beneath the Granite State

Having arrived in Nashua, NH late, late, late last night (more on that later) I didn't originally see the road very well in the dark. But now during the day, I find that Nashua has triangular manhole covers. Triangular? Yes, indeed.

Whenever I hear/read/whatever that manholes are round because that's the only shape that you can make a lid out of that cannot fall through the hole (you know, if you turned a square cover diagonally, you could drop it through), the voice in the back of my head screams "NO you idiot! Triangles are the other shape that won't fall through!" I've wondered why no one does triangles, but it appears that they do. (Of course, the reason they probably aren't in wider-spread use is because it takes more iron to cover a given-sized pipe diameter... but anyway, I feel redeemed in the "doesn't fall through the hole" department)

Doritos

Needing a crunchy snack, I tried the new Fiery Habanero flavor, hopeful that I'd be at least a little satisfied in my Joy of Spice. But no, they are neither fiery, nor habanero flavored. Not exactly surprising, but just thought I would set the record straight.

entering the Empire State

In the first leg of my Loop Eastward, I just now plopped down in a hotel in Amherst, NY. I was thinking "hmm, Buffalo... a good place to stop off on the way to Nashua" but I really didn't do any research about a place to sleep. I used the old "wander around until you find a hotel" technique. Not the most direct of techniques, especially when you arrive in town at 10:30 at night and have a tendency to indulge yourself with satisfying the "hey, I wonder what's down this street..." urge.

After passing the downtown and Peace Bridge (to Canada) exits, I turned off in the Black Rock neighborhood, and, no offense to residents of Black Rock, but they could really use some more streetlights. I was tempted, butdidn't do the in-a-strange-neighborhood-potentially-lost-late-at-night-lock-the-doors thing because, honestly, I would have felt like an idiot. Especially so because I rant all the time about how the scared white people make up bullshit about poorer neighborhoods (I don't know if Black Rock is considered "poor" or not, and I mean no disrespect, but the streets I drove on could use more than a little work) . Regardless, there weren't any hotels after about 10 minutes of roaming, so I got back on the highway, took 290 around the city, hopped off on Niagra Falls Rd, and here I am.

I kinda wish I had gotten into town earlier - I do enjoy sampling local brewpubs, but it's a little late tonight if I'm going to get to Nashua by Wednesday night. Probably should have left on Monday. ah, well.

Local attractions? How about largest urban park/parkway system in the country, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, one of the founders (or maybe The Founder) of Landscape Architecture at the turn of the century, designer of tons and tons of parks and university campuses and city plans. Olmstead also featured in The Devil in the White City (a fine book about the 1893 Columbian Exposition, which I recommend reading).
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This, of course, leads me to a rant.... something that I've been puzzling over for a while - the Ann Arbor Greenway debate that has been going on for so long. I haven't paid it much attention over the years, but I recently saw a poster in the Ann Arbor library. And there's all this hullabuloo over what is, realistically, a few small park spaces in/near downtown Ann Arbor. I just don't understand why there's so much debate...
a) The parks are planned to be conversions of existing city property, so there's no need to exercise Eminent Domain or annex township land or anything offensive to property owners.
b) Connecting them through downtown with a path will not significantly change downtown traffic - downtown traffic is already pooched - it can't get much worse.
c) Downtown business and real estate owners aren't going to give up their valuable real estate, so the pro-parks people can give up on getting more land than is currently available to the city.
d) We DON'T need more real estate in downtown Ann Arbor comitted to parking. More efficient parking though... turn a surface lot into a garage, for example. OR, make Main Street and State Street (including the surrounding blocks) into pedestrian zones (no cars), and enhance the roadways AROUND downtown to make a bypass loop so that motorized traffic can get around easier and non-motorized traffic has a safe place to be.
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But anyway, enough ranting about MI while I'm in NY... tomorrow I think I'll check out some of the parks and parkways in the Olmstead park system, see if I can get in to see the Frank Lloyd Wright house/complex in town, maybe go to a local brewpub for samples and lunch, and start the 6 hr. trek across the wide expanse of NY State. I'll confess though.. I really want to swing north to drive through the Adirondack Forest Preserve ... a 6 million acre collection of forest land, and notably, a big green blob on the map that takes up a whole lot of NY, and gets me wondering "hmm, what's there to see over there?"

Moscow > Tokyo?

Who'da thunk it? Moscow has a higher cost of living than Tokyo?

Unobtanium®

If you thought unobtanium was a joke material? Well you'd be wrong. Sunglass manufacturer Oakley apparently sells a $425 pair of sunglasses that apparently are... obtainable. Personally, I think they are on the edge of looking stupid. Could go either way. Luckily, I am nowhere near indecision for some other Oakley offerings: these are #2 on the list of ridiculous, while the grand prize winner of What the Fuck Were They Thinking When They Designed These, And What Were You Thinking When You Bought Them?

who wins the fight: Superman or ____?

If you've ever wondered about how invulnerable Superman is, the answer is finally here.

in defense of complexity

There have been plenty of times over the past few years when I've been told I'm over-complicating a subject. I'll admit it, I believe context is important. Very Important, in my opinion.

I'm not afraid to put something in the context, the full context, and nothing but the context, before getting anywhere close to a shred of what the real point is. Some people find this overly confusing. Well, that's just too bad. Miscommunication or misunderstanding can end a friendship, screw a business deal or estrange a family, simply over a misunderstanding and because neither side tried to really understand why the other thought the way they did. Either that, or they neglected basic communication.

Now, I'll admit that there are times when a thought or idea is best understood when presented concisely, and I'm sure there have been times when I should have chosen that route over the "enriched" route. But let's remember that this world is an incredibly large and complex place for any individual to understand. Even when you think something is so simple it can be understood completely, leave a little room for surprises - at the very least to spare any harming of your pride if it turns out to not be the way you thought it was.

I'll bet you're wondering why I bring this up... An article caught my eye about the ethics of the Federal Marriage Ammendment Act in relation to the One Drop Rule. I thought I knew pretty much all there was to know about sexual identification: male, female, trans-male, trans-female, ambiguous genitalia, and chimerism. It turns out there's always a little more to learn...

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Unfortunately for Tyler Hamilton, using chimerism as a cover for blood doping is going a little far. I'll allow for the possibility that he's a genuine chimera/has a vanishing twin, but he'd better prove it somehow, otherwise, let the judge's ruling stand.

Of course, how do you prove it? In my opinion, if my athletic career were on the line, I'd volunteer for WADA-supervised solitary confinement, with no chance for injection/transfusion, for long enough that my body will have replaced all of my blood cells. I'd think this would definitively establish that all the blood in his body is there naturally, and has chimeric qualities. Or, if it's not chimeric, he's guilty and should hang for it.

ouch.

So I'm heading out on the Thursday night Velo Club ride, and during the chit-chat portion of the ride (that's the part that's about 45-50 minutes before the aw-shit-I'm-about-to-get-dropped-and-I-don't-know-the-rest-of-the-route portion of the ride - the part that I'm not too fond of) me and the guy next to me are having "howdy neighbor" and "think it's gonna rain?" small talk.

Since I'm kind of new to the group, I get the "so, you live in Ann Arbor?" question fairly often (or maybe it's another weapon in the "how-'bout-the-weather" arsenal) . Since I'm never one to give people out-of-context responses and we've got plenty of time, I give the long response: yup, lived in Ann Arbor about 10 years now, haven't been riding much, got back on the bike this Spring, etc. etc. Which, during a pause in conversation leads to "yup, starting off a new decade in Michigan and it gets me thinking about the next decade - all those residential/existential questions, blah blah blah." And the murderous response:
"oh really? ... new decade, hunh... you turned 40?"

ouch.

I know I'm no spring chicken, but do I really look 40? Or just look like 40 when I'm pedalling along in a pack? I don't know which would be worse. Let the record show that he looked at least 5 years older than my 32 years (though it was clear that he had some legs that could give out some ass-whoopin'). And let the record NOT show that he lead the group that dropped me... 5 years older-looking and everything. Skinny bastard. We hates you.

Laundry ID

While at the laundromat doing a dozen loads of laundry at the same time, I tend to forget which dryer I'm using. And I've often puzzled about, marveled at, but never truly understood how it's possible that, when presented with 30 dryers with clothes spinning in them, one can look at the blurred, constantly changing pattern of colors and identify "aha, those are my clothes"
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Shy Laundry: ever been washing sheets and in the dryer a sheet gets plastered against the glass, shielding the rest of the clothes while they, uhm... take care of business? Ah, thy name is modesty

openess?

From the book club selection for the month _The Prince of Tides_, a conversation between Tom and his sister's psychiatrist:
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"Every time you say something personal, Tom," she said, "it seems as though you're putting more distance between us. Thee are time you seem very open, but it's a false openness."
"I'm an American male, Lowenstein," I said, smiling. "It's not my job to be open."
"What exactly is the American male's job?" she asked.
"To be maddening. To be unreadable, controlling, bull-headed, and insensitive," I said.
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There's something in there that speaks some truth about the American male experience, whether it be in the boardroom, on the factory floor, or at the NASCAR race. I doubt I can put it into words properly very well, so I'll just leave it with the quote.

Decisions, decisions (points east)

So I'm planning on heading to the East Coast for the 4th of July holiday to hang out with Gary (who recently moved from Tejas to Greater Bostonia). I figure I'm up for a road trip, and I've always wanted to see Boston, and New York City, and D.C., so a trip to the East Coast would be good. For sure, I'm drivin' it. Nothing quite like a road trip in summer (though of course, this won't be the Cheech-and-Chong-party-all-the-way-there-in-the-back-of-the-Volkswagen-bus version). On a practical level, if I want to be flexible with my time, driving is the way to go. No schedules, no fuss, no muss.

The problem is that I also want to go to Minneapolis-St.Paul to take Mona and Fred up on their invitation to come and help work on their house. So now I'm in this "decisions, decisions" quandry. Should I drive back from New England, then drive to Minnie? train? How do I work it in with going West? Take the train west from Minnie or head back to MI first and then road-trip it so I can do some packing or camping? With all these possibilities, what's a boy to do?

Beaver crossing

Today is... an absolutely perfect day out (70 degrees, sunny, blue skies and puffy clouds), and I have no idea why I'm at a keyboard. Half and hour ago, hearing bird calls outside my window reminded me of "Secret Park". Of course, to the Wastenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission, it's surely no secret. It was to me though, the first time I was walking through the neighborhood and saw the hole in a fence and the trail beyond it. So today, I figured I'd go out exploring.

Lo and behold while riding along the trails in County Farm Park, I was rewarded. I swear I saw a beaver crossing the trail in front of me. A beaver is a pretty odd animal to unexpectedly see, but I can't imagine what else it would have been... stout body, spiky hair, pudgy nose... seemed like a beaver at the time. Of course, even if it weren't an actual beaver, it nevertheless led me to learn interesting things like that fact that, along with defining the value of Pi=3, the church has declared that the beaver is a fish, and thus ok to eat during Lent. (not that I'm going to be grilling any beaver steaks any time soon, nor fasting for Lent, for that matter)

soundbites of the day (gerrrtbites, if you will)

In the nutrition section of Ed Burke's Serious Cycling, he says: "...the body only stores up to four years worth of Vitamin B12..."

Are you fucking kidding me? Four Years ??!??!! That can't be right. And if it is: What POSSIBLE evolutionary purpose does that serve? As if 1 year worth of reserves might not be enough?

So I did some searching about the source of B12 - if we can store it for years, we must be getting plenty of it in our daily diet, eh? Well, apparently the vegetarians/vegans need to beware of deficiency because, as a bacterial source (technically, B12 isn't a nutrient, it's a contamination) it's most commonly found in milk and animal products. Curious about B12? For the bio-medically inclined, for the spiritual/homeopathically inclined (which I lump in with the prayer-water people), and then something a little more readable. Between the three, what understanding I get out of it is: in order to be healthy... (drum roll please).... eat a sensible diet.

Some of these folks get SO obsessed with the uptake of ____ polypeptide in confluence with _____ andromorph, while moderating the effects of _____ turboencabulation, that it seems like the only purpose of all of this is to scare the shit out themselves (or others). I'm sorry, but I can't devote that much time to obsessing about what I eat. Get some calories, some carbohydrates, some protein, a little vitamin C here, a little vitamin D there, a little bit of fat (for fun and tasty), some fiber (so you poop), drink plenty of water, and then get some sunshine and GO OUT AND LIVE YOUR FRICKIN' LIFE. Obsessing about the differences between Indian Ocean Kelp and Adriatic Sea Kelp and whether one or the other will improve your diabetes, all the while carrying around 280 pounds of body weight, doesn't seem like one's priorities are in the right place.

How about just going for a walk and breathing some fresh air?
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Hello, Little Car of Mine. I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. Let's go for a drive.

Not having to drive to work for the past 5 weeks has definitely changed my driving patterns. I went out to my car today, not having driven it since.... oh, shit. I have no idea... a week? I know my memory is bad, but this is ridiculous... I literally found a cobweb on my car (right next to the leaves and the bird shit).

From 300-400 miles/week commuting, to not having moved it out of it's parking space since... Thursday, I think... it's a little weird to get back in the car. I didn't miss it or anything, just a noticable change from biking/walking to driving.
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You have GOT to be kidding me. Amazon.com has definitely jumped the shark on this one. Might as well be Wal-mart selling 'em, for all the romance that is embodied in such a proposal...
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From the book club selection for the month The Prince of Tides :

"You and I aren't crazy, Tom. We're normal. Especially me. You get a little moody sometimes, but I think that's because you like to read. People that like to read are always a little fucked up."

The irony of reading this passage as a part of Book Club is not lost on me, that's for sure.
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A leftover excerpt from my adventure in Chicago's Millenium Park: One section of the park has a photographic display of some other famous parks, and the landscape architecture and uses of water, etc., etc.

Jargon that caught my attention: "as cities become more hardscaped...."

What the hell is "hardscaped"? Other than some clerk at the Bureau of Parks and Recreation who has extra time on their hands and an overactive imagination. I'm fond of making up words (progressivistically, of course), but when you're making something with longevity, monuments in a public park for example, you might want to stick with somewhat sedate, classical prose.
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last, but not least: I picked up something on the road today which cut through the tread of a tire, causing a flat and putting a serious crimp in my ride. For some reason I'm blaming this one on the Vittoria Rubino Pro. I'm sorry, but given the wear that it had on it after less than 500 miles, plus the ridiculous ease of the cut in it, I think they are just overly soft. I've always been fond of Conti, and I'm wondering if I should even bother with others or just "stick to what I know."

Corner Brewery

Been away (blog-wise) for a while, and in the intervening time, a new brewpub has cropped up in the Ann Arbor/Ypsi area... Corner Brewery recently opened in Ypsilanti... an offshoot of Arbor Brewing Company (which, if you ask me, is a hallowed local landmark). There's Grizzly Peak, which has respectable brews, but for some reason doesn't have a damn website... everything I find google-wise only point to their corporate headquarters, which explains the difference you feel between the two pubs. ABC is is locally owned and operated, and GP is cog in a larger organization. Something to be said for each approach to running a business, I'm not going to pass judgement. They both make good brews, but when I'm in the mood for local-ness or I'm just looking for good beer, I go to ABC. When my needs are food-ish, I can't resist the temptation of those polenta fries they have at GP. (used to be the garlic fries at ABC, but they've been kind of chintsy with the garlic lately, and those polenta fries really hit the spot).

So anyway, ABC opened up a brewpub in Ypsi, and I decided to go for a glass or two. Honestly, I'll say that I commend ABC for their beers, and am glad to support them (my beer motto: Think Globally, Drink Locally - Support Your Local Brewmaster) because I like the place, but the Corner Brewery needs a bit of work. I know there's something to be said for the honest, down home, "rustic" look, but CB really needs some help on the interior. My hope is that they rushed the opening and skimped on the interior decorating in favor of getting the doors open, but that they will come back to the interior later... I'll for sure be checking in occasionally (ABC downtown AA is closer for me, so a "regular" brewpub visit would still be at ABC) Oddly, there's a rumor of GP opening up a place in Ypsi, but who knows how real that is.

Matt and Renee, if you're reading this: I have had many a pleasant pint over the past 10 years and would gladly recommend ABC to anyone I know. But about the new place... if there's only a munchie-menu, the paint is peeling off the windows, and the brick work looks like it's desperately in need of a scrubbing/sandblasting, why would I go there? I guess there's the geography of going to Ypsi vs. Ann Arbor and serving the Ypsi market, but since I'm in Ann Arbor, I can't think of a reason to travel for a pint when Washington St. is so close.

as if Blade:Trinity weren't enough, now there's a series? I just don't understand how this storyline can be so long-lived. Just.... how is this possible?