catch & release
October 29, 2020
squeaky jockey pulley
October 28, 2020
lurking on the fringes
edging in on
cool kid conversation
trying to talk the talk
falling short
doesn’t measure up
shut the fuck up
walk the walk
order of operations
playing with parentheses
the p-lam delamed
razor sharp edge exposed
asymmetrical alliteration all
up in my face
what’s your excuse?
nice try fuck off
concentric circles
nesting neatly
three squares
the arrows know
jockey pulley teeth
honed throwing star sharp
over miles and miles
ground down
road grime infused
greases and oils
flat blade screwdriver
backward crank rotation
peels off a blueberry sized
gob of goo
roll between finger and thumb
before you chuck it
in the bucket
with a satisfying thud
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I was down on the frown when the messenger brought me a letter
October 26, 2020
more or less
12/17/08
Less is more or less
overdressed underdressed
confident comfortable
I’m impressed
nothing more nothing less
pedestrian chicken dance
duck duck goose
say hello to my little friend
Mr. Jim Beam
he lives close to another friend
Major Lee Housed
Out in left field
Out to lunch
Out in the cold
sitting on the steps
the only thing between me and hypothermia
the only thing between my ass and those steps
a fat stack of divorce papers
fortified by fatass lawyers
insulated with inflated billable hours
belching away the one and only chance
to make a good impression
on a mind that was made up long ago
Raise your hand if you’ve
eaten the special at the Logan Deli
and Café Zum Zum
in the same 4 hour stretch…
a normal man would be in the hospital
it’s all about me
it’s all about calories
What should I do?
do what you say
or do it the right way
Do what you love
and the money will follow
that thing you love
right out the window
You can’t afford to
You can’t afford not to
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jody
October 23, 2020
jody
unknown - 10-23-20
jody passed today. completely unexpectedly. out of nowhere. he went to the bridge.
he was the most chillest of chill cats. jody came to us from the shelter and fit right in right away. he put up with two kids and a dog hassling him. he put up with the name jody. and now here and now we're all missing him.
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same song different month
October 22, 2020
10-22-20 9:33:12
6-5-20 9:37:55
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two thumps up = two thumbs up
October 19, 2020
issi thump
platform pedals. I prefer the molded pegs as opposed to the replaceable metal peg option for $10 more. Because these little plastic jobs are more than enough and those sharp metal studs tear the shit out of your shoes as well as your shins when you’re trying to Sheena Easton onto the train in the morning and you need to scramble for an available bike hook. If I wore orthopedic shoes all day or big work boots those metal studs would do the trick but I don’t so they won’t be on my bikes.
A little while back I refurbished a friend’s bike and reached into the magic milkcrate for a pair of platform pedals and there weren’t any. So I had to pluck a pair off one of my personal bikes and that set off a ripple in the used bike part continuum that I haven’t seen or felt for nearly 10 years. I used to be positioned well in a spot above Seattle’s underground aquifer of used bikes and bike part donations and I could just reach in for another heaping helping when the need arose. But I’m no longer in that position and I recently bought some brand new pedals at full retail price to put on my bike.
I’ve been pushing issi thumps at work on the electric assist bathtub for 14 months or so and I believe one sign of a good pedal is you no longer notice them. They seamlessly melt from your consciousness and become part of the big picture as one of the only points on the bike your body actually touches. Pedals make a difference and I really like these pedals.
icky thump
who'd a thunk? The White Stripes sixth and final studio album. I’ve said it once before but it bears repeating, I’m a Jack White fan. White Stripes, Raconteurs, Dead Weather, Jack White 220/221 whatever it takes. The fact that both these photos I poached this morning are black & white and read allover is no coincidence it just happened that way for reasons that may or may not reveal themselves later.
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Profile Design Aqua Rack II
October 14, 2020
Felt a wave of nausea but it turned out to be a Fast Friday flashback on a Wednesday. Not that I’ve ever ridden a fixed gear more than a few laps around Marymoor or 150 feet on the fixed side of a flip-flop hub and nothing close to freestyle as in fixed. I do however ride single speeds all the time. Maybe that’s why my feelings were mistaken for nausea. I paused to take a photo of this bike not because I wanted to talk shit in some bike snob way but because of the Profile Design bottle cages tucked behind the saddle in an aero tri way aka there is some shit to talk but I’ll just leave it at the $229 MSRP. As I stood near the bike the owner stuck her head out the window and yelled "hey, what’s going on?" but not in a 4 Non Blondes way more in a what the fuck are you doing by my bike way. So I crossed the street and tried to explain my president emeritus status in the PDCHC with coffee or beer or water and why I took a photo but it was all kind of lost on her. She explained how she found the bike the day before on craigslist and was genuinely enthused about it which was really cool to see and made me smile. Sincerely for real. I said right on it’s so 2006. But she didn’t know what to make of that because she was probably in 3rd grade back then.
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all time is no time big time
October 13, 2020
Prairie Breaker Pro bro
October 12, 2020
When you’re done thinking about the rear brake tucked beneath the chainstays please take a moment to take in the bigger big picture on this bike I refurbished at Bike Works in January of 2013 when I took a couple photos and posted this the first time. Then read down into the comments on that old post for another other chapter in the life of this bike.
The platform this site sits on is like an old shed with no foundation and a dirt floor so there’s no reason to sweep up and kick up a whole lot of shit. However it does allow me to see recent comments. When I saw the Prairie Breaker ones yesterday I had to dig deep to find the original post and it took me more than a minute to realize this guy wasn’t asking me if I want to sell my Shogun. He’s asking the guy that bought it at Bike Works in 2013. There’s 0.00% chance that the guy in Ballard would see his offer buried 7.67 years back in the archives. But now it’s a bit closer to the surface.
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apple cider vinegar
October 10, 2020
10-9
October 9, 2020
Put this up so many times in the last 14 years it’s approaching Wilson’s roasted chestnut Four Seasons Sonics cheerleader shot. Please take a moment to observe international messenger appreciation day as well as 87’s date of birth. Ten Nine Day.
The fax machine was supposed to kill off those guys 40 years ago. But a few hung on and those in the know know they’re still hanging on and I’m not talking Jimmy Johns or uber eats or fucking rad power bike Caviar bros. I’m talking bike messengers still rolling in cities around the world.
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that's not pigboy
October 8, 2020
happier than you and me
October 8, 2020
on & off like hot & cold and up & down
October 6, 2020
in through the out door
it all ends up in the same place
one way or another
pick a slot
drop it in
hefty toggle switches
with satisfying clunks
categorically
binomial
nomenclature
idiomatically
the punch line
what it all comes down to
is not Alanis Morissette
it's Bob Mould
Like Tom Bice would say “You’re the one telling them how it is” then he’d smirk and roll his eyes so he’d actually be saying, you’re getting screwed. We want to think we’re in control in the driver’s seat in charge of something. As if we have a say in things. Maybe that’s true sometimes but it’s all in your mind. We all know some assholes that think it’s true for them all the time. It’s taking those assholes a bit longer to catch on.
Do me a favor and don’t do me any favors. If I want the light on I’ll turn it on and if I want it off I’ll turn it off. A big clunky toggle switch is great and the satisfying click accompanied by immediate results works for me. I can flip it with my elbow or coffee cup or beer can or whatever’s in my other hand. If I want to save energy I’ll turn the fucking light off. I don’t need six or eight choices with a timer or a thermostat or a bluetooth speaker. Just a light switch thank you. Goddamn kids get off my lawn.
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your job on a day like this
October 1, 2020