In case you missed it

mmm... This was a tasty display of counter-attacking football from the USA this past weekend. Unfortunately the game got away from them in the second half (Brazil remembered they are crazy good, and the US forgot how to take care of the ball), but for 45 minutes the US was excellent. Seriously. Landon Donovan, my favorite d-bag whipping boy, played very well. Shocking but true.

What were you thinking?

I'm on bereavement leave at work because my great-uncle died on Sunday. He had been sick for a while and it wasn't a surprise but it still bums me out. We were very close growing up; he was as close to a father as anyone I had in my life. So I took a couple days off to restore my focus and attend the funeral service. All I want to do is ride my bike, go to the gym, play some guitar, and remember my uncle.

Yesterday was great riding weather so I took a ride down to PCH. On my way back I got rear-ended at a stoplight. I was stopped, and when I started to drive away the girl crashed into me. I'm fine. The girl hit me hard but I didn't drop the bike. The rear end of my bike is broken, though. Not cool. When I asked her what happened she said, "I looked up and you pulled away, and then I looked down."

They cover a lot in the rider training program but they don't explain what to do when someone isn't looking and runs into you at a stoplight. I wasn't even mad. I was just really bummed about my bike. I guess you could get upset about someone being a moron but then you would just be angry all the time and I don't have the energy.

I included some before & after pics. I already had a custom fender eliminator and exhaust. Aaaaaand that's exactly what she crashed into (along with the tire).

sucks.

First Nerd

I don't like to question Obama's nerd credentials but something tells me he's more nerd than jock. But he's lawyer nerd, not so much science nerd. Lawyer nerds are like science nerds except they know how to make piles of money instead of blow shit up.

Call Couric 'shorty' as often as possible

Something about this is irresistible and awesome. It's like cheesecake, even though I don't much care for cheesecake.

Fast

Loved this.
Good example why motorcycle racing can be the best racing there is. Lots of passing, extreme danger. NASCAR? pffffft. Wake me up when it's over. F1? More boring than NASCAR, if that's possible.

Form follows function

I'm a fan of simple design. Also a big fan of features. (You'd expect that I would love the iphone, but regular readers know better.)

I came across this list of ten commandments of good design from Dieter Rams and really liked it.

Also found this naval pea coat, which I include here because it's a good example of several of the commandments. I know that your North Face Kamasutra Gore-Flex 8000 Climbing Jacket of Amazing is way more 'technical', but the pea coat is 1/2 the price and actually looks good. Crazy, I know.

Unrelated - this stuff is cool: http://www.urbanrider.co.uk/

Witness the Stupid

Can't use a picture - don't want to infringe on a copyright. But here's a link so you can follow along. Here's another one.
I had to evict one of my roommates recently for:

• Moving his girlfriend into the house without mentioning it to me & the other roommate (when I confronted him about this he blamed her and said "I told her to keep it low pro, but she didn't respect it").
  
• Not paying rent on time.
  
• Not paying bills on time.
  
• Not keeping the place clean.
  
• Using stuff (my computer, other people's food) without asking.
• Making the other roommate miserable with his noise and lazy, filthy personal habits.
• Any number of other awesome stuff that you can expect from a roommate that sucks, such as: buying porn (titles: Big City Booty and Asses Extreme II) on the cable PPV and leaving me with the bill. I already paid him his full deposit, so that's sunk cost at this point. Sweet.
• Special Bonus: When I gave him notice his mom wanted to come and talk to me about it. She was convinced that he was getting a raw deal. It couldn't possibly be his fault that he sucks at life.
  

Though the moveout was contentious, he was unable to get all of his stuff moved out by the deadline. I mean, he only had 30 days notice and he wasn't working for two weeks during that time so when would he have time to find a place? No idea. He was really busy sitting on the couch sending txt msgs and watching MTV Jamz all day.

When it finally did come time for him to move out he couldn't move all his stuff and left some crap in the garage. I told him AND made him sign a paper that said he got his deposit back and that I would discard his stuff after a week. Two weeks later I hadn't heard from him (except for the inflated cable bill) so I threw it out. He called yesterday and now he's all upset. It's my fault for, umm... doing what I said I was going to do? Not sure. Actual conversation:

The Idiot: "I had some of that stuff since I was a kid!"
me: "I told you I was going to throw it away if I didn't hear from you."
The Idiot: "I'm calling you now!"
me: "I told you that you had a week. After 2 weeks I threw it out. You did not contact me to let me know that you wanted it."
The Idiot: "Man why did you have to throw it out?"
me: "I told you I was going to throw it away if I didn't hear from you..."

Damn, I don't know what I was thinking. I only gave the guy verbal and written notice. I should have done more for him, like stored his stuff for free indefinitely. After all, he was such a great roommate and person. Wait, what?

The internet delivers. Again.

I don't know why I love this so much but I do.

I really do.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3079902

Image courtesy "paradox86". Way to plus it, paradox86.

So what if you've seen it already?

Every now and then I see/hear/do something that warms my cold, dead heart.

This is one of those things.
I saw it here, of all places.

Enjoy.

Custom exhaust = single rider only

Here's the bike.

Full photoset: http://www.flickr.com/photos/panavich/sets/72157617676601123/

It's a private sale so I'm waiting for the guy to get a pre-sale check at a local bike shop. That should get done this week, and after that I can pick it up. Sweet like sugar.

And here's the details, if you're into that:

2005 Suzuki SV650
*Less than 8,000 miles
-Racinteach's Fender Eliminator & Timing Retard Eliminator
-Buster's Dual Headlight Setup
-LP Rear Marker Lights
-Suzuki Solid Color Cowl
-Frame Sliders & Spools
-GSX-R 1000 Rear Shock & Spring
-Scorpion High-Mount Exhaust
-OneSecondFaster Black Rearsets
-Sub Type 1 Bars
-Galfer Brake Lines & Pads
-R6 Throttle
-SV1K Snorkel
-SW-Motech
-Michelin Pilot Powers Tires
-Power Commander III

Accessories:
-Team Suzuki Yoshimura Rear Stand
-Pitbull Front Stand
-Dowco Guardian Cover
-Deltran Battery Tender Jr.

Has it been that long?

Damn. What day is it? I was going to get in touch with you last week but I was busy and also didn't have anything good to share. Mostly that second part. It's not like this takes hours and hours of my life. And I'm not really THAT busy.

Lots to share but I'll break it into multiple posts, build some tension. First, this wonderfully accurate horoscope that someone (my friend's mom?) accidentally forwarded to me. It's only funny if you a) know me, b) know that I'm a pisces, and c) know that the beginning of the forward goes on and on about how 'accurate' and 'true' it is. So here's how it describes me:

PISCES - The Dreamer (Feb 19 - Mar 20)
Generous, kind, and thoughtful. Very creative and imaginative. May become secretive and vague. Sensitive. Don't like details. Dreamy and unrealistic. Sympathetic and loving. Kind. Unselfish. Good kisser. Beautiful.

Let's take it piece by piece:
Generous / kind / thoughtful - True-ish. Barely.
Creative / imaginative - complete rubbish
Secretive / vague - more rubbish
Don't like details - Anyone that knows me just laughed out loud. I'm annoyingly detail-oriented.
Dreamy and unrealistic - epic fail. Is this the opposite-scope?
Sympathetic and loving - Fail again.
Unselfish - No.
Good kisser - Yeah sure if you say so.
Beautiful - No again. How is this related to the day I was born? I've met people with my birthday that were definitely not "beautiful". My sister, for example. Idiots.

Why anyone pays attention to 'astrology' is a mystery to me. I thought we could let go of this right around the time we figured out the earth rotated around the sun?

re: the photo. That's my new motorcycle helmet - I bought it this weekend. It is sweet. I needed it because I bought a motorcycle this weekend. It is also sweet.

Intervention

I can't scratch my ear but I can still make calls.

What?

-------------------

This is the best news I've heard all week. No more margarine - it's butter or lard* from here on out.











* Just typing that makes me feel kind of gross. I need to re-read the article.

I guess it's cool if you're into that

UCSB was a good place to go to school in the early 90's (when I got there). By the time I graduated it was much harder to get into and not nearly as much fun. A more studious student body meant more students doing unorthodox stuff like, umm, going to class. pfffffffft.

Even the drinking games have gone soft - these days the kids are playing drinking games where you don't actually drink. Flip Cup? What the fuck is that? Sure it's zany and fun but I prefer games where the drinking IS the game: Boat Races or Anchorman (always a crowd favorite around the old frat house). Beer Pong, Quarters and Caps are all acceptable intermediate party games if you want to include girls. Fine if you're into that. I guess.

Photos are just some stuff I meant to clear off my desktop. One is my residence from my third year in college. The other is my view from when I lived in St. Thomas for a short while during college. So that's fun, if a bit off-topic. Tomorrow: current events! We can't be wildly exciting every day, people.