By the way,

I think this is the most complete compiliation of links to WHOLE Rev. J. Wright speeches. Best I've found anyway.

I'm waiting for Mr. Obama to comment on the (past) considerable numbers of US - oops, I mean U.S. Black folk that firmly believe the sentiment of Wright...

And, quite frankly, much of the (asserted) fact.

I just found out

that the reason my posts require verification is because,
to blogger,
my blog looks like a spam blog.

no matter how clean I keep my nose
and goody I keep my two-shoes,

I'm ever viewed as a threat.

(eyeroll)

Yikes

do the booty bra
do the booty bra
do the booty
do the booty
do the booty
do the booty bra

(you probably need to know a little bounce to understand the repetition)

{above pun serendipitous, but wholly welcome}

I found this all completely amusing until I looked through the pics - then I saw the one of ol' girl in the acrylic pumps.

stripper shoes depress me.

Since I'm tired

of BO
and JW
of political newstertainment
of thinking of exactly how I'm going to tell the manager where he can go
(but not doing it)
of how 50 shots from 3 guns does NOT EVEN CONSTITUTE RECKLESSNESS,

I present the flyest word you've heard thusfar

this week.

Quick!

Before Mr. Cornelius catches us!

Wisecrack

Sending this one out from J.W. to B.O.


(johnny always was the best one, ya'll just aint wanna admit it)

Tour Videos

Youtube strikes again.

2 guys from Canada

(bonce..bounce..bounce) why aren't you freestyling?

frickin' VIP elitists...we're gonna pass your asses so fast...(well, some of your asses)

got-dang propaganda

Ride Report

Wo.....

36.7 miles,
3:04:15 total ride time
about 25 of those were done on the Central Park bike loop, home to a curving hill that I've not only dreaded, but managed to avoid last season as well.

On the 3rd lap, managed to get all the way that without standing.
Next lap, got all the way around the loop without standing.

(preach, K, preach! birthdaybirthdaybirthday!)

All well, but probably too much work, plus it was a little cool today.
Came in feeling pretty crampy and tense.

Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer is the jAwN. (I suggest a double when it's real rough)

Tomorrow will definitely be a break day.

"Ur crazy"

While the above may be applicable in certain situations,

as a response to information regarding a gathering re: a court decision involving
a death...

you can use it,
but it will probably not be taken with a grain of salt.

Don't take for granted that an adult human will know this.

signed,
Desperately trying to not to reply by questioning the abundance of one's IQ points

Atlas

I had this idea while in grad school that, if I were to ever get a tattoo,

(and why in the world would I do that)

I would get one across my back and shoulders that said

"place your pain here".

I used to be on some real wannabe superman *ish. But instead of lifting buildings,

I figured I could be strong for a bunch of ya'll when ya'll needed to not be,

'cuz, despite the death and disappointment I've experienced,

I felt like I'd not trod my share of the muck yet.

And I don't really feel like I have a whole lot to offer,

other than the hyper-marathon running of my yack about all things....ever.

So,

since being here, I feel like I've had several ops to be strong, but just floated
along with the rest of the shrimp.
Funny thing about being a hero: you got to
be a weakling a few times before the x-gene kicks in.

and I'm waiting.

I see friends of mine in moments when they've been strong,
and have earned a rest,
yet there's still something that leads me to tell them,
"maybe now is not the time for you to lie down".

Or, maybe I won't say anything...

Because I'm afraid they're going to find
out about my quick-to-high-tail-it ass...

And say in some composition of verbiage:
"yeah, well, who the %#^ are you?"

Fact remains,
the burden of the strong is a lack of respite.

Ask Atlas.

signed,
Desperately Awaiting His Ink.

(maybe I'll just do henna..:/

Yesterday's Ride

41.7 miles in 3hrs 40 min
did about 4 laps around Prospect
(all those long descents are nice,
but that hill by the meadow sort of hurts)

Ended up taking more of a break after Prospect that
originally planned, about 30 mins - but got a free small Silk at Starbucks!
(shoulda asked for a grande....)

Went up the West Side up to around 100th so I could make 40 for the ride;
going was ok, coming back was plodding.

Still need to learn pacing. Think I still need to choke up on the rear derailer.

Note about breaks: it's best not to let the booty cool back down.

Wait...I saw somebody ELSE I knew on my way out of SB's to that break had to be longer than 30.

Question: are you allowed to take a non-Apple computer into NYC StarBuxes?

My (vain)glorious thighs...

Off on today's ride in a few. Gonna try going from the ferry terminal via the streets, over the BK bridge, up to Prospect Park, lap that and return via the same route.

If I'm not back in 12 hours send the Juice Crew after me.

Orange County History

I mean, not all of it.

I wanted to go to Ghana first anyway.

Attacking Comidas en Empujares

How I wish the Houston Press was a daily.

The best generally-associated-with-Brown-people food I've had since being in NYC
came off a truck at 2 in the morning in Harlem.

Word.

Gingerbread ice cream cake

well, soy cream anyway.

Attempted to make one last night.

Need to put it in the fridge to thaw a little bit.

Ergo, the jury's still out.

Things Never Before Noticed Files

Entry 1:

Richard Simmons in Panthose.

...sucka does got some nice calves, though.

Ride Report

33 miles
Over 3 hours
Avg speed - 10.5 mph
Max Speed - 22.1 mph
Quadriceps - quite upset for me after a while afterwards.

E3 form saddle feels at least no worse the the Selle Royale,
without the tendency to have the nose push toward the right.
I started with thermals on between cargo short and riding shorts,
took the thermals off part way. Things were hot, but more cushy with them on...
If I can find some thermals cheap, I'll prolly get some and cut them off as high as possible.

Lotsa heavy breathing. The layoff was evident.

Paying to have the shifting adjusted was a definite waste. I can have the tallest sprocket or the shortest, but not both. The front shifter is closer to working but not quite. I don't know if I can get the back working, but I've more confidence about getting right with the front. I'll fool with it and see.

Being able to brake form the tops is grand. Nevertheless, the rear brake is WAY too mushy for me right now. Methinks I'm going to have to suck it up and try another new cable.

The current bar wrapping/padding works well. No crampy hands or uncomfortable positions. Ironically, for all the time I spent wrapping the brake hoods, I never really rode there - they're too low.

For some reason, toward the end of the ride, things felt cramped. I think it had to do with fatigue, though.

Hamstrings felt unused, like the seat was too low....I don't know.

(shrug)

I'm going to go have to Kashi almond cluster now.

edit: forgot to mention that, due to the boat ride during the route, there was about an hours worth of rest during the ride; although there will be rest stops if desired during the tour - me, 42208

Mathematics

($500 + 10%) - 15% = $467.50

Which is fairly distinct from $425.

It would be great if people in this $#@% business treated you like a person,
and not a used car customer.

(not that used car customers should be treated that way)

(sigh)

The Homicide Report

Since the early 80's, they tried to tell you themselves over beats
and on brick/concrete structures,

but we know people only believe it if somebody _____ says it.

Maria Tallchief

U.S.'s first prima ballerina.

I ain't know...

Finished Product

(for now)


The little b@st@rd$ in the middle of the handlebar gave me hell all the way until the wee hours of this morning. First I couldn't get any tension after I installed the one for the front brake, then realized that I needed a longer cable for the rear (a realization that only took 'til 5:27am Sunday morning to sink in). After managing to get some brake functionality... and losing it as I coasted into the ferry terminal... and precarious tip-toe-riding through the LES... I proceeded to the only bike shop in the LES that's open on Sunday (that I know of). After an initial condescension at my attempt, it was suggested that I try again with new cables (an additional $8 to go with the other $80*).

I eventually made it back to the abode and after a nap of epic proportions I started at it again. I got the front to work nigh on immediately. Now the rear refused to tension properly, meaning another all night/morning-er. Sometime around the arrival of this previous day's dawn I made the great-ape level realization that where the cable was positioned inside the top tube had an effect on the tension. I fiddled with that until it was worked sufficiently and went to wrap the bars.

Of course, in the glee of achieving working brakes (read: stupor), I neglected to 1) properly match the wrapping on both sides of the bar near the inlines, 2) forgot to go back and level the brake hoods with each other before wrapping. You may note that the inline levers aren't level either, that however is on purpose. They are actually a little too close to each other for the cable movement necessary. Just to give them a little space for the cables to flex, and angled them off a little. The rest is goof. I'm not completely happy with my job of it, but I'm very satisfied with the idea of wrapping the brake hoods; wish I'd done it last year.

Things I've learned about bikes this weekend:

• messing with brake cables sucks; but I knew that already
• if you've got your bike set up in any way out of the ordinary, make sure you let the bike know in advance to LEAVE IT THAT WAY; otherwise there'll be some surprise conventionality upon it's return
• if you can change a shifter, you can do the $40-$60 bike shop tuneup yourself; eschew laziness and do it
• if, like me you despise any one part of the process (truing, for example) or there's something that genuinely requires a special tool you don't have, take it in and have them do JUST that one thing
  
• I want $40 of my $80 dollars* back...I'd chalk it up to not specifying, but I could've sworn I asked to be called before anything involving extra cost was involved...ask me before doing extra work! [growl*]
  

*although they did seem like a nice crew. and I do support the cause. perhaps it was due to the season rush. ..

oh, and at that other store, I left the bike in the condition it was in when I was grasping at straws, so I had to show her how it was set up when done "correctly", at which point the condescension left....mostly (wink).

The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo

hbo.com
thefledglingfund

I guess I'd feel that Iraq is warranted if I heard stories like this coming from Iraq.

But I don't. Certainly not before the invasion.

These women don't deserve a strike force?

The most beautiful girl-child that I've ever seen on this tv just looked at me and told how they raped her;
the child held up her child.

4 year old rape victim.

Children so traumatized by the sight of men with guns, that somebody pointing a video camera terrifies them.

Soldier admitting to rape wearing a tee shirt bearing the image of Robert Marley, smiling;

Men trying to repair the bodies of women burned, torn apart by men.

(exhale)

(amin)

(imp grin)

This finally came today.
Hm....
Am going to have to study the rules to see how we can get away with having not wearing this bib like a bib.

My current best idea is to turn into a super hero cape. I was planning on some sort of tribute to Capt. Bike anyway.

I ended up not having to do the after school thing today. Wish I would have known sooner so I could have planned a ride. Decided to come home and start the frame wrapping project instead and go ahead and put the dread knobbies back on the Schwinn.

I feel pretty good about the wrapping, but I still think I should have gone for no overlap. Still a nice , if completely cosmetic (for now) change.

Before:



After:



I'd originally planned to wrap the head tube (you know, where the badge is) and the forks....but I'm not sure now. Wasn't sure about what to do with the current handlebar wrap either, but I just had an idea to use the remaining black cloth tape and try some kinda harlequin design.

At any rate, I finished this much and then put the knobby tires on the Mesa. Ever since I've gotten more into efficiency I've despised the knobby tires more and more. Funny thing is, once I got out with them, not only was riding not a chore, it was actually quite fun. When you don't have to ride them every day, the mid-low buzz-roar the make going downhill on pavement is actually quite enchanting.

Now I understand how those two car people feel.

(rich bastards)

My intent was to tear up and down the hills at Silver Lake for about an hour, but I realized about 10 minutes in that the wheels on that bike are quite un-true. Decided to bring it back in rather than paint my rim black with my brake pad. There were even some decent little muck puddles forming, too.

Alas...there is always the morrow.

{inshallah}

More Bwaha

bwahahahaha

(and such)

More dreamtime

Have you ever had a dream about somebody,
and there were ethnically divergent from their
real-life self?

Then there's that adultery thing...

Ah, noni. how I miss thee.

Low Road

While walking into SI terminal, having just disembarked from the boat,

got a full double-one-finger from adolescent mugging behind the glass doors -

Returned fire with a sly-waist-high.

Now, I'm sure I should've waited and asked the young person what the purpose was, instructed him on the impropriety of the act.
Afterward it occurred to me that I should've taken his picture and posted it around the island in hopes it would get back to his parental unit.

But I always seem to think of what I "should've done/said".
But that ain't nothing new, right?

Yet more proof of a distinct lack of super-humanity.

I should've stayed in theory.

(howl)

Don't tell me a beat can't make you cry.

Hell, made me moan some.

Funny how making a certain sound can well one up.

Well.

Wail.

Wail one up.

(p.s.: keep clickin' the backgrounds! It's the jawn!!)

Hm.

Girls and Cars

more specifically, a grown-ass woman and what may be the first electric car produced by an American, traditionally ICE car co.

Interesting pic, no?

although, the speech is pretty standard/corporate.

Prolly not quite

Yunusian, but interesting nonetheless.

and while I'm pissed off about the game,

chicken and okra and whatever else was in there is the jawn.

Did you know they had brownie Jiffy Mix?

Diabetes is of the devil.

Through her what?

I didn't even know you could get there from there.

Perhaps I needed that high school sex ed class after all.

The Vapors

To keep you from the evil woman,
From the flattering tongue of a seductress,
Do not lust after her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
For by means of a harlot, a man is reduced to
a crust of bread;
And an adultress will prey upon his precious life. (NKJV)

To keep you from ___ evil____,
From the flattering tongue of _ seduct(ion),
Do not lust after ___ beauty in your heart,
Nor let (it) allure you ____ ___ _______,
For by means of a harlot, (one's worth) is reduced to a
crust of bread*;
And an adult(erer) will prey upon ___ precious life. (hisi**)

* both the harlot and the harlotee
** how i see it***

*** (for what it's worth)

Training

(wrote a post about how I have not been riding as much as I should've been the past couple weeks,
yanked power cord out of computer while heading to kitchen for second helping of Jiffy Mix (c) Bran and Date murfin, for some reason blogger didn't autosave a draft.

so eff it)

(sigh)

It is new information for me that Dr. King's mother was murdered as well.