i think this has ryan written all over it. The Popcorn Fork [via: MeFi]

ride 50 days!:

“The rules are simple. 50 days in a row, at least 1 hour on a bicycle. We don’t care how far you go, you just have to ride! We will let you slide 5 days and ride the trainer/rollers. The rest… outdoors in the elements!”

tempting, very tempting… but i’m pretty sure i’m going to wuss out, being new to the commuting scene and all…

International Spy Museum: opening in dc end of july. sounds VERY cool.

goal for the weekend:
run cable up the side of the house, into the attic, back down thru the ceiling and into the office area. should be interesting.

i highly recommend you go over to the Morning News and print out/read their collection of short stories: Manual. i’m about halfway thru it since yesterday and it makes excellent lunchtime material.

don&mike/opie&anthony suspended. i heard a bit of don’s diatribe against the O&A show during lunch last week. i kinda thought it was a publicity stunt to up both shows ratings, but i guess this suspension proves that wrong. i’ve tried giving the O&A show many, many chances. i think they’re friggin’ horrible. nearly every time i listen i end up turning it off within 15 minutes, amazed at the neanderthalic antics and complete lack of humor.

i just got this in the mail from kris mestag…

“I’m sorry for giving you this bad news, but I have to let you know that the Fugazi June UK tour has been postponed due to a death in the family. My symphaty and condolenses to the Fugazi family……

The tour will be rescheduled in it’s entirety at a later date.”

man, you all know how much of a sucker i am for pirates: Behind the Scenes: Pirates & The Navy

rode my bike to work today. felt really good. here’s a short list of things i forgot.

• belt
• hair grease
• pills [antibiotic/allegra]
• toothpaste
• toothbrush

other than having coffee breath, fluffy hair and saggy drawers i’m pretty happy. looking forward to the ride home.

i think it’s awesome that not only do i communicate to my parents via blog, but they now talk to my friends via blog comments too!

had an absolutely whirlwind 3 day weekend, not a moment of rest the whole time, but i loved it. got the floors and carpets done on friday and they look amazing! i’m still suprised by all of it every time i come up from the basement. spent saturday morning moving a lot of our furniture up from the basement and setting up our new living room. here’s your first taste…

ah, crap… forgot to mention that i found out i had strep throat on friday. weird, because i don’t really feel sick, just a bit painful on the back of the tongue. nearly cancelled my appt because i felt so healthy. and i’m a good and loving husband, so i made sure to share my strep with the wife. how nice of me.

jason and i went into dc for a little urban biking on saturday. i didn’t realize that the whole rolling thunder mem day festivities lasted all weekend long. we metro’ed in to a closed constitution avenue lined with harleys and spectators. it was packed. a lot of the really fun stuff to ride was unrideable due to the crowds, so we headed uptown where it was less populated. i’d like to give big ups to Capitol Hill Cycles for being exceptionally nice. in a hurry, jason ran into a shop in georgetown to grab some extra tubes. too bad they were big fat presta-valved jobbys that did him no good when he flatted the 2nd time. i grabbed a tube and went in search of a bike shop. 15-20 blocks later i finally found CHC and they swapped out the ill-fitting tube for free. big ups.

here’s jason minutes before we got kicked out the GW hospital lot.

in other news, i got the commuter done and did a 20 miler test run on it yesterday. i can’t say enough good things about my first singlespeed experience. it puts you in a whole different mindset because you know you can’t rely on shifting to get you up a hill. i felt like it even made me faster, pushing big rings uphill. i’m going to ride in to work tomorrow. also, moving all the furniture out of the basement freed up some space for me to set up the big bike wall contraption dad got me years ago. i’ll have to transcribe some of the poorly translated instructions, they’re damn funny, engrish-style.

this is going on upstairs right now:

and that’s just the flooring guys. i’m waiting patiently for the carpet guys to get here so i can make sure they know what they’re doing and head off to my doctor’s appointment. it sounds like WWIII upstairs. hopefully, by nightfall, we’ll have a brand new house.

i think the bike may be done… test commute this weekend and possibly the real thing next.

here’s a closeup of my rigged up singlespeed drivetrain.

i finally managed to sort thru all the pics i took last weekend up in baltimore. my cousin megan graduated from MICA on monday, so last weekend was the gala of senior exhibits and her family was in town.. two birds, ya know?

take a look

this week has somehow slipped thru my fingers. haven’t been horribly busy, but i’ve been occupied. Saturday, Lex/kristy/elmer/krista & myself saw “Dogtown & Z-Boys“, an exceedingly well-done documentary on the origins of skateboarding and the late seventies Venice Beach scene. elmer and i are both old school skaters, so i knew we’d like it… i was wondering how it would fare for non-skating folk. no need to worry, the film delivers on pretty much every level. highly recommended. add that to the book i’m reading on the architectural and societal impacts of skateboarding and i’ve got urethane on the brain.

read an interesting story in the post this AM, concerning a murder 27 years ago at the 7-11 next to my house. conscience is a heavy thing.

bike is nearly done. i scored a chain tensioner offa ebay but i don’t think it’s going to work the way i need it to. other than keeping the stupid chain on the rings, everything else is DONE. raring to go. hopefully i can get a test run in this weekend and start commuting next week!

kristy has declared her intentions to get her belly button re-pierced this weekend at JinxProof in georgetown. i’d love to get some re-inking done on my shoulder, but cash is just too tight. maybe next year…

speaking of this weekend, i’m thinking about getting together a little urban ride in DC for sunday, any takers?