Craigslist is...

I came up with plenty of adjectives to try to finish that previous statement, really though, the only thing I've learned about Craigslist, is that when you give people a foot, they generally want a mile.

The housing search soon comes to close. Its very possible that I might find myself either living way out by interstate or relatively close in near Belmont. My biggest concern at this point is finding tubs to put all my shit in, so overall things are not that bad.

While I can't quite put my finger on it, I do think the days are getting slightly longer
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_pap.pl

Which is always encouraging

Danny

I've got back into the swing!

Winter break is know weeks behind me and I think I can say that despite all the sidetracking that I do participate in, there is now some sort of strange pattern to my daily living.

Good things that have happened:
- I'm taking twenty credits this terms at PSU, so I never can say "I'm not busy", or "I don't have homework, ", or something to that extent. And yes, this is indeed a good thing despite what some may say.
- PSU cycling has been interesting to say the least. I'm going on weekend rides, in addition to training every day in some form or another. Again, sometimes difficult but a good thing.
- Its not raining, point made.
- I'm eating more, or, I'm not going into muscle depletion because I'm riding more than I'm eating.

Not as good things that have happened:
- My landlord is evicting me and my three roommates on the grounds that " he needed to live there to fix everything that was broken ". To his credit many things were broken, ( i.e the fuses, outlets, dishwasher, heating system, etc ), and because of his own lack of responsibility, ( not fixing these things one at time months ago when we asked him ), we are now mostly homeless. SO if anyone has a room/closet ( 8*8 will work,) that they are not using, I'd love to rent it!
- Its cold. No surprise but its to be expected.


Belated New Years Resolutions that I forgot about:
- Go on a ride with every single Portland Based Cycling Team
- Eat more
- Successfully write a song with a vocoder. (Maybe)
- Be more successful than I was last year

The last is the same resolution Akon has, although I'm sure his is much more linked with rap music production.


Danny

Open call

This upcoming season will be my second season as a recreational cyclist in the Portland area. It could be a great year for learning but only yet suffice to say it, and I usually don't, I need your help.

The only question is how...

Introspective Seasonal Post

Since moving to Portland I've always found my visits in Seattle/Shoreline to be somewhat awkward and short lived, which leads me to my next point. I think this is the first since I moved to Portland that I've felt "at home" in some form or another, and I suppose I can thank the snow. For those not keeping up with the NW weather forecasts, Portland and Seattle have added to the "the weather is going to shit" theory by snowing for nearly three days. Anybody who has lived in either place can attest that if each area has gotten even as little as an hour of good snow, it has been a good year, but 2008 definitely outdid itself by truly leaving both cities, each with both of there singular snowplows, completely incapacitated; and in this case its a good thing.

I came up to Seattle this year with some plans in mind, train a little, try to hang out with friends, this and that but I've finally come to the conclusion that Shoreline is different for me. Its always been a weird little suburb so I might as well go along with it, if only for a little bit and just relax.

In other words, I've been snowed in for roughly four days, been outside twice, and thats just fine.

Cheers world

Winter-hella-tastic

Right now I'm listening to my dad watch the nutcracker, while it continues to snow, after doing very little today.

Yule tide joy if I've ever seen it.

Seattle Break

Seattle has been good thus far although it decided to dump snow like crazy. I've only gone outside once to day and that was to take this picture from my front porch... While I am tempted to take the bike out for a spin I feel as though I may freeze my fingers over again. I still can't feel six of them, thanks to the Portland snow.




This is what I've been doing the past day and a half. Taping, painting, drying, then painting again, and now marveling at my work. Well, mostly marveling there are a few mishaps here and there.




I don't know if it was a need to finish one of the many projects my mother starts and never finishes or the need to paint, yet whatever the reason our hallway is now the color of peanut butter. I'll update on the riding situation later as that should have its own dedicated post.





















A nice accent to an otherwise tapeless existence.

This year in racing

Christmas is fast approaching and now with the Portland Cyclocross season truly at an end I thought it might be a good idea to recap on my accomplishments, where I could improve; one of those compliment sandwiches that I've heard so much about.

Overall racing was good and considering this was my first year I think I did an alright job.

Track:

Starting out on the track is a nice way to get into biking. Theoretically track racing is probably the last type of bicycle racing one would try, after stints with road and maybe cross, but it is Portland and with all the fixed gears everywhere already, one can't help but think what they are actually designed for. I got 3rd as a cat 5 over all in the track bar, so I can't complain too much. Goals for next year: less emphasis on the track with better quality than quantity. I tired myself out so bad over the summer doing races every week, I need to eat alot more next time and make sure I don't destroy myself. Goal: try to be a cat 4

Road/Criterium:

Didn't really get to do any road, but raced a couple of the popular crit races. Crits are mostly fun with a fair amount of pain. I only hope I can maybe me a cat 4 so my field can be bigger. We'll just have to wait and see.

Cross:

I really enjoyed cyclocross. The cross crusade was a great compilation of races and I can see why its so popular in Oregon, not to mention it just hurt less to race it. Great way to stay fit in the winter, and if I had an emphasis this would be it.

I guess thats it?