Woofy Wednesday

To honour my ravaged baby (and because I think they’re hot) today’s selection will be guys with bikes:

Theft.

When people steal from you, it really sucks. And you feel so violated. 

This past Sunday (at least I believe it was late Saturday night or early Sunday) a bike thief broke into our secure parking garage and stripped my new bike of components. 

My leather Brooks saddle and seat post?  Gone. 

And my crank set and pedals? Gone. 

I’m just thankful they left the bike and they didn’t take anything else off my other bikes. 

The thing that really makes me angry is that they had to plan this.  To take my crank set, they had to have special tools. And it would have taken time to do. 

And they took the most expensive components off my bike. About $250 worth. 

(I only bought the bike for $300, btw.)

So this means the perpetrator had cased the garage and seen my bike and chosen what to steal. And then planned the theft for a quiet time when they had time to work. 

Which honestly makes me furious.  And frustrated. And sad. 

So I contacted the condo office, and posted an alert for my neighbors, and filed a police report. 

The condo association was able to pull video footage which captured how the thief entered the structure (cut through a metal mesh ventilation screen between public garage and our secured space).  This was shared with the police. 

The mesh screen may also have allowed the thief to see into our garage space and see my bike– because of where my car stall is. 

Unfortunately the chances of him being caught are probably slim, and I’m almost positive my bike components are long gone.   And because of the cost, it doesn’t even make sense for me to file a home owners claim. 

So now I’m in the process of ordering replacement parts to make my baby look exactly like it did. The crank set is the hardest to get– it has to come from Japan. 

Grrrrr. 

Woofy Wednesday

It’s hot. It’s humid. And I’m parched. 

Work Signs

Yes, this is an actual sign posted in my work restroom:

I think I need a new job. 

Stormy Weather

We had a crazy storm front come through on Sunday morning. Very fast moving. Very severe. 

Strong winds. Hail. Heavy rain. 

But what was really weird was the sky as the storm was approaching. You often here reports of the Sky being green before tornadoes and such- and it really was green.

Watch this short time lapse video and you can see what I’m talking about. 

No damage at my place, and no loss of power. And no hail damage to my car (as I was out singing at a pride church service).

Babadook Pride

I wonder if y’all realize this, but the Babadook had become a symbol for gay pride. And yes, I’m serious. 

Evidently it all started innocuously enough when Netflix made an error and listed The Babadook in LGBT movies rather than Horror. And one sharp guy caught the error and tweeted it. 

And just like with any good viral social media post, it has deliciously spiraled out of control. 

Which has tickled me to no end. 






And my personal contribution (referencing Drag Race)

So this year, get yer Babadook Pride on!

The Bike

Okay, so I’ve had my single gear Raleigh Rush Hour for about a month now, and let me just say… I LOVE it!

Im totally cool with the one gear thing, it rides smoothly, it’s well balanced and comfy, I can ride no handed like a douchebag, etc. Plus, the bike is definitely unique looking and a head-turner. 

I’ve done a couple things to fix it up and customize it a bit. I put on new leather grips, and changed out the small, clipless pedals with white platforms. 

I went with white to go with the white tires. I think I need to scrub my tires a bit to clean them (and the pedals will get dirty over time).

The Brooks leather saddle is breaking in well and I finally got the angle and height adjusted for comfort. 

I’ve been riding it every day this week to work, and last weekend I put another 30+ miles on it. 

Needless to say, I’m very happy with the purchase.

But because of this, I think I need to say goodbye to one of my other bikes. I think it will be the Cannondale. (Sad face).

Woofy Wednesday

Ah Summer….

More Art

As I eluded to in the previous post, I got some new art this past weekend. From my favorite artist– Matthew Rucker. 

He is a surrealist oil painter, kind of like Magritte. Some of his earlier stuff was like Dali. And he’s also color blind!!

Anyway, this is the piece I purchased:

It’s entitled “Euphonia”.  Which is the name of the bird in the painting. His most recent work has been animal-centric, on simple canvases with negative space.

Here’s the actual bird:

 

I like the fact that the piece is musically themed.  I love that the bird’s name is Euphonia (also “instrumental” in a way).  But what pushed me over the top on this one was for the violin. The detail in person is amazing.

I wish it photographed better. The woof looks real when you see it– so lusterous.

Oh, and the violin neck actually stretches around the side of the canvas which adds a bit of whimsy. 

I also fell in love with a ginger otter glass artist and got this:

Hand blown Pyrex amulet thingy with a sparkly bike detail inside. 

Full Weekend

The first “summer” weekend hit (finally) and man was it glorious!  And I wrung like every last ounce out of it.

First was Friday evening happy hour at the Eagle (or as I like to call it, the Regal Eagle). I met up with two friends I haven’t seen for awhile and we sat on the patio and drank and caught up. It was a nice end to the work week.

Then Saturday was a workout, the farmers market, and then the Edina art fair with Kyle. Yes, I couldn’t help myself and I got some more art. I’ll do a post about it tomorrow– spoiler, it is another piece by my favorite artist.

Then Saturday evening was a birthday party at this fantastic house. Pure mid-century modern… super modern!

Great people. Great food. Free booze. Karaoke. It was a really good time. And the house?  So. Flipping. Cool.

Then Sunday was… just a really good day. A guy I’m sort of friends with in Facebook posted that he was going to hang at this “semi naked friendly” metro lake and who wanted to join.

I decided to join. And while I didn’t get naked, I had a great time.

First I rode my bike about 20 miles, then I rode to the lake to meet them (there were 4 other guys, too.  And one girl, but she left early). And the rest of the day we floated in the lake and just chilled.

Then around 4:30 we decided to head to the Regal Eagle for beer bust. So I ride my bike there and met them for beer drinking and patio time.

I made some new friends and had just a really nice day. I’m sunburned as fuck, but it was worth it.

Oh, and I probably put in another 35 miles on my new bike.