ridehorsey

I've done nothing this week..

2012-02-10T15:09:00.001-05:00

like, really, nothing. sweet glorious nothing.

but i'm getting bored of that.

this week, I..

2012-02-03T10:15:00.002-05:00

taking up from last friday, winterfest for three days. went fine.

superbowl is in town.

monday: rode to work, beers, wandered superbowl village: 23 miles
tuesday: rode to work, beers, wandered superbowl village: 23 miles
wednesday: indianapolis monthly, beers, wandered
thursday: thirsty thursday urban ride downtown (yeah, tturd), beers, rolled downtown: 20 miles
friday: beer, wander
saturday: beer, wander
sunday: beer, wander

last week, i went to portland

2012-02-03T09:56:00.003-05:00

what we or i did:

thirsty lion
cascade barrel house
green dragon
astoria towner/goonies house
norma's ocean diner
goonies rock
bill's bar and brewhouse in canon beach
bunk sandwiches
voodoo donut
hopworks urban brewery
hair of the dog
river city bicycles
upright brewing
bazi bierbrasserie
apizza scholls
deschutes
screen door
OMSI
olympic provisions
belmont station
portland art museum
stanich's
le pigeon

rode a bike, once, too.

01/09/12 - 01/15/12

2012-01-16T11:12:00.003-05:00

bike:
01/09/12 22.20 1:21:45
01/10/12 22.95 1:18:22
01/11/12 14.81 0:52:40
01/12/12 05.00 0:35:00 snowing/stupid
01/15/12 11.00 2:00:00 southwest way and back home
75.96/wk

took a couple days off due to weather/lack of sleep

noteworthy this week:
got my star assignment changed to super bowl sunday beer specials
still haven't seen building
lot of big tents around town for the super bowl
considering doing the death march ride
pretty boring, really

01/02/12 - 01/08/12

2012-01-08T19:09:00.003-05:00

bike:
Mon 01/02/12 14.83 1:03:50 Snow on the road.
Tue 01/03/12 15.00 0:55:00 It's cold outside.
Wed 01/04/12 16.00 0:55:00 Saw a deer.
Thr 01/05/12 17.50 0:00:00 Thirsty Thursday
Fri 01/06/12 13.53 0:44:37 Friday Night, Yo.
Sat 01/07/12 21.00 0:00:00 GG Saturday Urban Ride
Sun 01/08/12 17.30 0:00:00 Rode to Meijer on the SS
115.16/wk

first time on that saturday gg ride, i was surprised and dropped w/ about 2 or so left. better next time.

noteworthy this week:
someone bought a building
took an indystar assignment on tap handles that i need to finish this week
bought a ticket to portland
everyone was talking about kafka on the shore
i ate more food than my bikeriding justified
i have a lump in my eyebrow from when i hit my head, wondering if it'll go away or if it's a skull chip

2011-12-28T08:55:00.002-05:00

chicken limo
chatterbox bathroom
art wall
pink floyd van

perry steam plant

2011-12-19T13:49:00.004-05:00

I had this idea for a series of posters based on what some might consider eyesores - the first thing that got me thinking of that was the perry plant, below, which looms over the southwest corner of downtown Indy, spewing out what might just be steam.. but the place always reminded me of Captain Planet's pollution factories - which, to be honest, I never watched Captain Planet, but I seem to remember Nate talking about pollution factories, which I think is some funny shit.

There's a building, or a couple of building in East St. Louis, that, as a kid, I always considered landmarks, despite the fact that they were half torn down. Same idea here, I guess, just buildings or places that shouldn't really be celebrated, but somehow end up that way in my head anyway.

This isn't a done thing - I really need to learn to use illustrator to do these well enough - but it is something..

super!

2011-12-16T11:22:00.002-05:00

So this is the poster for the superbowl in indy. I think it's dumb.

Someone on twitter said "if the graphic designers in indy don't like the poster, they should design their own".

Well I'm not a graphic designer, but I threw this together in about 20 minutes.

206

2011-12-15T10:42:00.001-05:00

last night as i browsed my usual list of website, i looked at cyclocross photos and thought "i could do that again".

but not just now.

207

2011-12-12T10:43:00.006-05:00

When you find yourself in over your head.

Saturday night we were out with friends, drinking was involved, there were mentions of strip clubs, everyone was together and happy, and I was not drinking.

I was not drinking because I had a bike race the next day.

At some point in the evening it occurred to me: I've romanticized cyclocross. I like the comradery (at least reading about it). I like the people. I like the idea of an hour of suffering. I love bicycles. It's a club I want to belong to.

But Saturday night I realized I'd rather be having fun with the friends that I already have than worrying about bikes.

Sunday I woke up early. Multiple times. When I finally got up, I had some cereal. My stomach was unhappy. Nerves. I got dressed an headed to the race.

I got to the race, signed in, pinned on my number. Only like 3 hours early. I didn't want to miss anything. I was a wreck.

I warmed up like three times. I test rode the track between races. It wore me out. I thought "OK, there are other guys here that look to be more out of shape than you. There's even a guy that's grossly out of shape. You'll be ok. You can hang at the back, maybe you won't finish last. Maybe you can just have fun with it."

Eventually the race came. Here I was. I was doing it.

I lined up toward the back. We took off. It was muddy. I was in a race. I was ok.

It didn't take long for me to fall through everyone. But I was ok with that. I knew it was a learning experience. I was measuring my effort. The first lap was hard, but there were still people behind me. Good.

As the race went on, I just got passed. And passed. I passed no one. I could barely breath. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to catch my breath. The course was flat, but so muddy that even in the easiest gears everything was an effort.


14:32:51.3  1  1  11:48.028  7.627  48  138  53
14:46:04.5  2  2  13:13.228  6.808  59  116  55
14:59:44.8  3  4  13:40.265  6.583  51  130  56
15:13:46.6  4  5  14:01.812  6.415  61  130  59

My lap times were remarkably consistent after lap one. Remarkably slow.

I did accept two beer hand-ups. So there's something.

I finished a lap down. Second-to-last in class (the other guy's bike broke). Ahead of some guys in the 45+ class.

It was honestly the hardest thing I've ever done.

That's not even fair to say. Today I feel fine about it. But when I was done?

I was riding around, knowing I was a lap down, scared to death that in order to finish I'd have to make up that lap. So when I stopped? I wasn't even sure I had finished. I didn't care. I didn't want any more of that. It had taken everything I thought I loved and smashed it.

And I'm better for it. I still love it. Just not the same way.

Don't get me wrong. The people were great. It was nice to accomplish something. I'm glad I did it. But it was so much harder than I ever expected. And at this point in my life, I don't really need that sort of challenge/reward. My life is pretty full already. I should be in better shape - I'll be in better shape, but cyclocross?

Who thought that was a good idea?

I know it's a no guts, no glory. That's a beautiful thing. The people out there who put in all that effort deserve more respect than I could have ever imagined. It's fucking brutal. To love it? I don't know how that works.

Two hours later, I was sitting on my couch, in my living room, short of breath. Jesus.

I won't be doing cross again this year, not at 207 lbs. I've been 183 before - that seems like a reasonable weight to try again. And I might try again next year, in better shape, just to know how much difference fitness can make.

But right now? I'll watch. And offer beer hand-ups.

not flattering

beer in hand

2011-12-09T14:17:00.004-05:00

i have registered for my first cyclocross race. i was nervous about it, and then i decided to just resign myself to the fact that i'm going to be bad at it.

i have a very romantic vision of all forms of cycling, but i've been on the outside looking in for too long. sunday, i'll make the leap.

Another

2011-11-04T13:48:00.001-04:00

zonin' out today

Old Map

2011-11-04T11:25:00.005-04:00

so every once in a while i'll stumble across something i like a ton and i'll just go and remake it, for practice, or to generate new ideas, or whatever. this is one of those. (the original is overlaid, if you click that thing it should load HUGE. Ok, maybe not huge, but bigger.)

interestingly enough (at least to me), it looks like michelin's current maps are these ugly bright red or photography laden pieces of crap.

So that's depressing.

never put this here

2011-10-25T15:34:00.001-04:00

other stuff.

new project

2011-10-25T11:24:00.002-04:00

this is done. sorta

2011-10-24T14:25:00.002-04:00

Remember this? Here's this.

the funny thing is that when i dropped the bike a joe's to have the brakes rerun, i fond myself in bike shop full of bikes just like the one below, except these were better suited for my mission. and at around $300 they were probably cheaper than all the money i threw into this one.

so i dunno. i might give this bike away, eventually.

new

2011-10-24T14:16:00.004-04:00

at some point i'm going to print these and decorate my house with a bunch of my own crap. crap is the key word here.

i wouldn't say this is done - it's nowhere near done - but it was the idea i wanted to get down.

(in response to this)

reprieve

2011-10-06T10:43:00.003-04:00

last night was to be my last competitive soccer game ever.

i've played this whole season horribly. both physically and mentally i have not be up to my or anyone else's standards. sure, my teammates are nice, i can run out there and act like i know what i'm doing, but when thinking over the season, i could think of very few (less that four) instances where i felt like i was competent. basically i was running around trying to get in the way, and failing at that.

*

as much as i appreciate the coaches i've had throughout my 30 so years of soccer, it recently occurred to me that the level of coaching i'd had wasn't exactly great. tactically or positionally, i've learned more in my post high school career than i ever did throughout high school. where to run, how to space, all of that - it was all very elementary until recently. it's still elementary, actually, but at least now I think i know why i should do certain things.

*

when i showed up to the field last evening, a strange thing happened - i warmed up and felt good.

every week i'd show up, run around a bit, and just feel like a stumbling pile of bricks. but yesterday, i just felt... comfortable.

so when our playoff game started, i took up position in defensive midfield, settled in, and just did everything i wanted to do. i forced the opponent to his/her right foot (which is where 90% of players are going). i made the quick short pass. i won the ball. it was weird.

our team has not been particularly good this season. we've had fun. but as we approached the later minutes of the game, we were ahead 1-0.

and then our goalie cleared the ball into an oncoming striker's face. it went back over the goalie and into the net. 1-1.

with about 2 minutes left, we went up again. 2-1. as we worked very hard those last two minutes, i felt good. i was happy when the whistle blew. 2-1. we win.

and then we were informed we had to play another game. against a team of college players. we were also now short of players.

we borrowed some players from the team we had just beaten. we packed in the box. we played steady defense. we didn't really bother pushing up the field. at half it was 0-0.

we were surprised.

second half. same as the first. 0-0. extra time. and then they scored.

we played out the whole extra period (just 3 minutes because of oncoming darkness). we had a minute left. we pushed everyone up the field. our goalie actually scored the tying goal. it was way more exciting than it should have been. and then the whistle blew. penalty kicks.

i knew i wanted one.

i took the first. i scored.

unfortunately i don't think anyone else from our team did. so we lost.

but fuck, that was fun.

so much for retirement.

froggy went a'bikin'

2011-10-05T14:28:00.003-04:00

today i stumbled across the miyata bikes website. miyata is a japanese bike company, who happened to manufacture a late 80's/early 90's bike i own. it was a very nice bike, and then i sort of ruined it by taking all the gears off.

in any case, i don't ride the bike.

i've been wanting a simple singlespeed bike - which is what i turned the miyata into - for a while now. something a little more comfortable. something a little more relaxed.

so when i saw this today..

i decided to go ahead and buy some parts for the miyata.

first off, mountain bike style handlebars. then some new brake levers. then grips for the handlebars. then some old-style platform pedals.

$50 later it's on it's way to my house.

we'll see what happens next.

i should mention

2011-09-16T11:27:00.002-04:00

although work has been rough as of late, i very often have moments where i think that things are going swimmingly. we have so many great friends, regular fulfilling entertainment, respect of people who matter to us, just enough money to do most of what we want - i don't want to take it for granted. i often think that things can't be as good as they've been forever, that the wave eventually crashes.. but for the time being, it's very good to be riding atop it.

i don't know if we've worked hard to be here or if it's dumb luck, but it's nice to be confident in what we do and to have a life that's what we want. so to whomever is responsible - and i have no idea who that is - thank you.

continued

2011-09-08T14:09:00.002-04:00

the soccer team is now 1-3. maybe 1-4? in any case, we played a man (woman) short last evening and lost 2-1, mostly because I was the last defender against a guy I should have just tackled but instead watched run by me very quickly on his way to a goal.

that was the first goal, actually, so nevermind.

we are in the slow months for hbg, and fall has set in and i'm quite happy with the weather. we're working on a podcast project, starting with a test this evening on jason's front porch. should be interesting..

um

2011-09-01T10:16:00.002-04:00

Soccer week 2.

Well I decided that I was fat and horrible and really the only way to fix that is to not be fat. The horrible part might fix itself if I'm not fat. At least I could run around and be a nuisance.

I found this University of Michigan off-season training program, and knowing that I've never been in shape enough to play college soccer, I decided that age 35 was the perfect time to get that way.

Really I just thought "Well I used to do stuff like this, and I enjoyed it" so I figured why the hell not. I mean, I'm not gonna fly through these drills, but I can at least try them out.

So I started by running 2 miles. I ran 1 mile, stopped for a moment, shook myself out, then started running the other mile. Got to about 3/4 of the way through that mile and walked for a minute of so. My legs hurt. That was Tuesday. Game was yesterday (Wednesday). I didn't hurt myself, so that was an improvement over last week. And we won, which was weird.

Today I've got to hold a rail when walking down steps. Sideways. Well, I can walk down normally, but very very slowly, and it's painful.

But I'm doing it! Right?

Last night I asked Gina if maybe I should just realize I'm 35 and stop doing stupid shit like this. She said no. I agree.

We're gonna ride this out and it's gonna get better eventually

2011-08-25T16:31:00.002-04:00

I'm playing soccer again. Playing might be the wrong word. I'm actively watching soccer while on the field.

Last evening I entered our game nursing a slight groin pull that I seem to have sustained while climbing under a desk at work. I left the game shortly after with what seems to be a pair of strained groin muscles on both sides of my body. It was painful to sit. Or stand. Or drive.

Today I'm taking many aspirin.

Tuesday

2011-08-09T12:20:00.002-04:00

I'll admit that by noting these I was probably a little more active than normal. But not much.

Beer Advocate Forums Thread: Top Sour available in central Indiana

New York Times: Proper Ways to Treat an Heirloom

New York Times Diner's Journal: What We're Reading
Which leads to..

'Food raves' are the future of eating, new report claims
"Another trend that could take off is experimental ‘dirty dining’, whereby consumers gather together and eat only food that is either black or dyed black."

Monsanto, others seek to polish image of large-scale farming
Which lead me to pull up..

Agent Orange at Wikipedia
In 1991, the US Congress enacted the Agent Orange Act, giving the Department of Veterans Affairs the authority to declare certain conditions 'presumptive' to exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin, making these veterans who served in Vietnam eligible to receive treatment and compensation for these conditions.[60] The same law required the National Academy of Sciences to periodically review the science on dioxin and herbicides used in Vietnam to inform the Secretary of Veterans Affairs about the strength of the scientific evidence showing association between exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin and certain conditions.[61]

Through this process, the list of 'presumptive' conditions has grown since 1991, and currently the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has listed prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, multiple myeloma, type II diabetes, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma, chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, peripheral neuropathy, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and spina bifida in children of veterans exposed to Agent Orange as conditions associated with exposure to the herbicide. This list now includes B cell leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia, Parkinson's disease and ischemic heart disease, these last three having been added on August 31, 2010. Several highly placed individuals in government are voicing concerns about whether some of the diseases on the list should, in fact, actually have been included.[62]

Cool food jobs
Which lead to..

How to be a food writer
How to be an urban farmer
etc..

Hoosier Beer Geek is Five: More from Friends
Had to read it while I was putting it together

Email: does the menu bar on the site wrap for you?
Fixing an issue I found with HBG last night

La Cornette by yh2 Architecture

Hit Happens: Why Did Planet of the Apes Succeed?
Rise of the Planet of the Apes cost a measly $93 million — chimp change compared to the budgets of this summer's other major blockbusters. Even if it had failed, nobody would have lost their shirts.

Craftheads (Japanese Craft Beer Bar): On Tap

McSweeney's: Your Crafts Are Not Renegade Enough for the Renegade Craft Fair
Your needlework includes knit caps for babies. Babies are gross.

Email: Introducing Park & Bond
I'm pleased to announce the launch of Park & Bond, Gilt's new shopping destination for men.

Hipster themed 25th Birthday Bloomington Bar Crawl
I dunno, I saw a link on twitter and clicked.

Q&A: What sparked the London riots?

Ferdinand welcomes postponement
Rio Ferdinand has emerged as an unlikely - and impressive - spokesman for English football by calling for calm on the streets of London after three days of rioting on the streets of the capital.

Tuesday Transfer Gossip

Top Ten Players We're Excited About

The miniature world of Levi's Vintage clothing

J. Crew Timex Alternatives: The Momentum Atlas
I recently started buying cheaper watches. I blame blogs.

Steal the Style: Daniel Craig’s Esquire Cover
I like Daniel Craig more than I should. I'd be ordering a sweater right now if I wasn't broke.

Email: HEAVY METAL UPDATE Meet the Chef!!
You know we’re hosting an exciting event called "HEAVY METAL". You know we’ll be unveiling TWO new sculptures by Carol Tabac-Shank.

Actually I didn't know any of that. Somehow Hoosier Beer Geek is on the Chamber of Commerce email list.

How to tell if you’re a hat guy
I'd love to be a hat guy. Apparently I am not a hat guy. The graphic on this page looks like they made it with Microsoft Paint. Odd, considering the photography on the site is pretty good. I'm guessing they steal the photography.

Everything on this page today

Let's Have a Receipt Renaissance

New York's Low-Tech, Low-Cost, High-Style DeKalb Market
Which lead to..

Dekalb Market by Urban Space and Young Woo & Associates
and..

Brooklyn’s New DeKalb Market is Made from 22 Salvaged Shipping Containers
This just reminded me of dead prostitutes on The Wire

Populous’ Livestrong Sporting Park: Duo-Gard
I have no idea what that title is supposed to mean. After reading the article, I still don't, really.

ZeroCabin.com
Shipping container houses. I'm not sure..

Shipping-Container-Housing.com
Shipping Container Housing Guide is a site that came up after we searched the net for shipping containers information and saw that a lot of people and websites are talking about how can you build a house using shipping containers.

God’s Engineer

Premier Style (Writeup about new player from Fulham's website)
"I will try my best." Oh, good..

Archers of Loaf vs. The Greatest

Wanted: A Few Good Neighbors!

Colts release 1st official depth chart; offensive line sees new faces
I don't watch football but it's sort of my male duty to know what the hell is going on with the Colts.

Kate Middleton's younger sister Pippa in TLC special
What.
Her sister is better.

Francis Bean Cobain
We're all old.

Your moment of information design zen: the Shopsin's menu
Holy hell you've gotta see that thing.

The Midwestyle
HBG Jim suggested this site a while back. I'll be honest, I hate these fucking guys. I'm tired of looking at them. I can't imagine taking this many pictures of your boring fucking short sleeved dress shirt. (Yay! You put on clothes today!)
And yet I still look.

Email from Jurgen Klinsmann: A Very Exciting Time for US Soccer
Like I'm not going to read an email from Jurgen Klinsmann. I expect the US to lose tomorrow, if you're wondering. But here's hoping..

Four IPA myths that need to be stamped out for #IPAday
Fucking IPADay.

Keys to the city
Drinks were served. An organist played gospel music. The crowd danced on a concrete floor. And the guest of honor was surrounded by his friends in this unexpected party setting — the garage of an old Cass Corridor locksmith shop.

"It was insane," remembers Jim Murphy, who works here.

Fulham Review Round Table #2

Artist complains about removal of public art from Indy airport
Oh yay airport.

Prediction Time
The EPL starts this weekend, I've got Fulham 6th.

NABC Beer Descriptions, for the Great Taste of the Midwest 2011 official program.

Fulham Premier League 2011-12 team guide
At £190m, the club's debt is greater than any other in the Premier League, except Manchester United and Chelsea's. So it is no wonder the fans tolerate Mohamed Al Fayed. Last season he told anyone who objected to his statue of one-time Craven Cottage attendee Michael Jackson to "go to hell".

Proper Beer Service

Brewers Association Reports 2011 Mid-Year Growth for U.S. Craft Brewers

Stone Brewing, a less-than-love letter
See comments

Shocking: Stltoday.com Commenters Favor Anonymous Postings

USA Pro Cycling Challenge Stage 2

Crafting the Perfect Evening in Indy: Brewers Dinners
Got invited to this, had a previous commitment.

Music
Thank you, Spotify

Eddie Vedder's Ukelele Album
Pavement's Greatest Hits Album (I was lazy)
Flaming Lips Clouds Taste Metallic
Flaming Lips The Soft Bulletin
Sparklehorse Vivadixie..
Archers of Loaf Icky Metal
Spiritualized Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

2011-08-04T10:43:00.002-04:00

I want no one, no one wants me

2011-07-22T12:34:00.002-04:00

I guess I should write down somewhere that this was the year when I started being ridiculously allergic to the dumbest stuff. Like the fact that I break out when I go on bike rides and get hot. Or that sometimes I'll just look at my arm and realize the whole thing is broken out in hives. Or that after particularly hot bike rides I get genuine heat rash.

I have no idea where any of that came from, but my usual healthy techniques of saying "hey fuck that, i'm healthy" (see my blood pressure, for which I stopped taking medicine less than a month into the prescription) doesn't really work when there's a thing growing all over your skin.

so. yeah.

but seriously. fuck that.

that's done

2011-07-19T15:07:00.005-04:00

all of hbg's festival events are done for the year. they all went well. missions accomplisheds.

now i look at my vacation days remaining and try to solve for portland.

oh here's something:

that last one ain't done.

fast times at the ok corral

2011-06-29T14:25:00.005-04:00

I'm tired of looking at that photo of myself. I've retired those jeans now. I was quite fond of them and now I hate them.

There's a pretty good chance I'd hate anything I wore in that photo shoot though. Like my glowing red head. Sunblock is your friend, but I'm trying to look old fast, and I've heard that the sun can make you look leathery. I'm thinking like guys in westerns leathery. That's a good look. I want to ride a horse and shoot people.

Here's a list of things I've started and not finished.

1) bus trip to st louis for 30 people
2) interview with a homebrew shop (months ago)
3) interview with a new brewery (week ago)
4) beer dinner (still planning)
5) bicycle training for god knows what
6) harassment of jon (not that jon, the other jon) and ted (sorta) about putting together food truck friday (complete with this poster)

i started going to the gym again this week. i have no idea why.

we've never done the whole big "spring cleaning" thing at our house. since we've owned it. i feel bad about that. not sure why.

i haven't washed my car in over a year, probably. the interior was last cleaned at the factory, i'm guessing.

i wrote a list of household things to do on the chalkboard at home. i wonder if i'll ever do any of them.

oddly enough, i feel like I am accomplishing things, though. weird.

so this happened

2011-06-23T16:32:00.002-04:00

I was named one of Indianapolis' Top Tweets by Metromix. Perhaps you live somewhere where twitter hasn't taken off (so... pretty much anywhere) and you don't know what that's all about. In any case, being named one of Indianapolis Top anything's is certainly interesting.

Oh yeah, the link.

Not thrilled with the photo. Modelling for it was certainly weird. Whatever.

band of horses

2011-06-20T12:54:00.003-04:00

Band of Horses are the band that plays in the background of the good old american summer vacation movie in my head. hikes, camping, woods, old friends, red meat - they're a band i think every friend i ever had should be able to appreciate.

i miss my old friends. i miss our collective vacations. i hope there's a summer party coming yet. in the meantime i'll listen to band of horses.

trenton

2011-06-20T10:14:00.004-04:00

Photo credit: James Brown

thought that's not all of it, my hometown looks even smaller when photographed from above.

in this photo i can see my brother's (old) house, where my grandma's house used to be (before they tore it down), the house where my best friend in grade school lived, nate's house, nate's parents' house, my aunt and uncles house, the house where i was babysat as a kid, the church i grew up in, and the space (obscured) next to it where I went to grade school.

i guess that's a small town, then.

tree of life

2011-06-20T09:23:00.004-04:00

Gina and I saw this this weekend. Afterwards we got back in the car and I was a trainwreck. It hit way too close to home.

She did not like the movie.

notes

2011-06-14T10:46:00.002-04:00

two weeks ago we threw the first bloomington craft beer festival. it was not a full crowd, but went well. we were happy with the results.

also two weeks ago i sold my LeMond - my first road bike, and the one I hit the deer with. I used the money to buy a large television. perhaps that shows where my priorities now lie.

in fact, we've spent more time and money at wal-mart in the past two weeks then probably ever, as i also went ahead and replaced my twice fried x-box with a brand new one.

none of this is very exciting, but i've noted it anyway.

oddly enough

2011-06-09T11:32:00.000-04:00

some years later, i think jason might own one of these..

Thumbs down

2011-05-26T14:56:00.002-04:00

We are rapidly approaching both the Brewers of Indiana Guild Festival(s) and the Ride Across Indiana. I feel underprepared for both.

And while I may be underprepared, I'm also unconcerned. I may not to the RAIN ride this year, we've (ironically enough) got entirely too much RAIN to get any miles in. And I'm lazy. And I've been busy with vacations or whatever. Upland. Whatever.

Weight was 210 the day after vacation. Not good. Also.. whatever.

My brother signed off on his new house yesterday. I'm worried about mine being leveled by a tornado. Next house will have a tornado shelter. Count on it.

political post for madonna to write

2011-05-12T11:22:00.000-04:00

here we are, about a week away from my brother's wedding, and i've got a best man speech to write.

initially i thought this one would be hard, but life lessons are pretty formulaic.

so the outline goes:

shared history
lessons learned
the road ahead is better yet

i've done this once before, for cousin curt, and that was pretty much the formula. i think i end up talking about myself as much as i do the groom, but as far as i can tell that's the only way to do it, because frame of reference is really all you've got to work with when you're talking about someone else.

or maybe i've got a big head.

*

so last weekend we threw our 4th tailgate for nothing event, which is just a parking lot party with really good beer and food. 100ish people attended throughout the day, and most folks really enjoyed themselves.

i had a conversation with a guy i've met before, and he thanked me for the events we do and for being me. "i like your honesty. some people think you're a dick, but you're just laying it out there.."

honestly, i had no idea that people thought i was a dick. the LAST thing i want to be is a dick.

a guy that playfully pokes? yes. a guy with snappy comebacks? definitely. a dick? ouch.

so i wondered... does everyone see me that way? is it because i'm too quiet? is it because when i do start talking i'm a smartass? i don't know. but maybe i need to fix something?

i really thought i was pretty damn friendly.

no biking

2011-04-27T13:00:00.002-04:00

been really busy chasing other stuff as of late, we'll see if i can get back on it next week.

coming up in the next few weeks:
weekend 1: weekend trip to munster (dark lord day)
weekend 2: hbg tfn
weekend 3: eggfest judging
week: drive to florida/nick's wedding/new orleans/back to IN
weekend 4: trip to crown point
weekend 5: EMPTY!
weekend 6: throw a beer festival in bloomington

somewhere in there I was going to train for Ride Across Indiana..

where i was

2011-04-18T16:15:00.002-04:00

what you should know is that i didn't ride the bike all that much last week, as everything just keeps getting in the way. i've also developed some weird knee ailment, but i think that's unrelated.

um.. work is work. i don't talk about it.

the above is a beer review i just did. i'm a little bored with beer reviews.

headed to florida for nick's wedding soon enough.

last night

2011-03-31T10:52:00.002-04:00

I've been having weird dreams lately. Or maybe it's not that I'm having weird dreams, maybe it's that suddenly I find that I have the ability to remember them the next day.

In last night's dream, I was attending a two-person musical, in the style of Lars Von Trier's Dogville. I realize that Dogville isn't a musical, but the tone of this particular musical was very Dogville-esqe.

The two person cast included Mandy Moore and some fat guy. The play took place in some sort of church building, and the crowd was less than interested. I recall looking away from the play - which I couldn't follow anyway - to do some reading.

At some point in this very depressing display the actors moved to the front of the stage, trying to get the crowd involved with a clap and sing-a-long portion of the performance. When the crowd failed to play along, Ryan Adams sat down at a piano and began playing a Whiskeytown song.

"Is that Ryan Adams?" I thought to myself.

That's pretty much all I remember.

204/+1

2011-03-18T09:49:00.003-04:00

skipped a week, spent a whole day at a brewery monday... haven't rode much... I guess I'm ok? Hard to lose weight when you're not really putting the effort in. I guess I've lost 11 lbs since January 7th, so - while that's not a very aggressive rate, it's sustainable...

jp

2011-03-18T08:51:00.001-04:00

it's hard to look at this

and not think about this

my style is not your style

2011-03-18T08:43:00.002-04:00

my egg thing got re-imagined and hand drawn and tossed aside, more or less. i like the new ideas, but the new execution.. eh..

(this is where there might be a picture of the new if I had it)

exploding cats and bicycle rides

2011-03-13T22:15:00.000-04:00

roadkill is a weird thing.

eggfest

2011-03-10T15:09:00.001-05:00

poster i'm working on for friends. fire needs work.

i should stop working for free.

next up..

2011-03-09T16:13:00.001-05:00

on a pair of middle may evenings we'll be staying at this jem...

the royal street inn, which calls itself a "bed and beverage".

two days in new orleans with the intent of drinking and eating yourself stupid will always seem like a good idea to me. the last time i entered the city with this plan, we did it straight up college ~~stupid~~ student tourist style, hitting touristy joints instead of places that we should have, drinking hurricanes, throwing up on st. louis cathedral, then standing back up and turning around only to see a girl peeing in a doorway across the alleyway.

perhaps it's strange that i look upon these memories fondly, but nevertheless i look forward to reliving them, this time from a professional drunkard's standpoint*.

*those of you who doubt this title should know that i'm one eighth owner in a llc dedicated to spending all income on beer.

sold some shit out

2011-03-06T00:35:00.000-05:00

so we had 36 seats to sell for this breakfast thing we do, and that shit sold out in 5 hours. perhaps the tide is turning....

lazy week

2011-03-04T14:09:00.001-05:00

203. waiting for better weather and more daylight. didn't do much of anything this week, a few bike rides... not fast bike rides, either.

203/-1

2011-02-25T08:39:00.001-05:00

One pound is not enough. Weighed at home (sans clothes) and hit 199 this week.. So close to the weather breaking and longer days and tons of bike miles. Can't wait.

Fuck yeah new bike

2011-02-22T16:43:00.006-05:00

2009 Specialized Tarmac Pro SL, Dura-Ace, Fulcrum 1s, 60 miles used, $2500.

That's a lot of money for a bike, but that's not a lot of money for that bike. Better than I ever needed, better deal what I could have hoped for.

looks like...

i've never been so excited to blow an entire tax refund plus some more money.

yay

boring/week six

2011-02-18T08:45:00.005-05:00

204/-.5

i was 202 on the scale last night at home... expected to down a little bit more here at work, having done a little more biking this week.. and a lot less elliptical. and eating crap and drinking. well, here and there.

better next weeky. this is going a lot slower than i hoped for.

luckily my competition at work doesn't seem to be very competitive - if i can knock out a few weeks straight of dedication to the cause, i should be able to pull out a win in the contest. and with that comes more money for bicycle #5.

also told i've lost 11 lbs in 6 weeks for a lost of 1.8333 per week, which the experts might tell you is a reasonable rate... when i'm working out and busting ass it feels like i should expect more than the reasonable rate. the reasonable rate is for old ladies.

it's that beer and food..

pluggin' away

2011-02-11T08:57:00.002-05:00

204.5/-2

i would have hoped for better.

though last weekend involved copious amounts of drinking.. and tuesday was an off day because of.. i forget why, and that's horrible. worked out twice wednesday, went and did a brewery interview/tour thing last night and then came home and did my hour (harder than it sounds)..

¡BASTARDO!

2011-02-07T13:38:00.002-05:00

Initial Menu:

Sandwiches ~

Banh Mi Sandwich
Jewishish Brisket Sandwich
Meatloofah

Desert ~

Banh Mi Cheesecake

2011-02-04T12:30:00.004-05:00

so here's this.

and here's what i did with it.

this week in weightloss (or gain)

2011-02-04T11:17:00.002-05:00

206.5 / +.5

i'd have called that 206.

big beer dinner last night. beer is the enemy. which makes writing a beer blog difficult...

after winterfest

2011-01-31T08:59:00.003-05:00

busy weekend, lack of workouts, bad food

-3/206.

looked at some bicycles yesterday.

week 2

2011-01-24T13:54:00.002-05:00

san francisco over, put on (I thought 2, but just 1) pounds.

+1/209lbs

week 1

2011-01-13T12:44:00.002-05:00

weight taken early since i'm leaving for sf tomorrow (where i'll put the weight back on)

-7 lbs/208lbs

San Francisco

2011-01-12T14:53:00.002-05:00

I might as well put all my eggs in one basket.

i didn't write these, putting them here so i don't have to dig for them. so when lucy sanders goes googling her name... hi lucy. nice work.

Re: SF beer joints
easy. the best new place in the area is across the bay in oakland: beer revolution. a mix of toronado atmosphere with a huge to go selection. just a few blocks away is the trappist. two rooms of good belgian & local specialty beers. here in sf there are a number of new beer bars in the gastropub style: the republic, de la rosa, the tipsy pig, fat angel, & monk's kettle. i prefer the bars with a little less beer & more character. one of my favorites is run by johnny davis (one of the toronado stalwarts). it's called benders. 12 taps (pliny the elder & green flash beers always on tap) & stiff drinks. a bar for people who like bars (punk rock, country, & golden age hip hop always on the jukebox). off the beaten track (in the excelsior district) is broken record. only 8 beers, well chosen, but the star here is the collection of small batch spirits. there have been a bunch of restaurants & bars opening that are fighting the good fight. it's definitely becoming the norm not the exception as far as good drinking goes in this town. even most music venues serve the good stuff now.
Sent from my mobile.

http://www.craftbeer.com/pages/beer-and-food/features/show?title=san-franciscomdash-a-city-of-delights

San Francisco—A City of Delights
San Francisco—A City of Delights
By Lucy Saunders

San Francisco is a city of delights—especially culinary delights. Fantastic fresh foodstuffs, craft breweries, and brewpubs make the city’s beer scene vibrant.

“Craft beer has hit a new critical mass in the food community, and it is reflected in increased sales and attention to craft beer in what seems like every great restaurant in town,” says David McLean, brewer and owner of Magnolia Gastropub and The Alembic. “This is obviously not just a local phenomenon, and is especially welcomed here and now. In the not too distant past, craft beer has sometimes felt a little overshadowed by the amazing wine scene that surrounds us.”

Beer mapping among San Francisco restaurants yields dozens of recommendations, but here are a few of the top picks, starting with an exceptional gastropub at the ball park, where you can nosh for as little as $10.

The Public House | 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco, CA 94107
The Public House, inside the Willie Mays Park, finally perfected the gastropub formula; upscale pub food, 24 well chosen taps, and dozens of bottles, says Chuck Lenatti, editor of allbrews, a Bay Area based beer blog.

Rosamunde Sausage Grill | 545 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117
Beer loves sausage and vice versa. But you can also enjoy beer with breakfast sausage, according to Owner and Grillmeister of Rosamunde Sausage Grill, Josh Margolis. “Personally, I’m of the mind that craft beer is more versatile with food, so we offer the fabulous Old Rasputin, North Coast Brewing Company's Imperial Stout which tastes like espresso. It pairs really well with the grilled sausage and egg breakfast sandwich, with arugula, grilled onions and Cheddar cheese.”

The Alembic | 1725 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117
For just $25, you can put together an amazing progression of tastings at The Alembic, Dave McLean’s small plate restaurant in The Haight. McLean says, “Because of my brewing background and love for beer, Alembic is one of those places where the craft beer selection is much wider than its wine selection, but less so than its spirits, which is Alembic’s main focus.” The menu is inventive, with combinations such as fresh sea urchin and roasted corn chowder, roasted bone marrow with capers and hot peppers, and bittersweet chocolate dessert with salted coconut.

monks

The Monk's Kettle | 3141 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
The Monk's Kettle often hosts The San Francisco Brewers Guild's monthly “meet the brewer” gathering. Co-founder Christian Albertson says, “We've also started a vintage list, with fifteen rotating choices. In planning our beer dinners, we begin with a discussion about what beers we'll be using, then create dishes to highlight their flavor profile. This is an interesting way to go about it, since you start with the beer first, then develop the food course to complement it.” Beyond beer dinners, expect solid pub fare, such as burgers and salads, prepared with organic, fresh, free-range ingredients from top-quality purveyors, and a rotating selection of American craft beer on tap.

monk3nuBar Crudo | 655 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA 94117
You can enjoy fresh seafood with a range of American craft beers at Bar Crudo for right around $30. Make sure to try one of my favorite pairings, the West Coast oysters with East Coast’s Allagash Brewing Company White. Bar Crudo takes the beer dinner to the next level. At a recent “Land Meets Sea” dinner, Moonlight Brewing Co. offered five courses paired with six beers for $85. The menu included creations such as King Mackerel Crudo, atop a salad of water cress, endive, sliced pear, duck prosciutto, almond dust, and tossed in a creamy pear dressing, paired with brewer Brian Hunt’s Sour Mash Wheat Ale.

Across the town, fine restaurants feature American craft beer on their menus. According to San Francisco’s Beer-Chef, Bruce Paton, “The San Francisco Brewers Guild has helped raise the profile of craft beer within the culinary community. Since its founding, The Guild has taken part in several high profile food events that had been previously dominated by wine and distilled spirits.”
Members of the San Francisco Brewers Guild include:

21st Amendment Brewery | 563 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
Partners Nico Freccia and Shaun O’Sullivan offer unique, hand crafted beers, great food, and provide a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere that invites conversation, interaction, and a sense of community.

Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant | 1000 Great Hwy, San Francisco, CA 94121
Housed in 1930s era Golden Gate Park Visitors Center, guests enjoy modern American cuisine and hand crafted ales amidst the beauty of restored Works Progress Administration frescoes and a breathtaking ocean view.

Gordon Biersch Brewery & Restaurant | 2 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
Gordon Biersch serves authentic German style beer, and the menu consists of appetizers and entrees influenced by a variety of cuisines. All their offerings are designed to complement Dan Gordon's signature lager beer.

Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery | 1398 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117
The Magnolia honors traditional brewing styles and methods while adding something modern and fresh to the conversation. The kitchen uses the bounty of California-produced ingredients to create a menu inspired by the great cooking traditions of pubs and beer halls.

Social Kitchen & Brewery | 1326 9th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94122
Cuisine à la bière is the idea that beer plays a role in the kitchen and deserves a place at the table. The Social Kitchen & Brewery is modeled after this idea, and produces accessible beers that are food-friendly and full of flavor.

Speakeasy Ales & Lagers | 1195 Evans Avenue # A, San Francisco, CA 94124
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, in beautiful Bayview, is producing Prohibition era ales and lagers in small batches.

ThirstyBear Brewing Co. | 661 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
ThirstyBear is known for the Spanish influences found on the menu, such as crispy calamari bites with piquillo peppers and a dusting of grated Manchego cheese.

For reviews of more beer-centric restaurants throughout the Bay Area, including Oakland and Berkeley, visit Chuck Lenatti's blog, allbrews. Cheers!

twitter:

oronado toronado
@
@hoosierbeergeek u should peek @sfbrewersguild... that will get most, + us, @ChurchKeySF, @citybeerstore , @monkskettle ... that's SF proper
30 Dec Favorite Retweet Reply

MurdarioStomp scott p
@
@hoosierbeergeek go to Toronado, Monks Kettle, The Trappist. stop by City Beer for an AMAZING selection. go to russian river !!!

weavr Rodney
@
@imames @thedudeabides81 @hoosierbeergeek Rogue Public House, even though you guys hate Rouge
28 Dec Favorite Retweet Reply

hmmm

2011-01-11T20:22:00.002-05:00

and last night we rejoined the gym

2011-01-06T13:18:00.003-05:00

if you're me, you're used... or at least you have in your head that your weight is supposed to be anywhere between 183 and 190. it's suppose to be lower than that, but that's where it ends up most of the time.

i've had a really good time enjoying food and drink of late - it's not like i'm unhappy, but...

215 is not the number you expect to see on the scale.

just so happens that there's a weight loss contest at work, and i happen to know how to lose weight. so it's back to the grind. hopefully in prep for track cycling in the spring.

year in review 2010

2010-12-28T09:37:00.002-05:00

Top 10 Kroger Brand (Big K) diet sodas discovered in 2010.
1. Diet Ginger Ale
2. Big K Zero (or whatever they call their Coke Zero copy)
3. Big K Diet Citrus Drop
4. Big K Diet Orange is the worst one. This list is not 10.

Top 10 New (to me) places to eat in Indy 2010.
1. Tamale Place
2. Southside Mexican grocery place
3. Monday Night Taco Ride Taco Cart
4. Tortas
5. Square Rootz (maybe that should be higher)

Top 10 Names of Hoppy Beers That I'm making up right now (and one from yesterday)
1. Hopspital
2. Orange County cHoppers
It was at this point I found a list on the internet of words with "hop" in them.
280 words found.

3. The ArchbisHOP
4. BakesHOP
5. Frédéric cHOPIN
6. Chinese cHOPstick
7. ClodHOPper
8. Mott the HOPple
9. HOPScrotch
10. LitHOPhane
11. MorpHOPhonemics
12. MuttoncHOPs
13. MytHOPoeia
14. OnycHOPhoran
15. OrtHOPaedic Insert
16. PatHOPhysiologic
17. Pawnshop
18. PhospHOProtein
19. PsycHOPath
20. RockHOPper
21. SHOPboy
22. SHOPgirl
23. SHOPhroth
24. SHOPlifting
25. SweatsHOP
26. TrocHOPhore
27. WHOPped
28. WoodcHOPper
29. XantHOPhyll

more later maybe

got this in the mail yesterday

2010-12-07T08:48:00.002-05:00

ordered this like 6 months ago, after they finally got it right (production problems) it showed up in my mailbox... very nice.

this is not the face i made. nor am i as thin as this gentleman.

rode to work

2010-12-07T08:37:00.003-05:00

current temps: 13 feels like 3

getup:
rapha winter cap
sunglasses
rapha base
rapha winter jersey
showers pass elite jacket
rapha bib knickers
brand p winter bib tights
specialized radiant gloves
defeet wooleator socks
specialized road shoes
endura overshoe

toes got a little cold towards the end of the ride, and face was cold as usual, but i kept decently warm. legs were pretty damn red when i got undressed. that's why i keep long underwear at work.

worth noting that this was probably my first time on the bike in more than a couple months, and it's not like i got many miles in in the time before that, either.

probably weight 205ish right now, that's not a good place for me to be (as my clothes are starting to not fit).

pretty rough riding in, rode off the shoulder in the fog of early morning tiredness/low light/overweight and outta shape.

it only gets better...

Vietnam 1

2010-12-06T14:55:00.002-05:00

I've had this idea in my head for a while that at some point I'll retrace Dad's route through Vietnam by way of bicycle. I don't have a ton of info on where or what he did, but my Mom recently acquired a map at the family reunion - so I think I've got a jumping off point, anyway..

TBC.

10 years

2010-11-26T09:07:00.000-05:00

I have now lived in Indiana for 10 years. I suppose that's worth noting.

done? or done.

2010-10-11T16:25:00.002-04:00

sent this over to my friend clayton to print for me so i can double check everything... still gotta get some ads and tickets and stuff like that.

winter poster

2010-10-08T10:04:00.002-04:00

Real thing:

Placeholder text:

Had a sneak preview on twitter, a certain brewer requested "a gentler version":

a few old techniques used in different ways: background is the same old paper background i normally use, but this time the colors are all tweaked. then i threw a darker layer on top and messed with opacity.

shadow on all the text and images to make them jump out a bit - i used shadow with a light color on the logos at the bottom, since i went black with them - they were a little heavy in white and i think they're better this way.

there's been talk of testing a theory that if we take a photo of someone with their face smashed against a window we can make a sort of "trapped under ice" look here. considering my inspirations were heavy metal concert posters (can you figure out which one?) and metallica, it seems like an idea worth pursuing. maybe. we'll see.

(of course i'd google winterfest poster before making my own. i have no ideas of my own...)

how this works

2010-09-30T14:25:00.005-04:00

gina actually finished this one - the kerning on the font is a little off, but i think it's pretty solid.

i had this...

But not only is that overcomplicated, saying "we're not going to say anything else" and then saying a whole lot more makes no sense.

this isn't exactly a new idea, but I think it's the first time I've done it in print..

OH AND THERE WAS THIS...

which i thought was a completely different direction for me. i did the art, rod threw some words on it, and we had an advertisement for a beer and cheese event. oh boy.

it's not perfect (far from it), but at least it was different. good practice.

!

2010-09-21T14:34:00.004-04:00

welcome back to the new and more exciting ridehorsey. we'll start being more exciting by telling you about how formulaic life has become. work/home/food/p90x or work/home/p90x/food with the occasional work/home/dining&beer. though last night the hbg folks (with a lot of help) put on a beer/cheese thing and raised $700 for some people in need. that was nice. and exciting on some level. i think.

but other than that it feels like buying time. buying time till november when gina and i are headed south for a week in hopes of seeing a shuttle launch. buying time till december when xmas rolls around and i someone run out of money. buying time until january when despite the fact that i always run out of money in january we'll be visiting jon in san francisco. buying time till january when i hope my credit card is forgotten and i can blow my entire tax return on the new bicycle. buying time until march when we visit florida to see my brother married. buying time until next year's great american beer festival. buying time until my car is paid off. buying time until we can get out of our house and move closer to where we spend our time socially. in a perfect world we live in something like this. with a garage and a basement. in fountain square, maybe. buying time until the dodge challenger r/t is a affordable used. (it's the latest thing from my childhood that i'm not obsessed over. if that's a mid or quarter life crisis than so be it.)

so we'll see. it's all very exciting.

week 5

2010-09-07T15:46:00.002-04:00

so sunday we were supposed to start week 5 of the p90x thing, but sunday was john's wedding, so we missed out. yesterday was a holiday, giving us time to catch up, but instead we did a bunch of nothing.

last night i retook my measurements and weight and found that i'd made no progress whatsoever. i didn't expect much, to be honest, but i did expect something. gina took the same measurements and found the same results. i found that a little surprising because i thought i had noticed a difference.

in any case, i think that perhaps i haven't done enough, or committed myself enough, and as a result we're rededicating ourselves. at least that's the plan. i plan to get in more cardio, too, hopefully with a return to the bike (it's been over a month, actually, which is my longest dry stretch since i started, i think. even in winters i get on it at least once or twice a month).

so that's what's going on. pretty boring stuff.

and

2010-08-25T22:13:00.003-04:00

since i'm keeping track of my life on this thing, i guess it's worth nothing that for the past three weeks gina and i have been doing the p90x lean program, along with trying to follow the diet. took tonight off, though, as i was feeling pretty burnt out on everything.

back to it tomorrow, so far so good.

oops

2010-08-25T21:55:00.002-04:00

with this i decided that i'm not into doing commercial work and dropped out of the "contest" or whatever it was that i was in.

no time no time.

i'm happy with these

2010-08-17T09:53:00.001-04:00

i think they turned out well.

ideas because i skipped yoga

2010-08-04T23:01:00.006-04:00

this one is out of scale, everything needs to be bigger. originally the embellishment at the bottom was just embellishment, and then i saw a face in it, so i tweaked it and added eyeballs. i like that it sort of looks like there's a mustache above the nose. i was playing with the idea of what porters do (did), which is carry shit places. didn't like how my boxes were turning out. so instead i turned him into some sort of gypsy mind control porter.

the "hat" or box that says "porter" was a standard photoshop shape (as was the face) that i tweaked - in this case i cut the bottom off the police badge, flipped it, and merged it with itself.

was approached to maybe do some commercial work today (on the strength of my hbg stuff), we'll see what happens. still don't know what i'm doing, really, but i'm getting there.

oh, i'm back on bebas as a font - it's guilt free and jason likes it.

should have looked into sherpas...

got a photography idea for this weekend, hopefully i can get it done saturday. might take forever.

Untitled (kids), 2010.

2010-07-30T13:56:00.001-04:00

i give up

2010-07-29T15:33:00.002-04:00

i'm now on blood pressure medicine and my ear thing is still not right.

better medicine than heart attack, i suppose.

hmm

2010-07-27T14:49:00.002-04:00

This past weekend i took an intro to velodrome sort of class at Major Taylor, where I learned a) I like bikes and b) racing on a velodrome is hard but fun.

From here I could a) start intro racing on thursday nights or b) do nothing. a requires a new bike. i love new bikes, and a track bike is the sort of affordable that i can handle.

but i've got something bigger and more involved on my plate now, a collaborative effort that i hope will make an overall improvement to my overall wellbeing, an extensive exercise effort that might be long overdue. so velodrome racing is on hold.

velodrome bicycling buying, on the other hand...

2010-07-21T15:29:00.001-04:00

2010-07-21T14:26:00.001-04:00

get the hell out of here.

2010-07-14T15:17:00.000-04:00

2010-07-14T14:31:00.003-04:00

yesterday, while visiting the doctor in hopes of clearing the unclearable, i was also made aware that my blood pressure is out of control.

this was not welcome news. the news i was hoping for was "here, i will clear the mess out of your ears and you will be normal again", not "if you have any symptoms of heart attack you need to call 911" and "check your blood pressure at your local pharmacy every couple of days, take notes, and come back to see me in two weeks".

i suppose that's how doctors work, though. they remind you that you're going to die.

not me though.

not enough this lately:

it's indiana beer week, which means gina and i are on a weeklong quest to accomplish what i'm not sure. it involves a week of drinking every evening and then putting on a beer festival (oh, 5000 or so people attending) with friends.

i am taking a break on this evening's leg.

to say that this blood pressure thing doesn't freak me out a bit would be a lie. i do not see myself as someone who takes drugs on a regular basis, regardless of my family history. i see myself as someone who instead just works harder.

so that's what i'll do.

our future, your clutter

2010-07-12T09:47:00.005-04:00

still infected. water in the ear feeling. i can hear myself breathe. it's annoying.

over the past two weeks i've ridden my bike once. this coming saturday is the IN microbrewer's festival, and the following saturday i'll be at a track clinic at the major taylor velodrome. the clinic makes me a bit nervous, but it should be good for my bike handling skills. plus i think it'll be fun to ride on the velodrome once.

and so.

did another poster recently.

this isn't exactly original, but it's what they asked for.

2010-07-09T12:24:00.003-04:00

this week will go down in history as the week i got strep throat and an ear infection and was incapacitated for five straight days.

i do not get sick often, and when i do i turn into a cake of physical misery with a nice emotional (OH MY GOD WHAT IF I EVER GET REALLY SICK!?!?) ice cream side.

if that does ever happen (i actually get sick), hide the cyanide pills.

*

still dealing with the ear infection. it feels like like i've got little elves pulling on my ears. i feel slighty retarded, as well. and my head is in a cottony cloud of yuck.

come on antibiotics.

2010-06-30T08:47:00.002-04:00

Should the MLS be like the NFL and end with a tacky superspectacle, with moribund rock acts performing at half-time, while U.S. Air Force flies over their heads, the field is covered with the flag and Budweiser premiers commercials in which, say, a horse farts into a woman's face? Should the game be reshaped so as to allow commercials to be broadcast during each throw in? Should soccer competitions be redesigned so that teams/clubs play 162 games before the first relevant one, rendering most of them entirely, fantastically meaningless as in baseball? Should the offside rule be changed so that soccer games have basketball scores and the American viewer of the thumb-happy remote does not switch the channel too soon? Would it be necessary for the U.S. team to attain the world superiority of the U.S. basketball team, so that Americans can crush, say, Ghana (oh wait!) the way the U.S. basketball team crushed Mozambique a couple of Olympics ago, when Vince Carter jumped over the head of their center for a dunk and pumped his chest thereafter, because it appeared a great achievement to him to humiliate Mozambique’s players? (Indeed it did turn out to be the greatest achievement of his career.) Would the U.S. team, every time they played, have to make the world look small and underdeveloped and undemocratic and pitiful if not exposed to the eternal sunlight of American greatness?

http://www.tnr.com/blog/world-cup/75874/americans-and-soccer

no more using this font

2010-06-21T13:58:00.002-04:00

this is boring work from someone who's bored.

2010-06-21T13:00:00.001-04:00

last night we saw toy story 3 because hey it's a movie and it was ok. guy next to me was crying at the end. not sure if it was that good.

yesterday i rode a bike and didn't bring water and it sucked at the end.

THE END.

sketch

2010-06-16T16:14:00.002-04:00

just an idea i had, thrown together so i've got it noted.

i see no reason why i can't turn everything i participate in into a poster.

stay tuned for the "sweaty lawn mowing after riding a bike home from work" poster.

all these people are dead anyway

2010-06-15T12:58:00.006-04:00

today i stumbled across this.

as a result, this..

the event will feature lots of beer, tamales, burlesque bingo (probably), an old-timey strong man (probably), and more beer. since it's about half old-timey, i think the poster makes sense. i enjoy writing the small quips for each of us. be sure to click the image so you can actually read them.

the bit about hats at the bottom came out of nowhere. then i consulted wikipedia's hat entry to find some hat types. which is why they're in alphabetical order.

i wonder how they did this sort of thing way back then.

this is pretty much done

2010-06-15T09:55:00.005-04:00

not the best thing i ever did by any means, but it was a challenge getting all the info on this thing.

maybe next time i'd use different fonts for the stuff in the middle.

this meal should be good.

next up, hbg4 event posters. more of them. probably.

2010-06-14T14:35:00.003-04:00

Times New Roman is the new new.

haha

2010-06-11T12:57:00.001-04:00

i like stripes and circles and bubbles and clouds

2010-06-10T16:26:00.003-04:00

date is wrong on this one.

all this stuff is in a folder named "rip off"

2010-06-10T14:02:00.005-04:00

quite a few ideas came out of that folder. "ideas"...

not my logo

2010-06-10T13:11:00.000-04:00

i did do poster layout, so if that's crap it's all my fault...

old

2010-06-10T12:38:00.001-04:00

2010-06-09T10:20:00.000-04:00

http://tinyurl.com/2axnasr

2010-06-08T23:14:00.002-04:00

201

2010-05-27T14:05:00.002-04:00

that's what the scale said last night.

i'm all talk, little action as of late. every week i say to myself "next week, i'm gonna hit the bike hard, i'm gonna stop eating crap..."

i'm convinced that i can't eat like normal people. if i eat like normal people i put on weight. or maybe i binge in the middle. i dunno. normal people are overweight.

this is a very bloggy blog post.

perhaps

2010-05-11T13:19:00.003-04:00

the updates to this are fewer and farther between because i'm busy with stuff like hbg and taco rides and drinking and while that's all fun and exciting, it's documented elsewhere.

in any case, i use my link lists on the right quite a bit, so getting rid of the page doesn't make sense.

so i'm sorry if it's of no use to you.

news you may have missed:

i did initial can design for sun king brewery's newest offering, Cream Dream (or Creme Dream, I forget)
i'm designing posters and tickets for the indiana microbrewers festival (quite a bit of exposure there)
work bought me a blackberry
work gave me a substantial pay bump
i decided to spend the summer eating and biking here and there and taking it easy
every week is filled with too much to do
many mornings i make my way to work and think "i have so much to be thankful for"
i have almost as many twitter followers as there are citizens of trenton, IL (that's pretty odd)
fulham is in the europa final (i hesitate to mention it because i haven't yet and i'm very superstitious)

here are some pictures of posters yet to be finished:

I'm listening to LCD Soundsystem, Nirvana Live at Reading, and... whatever. Charlotte Gainsbourg, I guess.

I recently negotiated to help open a restaurant in st. louis, but the conversation took place of cell phone, and i was drinking.

so that one's not exactly likely.

2010-04-29T09:59:00.002-04:00

you might be tempted to think that i've finally jumped ship, that this blog is on it's way out, but you would be wrong, you see, because i'm not going anywhere, ever, just trapped here writing a paragraph now and again, like a dog on a chain, wandering around free until suddenly there's a tight snap at my neck, that's what this is, this blog, it's a neck ache.

none of that is true. a third of it. 7%.