Blessed with rain

wow, you're hardcore she says
i am a radioactive wet rat
bright yellow rain slicker
black rain pants
helmet and blinky lights
damp face
it only looks bad when you're in a car i say
yeah, cuz you hit the water faster she adds
yup, it's actually pretty nice
being sprinkled with cool sweet water while you exercise
yeah she says
i get off my bike
she locks her car

Virtual Economic Disaster or...

"The Unemployed Avatar"

In January 2010, the virtual unemployment rate in virtual America remained over 10%. Virtual people were getting virtually desperate, hungry, angry. The problem was, none of the unemployed virtual people knew of the other unemployed virtual people around them.

The more radical leaning virtually unemployed believed they might be able to wrest control and redistribute the wealth from the virtual rich, if only they could get organized. But the virtual rich had already beaten them to the punch - for decades ago, virtual super highways had been constructed to make movement without virtual money difficult, and former virtual farmland had been turned into virtual housing pods, complete w/ virtual 2 car garages in virtual cul-de-sacs.

The virtual people with virtual jobs lived in these virtual neighborhoods, watching virtual "reality" TV shows night after night and ingesting tons upon tons of virtual advertising. They virtually knew nothing of the growing number of virtual people in need right outside their doors. The former moved from place to place inside virtual steel cages called cars, while the latter hid out in abandoned spaces and were rarely seen. The situation was such that a huge numbers of virtual people were virtually invisible.

It was almost as if they did not exist.

* * *
To be continued.

Things you won't see in a car...

this morning near capitola i pass a blockbuster membership card on the road, no biggie, i see all kinds of miscellaneous trash while riding, so i keep riding. then i notice a few other scattered plastic cards, i keep riding...then i spot a driver's license, i pull over. i feel like hanzel minus gretel as i pick up the trail of plastic cards and one wallet, careful not to get tagged by oncoming auto traffic.

turns out the drivers license belongs to a capitola man who's car got broken into this morning. he'd already canceled his credit cards by the time i called but luckily, hadn't ordered a new license.

his wallet had gotten pretty chewed up by the road, as i'm presuming the cars that rode by didn't see it and more likely than not, drove right over it. that's a sad thing if you think about it - so much gets missed in a car; on a bike i regularly pick up loose change (37 cents this morning), and today, someone's wallet. Add to that the pleasant smell of solstice trees (christmas trees to everyone else, i just ain't no christian) being hauled away this morning, and i'm very, very glad i ride a bike.

I need a new bike - dilemma part I

i have a friend who once said whenever he gets a new car, he immediately kicks a dent or puts a nick in it. just to get it over with.

i totally know how he feels.

about 48 hours have passed since i started asking around for advice on a decent commuter ride. and the answers have been pretty consistent - Surly, Salsa, and maybe Bianci. No one has recommended modern Schwinns and I know better than to even bother with ugly ass Giants.

Thing is, i'm used to not worrying about where i lock up. i mean, i know dudes who commute and never park outside but bring their prized rides into their office/cube space instead. that ain't me. if i have to fret about the paint getting nicked or some meth head jacking my wheels, seat, or whatever, it ain't worth the trouble.

then there's the issue of licensing your ride w/ the state - yes, it's only a few bucks but ugh, more government bureaucracy. one of the best things about riding is the simplicity of bicycle technology (er...lack of motor) and how this requires very little parasitic off-shoot industries (i.e. no pinche auto-insurance dickwads, driver's ed classes, etc).

but...damn the Surly Pacer is a sweet ride. now, why the f- doesn't it have mounts for a rack on the seat stay?!!!!

*sigh*

is it worth going into debt over? won't i have to get a little matching cap to wear w/ it? will i have to replace my pocket knife w/ a switchblade and be ready to cut some sucka-ass-punk who tries to mess with it?

i can picture it now:

"nice ride, now hand it over."

"piss off."

"I said hand the bike over!"

"death first!"

*glock glock*

thud.

I need a new bike

it is a new year and i need a new bike.

there's just no way around it. Of the 5 hand-me-down bikes i've been in possession of over the last decade, all of them have something askew.

The blue Trek is pretty much thrashed, I got the front changer hooked up to a shifter that looks like a charred finger, and I cannot stand riding the streets on 26" wheels. The lavender Schwinn Townie is a delight to ride but heavy, squeaky (I refuse to change the saddle as it is an original part, which I'm guessing goes back at least 25 years), and isn't equipped to hold panniers (though, I really do love the front basket). The Benotto frame was stripped over a year ago to outfit the Bridgestone, because the Bridgestone has rear mounts for a rack and the Benotto doesn't.

But as I've come to painfully discover - The Bridgestone frame is simply too small for me to have panniers on. That is to say, despite switching out 2 difference racks, and two different kinds of panniers, my heels keep hitting the latter no matter which way i put it together. So I need to get a new bike.

The problem is, i actually don't know that much about bikes. I just love riding them. I have a benotto, bridgestone, trek, and schwinn, and know that i don't like cannondales. But other than that, I'm pretty much at a loss when it comes to shopping for a new ride. I mean, clearly a more classic road frame with rear mounts and 700 wheels is what I'd prefer, maybe with townie handle bars, but what's a reliable and affordable make/model? I don't wanna read a book on the subject and Craigslist is overwhelming. Ugh. Dear internet-universe, what do you recommend?

Copenhagen, the state, everywhere

Been watching the proceedings in Copenhagen for almost 2 weeks now and this picture pretty much says it all.

The message from industrial civilization to the living world: "Out of my cold dead hands."

Carbon Offsets, Me & Your Money

Hey Copenhagen! Car bombings in Iraq/Paki/Afghanistan, melting glaciers in the Arctic, and ice on the roof tops of this sunny little beach town I live in. Crazy times, eh? You know, there's been a lot of talk about carbon trading, carbon offsets, carbon credits, and whatnot. Some folks don't believe that planting a few trees in downtown L.A. makes up for all the diesel jet fuel burned by fat first world tourists traversing the globe to take pictures of places that their countries used to look like before they "developed" it; some folks are skeptical that investing in a wind turbine farm in Oregon can make up for the blowing up of an entire mountain in West Virginia just for some lousy, dirty coal, and a few hundred jobs. Some folks say it's too late to turn back the tide and industrial societies will simply keep burning fossil fuels until there's none left to burn. I say screw all that.

You CAN make a difference in slowing down climate change and the way to do that is to pay me. If you're tired of those pesky impersonal carbon offset front groups supported by the likes of Al Gore, and wanna help out a real flesh and blood human being attempting to reduce his carbon footprint, pay me. If you're sick of those generic letters boasting about how your money can go to support Greenpeace banner drops at climate summits or Peruvian basket weavers, and just wanna help a guy afford some decent panniers, start sending your money my way asap.

I sold my car years ago and ride a bike daily, even on cold ass days like this where anyone in their right mind would never leave the house. I tend a garden, chickens, own a rain water barrel, and a tuning fork for my instruments as I don't wanna purchase batteries for an electric tuner cuz' batteries have lithium and mercury in them or something. I've stopped using paper towels and dry my hands on my hair/clothes/or just wave them around in the air. I worm compost practically everything, thereby preventing landfill overuse. I even go so far as to pocket compostable materials and/or recyclable materials when proper disposable facilities are not available. I try to pee outside whenever possible. Yeah, I do a lot of utterly ridiculous things to try and "make a difference" and it's high time my efforts got subsidized.

So send me money. I tend to eat more food than my co-workers who drive and it gets expensive. I also wear out shoes a lot more often as I tend to go on nature walks, ride a bike, and do other outdoor activities whenever possible. It's freakin' cold outside these days and I need some wool sweaters, shirts, or gloves. I also need a haircut, bike tubes, a massage, and an accordion that works. You may be asking - what about other tools for sustainable living like a wheel barrel or solar panels? I'm one step ahead of ya. Because sustainable living isn't just about the reduction in energy consumption but also about owning less material possessions, when it comes to wheel barrels and the like, I simply "borrow" from my neighbors when they're not home. As for solar panels - yeah, I could definitely use a whole bunch of those.

Who knows? If enough of ya'll start sending me dollars (I'd prefer Euros), I might be able to go full time w/ this sustainable living gig and stop working for the man all together. In return, I'll do my part to not shop for frivolous things, grow my own food, brew my own beer, organize fruit tree picking expeditions, and generally spit in the face of every greedy capitalist swine whenever possible. No time to waste! The earth is in dire straits! Pay me!