Of course, the love glove.

This is must be a really hot item for the season because it's sold out. The makers of the glove claim it to be "the most romantic, cosiest gloves ever invented." If I'm ever seen with such a thing around my hand, call the police because I have been either brainwashed by some sort of cuddly, hand holding cult or my brain has been replaced by an alien being. Seriously, do people really use/wear/enjoy these types of things?!?! What's the etiquette when approaching a pole? Or other people? Or a cyclist?

Still need an idea...

...about what to get me for xmas? <---If you're wondering, I'm the one that took the Christ out of Christmas. Anyway, only a few days left and here's what you, yes you, can get me.


Lovely, yes? It's the Thorn Exp touring/expedition bike and I won't be mad if I recieve the bike after xmas. How to order, you ask. Right here.

It's quiz time

Do you know your geography? Take the travel IQ quiz. I thought I'd do a lot better. :(
My scores:
Level 6
191366 pts.
Travel IQ 94

Click Here To Take The Quiz

2nd time playing:
level 8
269939 pts
IQ 101

Are we there yet?!?!?

How much longer!?!?! For fark's sake, isn't Christmas over yet? Come on father time, speed this train wreck up. It's ONLY been 3 months of continuous Christmas music that I'm forced to listen to at work. Please. Stop. The. Christmas. Music. I'm. Freakin'. Dying. Over. Here. The govt. should make the terrorists listen to this Christmas crap as much as I have to. THAT, my friend, is torture.

From Ours To Yours

Seasons Greetings!

XOXOXOXOXO
Oprah, Barack, Lil' Britney and me.

I feel a little guilty

for posting this after reading about the ice storm in the middle of the country. It was 56F this morning when I biked to work and somewhere around 70 when I rode home this afternoon. 21 mile commute. It felt good. The rest of the week = highs in the mid-70s.

The Sunday 15

1. Miles on the bike today – 14
2. Flat tires today – 1
3. Frame pumps owned at the moment – 0
4. CO2 inflate cartridges – 1
5. Empty CO2 cartridges – 1
6. Phone calls for a ride home – 2
7. Miles ridden home in a car – 7
8. Essays graded – 36
9. Essays not graded – 22
10. Loads of laundry today – 2
11. MPG for the Prius for the first week – 42
12. Dollars spent on gas since I got the Prius – 0
13. Classes left to teach this semester – 1
14. Fame pump plan on buying tomorrow – 1
15. Doors hung this weekend – 1

Incase anyone was wondering

And so it begins

piece by piece.
My plan was to order the frame (Thorn Sherpa) first and then buy the parts that I needed as I found good deals. The Sherpa is the business, as the Brits say. BUT. Buying the car below ate into my frame budget. I might need to wait on my tax return to buy it and hopefully the US dollar, British Pound exchange rate will be a little better. So, I ordered the first two parts (11-34 cassette & rear derailleur) for my new expedition/touring bike build. My intent is to go full Shimano XT. Lovely, aren't they?

Ecotone

The literary journal of my former MFA program. Submit. Buy issues. Donate.

Ecotone is a literary journal of place that seeks to publish creative work about the environment and the natural world while avoiding the hushed tones and clichés of much of so-called nature writing. In the natural world an ecotone is a landscape where two separate ecosytems overlap, a place of danger and opportunity for animals. As we try to reimagine a new literature of place, our journal embraces literary ecotones, writing that breaks across genres and seeks out edges. These edges—between science and literature, the urban and rural, the personal and biological—are places that are alive and electric, as well as new and dangerous.

Ecotone's blog which is also linked to the right.

Also a party to celebrate the publication of the fifth edition of Ecotone will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8 at the WHQR Studio Gallery, 254 North Front Street in Wilmington. Ecotone is the national literary journal published by the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Department of Creative Writing. The event will feature a talk by Jill McCorkle, Ecotone contributor, North Carolina native and author of multiple books including Carolina Moon and Crash Diet. The night will continue with a silent auction to benefit the journal, as well as beverages and hors d’oeuvres. Admission will be $10 and will benefit the magazine.

Hi. My name is Eric

and I just bought a 2008 Toyota Prius that looks like this:


I have to admit, I hate cars. I hate everything about them. I hate the way they look, smell, sound, taste, feel and I hate the money that's dumped into them and the gas that I have to put in them and the way they are everywhere and and and I just hate them. BUT unfortunately, I have to have one. It's a 30 miles one way drive to the school I'm teaching at, and that's a bit too far to bike. I can and have biked that far, but it comes down to the time involved to do that, which I don't have. So, the 1992 Celica that I had was on it's last legs. Let me put it this way, when I was at the Toyota dealer today, someone walked my the Celica and asked if there was a bomb ticking under the hood--clack clack clack clack. It was a good car, 145,000+ miles on it and with the roof racks I moved mattresses, beds, tables, surfboards, bicycles and pretty much everything I own with it. So, I did it. I bought a new car. And now I am the freaked out owner of a 2008 Toyota Prius. The car is a little scary. The newness. The crazy hybrid technology. The status of having an environmentally friendly car. The car payment. The scary thought that I will become a hybrid car snob the way Mac users are snobs about their computers. Yes, I have a Mac--holy crap....