Oh, vintage brown Schwinn, how do I love thee?

Let me count your spokes.

Sometimes people are just the coolest, ya know? That is how I feel about good friend and fellow-cws grad student M. This guy is a rock star. He's a rock star cyclist (he used to be one of those amazing bicycle delivery men in Manhattan); he's a rock star scholar (seriously, every time the guy opens his mouth I learn something); and he's actually a real rock star too (he's played bass in several big NY acts, and has a number of album credits)! I'm lucky to know him, let alone be his neighbor (for two more months :( ).

He's been helping me browse for bikes for a few months--but a couple of weeks ago said that he had found me a sweet frame at the bikeshop he co-ops at and was building me a ride... as a gift--as in FREE for me. Holy sweetness!

I have been letting he and his family drive my little white Civic when ever they need it, and this was his thank-you for that little act of we're-never-using-it-so-why-not service.

Anyway, so yesterday he drops off the coolest looking bike in the world. It is a brown(!), ten-speed, vintage Schwinn. With the coolest handlebars and seat ever. The seat, as you can see, has a big S for Starmaster (or Schwinn).

I went out and bought a helmet today.

Thank you M.! You are the best kind of friend.

Yesterday

I had one of those monumental days yesterday. So many good, little things happened that by the end of the day, I couldn't get the smile off my face. Here they are in list form:

1. A good Illinois friend tipped me off that single-day Lollapalooza tickets had gone on sale. I'd been waiting for this moment for months.

2. A few weeks ago, I had worked out with a great old friend from the SF days (who is now an incredible artist and designer--currently working through an MFA [or whatever they call it there] in graphic design at the illustrious Cranbrook near Detroit) that should said tickets go on sale, he would get one and we would meet in Chicago to bask in the Radioheadedness of it all). He did and we had a sweet, all-day conversation via IM.

3. Another best (AZ) friend of mine got the idea that coming to visit on that weekend would be a good idea. He could come see our Illinois digs and potentially see another best AZ friend who may very likely be in Chicago the same weekend as Lolla for internship interviews with some law firms. So, by the end of the day, not only did he buy plane tickets, but also now has a Lolla ticket in hand. It is going to be a party!

4. Early in the afternoon I got a call from my other other best AZ bud and he had won tickets to Weezer's Hootenanny show in Phoenix that was to take place later that night. Yesterday was also his birthday! Hootenanny was a special--jam with the band--kind of event. He called me after the show and said that he and his wife had an amazing experience. Read about it--and him!--here. I can't believe he got to rock that solo! That's him on the melodica!

5. This is a little thing, but the day ended with me and my kids dancing around the house to Coldplay's new (and I think really good) album Viva la Vida. Nothing like dancing with your kids to celebrate great days.

Twitter?

I'm not the most active blogger, I realize. I often think: this would be a good something- something to blog about. But that thought rarely makes it to the guide.

I have been "Twitter"ing for the last week or so and I think it's pretty fun. For those of you who don't know what Twitter is (and my super-techie brother didn't know--so I guess it's not as big as I thought), it's basically what some people have termed a "micro-blogger." In other words, it's kind of like a "this is what I am doing or thinking right this second" kind of blog post. So, it sacrifices the potential of a thoughtful, longer post, for the immediacy of a potentially mundane daily activities update.

No wonder, then, that when you read someone's Twitter feed, the site calls it "following" them. (Oh, how the net continues to bring out the inner voyeur and stalker in us all.) For you Facebookers, it's really just like the status updater in Facebook and, in fact, I actually fixed it so that when I update my twitter, it automatically updates my Facebook status. Also, I can post "tweets" from my cellphone via a text message (which also, in turn, updates my Facebook status) and also receive updates from the people that I am following as texts.

For now, this is just one more fun way of self-presentation on the web, but I can't help but think of how this phenomenon might impact my research interests. While I am less interested in self-presentation per se, I am really quite interested in how communities organize and get things done either via the web or by capitalizing on the web's power in some way. Twitter is already being used in creative ways by people to aid the organization, communication, and impact of community activities. So I wonder how I can talk about Twitter with my students--without just saying: check it out, this is awesome! What kind of rhetoric, exactly, is being produced when we tweet?

Anyway, for those interested in receiving more frequent updates from me, you can go to my Twitter page (linked above), and click on the rss feed and my updates (usually 1-4 per day) will then show up in your rss reader. Or(!), you could always join Twitter and see what all the hullabaloo is about. For those still in the camp that actually visit physical blogs, I have created a twitter widget that shows my updates right over there in the left column. Enjoy.

moth landing (Antheraea polyphemus)

This was on our porch when we arrived home a few days ago from some place or another. I wish I would have thrown a penny down to give the picture some perspective because it was literally the size of my hand. See this link for more info. I thought it may be sick or hurt or something, but when I reached down and tried to get it to climb on my hand, it flew away into the late afternoon breeze.

The best 8 years of my life.

Tina and I had our first date in March of 1996. I had just turned 18 and she was only 16. We ate bad burritos, watched Mr. Holland's Opus, ate nerds, and shook hands at the end. It would take me two full months to get the guts to kiss her.

About a year and a half later we had a tearful goodbye as I headed off to San Francisco and she went about starting her life. It was a tough separation, but all great loves need a few years of deep thinking. And I thought A LOT!

My return to the desert in July '99 was marked by several months of savvy convincing that I was in fact the one--despite at least two fawners--and several more months of waiting until my sister came home from school in Hawaii. We got engaged in January and the longest 6 months of my life began.

We married in June of 2000 as young and innocent as you can imagine--and in a world where marriages are often put off until after school and work have been settled, I can honestly say that the world don't know nothing. It was the best decision we have ever made. (And if we would have waited until we were both done with school, we'd still be waiting.)

We started school. We worked hard. We had a baby in Feb. 2003. I graduated in summer 2003. We moved to the Phoenix valley. She enrolled at ASU in the perfect major. I chased after job option #1. I got denied job option #1. She gave me many hugs. She graduated in May 2005 and had a baby two months later. I bit the bullet and went back to school. She supported me.

I applied to graduate school in 2006 and was heartily denied by all schools applied to. More hugs. I bit the bullet even harder and realized that I was going to have to get a few more degrees. I did. We had another baby in Feb 2007. Much more educated about the process, I applied to another (much better) batch of schools and actually got in a few places. She moved with me and our growing family nearly all the way across the country. When we got here, she dug in and made a bunch of new friends. (she only complained once :)

She finds new ways to surprise and amaze me every day (She loves Mariokart!). She loves and nurtures our children full-time. (She loves Chipotle!) She is the sweetest mother. She loves me despite myself. (She loves LOST!) She is my friend, my counselor, my love.

I wish I could write you 1000 more love songs. Until then, listen to some Starmaster.

Happy Anniversary sweet Tina.

last 48 hours (or so)

Monday, 10:30 pm: Laying on the couch with the fever shakes watching the last few episodes of the second season of Northern Exposure

Monday, 12:00 am: just about to sleep, my temperature: 101

Tuesday, 9:30 am: Tina let me sleep and sleep, but hadn't gone downstairs yet to discover that the basement flooded. It was at least a few inches deep at some point in the night and we were left with puddles and soaking carpets (and a few minor damage issues). Feeling better, but lungs filled with crud.

Tuesday, 5:00 pm: Sunny skies, dinner at Chipotle! (Oh, Chipotle. You are our one constant).

Tuesday, 6:00 pm: Wii Mariocart at Gamestop. Tina says "This is so freaking awesome!" Do I see Wii on the horizon?

Tuesday, 10 pm: Just about to settle into a movie, call from friend Micheal "The Tornado alarms are going off, can we come down and take shelter in your basement?" Didn't even hear the alarms.

Tuesday, 11 pm: All the kids are now up, Maryn is crying and won't stop. We are all holed up in our basement watching our crummy-reception TV wondering what to do. There is nowhere to sit downstairs though because all the rugs are up on the tables drying. Chaos.

Wednesday, 12 pm: Michael and co have gone home now, we have metamorphosed our basement into a campsite and have kids down trying to sleep, but muddy water is creeping up through our drains in the bathroom. Kids finally all asleep at 1am.

Wednesday, 2 am: Feeling crappy again. Water sounds like it is leaking in everywhere, but isn't... finally go to sleep at like 2:30.

Wednesday, 7:30 am: All the kids are up, and Tina (bless her soul), gets up with them. I wake about an hour later.

Wednesday, midday: Sunny skies, bleary eyes. Deep cough in my lungs.

Good grief.