End of 2011

Last day of the year and I'll take the Brooklyn Bridge again.
I don't remember exactly how many rides I've made this year but it's likely over 150.
This is sort of a luxury b/c it cuts down on my ride time but I kind of cheat myself out of the workout so, like fats and oils, will be used sparingly.

Crossing in to Manhattan it stank of nail polish or nail polish remover and raw sewage.
Mr. Smithers looked miserable this week and that makes me happy. He's a miserable person but to actually look the way you feel is another subject and frankly I'm delighted.
Looking forward to an early dismissal and nice 3-day break.
The bike is making this noise that I expected to be a slow leak but it's actually a clicking type noise that lets up when I brake a little so I will use one of my free tune-ups.
I hope things change professionally in 2012. I suppose my New Year's resolution next year will be to (a) become more handy in the house and (b) try to make things happen professionally. I have less say over the latter but I'll have to figure something else out.
I did live up to one resolution for 2011, which was more writing.
Thank you for reading.

Day # 530 - An Icy View From The Bridge

Though it's the penultimate business day of 2011, a first occurred this morning, as I decided to bike-commute from Atlantic Terminal via Bklyn Bridge. I'm happy to say that it's quicker and now I never again have to change trains at Jamaica.

It's a tough ride though, once you get on its platform b/c it's uphill for a while there and you instantly feel the incline. My legs are back to full strength and thankfully so, b/c it would've been much worse if I was sore at all. It's freezing out today and windy, so gulps of frigid air are lining my lungs.

Am not listening to music, as I have to ride through the streets where the road isn't fully paved with a bike lane.

There are still plenty of people on the bridge, however. Tourists, runners, a few cyclists -- lots of them are stopping to take pictures which I ought to do one day. I found my Thinsulates this morning and my new glove liners are making all this much more bearable.

The goal today is to see how long it takes, this being the worst of conditions. It took 20 minutes.

It's not worthwhile, IMO, to take this route back home, though, unless I know there's a problem at Penn. When you are in a rush the last thing you want to worry about is a bridge. The flat ride is the smarter ride in a hurry.

A good deal.

I'm slated to buy Lanegan ticket(s) today.

Thank you for reading.

Garth Ennis Rules!

Legs are at 90% capacity.
It's a normal day for a cold one.
Garth Ennis is without a doubt the best living comics writer and my personal favorite ever. I am reading Battlefields: Dear Billy and it is, like his other WW2 stories, mesmerizing. I got it by chance for $3 and it's worth every penny.
Listening to Monster Magnet -- first few off Mastermind and then a choice few in the mid-end of Powertrip.
Was able to wake up on time and have a decent breakfast which is a nice 180 from yesterday.
Goal is to get in and out today. Mostly it's just a bunch of reading that no one is acknowledging, although a certain Smithers said he would during my evaluation this year.
I expect nothing from the spineless, however, and I don't care too much.
Thank you for reading.

Four days left

Legs are still sore from Saturday's leg-heavy workout.
I'm also wearing a guard for my lower half, which is supposed to save my prostate from unnecessary impacts while riding. Feels like I'm carrying a solid dungload in my pants.
It's mild but a little windy and all the aforementioned factors are keeping me from moving too fast. I'm in no rush anymore, since I rushed out this morning. I had learned the hard way from Friday, however, and rode up the sidewalk.
Listening to New Ground, by Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise. Got it about 10 years ago while at The Towerlight and it's still one of my favorite keepsakes. The sound is a little broader -- like they're playing a larger venue as opposed to next door (on Time To Discover, my favorite album of theirs, the studio tone is just different).
I had been a little apprehensive about getting to work today, as there had been some doubts as I left that everything was as it should be but it's all good I'm confident I'll still have a job @ the end of the day.
Donated platelets yesterday and aside from the biking, I will take it easy this week with the exercise. I will likely hit the gym on Saturday but it's good to give myself some time off as well as a break from the Cava-Panter-Mega-Metalli-stuff for a bit.
I rec'd a bunch of really good, rare jazz stuff for the holidays and I'm looking forward to breaking them in. Kenny Dorham and Jimmy Smith typically hit the spot with their music. Though I was born almost 25 years after it initially was released, it's all new to me since I'm first getting in to it these past years.
Bringing the bike in today since it's supposed to rain later on.
Reading "The A-Team" tpb tie-in.
Thank you for reading.

holy ___, it's christmas.

just kind of bolted out of there today.

This is the first time in a while that I've rode in daylight for the return trip.

Hit a flat on the way to the train ramp. (i've since figured out where/why and will just have to avoid it next week). got it fixed up pretty good and got a screw for the fender.

i'm moving really fast b/c of some literally last-minute things that had to be rectified. (i wound up making my train 2 minutes before it departed.)

Finished the Lewis Black book and it was ok but the best part was the end chapter when he detailed his USO tour. I find that stuff fascinating, as I've mostly only read/heard about that type of experience thru Rollins. Black has the same mentality that you can be for the troops but against the way and I think that's a perfectly fine mentality and standpoint.

Merry Christmas. Click here for my favorite swingin' holiday tune.

Thank you for reading.

under the cone

Under the cone b/w 8th and 10th, I saw a homeless guy lift one of the cones and he unknowingly revealed that that's his storage spot for his belongings. I have no malicious intentions, but I am more in tune with what I do and do not have right now, and it helps keep me in line.

Also, b/w what I saw this morning and today near 15th street, someone is littering the streets with (presumably) expired Bureau of Parking cards.

Thank you for reading.

it's in the 50s today.

Lewis Black can suck it. It's as warm as it's going to get this year and his shit-all-over-it-and-then-degrade-himself attitude won't effect my ride. His book is okay.

I had to make a quick stop @ the post office again, so I am doing well with that venture. Neutralizing some of the pay cut caused by the furlough.

I put on some lately-neglected I'm With You tracks followed by Hendrix's "Crosstown Traffic," "Little Miss Strange," "Long Hot Summer Night" and "Let the Good Times Roll."

I worked out my pecs, back and tris last nite and a little bit of my legs, too. It's good b/c there's not a whole lot of time this week to get to the gym and

Some thoughts:

While I was on the train I read over a fellow commuters shoulder like the crazy ghost who taught Sam Wheat to touch things in "Ghost." I finally had a chance to pay attention to what happened to PVC. Danny Chen. And it's FUCKING DISGUSTING!

So that I can remind myself (and enlighten whomever is reading), here's the basic synopsis:

While fighting/training in Afghanistan, American soldier Danny Chen, 19, killed himself in October. Why? Because, despite the threat to his own physical well-being, 8 demographically All-American soldiers tormented, teased, bullied, and fucked with him so much for months, that he'd had enough and wanted to end his life. He wasn't injured due to combat and he wasn't afraid to fight. He didn't want to do it beside a bunch of assholes who had made his waking (and sleeping) hours more unbearable than AFGHANISTAN! They narrowed it down to 8 guys (you know there were more, not to mention all the ones who stood by in silence) and the Pentagon is investigating it b/c Chen's family and the Chinese-American Organization is rightfully bringing it to the nation's attention.

Whatever happened to "Save it for the enemy?" You want to tease someone a little and then let them in on the joke and then get over it? Fine. But when you are supposed to be training and banding together like brothers and putting yourself through theoretical physical hell so that you are prepared for the real thing (like IEDs and gunfire), camaraderie comes first.

These assholes will never know; Chen could've been the guy to save everyone from calamity, could've located an IED, could've killed a militant, could've saved some child from harm's way, or could've seen no combat and came home to live with his family. But rather than afford him that when he's already in the worst place in the world, a bunch of assholes showed their true nature and hazed as if he wasn't already in the most exclusive fraternity in the world.

Maybe they are wrong. Maybe it wasn't so severe. I doubt it. I don't claim to be anything other than a layman but after watching the news and reading the occasional book or article, why/how would you do that to someone?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out and what gets proven and who takes the fall. There's got to be some statute in place. Fucking bullying. Preposterous and pathetic -- the problem is that a lot of these guys are going in to the military right after high school, so they don't know anything else. Of course, legally they are adults so they should know better. They should know where it ends.

Thank you for reading.

why i'm grateful

I can clock up another round trip today b/c basically the rain hit mid-day and that's all. the ground was wet but was not saturated and I was able to move pretty well. the slightest drizzle fell and this may be my first full week of riding in weeks. thankfully, also, the spot in the lane on the way to 14th street is patched up. My prostate can only benefit.

Thank you for reading.

Way too busy powertripping

Made the 813 easier today since I had been up on time.
It's misty again today and almost a surefire bet that it will rain. I won $2 on mega millions b/c I had the megaball.
I have a phoner today @ 1 and I am happy about that.
Listening to Monster Magnet's PowerTrip. Pretty much the pinnacle of their music. I remember very clearly buying that album @ CD Warehouse for very little b/c it was an promo version (it just had a hole in the bar code) and I sold a CD so I got it for maybe 3 bucks.
The missing screw on the back fender has made me realize that the magnet which was substituting for the screw/placeholder was altering its position, and consequently pushing it against the wheel, which is no good. I need an allen key for the remaining screw.
Am reading Lewis Black's Christmas book. It's okay. Not as good as Me Of Little Faith. I'll be done with it, at this rate, by tomorrow's return commute.
We're close to just getting this week over with and embracing the long weekend.
Let's get to it.
Thank you for reading.

Rt # 525

Chased the train from Oceanside to E. Rock. and made it in the nick of time.

That hasn't happened in a while, and when I push myself that hard and quickly, while having to inhale cold air it only strengthens my resolve. Of course, it takes at least 5 minutes to come down from a rush like that. When this happens, it's better to have it happen in the summer for this reason, since it's easier to breathe warmer air. The shock my body can endure is pretty cool, though. That I'm fit enough to ride on command like that is admirable, but of course I do not rely on that.

Anyway, the train was late coming in. I finished reading DC's version of Ghost Rider, El Diablo. Eh, it was ok. I like the artists, they did the Kevin Smith Green Arrow run, but it doesn't always work when they are dealing with monsters and spirits and demons. The story was sort of generic but the demonic Hebrew deity was an interesting spin. I imagined El Diablo to sound like General Grievous from "Star Wars" even though he was supposed to be of Mexican descent.

I'm able to ride the high this morning and I'm moving pretty fast as I go south. Listening to GNR.

There's a small list of things to accomplish for the holidays that needs to be fulfilled really soon.

Thank you for reading.

No glove, no love.

Am out here with one lighter glove. Right hand is fine.

Had breakfast but no coffee and today on the train I had to write up a fake news article for a co-worker so it was a different start today. Rode the bike onto the train.

Listening to RHCP, who I've neglected since getting some new jazz.

Finished In Our Time, so that's part I of the bigger short story collection, which also has another story collection in it, so 2012 will have Hemingway weekends. I will read "Snows of Kilimanjaro" first so that I can watch the adaptation.

There are people out here today. Not just the same cyclists but also the joggers.

Feeling really bloated due to another weekend gorgefest -- at least I had the foresight to work out on Saturday though. Lunch will be lighter today.

My knees and feet no longer bother me. This is the day 1 of 5 this week. Hopefully it goes by nice & quickly.

The ride didn't go too quickly -- between the wind and riding single-handedly part time, it was tougher than necessary and I'll make it a point to find my regular gloves.

Playlist:
Strip My Mind
Especially In Michigan
Warlocks
C'Mon Girl
Factory of Faith
Annie Wants a Baby
Look Around
Rain Dance Maggie

Too much stuffed chicken

I am wretched, sluggish, headached and tired. I'm not moving fast b/c of the wind, calories and lack of desire to do so.

I have no backpack today and I cannot summon the will to even listen to any music. Yesterday, lunch was catered by my employer and I overate to a disgusting point. I did manage to hit the gym last nite, though, working my shoulders, tris, one round with the punching bag and a 5k, and felt a little better. Today, I can still feel the effects of the gorging and I feel gross.

Today marks the official end of the Iraq war and, in reality, it won't end. You think that place isn't going to revert to something just as bad, if not, worse? It's great that the Hussein reign is over, but you know there's something truly awful just around the bend.

Maybe a half-mile south of the meatpacking district I passed Christy Turlington running the other way. Sure, she's hot, but she looked like a normal woman jogging in the running outfit that my wife sports. I only recognized her, though, b/c she was on CNN Heroes on Sunday. Her organization supports mothers in Bali who don't have proper healthcare.

I will finish In Our Time today or tomorrow. I'm at the last 2 stories, which is a two-parter.

Finished watching "The Apostle" last nite with Robert Duvall. Excellent movie. Love the movies about the journey -- and the man/woman who leaves everything behind to rebuild themselves inside and out.

I'm being catered again by the events group today for lunch and I will be more responsible.

Thank you for reading.

sudden death from above

I often feel like a fraud.

I feel that way because of the way I spend many of my waking hours, contributing to something I don't fully believe in all in the name of a paycheck.

I am positive a lot of people feel that way, some are fortunate to feel that way -- it is all in the eye of the beholder.

My outside interests (primarily music & fitness, and now my house) are what I devote my energies to because I cannot feign interest and the results speak volumes. Or they remain silent. And that's all.

I can feel myself going through the motions lots of the time and it's repulsive. I even think sometimes of how I let people control me and run through me and I'm even more disgusted.

Next week is a full week of this and I have a week membership at a local gym I will hit a bag during my lunch breaks.

I was relieved to find Church Street has been paved nice & smoothly so the return rides will be good. I don't know how much more of that I could've withstood.

Thank you for reading.

...whisper songs of winter in your heart...

Last 3 weeks of work begin today.
This is a 4-day week.
Next week is 5.
Last week of year is 4.
It's cold, sure, but surprisingly my knees aren't in any pain. I hit the gym pretty regularly during my time off but only ran twice and did minimal leg workouts.
Listening to the middle of Screaming Trees' Sweet Oblivion today. Probably more appropriate for a month ago but it still warms me up.
I think I just need a scarf and I'll be fine.
There will only be (at most) two more rides this week as there are Broadway plans on Friday.
I began reading Hemingway's In Our Time, which is basically a subset of stories contained in the complete Hemingway short stories edition I have. So I figure for the time being, I will read these in tpb form and that saves me a few trips with a heavier, 500-pg book. The difference b/w In Our Time and my volume seems to be that there are little descriptions b/w chapters. I am even thinking that I might read this all the way through and rather than schlep the big book with me, read it on weekends and trips, like I did with the Chabon book. So a few months from now I will have read an extra book. No one cares but me.

There is one story called "The End of Something" which I know as a Rollins Band tune. Looking forward to checking that out.

We started watching "The Apostle" with Duvall last nite. There's an hour left in it I am really liking it though. I love movies about the journey within and the subsequent journey on the road.

On the highway I passed a cone in the middle of the street. I alerted the construction guys nearby and then a cop at Vesey Street.

As I came up Albany, I noticed that the part of Church Street before me is paved. I really hope that is an indication of what's to come during my return trip.

Thank you for reading.

baptism in the rain.

I don't need headphones today, as I've got this in my head.
I felt badly about a work-related matter that, though ultimately my fault, I did not consciously do.
So I drank some of Pop's scotch-whiskey last nite to drown my sorrows and though I woke up without a hangover I still felt slightly wretched, and decided that riding this morning was possible and the physical manifestation of the mental punishment I'd put myself through. I also think of it as something of a baptism. I know the rain is going to worsen -- and with road conditions already awful at Church Street, I might leave early and take the WSH back up. I've never done that and we'll see how it works out.
It's good to be tough on oneself, so that when the world -- no matter how big nor small -- does the same you are prepared for it.
There are a few runners and cyclists few and far between but we are in this together.
I endured it this ride and now I can put the moroseness behind me.
No work for another few days. No Smithers today. At least things are looking up.
Thank you for reading.

drizzling if at all.

Megadeth Th1rt3en today.
Read 50 pgs of GE yesterday and it ended on the big twist. The clues were there all along and now it is picking up immediately after.
It is drizzling on and off today but it's completely navigable and dry from ground up.
The ride home might be a different story, of course.
My left knee again is still a pain when I ride. I wonder if it has anything to do with changing fish oils (from Wholemega to concentrated stuff). I could've overworked it with the running but it doesn't effect me during running. Perhaps it's just adjusting to the new bike.
There are 2 screws that attach the fender to the back wheel. The left one came off (just as it had done last time) but there is a magnetized guard there that substitutes and keeps it in line. It detaches if I go over a pothole or bump but mostly it stays in there. I will fix that up this weekend. It's hard to find a screw with a flat end, though.
Hoping to just be in and out today.
Thank you for reading.

There was a time on the highway

It is foggy today, but mild and it's nice to be without a sweatshirt. No doubt I will bring the bike inside. The catch is that I'd like to go running today but I probably won't as I can feel both (?) knees feeling off today.

What up with that?

I ran 8.4-8.8 mi (2 roundtrips) on the boardwalk yesterday in 67 minutes. That's a good time and all, but my shin splints were protruding and different parts of my lower body are going through new sorenesses. I ran through it and finished strong but I cannot attribute this to any one thing. Sometimes I wonder if it's my running shoes and the way I'm tying them. My knees did not bother me during the run at all but my ankles and shins did.

My week will be shorter than 5 days this week. I will be able to accomplish little bits of things here and there thanks to it. A certain sycophant being out on Wednesday makes my week and remaining days off more interesting.

I didn't ready anything this weekend but resumed GE this morning at exactly pg 300. No rush.

For some reason "There Was a Time" was in my dream/awakening this weekend and I suppose I'd forgotten about it for a while. It's a great song. It's not about regret but about hindsight. It came on today as I was on the highway just at the WFC.

Need to have the gutters blown out.

Thank you for reading.

Playlist:
Gnarls Barkley: "Smiley Faces" "Feng Shui" "Just a Thought" "Storm Coming" "The Last Time"
GNR: "Catcher In the Rye"

With a Breath and a Scream

I woke up to the feeling that I was getting punched in the face. It got me out of bed at a reasonable time, but I think I've had enough of "American Horror Story" for at least a week.

Another day without a backpack. In my pouch is my Ipod, book and an orange, and in my shirt pocket is my wallet and pants pocket is my keys.

Listening to Pearl Jam, the extra tracks on the remix of Ten and the opening five tracks of Vs. I knew that "Breath and a Scream" existed, but never gave it a shot and I friggin love it. Their older, heavy and long tracks were great b/c it left plenty of room for the best rock solos of the 90s.

As I turned on to 29th, there was a Fiji water truck parked all the way on the left shoulder, completely obstructing the new bike lane. A mail truck was exiting the driveway, and their safety guard quickly started pointing to the lane and lecturing me about how I almost got killed (which wasn't even close to accurate). I calmly responded, "you have to give me a second to get around this truck that's parked in the lane." BFD.

I have hit the mid-point of Great Expectations, as it seems to have been building to this point. My guess is that the relationship b/w Pip and Estella will have to have its trials and tribulations. She tells him upfront, however, that she has no heart in the figurative sense. So it's going to be an uphill climb for him. And even though I slept through the entire film, that sort of set-up is similar to "500 Days of Summer," from what I am told. It's always nice when people let you know that they will keep their guard up around you no matter what.

My right leg is a little tight and left knee a little sore, but only when I ride, so my feeling is that a combination of odd sleeping positions and the weather change are causing it. It's not like when my foot hurt, which was obviously a consequence of the running.

I am going to compose my letter to the DOT this morning.

Thank you for reading.

Commute Your Illusion

After listening to some Down and Metallica, I was able to knock out some more of GE. I don't love it, but I'm almost halfway through it and will finish it, if only to say I've read another classic gain a wider breadth of style behind me.

I've got the gloves today (as opposed to yesterday) and I'm certain that I'd be worse off without them. Since I'm too lazy to stop and remove the gloves to change songs, I'm listening to Use Your Illusion II, ("Breakdown," "Pretty Tied Up," "Locomotive" "So Fine" and most of "Estranged"). I haven't heard "So Fine" in a really long time and it is better than I'd remembered but still not something I'd go out of my way queue it up. I forgot that it picks up after a verse and a half, but Duff is just an awful singer. The word is "me" not "may." Apparently he's really in to biking and all that, which is cool, but if he has another drop of alcohol his liver will burst and bleed out.

"Breakdown" warms me up in cold weather. For me, it's about those moments when you actually do stop and look around and see everything in really slow-motion for just one moment and then it catches up to itself and it all goes by too fast for a normal person. Of all the Guns songs, this one might be the most life affirming. Either this or "Coma" (jk).

My left knee has a tiny bit of pain/soreness but it's manageable. It's only when I ride the bike. Might also be the weather change, too.

My weight is up a few lbs but it's residual from the gorge-fest of the past week. Now that I'm not really drinking anything anymore and all the pies are out of my face (yesterday's office cheesecake notwithstanding), I should be able to get back down to better numbers.

The only thing that's upsetting me during the commute is that Church Street is all torn up, from downtown to basically Tribeca. It's unpleasant being on that road whether you are a biker, driver, or pedestrian. It shocked me on Tues nite and I know I am pushing my luck on it in terms of what the bike can handle. I will write a letter to the DOT and whomever else necessary to get this fixed up.

Thank you for reading.