March 2008

My iPod is dead. Dead dead. I was listening to music and jamming along in our shipping and receiving area to Mother Mother. I went to change the music because the album was repeating and I was thinking, “I want to listen to some Spoon.” I walked over to the iPod, moved back through the menus, selected Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and got ready to rock out.

Rock did not happen. Clicking happened. Hard drive spinning, clicking, spinning. The song said that it was playing but then suddenly I went from track 1 to track 5. No noise. Sad iPod image came up on the screen. I rebooted the iPod and got the exclaimation mark with folder icon. Rebooted again and again, getting both icons in random patterns. When I got home, I tried to restore the iPod via iTunes but all I got was an error. Three times.

I have this mental block against filling an 80GB iPod via USB. I don’t think I have much of a choice at this point. Bryan said I could use his iPod because he never uses it. However, because he never uses it, he can’t find it. Crap. I will be without tunes on my commute tomorrow. At least Sarah is driving me in the morning. I’ll only ride in silence on my way home.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Pants. But really, these are good.

I’m always on the lookout for stuff I can wear for both bike commuting and which will then transition well to my casual workplace. I have a pair of Patagonia capris I like (they’re called the Sender Capri, I think) and I really love my REI Slickrock 3/4 pant. However that really means that I’m just wearing two pairs of pants pretty much every day? Boring and impractical.

Thanks to my enjoyment of Fixed Gear Gallery, I happened to click on some of their ad sponsors in the right column of their page. There I stumbled upon Chicago Wig. Their knickers were awesome looking, the correct inseam length for my lack of height, and definitely the right price. (I’m not sure why most cycling knickers hover in the $130 range, but they do.) I read their positive review and decided to pull the trigger.

On Monday I placed my order while on a break at work. I ordered a pair in green and a pair in black. On Monday night they emailed me and told me that they were out of black in my size and would I mind grey? I didn’t respond until almost midnight on Monday. Thursday afternoon I opened my mailbox to find that they’d already arrived! Thank you for your awesome service, Chicago Wig!

They’re the perfect length, durable, and with awesome pockets. You’ll also find a sweet “WIG” logo patch on the leg. I’ve gotten compliments on them from many people and have sent them to the site to check them out. I’m in-between sizes, I now realize. The smalls are kind of small, but the medium would be huge and they make my ass kind of disappear. Despite reinforcing my position in the world as the assless wonder, I love these things.

1. You have 50 dollars in your pocket. What do you do with it?
Save it. Nothing I want to splurge on costs that little.

2. Your ultimate OTP? (fandom or real life)
Mulder and Scully. Or Buffy and Faith.

3. Have you ever seen someone die?
A rabbit, not a person.

4. Are you confused as to what lies ahead of you?
Only because I’m pretty sure that the Magic 8 Ball at work was lying to me yesterday.

5. Where do you see yourself in five years?
Riding a true single-speed. Or, uh, something. Not getting my 10 year pin, I hope.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone else?
Both. One without the other isn’t much good. Just much pain and since I’ve been there, I say pants.

7. If the person you like does not accept you, would you continue to wait for them to change their feelings?
This does not work. Why are their feelings more important than mine anyhow?

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
Sleep with them anyway. It’s always worked for me in the past.

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy recently?
My bike is going “kuh-KUN-ka.”

10. What do you want most in life?
Right now? For Stanford to win a national championship.

11. Which of the 7 Deadly Sins do you think you relate to the most & why?
Gluttony. Me want MORE! Though perhaps I should try some more lust…

12. Who would you most like to roundhouse kick in the face?
Ooooh, now this is easy. And OH MY GOD that roundhouse kick would be so satisfying. You know who it is.

12. What’s one of the best memories of your life?
Something random: I went to a giant fair or carnival or something with Rachel when we were about nine or ten. We went on all kinds of rides, including bumper boats. Every time you bumped someone, you got a tiny electrical shock. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t safe, but we thought it was really funny.

13. Who is currently the most important person to you?
Bryan

14. What kind of person do you think you are?
Crusty, but generally pretty ok.

15. Do you believe there is nothing higher than human kind?
Seriously? Where does this question come from? Dogs have got it good. They are clearly superior to human kind.

16. Which fictional character could you most see yourself marrying?
Martin Blank. Or Scully.

17. Would you give your all in a relationship?
I do try.

18. Do you have a motto? If yes which one?
“I’m just sayin’.” That’s what I seem to be repeating a lot these days.

19. What type of friends do you like?
The good ones. Who will laugh at me, with me, for me, and then give me a hug.

20. Do you have an all time favorite song?
My favorite song right now is “The Underdog” by Spoon. All time? I don’t know.

Much to my joy, I’m going to have an excellent spring/summer concert season even if I only get to see the two shows we currently have tickets for.

Coming up first is The Swell Season (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova) on April 26 at The Paramount. It was great seeing them win the Oscar for Best Song and I’m super stoaked to see them perform live.

In July, Bryan and I are heading out to see The Police and Elvis Costello & The Imposters. Wooo!