Morning, at Star Lounge, with many, many pounds of artisanal cheese.

Afternoon, Pilsen block party, home-made pinatas.

This kid cried “I killed Mickey Mouse!” More block party here.
Evening, Wicker Park Fest, my friend, journeyman musician Oliver plays accordion for the worst band I’ve ever seen in my life. Oliver stole the show, as usual, which […]

Cycloning at Clybourn and Fullerton:

Bike salute!

I bailed at 8:30, but the Mass rode on and on and on.

Seriously. Is this really something we want to be nostalgic about? Answer me, hipsters!

Yesterday’s bike ride was just the usual to-work-and-back route, with a couple of surprises, as I was heading west on Adams and about to make my usual turn north on Wood.
Then, this:

Did I? Oh yeah, you betcha.
I dried off in the backyard at Star Lounge and put this in my brain for two hours:

Admittedly, not […]

View of the Museum of Science & Industry from Jackson Park
Once, I’m ashamed to say, I went to a hypnotist to try to lose weight. I didn’t lose weight. In fact, about the only thing I got out of it was confirmation of the fact that I am an incredibly contrary and self-conscious […]

The feeling I get riding my bike. Ahhhhhhh:

Yesterday instead of doing what I normally do at quittin’ time, which is sit at my desk and stare, zombie-like, at my monitor consuming the nutrient-free brain candy that is the interweb, I went for a ride.
I always have SOMETHING to do after work, it seems. […]

I spent the last 8 Sundays at West Town Bikes in their “Build a Bike” class, overhauling an old Schwinn Suburban that Kevin Womac at Boulevard sold me for 25 bucks.

I shoulda taken some “Before” pictures to show what a rusty mess it was. Did you know that a spray of WD-40 and […]

This morning I had a notion to get up early and take a long leisurely bike ride along the lakefront to Hyde Park, just for shits and giggles. Instead, I slept for another hour. Ah well.
However, after having a cup of coffee at Stab, sucking back some water, eating a bagel, and getting […]

That’s how much ground I covered on my bike yesterday:
home –> work = 4.25
work –> dance class = 7
dance class –> Foster Beach = 5.4
Foster Beach –> home = 8.2
And I was pulling the trailer because I had to pick up some new tires for the Schwinn I’ve been working on at West Town. […]

From this summer’s Flashback Weekend:

Me and Reggie Bannister, the ice cream man from PHANTASM and my favorite horror movie hero EVAH!

This was at the tail end of a long post on the Critical Mass list regarding safety issues related to the surge in biking and the drop in driving caused by rising gas prices:
High gas prices save lives.
Awesome. ‘Nuff said.
And now, some pictures of my awesome bike, The Honey Badger:
It’s a Bianchi Cortina, pretty […]

Two hours after I read the email that told me Valjean was dead, Al called to tell me Brownie was having another seizure. He thought it wasn’t as serious as the first because she didn’t lost consciousness. Since the vet didn’t do a damn thing for her the first time, we decided to […]

I just found out my good friend Valjean died early this morning. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in December and underwent chemo from January to May, and seemed to be doing well–well enough to take a Mexican vacation. But in Mexico she experienced breathing difficulty and upon her return, was in the […]

Today is the anniversary of my dad’s death.

He died in the morning, on his daily walk. He fell in the sidewalk on a residential street in Bellevue KY, about a half-mile from the one-room apartment he rented over an insurance office. He had diabetes and had been altering his daily dose. […]