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November 30, 2006
hello.
Do you ever have one of those moments where you suddenly feel awake after weeks or months of sleeping?
I'm awake, and back amongst the living.
Actually, I've been back amongst the living for about three weeks now, but I've been so overwhelmed by the amount of work (work and school) that I needed to get done, that I've been offline to a huge extent.
For better or for worse, my big school project is over. I still have the final and a couple of labs to do, but I feel like a tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders. There is going to be plenty of franticness at work over the next couple weeks, but none for the next couple of days. And I need to start the holiday blitz of knitting and shopping. But today, I am happy. Hurrah!
By the way, I am writing more frequently at vj.vox.com. If you join Vox, you don't necessarily have to blog there, but you will have the ability to leave comments on my posts, and for me to okay you to see private posts. Doesn't that private post idea just fill you with glee? Anyways, join, drop me an email so I know who you are, and I'll add you to friends and family.
...
As you might have heard, it's been raining in Portland. Unendingly. Well, I exaggerate. I haven't gotten caught in the rain in a couple days at least.
It's made commuting interesting, to be sure. I've been trying to stay on the bike, but I have given in some days and taken the bus. Monday was quite cold (the weather folks were predicting snow), and I bike-commuted, and didn't wear enough clothes. Damn, that was cold. On Monday night, I could not get warm again, and ended up going to bed with long underwear and flannel pjs on, and then I only warmed up once Sweetie got to bed.
The next morning, I felt like I was on the verge of a headcold, and I'm still trying to stave it off.
So the last couple days, I've been taking the bus. So I was really pleased this morning to hear the busdriver say, when we stopped on the Hawthorne bridge, to watch for bicyclists. Yeah, way to be proactive!
We took a slight road trip for Thanksgiving: we and the Texiles had rented a cabin in ZigZag, which is on Mt. Hood on National Forest land. It was great. We brought too much food, they brought too much food. We stoked fires and hung out. For the first time in several years, I didn't cook on Thanksgiving. Truth be told, I didn't do anything but read the stack of books I had for school.
No internet. No television. I'd just sit myself on the couch between the woodstove and the fireplace in about a dozen layers, and peel them off as the room warmed, and read and read and read. Very frequently, the rest of the couch and the chairs would be filled with Texiles, reading, or some of them would be at the table, 4 feet away, working on a puzzle or a board game. It was quite convivial and genial. And it was just so enjoyable.
It totally fed my desire for community, for hanging out semi-autonomously. We'd make meals, but everyone was on their own for snacks, so there was always someone foraging in the fridge to make breakfast tacos with leftover crepes (delicious, yum!). And we all took naps -- some more than once a day!
It was so relaxing and enjoyable, and I thought about how I usually live: eating a meal while watching TV while researching something online. Multitasking to an extreme. I want to start being more conscious about this stuff.
I always claim and truly feel like I have no time to read. But it's quite obvious that I can make the time, and maybe I need to.
...
But first, I have been online this morning and I've found some great things.
-Scentzilla's TV and classic painters mashups
Oh my gosh, she is brilliant.
- Vintage Vespa Menorah
That's right, take two unrelated things and combine them. Huh? I think I have to have it though.
November 22, 2006
test post
This is a test post. This is only a test. If this had been a real emergency, you would have been directed to radio stations in your area with news and announcements.
(altportland appears to be having some digestive problems, and I'm curious if they are happening here as well)
November 17, 2006
bike luv
On the heels of the foreign lady in Beijing story, I have to share some unexpected bike love.
I rode home tonight, as I do four nights a week. While the ride to work is relaxing and invigorating, the ride home can be a bit of a test. For a while, I was trying to get to the point where I would not yell, mouth, or think, motherf*^&%^r when a car would buzz me or another bicyclist would sweep by with no warning. I'm still trying to get into that lovingkindness place. The hills aren't so bad any more. No one's offered to push me up one in maybe a month or more.
So today, I'm riding up the hill by the Rose Quarter. It's not too bad of a hill, though it does come right after climbing the hill from the river. I'm relaxed, hell, I'm even enjoying the rise. A trimet bus goes by, and, gasp, gives me lots of room. Doesn't pull one of those, you're in my way, so I'm gonna go by you really fast. We pull up at the light together. The light turns green, and again, the bus driver is graceful, respectful. He pulls over to let some one off, then looks very carefully to see where I am, to see if any other cyclists have ridden up. He crosses back into the lane he needs to be in, and we both stop at the light.
I'm just floating in this warm bath of endorphins. Someone didn't try to scare the crap out of me! He opens his door, and thanks me for having lights on my bike and wearing a reflective jacket. I thank him for being a considerate driver, and say that I don't envy him his job. My g-d, it's a friggin' love fest.
He pulled through the light, and that was the end of that. But it was such a nice experience that I needed to share it.
...
There's not a lot to tell for the last couple of weeks. I feel like I've been on a dead run lately between work and school. Bicycling back and forth has been a consistent high point, even when it rains. I've been riding the 24-speed, figured out how to keep the panniers on the bike (it's so simple it's embarrassing that I hadn't figured earlier), and actually added lights and a bell. All I need is a basket and I'm all set.
The foreign lady in the Beijing bike lane
I have been completely buried under between work and school and my ever-changing moods, so if you've seen this, sorry. However, it's a great story.
It appears some roads in Beijing have a dedicated, separate, bike lane. And it appears cars try to use those bike lanes to get around traffic. Somebody took that whole partying at the literal bar too serious, and actually thought that bike lanes were, gasp, for bikes. Crazy!
I love this story, with lots of pictures. Go, foreign lady!
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20061027_1.htm
November 7, 2006
Go, Statistics Canada!
A moving finding — commuting isn't so bad after all
SCOTT DEVEAU
7/11/2006, Globe & Mail
http://tinyurl.com/snhnl
"In 2005, 19 per cent of workers who rode their bicycles to work reported that their commute was the most pleasant activity of their day. This was true of just 2 per cent of workers who drove to work.
However, 2001 census data showed that only about 1 per cent of commuters rode a bicycle to work, whereas 81 per cent used a vehicle.
...
Public transit users were less likely to enjoy commuting than drivers."
