-34 windchill

Q:Why the fuck am I still on my bike?
A: What would I be doing with my life is I wasn't?

It's kind of funny how you end up answering so many questions with other ones. I'm in a really melancholy mood partially because it's cold as fuck, my shoes are wet, and I'm short rent and tomorrow is the 31. I'm looking forward to the ride tomorrow night because I need a break from alot of the shit thats been going on in my head and I just need to try to ride all of that shit out rather than the more self destructive idea of going out and drinking it out. Anyway, I just wanted to edit this to put up an awesome video clip. In the late 80s the first wave of "extreme sports" started to take serious root. Kids had been riding skateboards and racing bikes for some time prior, but the sports began mainstream success and began to gain the intrest of movie companies. The skate end of the deal was the movie Thrashin (and gleaming the cube!). The BMX end was Rad. The heroic tale of a paper boy gone pro BMXer. Anyway someone put together a bunch of clips from this movie into a pretty moving montage that I think is worth taking a look.
Rad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMeD9nrpfeY&NR=1
There are like a million other clips worth looking at on there.
If thats not enough full face helmets and spandex check out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR_9VlHFOu8

Other bike related video stuff. They have the documentry "Pedal" at the local library. It's kind of slow paced and ambiguous but worth a look. heres the trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VckgDaKpRK0

Well I've put off my obligations long enough. I'll end this with a quote from Steve Crandall off the Road fools 8 video.

When I was about 4 years old I got my first bike. That seems like both yesterday and a million years ago. The first time I rolled to the end of my driveway, I doubt I realized how much further my bike would take me.

That was almost 23 years ago.

Since then, my bikes have taken me to the middle of the woods, cities far and wide, prestigious universities, the Eiffel Tower, the convenience store, and even jail.

How amazing is this vehicle we call a bicycle? How far can it take you? And how far are you willing to go? None of that really matters though as long as you enjoy the time you spend getting there.
-Steve Crandall

Part 2

Once again note that none of this is academic study, and with it I only offer more questions, assumptions, and sterotypes.

So then the question remains. How has the image of the biker become so malighned, and why does it continue as such? I would argue there are several reasons. The first being that the bicycle is a symbol of autonomy. Almost anyone can ride a bike with little experience. Once you are on one you ca travel anywhere you want with the proper planning. It gives you access to places that cars and pedestrians can't go, and often allows you to travel there faster especially in cities. The transient nature of bikes is suspect to any observer. Much like anything transient it is hard to gain the trust of people and persecution is prevalent. Look at the sterotypes associated with carnies, gypsies, hitchikers, hobos, train hoppers, etc. A bicycle can blow a red light and get away with no consequence. To a motorist sitting at the light it's easy to get upset and some would argue jelous of the ability to break a law and get away. There is little way to track down a law breaking cyclist unless they are caught in the act. Thus the autonamy of the cyclist lends itself to an ability to act as an anonomous entity. Autonomy and transience are not values looked fondly upon in American society. And the emergence of the stereotype of bikers being lawless and dangerous.

Secondly I argue that bikers have long been associated with political dissidence. Although bikes have a presence in the country they are by and large an urban vehicle, because that is where they are most practical. Urban living brings alot of things among them larger populations with more things in common. This allows for groups of people to issue demand upon their local governments. With the first bike boom in the late 1890s' cyclists began issuing demands. Protest rides were held most often to improve the conditions of roads, and other issues i.e. bring attention to the womens suffrage movement. The most famous protest being the San Francisco bike protest of 1896 (http://processedworld.com/Issues/issue2001/pw2001_64-68_Great_Bicycle_Protest_of_1896.pdf) which is part of the influence for modern bike protest and celebration critical mass. Although with critical mass it is hard to pin down one specific cause it is fair to say that a large purpose is to represent cyclists rights on the road. The individual nature of bikers makes it hard to state that as every persons reason for riding though. This also brings out the argument against bicyle protest which I will get to later. Thus the innate political nature of bikes. Bikers in America are in a minority. As a minority we have different thoughts and demands than the majority. I would rather see more bike lanes than a new free way. That pisses alot of people off. Bikes and biker rights have always been marginalized, and as a result when bikers do make demands of their local authorites they are written off as being radicals. No one likes a radical. Thus more negative connotations of bikers as being rabble rousers with little respect for the law.

The third reason I see these sterotypes is pretty simple. Alot of them are true. Alot of bikers are people who besides not nessecarily desiring a car are not capable of buying them. While there are popular insurgences of bikeing where you see alot of "upstanding" people on bikes they are few and far between. In the periods of time between the bike is delegated to college students and the poor(same difference?) The poor have higher rates of alcoholism and incarceration. It's true that you see prisoners on work release from jail riding bike to work. And it's true that you see drunk bikers to drunk to drive or to poor to own/fix a car. There is a little truth to every stereotype, there is also a defence. Bikes can be hostile to drivers because drivers often show little regard for bikers on the road. Bikers may drink and do drugs because its an escape from the enviroment they live in or the circumstances they wish to escape. Or just to have a good time. Lets not forget that the prestigious Tour De France was originally run by amateur cyclists out of work and alcohol was served between stages to help with pain and as celebration.

But of course biking isn't entirely negative. There is also a legacy of prestige within it. A legacy that focuses on organized races, high end bikes, or simply the recreational biker (as opposed to the lifestyle biker?) These are the people that scoff at critical mass for being a bad image of bikers and counter-productive. After all if everyone felt that bikers were worthless there would be no place for the bike section at scheels or any of the bike assosiations regularly organizing races. Up to now I have been talking about the bikers place in American culture. I would argue that the side of biking that is widley accepted is a European import. As stated earlier the cyclist in America is in a minority. This is not so true in many parts of Europe and the rest of the world. Plenty of people rely on their bike as a mode of transpotration, recreation, and a way to do the work they do. An example of this is a bike converted into a knife sharpner and set up in the streets of Mexice (I know it's not Europe) or bicycle delivery services. Bikes are much more practical throughout densly populated parts of Europe and have been adopted out of nessecity. It is not simply by chance that most of the brands considered "high end" have emerged from Europe, not the U.S.(campagnolo,bianchi,gitane,) It has not been untill recently that US manufacturers have sought to challenge European dominence. The 1970s were largely dominated by japanese bicycles and it has been almost 70 years since an American bike manufaturer was considered of high pretige. My point it that most advances in mainstream cycling have been imported from other countries. Once again using the tour de france as an example. It is the most well known bicycle event in the world and it does not happen in the US, it happens in a country that has made room for bicyclists for generations. The legacy of the spandex clad cyclist is not of American orgin. The legacy of carbon fiber and the high end was born outside of the US. Thus the divide between "clean" recreational cyclists with alot of money burning a hole in their pocket to drop on a $5000 bike and the "other" bikers who afford what they can but put more focus on riding their bike than the components on it. The new fixed gear trend seems more comlicated as it has co-opted both the American "lawless" side of biking and the European tradition of the velodrome and performance into something entirely of its own, but thats something else.

I would argue a more American style of biking is found in BMX. Bmx is the story of kids on junker Stingrays doing tricks in vacant lots. Eventually making ramps and the story escalates from there. There is an inherant agressivness to bmx that I would argue make it charecteristic of American biking. Although the bikes and price range have changed dramatically I don't think it is a coincidence that BMX emerged from bored kids in California in the 70s rather than kids in Wales. I'm sure that the same could be argued of Mountain biking, but I'm not to familiar with the history of it. Yet another reason that you don't see many bmx part manufaturers based out of Europe. Of course there is an aspect of high end components in most forms of biking, but even the most high end BMX bike unlike high end road bikes is not considered respectable.

So what is the point of all this? Well I don't know. I guess it's just an attempt to explain the bikers place in society, wheteher that place be justified or not. Of course there are so many other elements to explore the new wave of fixed gear riders, the emergence of freak bike clubs, a bikes place, conflicts within cycling communities, etc. etc. but I think this is a start. And if nothing else it's something to think about next time we go out drinking on our bikes, buy expensive parts or are called "hippy fags" for passing a car on our bikes.

Part 1

My new set up.

The past few days have been a bit of a blur. I've been struggling to get back into the groove of school but it's harder than I remember. I can't wait untill next spring semester. Thursday night Thomas came up with Leeann from LaX. Tom and I rode bikes and stopped at the crimes against humanity(http://www.cahrecords.com/) shop or farwell then sat down for a pitcher at the joynt and Sam showed up and bought us another. Leeann called and said she would meet us at my house so we stopped at Stave and hoop and bought a bunch of booze. Lauren showed up a little later and someone found a tube of face paint leftover from halloween. The night gets a bit blurry after that but I dinstinctly recall a few wrastlin matches, 2 delicious free pizzas from a local shop, Blondie and ABBA on the radio, and running out of beer at 4:30 and crashing. Beutiful people, free pizza, ABBA, and beer.... Can't really go wrong can you?

Friday afternoon I slept in and woke up and said goodbye to everyone. I caught a nasty little cold that night and work that night was a hellish experience that resulted in me getting out early going home and being sick all night. Last night I got out of work early and while I was driving home I saw some bikers at the air pump at Kwik Trip, I turned around and sure enough it was Chris, Chris, and Dan?(Sorry I'm bad with names) All night at work I was frustated because I knew everyone had gone for a ride to Chippewa earlier that day and I couldn't go. It was a really pretty day and i wanted to get on my bke really bad. What are the chances that I would get out early and run into a group of bikers? Anyway, we decided to meet up at my house and head up to the labor temple where more people were waiting. I will never get sick of seeing the looks on peoples faces when a group of bikers shows up somewhere en masse. Generally it's a look of disdain mixed with a little wonder, and sometimes a smile. I will also never get sick of the sight of a pile of bikes locked up together. 3 pitchers down at the Labor temple and we all rode down to Scooters to check out the drag show. Scooters was a crazy time and by 12:30 there was a group of 7 or 8 bikers with there shirts off of the dance floor dancing and handing out flyers for the alley cat race coming up in a few months. We all headed for the Joynt at about 1 and stuck around till bar close when everyone split up. I got a slice of Mac and Cheese and visited katie at NYPD and some of us ate at burrachos for a while then we all went home.

Cheap fenders are easy to make.

All this has made me think alot about stereotypes people have of bikers. It seems like alot has changed over the years. In the late 1800s into the early 1900s the bicycle was a prestigious vehicle deemed "The golden age of bicycles". It was very possible to be diginified on a bicycle. The automobile wasn't quite within peoples grasp yet and bikes seemed like a status symbol and a statment of self impowerment. Dont forget Susan B Anthony arguing "Bicycling has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world." and the fact that it was 2 bicycle mechanics that made "the first" working airplane. Then with the emergence of the automobile you see the biker begin to move towards it's more familiar image. A machine for the poor or the outcast. This image was pushed further by groups of kids riding there bikes emulating groups of cafe racers and greasers on motorcycles. Yes you see popular resurgences of biking throughout the 20th century particularly in the 30s,70s,and you could argue now. But By and large the position of the biker has remained very lowly. People who can't afford a car, drink to much, don't have jobs, do drugs, don't take showers, hug trees, plant gardens, and sure as hell don't watch football.

Thats all for right now. It's 10 to 3 and I need to get my ass home and off to work. I will rant more about social status and stuff later.

Also please note that this is all just my opinion formed off of my experience and knowledge of bikes as limited of expansive as that may be. No formal research has gone into any of what I'm writing.

$145

$145 on two textbooks. Now I remember all the little parts about college that make you want to quit and move across the country. Then at this point in my "academic career" I keep running into the fact that "I've gone this far" and I can't quit now. Ugh. All of the sudden retail theft sounds like a really really good idea.

Well tonight is the Thursday night ride. Meet at Racys at 6:30? I think. It's not a rat ride so expect minimal dicking around and it's going to be cold so dress warm. It's winter, layers are your friends.

Other exciting news is that I e-mailed jeremy about how to go about hosting a bike film festivle this spring and it sounds like it should be relativley easy to do. Now more work just needs to be put into selection of films and acctually getting a date time and permission. If this is going to happen it's probobly going to require volunteers so keep your head up.

yikes, I just got a call from Thomas and I guess he is coming up to visit for a little while. I guess I will see everyone at the ride tonight.

Yaw

I'm back in EC, its cold out and school is back in session, BOOO! Although I'm excited for a new semester and being one more closer to graduation I can't help but anticipate all the stress that working more again and going to school brings. On the bright side There is the opportunity to meet more new people and learn new stuff. I would have posted sooner but like I say I was in Chicago and by the time I got back all the computer labs were closed untill today. Chicago was an awesome time and I had lots of fun with lots of good people. Ben and I showed up MOnday afternoon and hung out for a while and then we started taping into the booze. Kierstan and Thomas made some yummy pasta and we ate and drank. If I recall correctly a wraslin' match ensued between kiersten and I which ended with my shirt off and a bunch of tattoos. I was the designated shirtless drunk.
Eventually someone pulled out a taser and we played with that for a little while before we all passed out. The next day Thomas Ben, Kiersten, and I went out to do all the touristy stuff that one should do while in Chicago. First we went to Sultans and got some awesome fallafels in and caught the L and a few buses to go to see the bean and the rest of millenium park. We walked around where all the big buildings are and got to see where all the cool bike messengers hang out. Lots of messenger hats and chrome bags. It was all really cool and I got a bunch of stupid photos. After that we decided to go to the Licoln Park zoo and look at all the furry little animals. We took a long bus ride down the magnificent mile and finally made it to the zoo. Most of the animals were inside so we got to check them out inside. We sall all kinds of cute little otters and ben poked a tiger and we all ran away. We also got to see a bunch of wierd arctic birds go nuts. EVentually we headed back into the city for a ride later that night.

That night we went for a ride. I got an alright chopper loaner and Ben had to borrow a super squirlly one. We rode for a while and played a round of foot down. We went to a dumpster and got a bunch of really really really good baked goods. Dumpstered food in chicago is better then real food in Eau Claire. We went through some alleys and found a dead lizzard in a garbage can. Someone decided to pul it out and put it in the tree next to the garbage just as the home owners were getting back. Then we headed for a foundry to see them make steel. The workers were nice enough to open the garage doors so we could see them doing whatever it was they did. Baisically they got big things of scrap metal and dumped them into hot furnaces and they made a little firey explosion. IT was pretty cool but eventually we all got cold and headed to Gregs house for hot co-co. Then we made our way back to crash for the night. Jessie staye dover that night so the house was filling up with kids sleeping on the floor.
The next day was pretty uneventful. Everyone at the house split different ways to work and stuff. Jessie, Ben, Thomas, and I went to the grocery store and came back and watched a movie. People kept falling asleep so Ben and I went for a walk around the city and got some pizzza and doughtnuts. Later that night we went for another walk down to logan square and slid around on the ice like little kids. The next day we hung out most of the day and during the evening Kiersten was sweet enough too cook us all some great stir fry and a bunch of people came over. It was super cold out but THomas Robin and I walked to the store to buy some more beer. When we got back a bunch of people were over. A few I met the other night on the ride but there was some other folks I had never met. The rest of the night was drinking and talking untill 4am. Eventually we passed out and Ben and I took off the next day bright and early.


I really can't thank people in Chicago enough for putting up with a couple dirty kids sleeping on their couch. It was awesome to meet a bunch more people with the same intrests as me and see all kinds of new stuff. There are so many things about Chicago I am incredibly jelous of. But at the same time I love so many things about where I live now. Being in chicago makes me realize how much I need to start recruiting for Rat Patrol In EC though. Rumor has it Chicago folks might be making a trip up this summer and I want to show them a really good time so recruiting goals are going up. St. Ratricks is in a few months and I would love to make a good showing for that as well as all the other events coming this summer. Now is deffinetly the time for anyone intrested in building bikes to get started. The hard work has been done and all you need to do now is build a bike make some colors and get on the train.

Im really excited for this year and I can't wait to see what happens. If anyone wants to gor ide or build some bikes or just hang out get in touch.

In other news the guy who runs the Bike Snob NYC blog (which I despise) wrote a piece on freak bike clubs. It's really stupid but it's kind of funny. I do however maintain that that guy is dumb. You can read it here http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2008/01/apoca-watch-update-retirees-on-tall.html

Im hungry and Im going to go eat some boca burgers I found on sale.

bam bam

I've been working a whole bunch since Thursday so I havn't had much time to write anything. Thursday night I went out for the Thursday night ride with chris, chris,derrick,kayla, and antoher person and we went all over town. It was snowing just enough to get the roads nice and wet soo my bag is still filthy. We hit up an ice skating rink and I think every person underestimated how slipery it was and crashed. We hit up chucks on clairmont and then went through shawtown and down state st. through the campus where I almost ran kayla over after her bike slipped out from under her and then we made it to the joynt. Spent the rest of the night there hanging out and drinking. I'm going to be in Chicago for a while come Tuesday so I probobly won't be online for another 5 days or so.

In other news the stuperbowl in Minneapolis is coming up fast. It's a big alleycat that happens every year. I know at least a few folks from EC are going so there will probobly be a convoy. heres more info

http://www.stuporbowlmpls.com/2008

Also a article was recently published about Rat PAtrol nashville and is visible here

http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Cover_Story/2008/01/10/The_Chain_Gang/

I'm tired. Go ride a bike.

21

I havn't done much in the past few days. Today I finally ordered a set of 36 hole weinmans. Sure there not deep v's but they are cheap and just as strong. As long as I don't have to worrry about all the cracks on barstow anymore I'm happy. Now I just need a new cog, right now I'm running 48/16, but I'm thinking about switching to 48/15. Yesterday was my birthday, and I finally turned 21. I'm happy but at the same time I feel like I am now expected to kiss my adolesence goodbye. I've joined the ranks of a group that I have disliked for a long time. I can't count the amount of times in my life I couldn't get into a show because it was 21+. Or the amount of times I've been treated like shit because some person thought if your not 21 your not worth talking too. So much of the past 6 years or so of my life has been circumstance to my age that I can't help but find turning 21 anti-climatic. I wnet to work at 3:30 on Jan. 7, I got off at 12:01 Jan.8 and thats it, in one night at work I turned 21. No fireworks or great transformation I just got into my car and drove home. Yesterday I went and bought some expensive beer, and went out to eat with my familey. My dad gave me a new record player for my birthday, it's really nice and sounds great. Afterwards my sister and I went to the joynt for a few drinks. Once again it was wierd because I remeber being in the joynt when I was like 10 years old and my mom would stop in for a drink. I grew up in bars untill I was 13 and realized while my parents were at the bar I could gor ride a bus or walk around town. The fact that I wasn't allowed to come in and sit down and drink was a bit disturbing to me. and helped garner my resentment for the 21+ crowd at an early age. Sitting in the bar I couldn't help but think about being a kid in the bar running my fingers up and down the twisted metal of the bar stools, and thinking about the old guy with the big beard that used to sit at the end of the bar. The smell of stale smoke and the haggard coasters. My sister and I sat around talking about being raised in bars and how it has changed our perceptions of the whole bar scene as we drank. It's hard to not let sentimentality get ahold of you when you go somehwere that you havn't been for a long time. It's also not hard to feel some sort of remorse. I know this is alot of rambling, but I still havn't sorted out my thoughts of the past few days yet. I'll vut it short and just say that turnign 21 is a paradox for me. I think it is for anyone who doesn't just go out and "get totally fucked up" on there 21 birthday.

Now that I finally got a new record player heres what I'm listening too.
Note:I usually only post myspace links because they have music on them, I am not a member of myspace, and probobly never ever ever will be.

lemuria:http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=5663909
Murder of Crows:http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=14267668
Teen Idles: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=40726795
Ballast:http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=62757611
Rites of Spring:http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=51911371
Sunny Day Real Estate:http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=44489849

Smelling bad

I have very little to say I just wanted to post funny pictures. I visited my dad the other day and convinced him and my sister to go sledding with me. And on top of that we wore costumes.

Haha take that sister!

Looka here for cool bike videos: http://www.digave.com/

Moving in place

As predicted I forgot to mention a few important things. Specifically people moving. Dan and thomas both left this week. Dan is in hawaii for the next couple months and THomas went to nashville via chicago. I know that they are both coming back eventually, but I can't help but wonder what this town would be like if more people stayed around. It seems like most people have criticism but never work on doing anything but moving away. Note that this isn't an attack on Dan or Thomas because I knwo niether of them are just running away. Then who am I to talk. I left my homeotwn because I hated it and to this day I feel like nothing of worth will ever happen there. Are some places just less sucptable to change than others? Or are the people in them just comfortable. We all live places we find comfortable I guess. Some towns are to big or small or fast or slow and we feel like we cant stay in them for long. Then some people just like to be on the move all the time. I used to think I was one of those people who needed to move around alot. There are alot of romantic qualities to the life of a vagabond that I think alot of us look up too. Now I realize that as much as I enjoy traveling and moving around I hate alot of it and when I'm gone I can't help but wish I had some place certain to stay. I guess thats another crossroads I am at in my life right now. Is it better to be on the move and see more things, or try to put down roots and try to build a community right where you are. I guess this question is further exacerbated by the fact that Eau Claire is a college town and alot of people I meet are gone during the summer and winterm. I guess it's one of those things where as soon as your done with high school you are expected to leave that town. When you are done with college you are expected to leave the place you went to college. Then what? Settle down or move around some more? Do we just move untill we find something comfortable and settle down or do we stay somewhere where we see alot of peotnetial and try to build a community there.

Anyway thats just more stuff I've been thinking about. Like I've said before I think at some point we all struggle with the places we live, and the places we call our homes. I guess some people are lucky enough to never really think about these things, but they probobly don't live in Eau Claire either.

There isnt a whole lot else going on around here. I havn't done much, but I think I am going to visit my grandma today. Other than that I've been looking at the etsy and instructables web pages alot looking for inspiration on projects. They are really cool check em out if your feeling crafty

http://www.etsy.com/index.php
http://www.instructables.com/

West of here

I haven't been near a computer since my last post. I've been a busy bee, and have been in Minneapolis the past few days. So where do I start? I don't know. I feel like I've been all over the place the past week or so, but I can't even really place what I've been doing. I can look through the pictures I have for clues, but it doesn't seem to help me place anything before the past 4 days. I guess it's not of much consequence what happened anyway, but it's helpful for me to keep track. It's been a pretty hectic week with alot of people moving around and leaving and traveling and biking in new places. All good things, but it's good to be back. Hmmmm, well as I recall one of these days Sam and Thomas cam over looking for a place to drink. We all hung out and eventually another girl came over. Later Sam and the other girl took off and Anna and Katie came over. By this point we ran out of stuff so we all rode our bikes to bottle and barrel and Thomas acquired a $27 bottle of vodka, gross. Long story short we all hung out until 4 in the morning and we all went to bed.

I have no idea.

The next day I'm pretty sure we all got up around noon. I don't know what we did or what day it was. So I will skip to New Years eve. New Years I rode my bike around town not realizing that everything was closed. I never understood New Years, or liked it much for that matter. Everything closes and people hold their breath for midnight to come. It seems like the human race has come to a point where the fact that against all odds we haven't destroyed ourselves for another year is worth celebration. I guess this is a kind of negative way to look at it, and you could argue that new years is representative of a new chance to improve on our lives. But I've always felt like New Years is just kind of silly. The apprehension of a new year coming, and the question of "what will a new year bring?" seem kind of pessimistic. We are all surprised we lived through the last one and afraid(excited?) of what might happen next. Anyway New Years I went for a ride and everything was eerily empty. The campus was empty and fresh snow covered all the old tracks making the place look like a ghost town. Doors were locked, and lights were off all over downtown. That night not alot happened. Thomas, Anna, and I went for a walk around town debating the reasons we should celebrate a new year, and laughing at staggering drunks. At midnight we threw my old mountain bike off the bridge and went home.

I left early new years day for Minneapolis. I was going to visit a few friends across the cities for a few days to try to get my head off of things around EC. The first day i went to my friend Dustin's house in St. Paul. We chilled out and caught up on stuff for a while. When the tv got old we decided to go to one of my least favorite places on earth, the mall of America. No offence to Dustin, but I'm not a big fan of that place for many reasons. Mostly I have a hard time being around that many people indoors without having an anxiety attack. I've always been a very shy quite person, and being in large groups has always made me feel very uneasy. Even being in small groups around new people makes me uneasy. When I was a kid I made my sisters buy my candy bars and stuff at the store because I was to afraid to talk to the cashier. Until I was 16 I would run and hide whenever the ups man came to our house. Luckily for me all of the stores in the mall had closed at 6pm and the place was nearly empty. It was kind of neat to walk around such a huge place with no people around. The environment is kind of haunting. We walked around and stole quarters out of the fountains to buy candy at the gumball machines. To the people I took their quarters from, sorry paying more money doesn't mean your wish is more likely to come true. It just means someone is more likely to take your quarters for bus fair.

Messenger bag made of old garbage bags melted together.

The next day Dustin and I hung out and went to Cheapo where I bought $50 worth of cds and records. I splurged a bit, but it was well worth it. Afterwards we went to the grocery store and got some lunch. I took off to go visit my friend Justin who was just moving in to a place off of Portland in Minneapolis. He showed me his super cool messenger bag he made out of garbage bags ironed together and we went for a bike ride downtown. We must have been on our bike for hours exploring the city, cruising around in the cold until we stopped to warm up a bit. It was a cold cold night. You can tell when it's really cold out when you breathe out your breathe doesn't just float away. It lingers in the air like it's frozen in place. When this happened when I was younger I was always worried if I went through it it would freeze me. Anyway it was a really pretty ride with lots of lights and tall buildings and steam lingering in the air barely moving. I really like going to new places and riding bikes. You get to see so much more, and you can actually talk to people.

Later that night we met up with another couple old friends Tom and Hallie from when we all used to go to school at River Falls. We sat around at Hallies for a while and eventually went to some budget theatre in Minitonka and watched Across the Universe. We all had a pretty good time and eventually Justin and I made it back to his place around 1. This morning I woke up and took of downtown. I stopped in at the Scallywags bike shop, but it was closed so I went to Seward and walked around. Afterwards I went over to hard times and got a seitan-Philly sandwich and a cup of coffee, one of the best breakfasts I've had in a while. On the way back to my car I stopped in at the freewheel and looked around for a while, and eventually headed back to Dustin's. We chilled out at his house, and eventually I took off back for Eau Claire. I got back here a couple hours ago and now I'm in the library typing this. I probably missed a few days worth of events, and lots of stuff which I will feel bad for forgetting later, but that's nothing new.

I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about a lot of heavy stuff like what i want to do with my life, where I want to go and live some day, growing up and what it means and how it changes us all. All those existential questions that people have been thinking about for hundreds of years. My only conclusion is that as much as I despise the new year I have developed horrendous list of new years resolutions. I know all the "experts" argue to pick only one resolution and stick to it, but I think I'd rather have a list of things I want to do next year and knock out as many of them as I can. I think as I get older I grow more attached to the idea of resolutions. The more things you see the more you think about how you could change your life to be more like the person you want to be I guess. Not to mention the fact that I think it takes at least 18 years to figure out who it is you want to be anyway. I remember reading essays I wrote in Jr. high about what I want to be when I grow up. Of course the lists were really cool jobs like a pyrotechnician and explosives expert. The first thing I always looked at in those career books they gave you was a cool name, followed by a huge wage. Now I'm to the point in my life where I don't even know what I've been doing the past few months of my life, let alone my plans for the future.

Anyway, that's just more of that heavy stuff no one wants to hear about. If your interested in how to make a cool messenger bag like the one Justin made here's a youtube link for the project, and a few links of what my soundtrack has been the past week.

Messenger bag from garbage- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB1mE8e35UY&feature=related

yacht-http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=9964239

hot water music-http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=2714555

asschapel-http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=17664194

leatherface-http://www.leatherface.uk.com/