Cycling


One month has passed since I decided to set my cycling goal - a goal that was not meant to live in infamy (doesn't that sound like a movie intro?). My goal for 2007 is to ride 2,500 miles on my bicycle, as calculated by my CatEye cyclometer.


Let's first talk about the catalyst: my reason had nothing to do with a new year's resolution - resolutions are for losers. People that make them never keep them - Webster ought to change the definition of resolution to 'a state of living in disbelief'. (Congrats to anyone who has kept a new year's resolution for more than 3 months.) I digress...I wanted to challenge myself physically this year. In the past few years, I've become quite fond of cycling so I thought that I'd combine something that I enjoy along with a physical challenge. I have no reason to do this other than to see how my body handles the workout. I'm amazed by the severe environments that a human body can weather, and while this isn't all at once I probably need to get in shape to climb Kilimanjaro (assuming that I decide to go to Africa this year).


The first month of riding has been fairly boring. Since it is winter, I'm stuck pedaling inside on my (fluid resistance) trainer. I've watched Dave Matthews concerts several times - the Central Park concert of 2004 is my favorite. After Dave, I moved onto A Concert for George, a benefit for the late George Harrison. I still watch that concert once a week while I ride. I've now moved onto reading while pedaling. While this isn't ideal (it's hard to hold larger books while holding myself up on the handlebars), it definitely is a productive use of time. I'm thinking about using a book stand - that would probably eliminate the anti-finesse portion of reading while riding. And then there are those times when I just stare at the Winamp visualization playing on my computer and sing along. This doesn't work well all the time, as I usually have to breathe to keep up my pedaling cadence.


Anyways, let's get back to why I'm writing. Here's an update - I'm at 240.1 out of 2500 miles. For those of you who like percentages - I'm 9.604% towards my goal. The proof is below...

One of my life goals is to get some of my writing published. In this dream utopia of publishing, I've always imagined having one of my travelogues published in a magazine (National Geographic would be the pinnacle). Since everyone has to start somewhere, I signed up with MKE online to participate in their Threeview panel. The panel consists of over a hundred people; these people will meet a writer from the newspaper every so often at new restaurants. My job is to provide my opinion of the food; they pay for it. Pretty cool - huh? That's what I said...

Anyways, I visited JavaVino a couple weekends ago. I was expecting that a snippet of my summary would be used. In the actual newspaper, I have a few lines. At the online copy, my entire review is included! I was so excited when I picked up the latest copy. Read for yourselves below:

http://www.mkeonline.com/story.asp?id=1400738

One of my favorite bands, BoySetsFire, just released a great satirical video dedicated to our fearless leader, George Dubya Bush. Check it out at www.boysetsfire.org/siren.html - look for Dear George (you'll need Quicktime to view the video).

I was pulling into my driveway yesterday, when my neighbor called me. 'Hi Jeremy - just calling to let you know that you have a letter in your front door.' I always enter my place via the garage, so my neighbors are kind enough to alert me when I have something at the front door. As I walked over to my front door, curiousity took over my mind. Who could it be? My mind thought through the possibilities: a campaigning politician, religious preachers, a food pantry? I was not ready for what I found. I took the paper out of the door, and examined the scrawled message. Aghast in terror, electrical pulses were racing across my synapses - who would do such a thing? On one level, it was so wrong. On another level, there's an entreprenuer at work and she happened to target me as a vital component of her supply chain.

Below is evidence of the sales pitch - personal information has been erased to protect the innocent.

First of all - this little girl must be desperate to sell cookies. Is her mother urging her to be the top seller, in order to gain favor & envy from the other girl scouts? Is she trying to break everyone's New Years resolutions to loose weight - only to laugh that them after they've eaten their cookies? Could this be Donald Trump's estranged daughter? The possibilities are endless, and I will never know....until I call the phone number that was left on the infamous letter. Who would allow their child to leave a home phone number where they can be reached? I'm curious as to whether this family has purchased a second phone line to help facilitate the selling of cookies. Perhaps the phone number is their normal phone, and they don't mind cooking-lusting psychoes calling at anytime of the day.

This selling strategy opens the doors to reach a broader audience. I instantly took this to the extreme - I was interested whether people were selling these cookies online. After all, the internet could facilitate a wide & relatively easy distribution network. The official girl scout website prohibits the selling of cookies over the internet. However...it doesn't say anything about being an unauthorized reseller of girl scout cookies. If I was able to amass a stockpile of cookies, I could theoritically sell the cookies on eBay after the cookie-selling season is over. People would pay premium prices to get their hands on a box of their favorite mint patties or caramel delights.

Southern Georgia is not favorable to vegetarians!

I find myself in Dublin, GA for the week. I'm here for work, and I'm the minority. Everywhere I look, there is BBQ. Some of the favorites are (anything to do with) pork, ham, bacon, grits, and beef. I've managed to find a haven at Ruby Tuesdays; they serve gardenburgers! I was expecting to find some peaches, but the only great thing I've found is hospitality. It's a cliche, but the southern hospitality was wonderful.

Coincidence?

I had just finished eating some fried rice. 'What's the big deal?' you might ask. This wasn't the end of my meal, it was the beginning of my future. As I ripped into my fortune cookie bag to crack open the cookie, my face was aghast - how could this be? Below is an excerpt from my fortune cookie...well, it's actually the entire fortune.