The List # 15

HEYO.  Happy Tuesday.  Turns out I have a bit of spare time on Tuesdays, so I'm trying to make sure I hit up the blog when I can.  Although I'm way busy with school (created my first traditional assessment this week (test) and am in the middle of writing my first lesson plan, and I have a test on Thursday morning) I'm feeling slightly more settled with this whole school thing than I was.  Anyhow, Today I'm adding to THE LIST.  #15 is a song that describes you.  After lots of thinking, I decided on a Ben Folds Five song that I always related to. I'm sure there are(many) other songs that describe me well, but here is my take at it. 

Kate-Ben Folds Five (listen carefully for the line "everyday she wears the same thing, I think she smokes pot, she's everything I want, she's everything I'm not..."

And hey, feel free to tell me I'm wrong....Maybe I'm thinking too highly of myself :)

THE LIST #14

Today has been pretty crazy.  well, not just today, but the last month has been crazy. But recent craziness involves my brother and some really bad shit that is going down in Milwaukee right now.  No, I'm no referring to the hundred of great teachers getting laid off because Scott Walker is a Dbag (and countless other shitty reasons why teachers are getting laid off).  I'm talking about a giant mob of teens that attacked my brother and his friends Sunday night after the MKE 4th of July fireworks.  I'm going to attach 2 news stories in which you can read and assess on your own.  But the jist of it is that my brother and his friends were at a park on Sunday night when a huge group of teens came through the park.  I guess all seemed fine until the mob turn and started attacking his group of friends.  People got rocks and bottle hucked at them, and men and women alike were brutally kicked, punched and attacked by aggressive teens.  There was no words that started the fight, just a group of kids using senseless violence for a Sunday night laugh. And to top it off, the police did not do their job, instead disregarded the situation and claim that no reports of a mob attack happened.  Anyhow, read these articles: JS Online    TMJ4

But that isn't the main reason why I'm on here today.  Again, I apologize for being so absent lately.  School and work are kicking my ass.  But I want to share with you #14 on the list....A song that no one would expect you to love (Soul for Real-Candy-coated Raindrops)

I can remember hearing this on the radio in 6th grade.  Like many young people in the mid 90'd, I always had a blank tape ready to record songs off the radio in my tape player. After getting it on tape, I listened to it about 500 times. And when my office mate put it on a mix a few months ago, I fell back in love with it.  I bet you didn't know I likes this one, did ya?
ENJOY!

The list #13

Hey all.  I'm in a coffee shop just about to head to my second class of the day.  Besides moving, going to a wedding out of town, cleaning, moving more, pedal pub race and just life, I'm crazy busy/tired/happy right now.  That being said, I don't have a ton of time to get into this one.  But let's do it.  Let's look at #13 on the list A song that is a guilty pleasure.  Now I'm not sure if this is a guilty pleasure, or just a fucking rad song, but here we go.  Ladies, I know you love this one, too.  So crank it up and sing along!

#13- Since you've been gone-Kelly Clarkson....I just love this song!!!

HAPPY MONDAY!  Know that I miss you, and I miss this blog.....but I just don't have much time right now.

The List #12

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Hey team.  Sorry it's been so long.  I started school this week (taking 18 credits) and am still working 20hr/week AND we are moving.  Needless to say, I'm crazy busy.  But not too busy to make note of some bands that I don't like.

Let's jump right to it. #12 on the list is a song by a band you hate.  To be honest, there is plenty of shitty music out there.  I could have made a list for this one: Creed, System of a Down, Nickelback, fall out boy, dashboard confessional, frightened rabbit, Mumford and sons (i know I know, most people actually like this band, and I guess they aren't so terrible that they can be placed next to Creed, but if I have to listen to that fucking little lion man shit again, i might dump acid into my ears) slipknot, tom waits, the list goes on.  Today, I decided to throw a band on here that you may not know I hate.  and that band-The Smiths.  I find morrissey to have an incredibly irritating voice, not to mention I don't need to listen to you whine about, well just about anything.  I can't stand this band.  Is it even real music, or a bunch of softies crying over silly girly bullshit.  clearly I like to voice my opinions loudly, please don't take offense if you go home and listened to a little Smiths to unwind.  We just have different tastes and that is okay by me :) 

Anyhow, I didn't even know what song to pick, because they all sound like the same to me-lame.  So here is the first one I found on YouTube.  I probably won't even listen to it.  But if you want to, you can :)

Hope that wasn't as bad for you as it was for me.  and it was real bad for me.  What I'd like to do is complain more, but who has time for that.

The List #11



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 Hey all.  Let's jump right o it.  #11 on the list is  A song by a your favorite band.  Today I'm going to pick a song by one of my favorite bands, MODEST MOUSE.

I first heard Modest Mouse when I was in college.  It was the summer before my Senior year, and I was a custodian at Middlebrook Hall on the U of M campus.  It was that summer that I met one of my dear friends, Ellen.  early in the summer we got into a discussion about awesome bands, and I was all hot on Radiohead at the time (I still think they are Rad.)  Ellen challenged that Modest Mouse trump Radiohead.  I laughed in her face.  Then she made me copies of Moon and Antarctica and Lonesome Crowded West and my life was changed.  These are some of my ultimate favorite albums ever, and still when I listen to them, I am thrown back to that amazing summer.

Today, We listen to We've got Everything         

saddle UP!

Good afternoon.  Today is a beautiful day here in Mpls.  We were the hottest city in the US yesterday (it hit about 103 around 3pm....I was happily sipping an iced coffee doing some geography homework in a coffee shop).  And you know-people here complain when it is winter and too cold, they complain when it is summer and too hot.  I'm over it.  I love this city, and whether or not it always perfect out, I feel I can survive whatever the weather brings us. 

ANYHOW, speaking of awesome outside, Ive been riding a lot lately (and so have my little lady, which makes me SO happy!)

Anyone who rides a bike a lot knows that saddle position can make or break you.  Sure, if you are only riding for 15-20 minutes, no big deal.  But when you are on the saddle for the better part of an afternoon, you start to notice the little things.

I bought this saddle 2 or 3 years ago when I was first building up my commuter.  When I was picking out all the parts I was going to use, I thought to myself "I should invest in a really good saddle.  If my pedals aren't amazing, that's ok.  But my ass will be mad if I don't get something nice."  So that's what I did-invested in this bad boy. 

The Bontrager inForm RL WSD Saddle is the one I went with and I love it.  However it has taken me a long time to get the positioning just right.  I've had my allen wrench on me at all times so I can tweak it in an attempt to adjust it just right.  And I think I was able to achieve that this morning.  MAN, it made my ride in amazing.  I even took the long way to work, just to test it out a bit.

One reason why it took me SO long to get it adjusted right is because of the seat post.  It came with the frame, is a random size and I'm a big believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."  The seat post works just fine.  However the bolt that connects the clamp to the saddle is a hair to long and doesn't really fit well under the saddle.  If you can see on either of these pictures, the bolt somewhat digs into the bottom of the saddle.  This made it *very* hard to adjust it to what I needed.  But what Ive learned from this whole process is that it is better to mix it up and try different positions than just let it be uncomfortable and have your princess hurt all the time. 

Like I said, now I think I have it just right, which makes me excited to push past my 40 mile limit on this bike.  After that(in the past) my underside gets mad at me and I need to get off for the day.  Having your sit bones connect on the proper part of the saddle really does make a difference.  And I can promise you that if you just act with patience and try different positioning, you will be happier than you thought you could be.  If you need help, holler....however I have no promises that I'll be able to do too much.

SundayFunday

 A and I had a fabulous Sunday.  We started the day off by riding to the Kingfield Farmer's market (which was somewhat of a bust, because there isn't a lot of produce yet, but we shared an awesome falafal sammie.  Next, we hit up a little dive bar across the street for a beer or two.


After our drinks, we rode back home, packed a mini bag of stuff and headed to hidden falls park to meet up with Meghan and Lauren and Obey (Lauren's awesome dog.)  We laid in the grass for a while, and eventually headed to the river to let Obey swim

 It was so beautiful in there.  I had never been to this park (i know I know, lame) so it was extra exciting for me.

 The water was really high and moving VERY quickly.  But Obey loved jumping in the water after sticks.

 After Hidden Falls Park, we went over to SeaSalt for some happiness from the Sea.  and pitchers of Surly. 

 We got calamari, Lauren got a strawberry walnut salad, and Meghan and John split crab cakes and a shrimp po' boy.  ALL of it was amazing.  A and I were planning on Spaghetti for dinner, so we kept it light-kinda like an afternoon snack :)

 And when we got home, I started some homemade sauce.  After a few hours of stewing, it turned out great with my homemade, two-meat meatballs.  And a side of garlic toast and broc.  My kinda dinner!

Happiness really is summer in Minneapolis!