yes, I was a precocious little smart ass.
I thought that I was too cool for school and that was the end of that.

If you want to be one of the coolest in the nerd crew that you run in, you can join in on Infinite Summer.
There's even a hashtag (#infsum) for it over at the twitter and if it's on the twitter it must be cool.

There's a couple of glancing mentions of Georg Cantor in the book, to whom Krystoph Pistoff may or may not be related.
That sentence sux.
The end.

Hey, Kimberly Sue!

Did you hear the news?

Hammer & his pants are comin' back.
Gold has been rad for a while tho.
Remember?
Now do you remember?

My favorite was Mr. AARP Man at 54sec with suitcoat, glasses, & sweatband. Way to grind it man!

Freud, in a nutshell.

I'm not a quitter.

And no, I'm not dead.
Just craycray busy.
I'll be back.
Sometime or other.
In the means, check out Womenscyclingmag.com or womenscyclingmag.wordpress.com.

Counterpoint.

Horseshit.

Life can be so confusing.

Push me.

Hard to say which one is funnier.
(But if pushed for an answer, ha ha ha, I'd vote for the first as the second could potentially be NSFW.)

Water

For best effect, watch it in biggity screen.

Fast, faster, fastest?

"That doesn't give us much time."

(I wish I could blog about something fabulous & exciting but alas, I'm a boring person.)

A whole warehouse of peas in my head.

Attention all you single ladies, Bobby is single!

"I know. I know."

Mario Cipollini gets punked

Did you see that bitch slap at the end?
Oh Mario, I would have expected more from you.

What's so funny

From Icanhazcheezburger.com.

Fiat

Via FredCast.com.

Help a Sister Out.

First, a video and a rather long one at that.


From SF Bay Guardian:

My dear friend Hollis Hawthorne, a major force in the San Francisco art and bicycle scene, is in critical condition in India. The 31-year-old dancer, artist, and activist was in a tragic motorcycle accident near Pondicherry last Tuesday, February 24, which left her with severe head injuries and in a coma. As of today, she is at Apollo Hospital in Chennai and still unconscious, though she’s finally breathing on her own. Her prognosis is still unknown.

Why do I care?

Hollis is known in San Francisco as co-founder of the Bay Area Derailleurs , an all-female bicycle dance troupe whose purpose is bike activism and female empowerment.

And if you know me, you know I just lublublublublub bike activism and female empowerment.
So I would encourage you to help a sister out.
More at Help Hollis Get Home and at Friends of Hollis Hawthorne.

This is reality.

Thisisreality.org.

Barcodes

Man, don't you just love the netflix?
Of course you do!

Have you noticed the barcodes?
No?

Update 2/12/2009: From Steven Woo, this link which suggests that barcode showing or no, it doesn't really make a difference. Well, there you have it.
I still think barcodes are magic tho.


Lemme walk you through them then:
Barcode #1 on the dvd protecto sleeve:

(BTW, I highly recommend Creature Comforts.)

Barcode #2 on the bottom of the return mail envelope & happy little peek through window above:


Now, if you insert the dvd protecto sleeve with its barcode facing the address side, this is what you get:


But if you insert the dvd protecto sleeve with it's barcode facing the same way as the barcode on the return mail envelope like so:


You get this:

Not actually apparent from the picture because I cut off the bar code on the return envelope, but what you get is both barcodes visible & scanable.

I don't know for sure if you get your movies back more quickly if you make sure the dvd protecto sleeve barcode is scanable w/o opening the return envelope sleeve, but I do know that barcodes are magic*. So watch your movies & pay attention to the barcodes.

*Hey, bike industry? UPCs & barcodes really are magic. Get on it!

One of the problems with being a 21st century hippie

Is that often times when I decide not to support a company through the consumption of their product, I find that I didn't really support them to begin with and as such can't feel as if I am expressing my dissatisfaction with their company's stance on whatever dirty, commie, pinko hippie cause that may currently be bothering me.
Rat farts!

Same thing with these products that I never really bought to begin with but now will most definitely not buy:

• Kellogg's cereal
• Kashi*
  
• Pop-Tarts
• Nutri-Grain bars
• Stretch Island fruit leather
• Keebler
• E.L. Fudge
• Vienna Fingers
• Famos Amos
• Club crackers
• Munch'ems
• Town House crackers
• Carr's
• Cheez-It
• Morning Star**
• Eggo

Why?
Because.


*I used to occasionally buy a box of Kashi cereal like once a month but no more, I swear it!
**Back in the day, when I was living in the dirty, commie, pinko hippie student co-ops, I used to eat Chik patties all the time. I'd say I ate at least 5 a week. Now that I live on my own & I pay for my food directly, I just can't justify buying a box of 6 patties for whatever it is they cost. It's a rip. But lord are they tasty. No more, no more.

Hurrah!

All the info your little trembling heart could ever possibly desire at SFBike.org.
Be a contestant or just "watch hot cyclists pair up". It's free to coalition members, 10$ for non-members.

From the SFBike.org site:

What about the perception that too much bike riding could cause impotence?
Health experts agree that the tremendous cardiovascular fitness conveyed by cycling will usually outweigh any minor impacts that might occur from ordinary riding. Sexual performance becomes noticeably improved in most cases. Men can experience stronger "thrusting muscles," a heightened sex drive, reduced stress, and longer endurance - hurrah! - from cycling regularly.

Seriously, I'm getting sick & tired of people worrying about potential cycling-related man-junk issues because you know what has an even bigger effect on the man-junk's utility (or lack thereof)?
Being a fat, out of shape, lazy sack of shit.
So, go ride your bike, git sum, and be happy.

Fight!

All the details at www.PillowFight.info.

Alright, you've been told. I want to hear of epic battles, dragon slayers, & mad pillow carnage. Photos too please.

And to think that Cat's still single

Cat described these cupcakes by claiming that they are "so good I would marry myself & be my own housewife if I could" and when I made them I almost called Cat up right then and there to propose to her.
Stupid fucking prop 8.
(I don't think it would have worked anyway because I don't think I'm her type. And I'm so tragically straight.)


Cat's Marry Me Brownies*
1 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons flax seed meal
¾ cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal
¼ cup almond meal
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup sugar
.333 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons almond extract

Combine flax seed meal & coconut milk and allow this mixture to stand for about 20 minutes.
In separate bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, cornmeal, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, & cayenne pepper.
Add sugar & oil to the coconut milk mixture. Stir well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir well.
Pour into 9 x 9 baking pan, cook at 350° for about 30 minutes and start looking for venues & caterers.


*I made these into brownies instead of cupcakes because I didn't have cupcake tins. Furthermore, cupcakes are so annoyingly trendy these days that I'd have to shoot myself in the leg if I contributed to that trend.
So, brownies it is.

East Bay Hills Alley CX

If'n you aren't going to go out for the Jamboree, you might want to check this out:

"Get ready for 30 to 50 miles of roads and trails in the Oakland and Berkeley hills..."
All the nitty gritty here.

People are trying to cram about 3.5 week's worth of fun into this weekend and I have the feeling that I'm going to come back from my Santa Cruz/Bay Area trip a changed woman.

Shop wall wisdom

As seen last time I was at the Link.

Scheduling Conflicts

Here in St. Babs, California's bastard geographical child, I'm struggling to manage my racing schedules: the SlowCal schedule, the NorCali schedule, & the Grasshoppers.

February 28th:
The first of the Grasshoppers, "Cross/Mountain. Leave your road bike home. 50ish miles" they say and I can't help but be excited.
NorCali schedule has the Merco Credit Union Cycling Classic Downtown Grand Prix. Meh, except for the fact that it would be a women's 3 feild. Not a 1/2/3 feild, not a 3/4 field, but a 3s only field. Still, meh.
SlowCal schedule has the Callville Bay/Southern Nevada Stage race, which I know will be well attended.
Hmm, now I'm conflicted: Stage racing or an informal race with the kids? Yikes!
Projected winner? SlowCal with the Southern Nevada Stage race.

March 7th:
The second of the Grasshoppers, "All road, all the time. 70ish miles." Not as exciting as 50miles of cx riding but still exciting considering it'll be good people riding bikes & having fun.
NorCali schedule has the Berkeley Bicycle Club team time trial, which rolls over the fabulicious 3 bears loop; however, they ride it in the wrong direction & I'd have to find a partner. Meh.
SlowCal schedule has the Island View crit, which I would kind of feel obligated to do given as it's right here in town.
Projected winner? SlowCal with the Island View crit.

April 11th:
The third of the Grasshoppers, "Mountain. 25ish miles." I don't even own a mountain bike so I guess that's out, and besides, NorCali has Copperwhopyerarse listed for that day. I'm sure I'll never do as well at Copper as I did back in the day, when I was a 4 & I could do no wrong, but it's one of those races that makes you a better person & builds character, so I feel obligated to do it.
SlowCal has Fort Irwin Road Race. Meh.
Projected winner? NorCali with Copperwhopyerarse.

May 9th:
The fourth & final 2009 Grasshopper, "Road. Mostly paved. 85ish miles." Interesting, verrry interesting.
NorCali has some crit. Meh.
SlowCal doesn't have much. Meh.
Projected winner? Grasshopper with the 85miles of mostly paved racing.


I'd say I'm most conflicted about the first of the Grasshopper dates as I think it would be the funnest, terrain-wise. Not to roadie, not to mtb, just right for the Goldilocks riders.
But, overall I think I'll be able to get a good blend of the three calenders.
What do you think?

Haz vs. Has

I think proper lol cat speak would be "haz" instead of "has" but who am I to judge?

Stolen from UrbanVelo.org.