Monthly Archives: November 2008
Magic Soap
My website is quite simple. I’ve thought about taking more pictures of things, and posting them here for you all to check out, but can never really commit to it. Besides, pictures add clutter, and mine would probably fail at communicating anything beyond my writing capabilities. The theme of simple, light, and airy will hold it’s ground for a little while longer.
I switched soap scents a few days ago. I’ve been a dedicated Dr. Bronner’s Soap fan for almost a year now, with peppermint being my default choice. I’ve also used the lavender and almond varieties. My newest choice is eucalyptus, and I must report that it has been quite pleasant. If this is all new to you, definitely check out these soaps; you’ll thoroughly enjoy abandoning the morning chemical bath for something natural and invigorating.
My passport renewal application was put on hold by the State Department, because apparently my signature didn’t seem to represent my full legal name – Daniel Evan Kietzer. I’m pretty sure there was an E. somewhere in the squiggly line I drew, but I’ll need to send them a new signature with something more obvious. I’m going to sign my name in all caps, first grade style, with a really big E. Government agencies always seem like buildings full of unhappy people intent on making the rest of the world unhappy too.
I need to head to work now, or at least somewhere close. Go enjoy some fall weather.
Weddings
I’ve been out and away from things for quite a while now. Last week (19th – 24th) was spent in South Texas, attending my brother’s wedding and spending some time with my family. I would have prefered to be going somewhere else, but for the most part, it was nice to get out of Austin for a little while. Things were surprisingly busy during my time there, with wedding preparations going on, and my company being desired by too many things at once.
I took the Greyhound out of Austin at 10:30pm, traveling through the night to McAllen where I arrived at 4:30am. It was like warp drive – I went to sleep in Austin and woke up at my destination without any interruption. After a short nap Wednesday morning, I was charged and ready to go. My brother was participating in an Iron Chef competition/fundraiser Wednesday night. It was held at a pretentious up-scale country club; he snuck me in the back so I didn’t have to pay, and I enjoyed a free dinner. The company absolutely sucked – rooms filled with country club people who cared way too much about their social statuses.
Thursday and Friday seemed to go by quickly. I did some small home improvement tasks around my brother’s house, went shopping, picked up some flowers for the wedding; little things like that. I spent more time in a car in one day than I’ve spent in a car for all of 2008. It was strange.
Nick’s wedding was on Saturday morning, at 10:00am, and I was up early delivering a few last minute items to the church. Everyone in my family – except me – seems to run late; we got to the church for the big event at 10:01, when we were shooting for 9:30. The ceremony was nice; my brother’s friend and pastor did his duties quite well, and had us out of there after 30 minutes. I dropped one of the rings as I was pulling them out of my pocket, giving everyone a little laugh. Before I die, I want to replicate Slash from the Guns N’ Roses November Rain video, where, after loosing a wedding band, he takes one of five off his own hand and uses that instead. That’d be too cool.
The reception wasn’t bad, with plenty of wine in addition to my flask filled with 12 yr old single malt. The company wasn’t the most exciting, but I enjoyed myself and enjoyed hanging out with my brother and his new wife. All in all, Saturday was a success, with the addition of a new Kietzer to the family and no significant disasters.
And that’s about it. The Rio Grande Valley still looks like it did the last time I was there – almost exactly one year ago. And, like usual, I was glad to get back to Austin yesterday afternoon. For some reason I always get excited when I see the Austin skyline from a distance. One of my favorite feelings of recent memory was seeing it get closer after riding a bike to Alaska and driving back to my city when it was all over with. My family may live elsewhere, and I probably won’t be living here too much longer, but I think this city will always be a special place for me.
Failed Naps
Yesterday in a nutshell: Woke up late. Three and a half hours on the bicycle, out West, up and down lots and lots of hills. Home by 3:00pm. Shower. Attempted to take a nap in the hammock, but was interrupted by: one phone call, one angry cat taking her anger out on me in the hammock, and just as I fended the cat off for good, another phone call. Abandoning the thought of napping, I revived myself and worked on a few job applications. Then watched the evening news, Wheel of Fortune, and two episodes of Kitchen Nightmares with my roommate. Still tired and grumpy from the lack of nap, I went to bed around 10pm.
The Tour das Hugel is this Saturday, and I think I might actually do it this time around. Past Novembers have always been finicky when it comes to my cycling agenda; usually, it’s a time for cross-training and low mileages, letting legs rest a bit after the previous season. The Tour das Hugel never had any place in this schedule. 105 miles, and something like 14,000 feet of climbing, hitting every major incline in the Austin area. Not a fun ride. But this year is different. I didn’t race last season. I’ve been doing pretty high weekly mileages. And, for November, I have surprisingly good form on the bicycle. This year might be my best chance for Hugel glory.
I’m going to go my second least favorite place in Texas next week, also known as the Rio Grande Valley. (In case you’re wondering, Houston still holds the #1 spot on my shit list.) I’ve been mentally preparing, paying extra attention to how fortunate I am to be able to ride, walk, or take public transit everywhere I need to be. Taking a week off the bike won’t make me any happier either. But, regardless of the detracting factors, I hoping it will be a nice trip.
No Water?
I had a fantastically lazy day yesterday. In fact, I did almost nothing of any importance. The water in my apartment complex was supposed to be shut off all day, so I decided against riding my bicycle for any long distances. Spending the rest of the day wallowing in my own sweat and road grime wouldn’t have been too appealing. Instead, in the morning I strolled down the road to drink some coffee, where I hung out to absorb useless information on the internet and do creative stuff on my computer.
I strolled back home around 1:00pm to find my water still running. It wouldn’t be the first time they were a few hours late starting big projects – kind of like the last time they reworked the plumbing system. No big deal. I stretched out in the hammock and took a nap. I woke up around three, walked to the kitchen, tested the facet, and sure enough, the water was still working. With yet another poorly executed plan, my apartment management succeeded in derailing my day.
Some good did come out of yesterday though. I probably needed a day off my bike, number one. I’ve been riding a lot, and with some motivation; but it’s only November, and I should be building up to February, not fading when February rolls around. I also worked on the employment search a little bit too. I’m thinking about [going back to] the American Cancer Society, starting in early 2009. That could be a good opportunity.
My brother’s wedding is in a few days. I’m thinking of taking off on Monday or Tuesday to spend the week with my family. I’m without pending projects to attend to here, and I haven’t visited that area of the world in over a year. Quite a long time. The timing isn’t too bad – this is one of three months that the weather isn’t absolutely disgusting.
“Work” starts at noon for me today. We, and the rest of the retail industry, have been incredibly slow these past few weeks thanks to George Bush and Co. I haven’t been working too much. I’m still a bit of an outsider to these “hard times”, because my bills don’t really compare to the rest of the American working class, but I can definitely see why Main Street is struggling. We’re hoping business will pick up after Thanksgiving, because people will always go into debt to buy Christmas gifts, but it probably won’t compare to past years.
Mail-carriers and Signposts
I’m on quite friendly terms with my mail-man, who happens to be a very friendly guy. It all started about ten months ago, when he delivered my bike frame to my door. Bike frames come in pretty large boxes, but [hopefully] weigh next to nothing, making it an interesting package for our postal service employees. I was buttoning my shirt as I answered the door, still working at the State Capitol back then; he barely caught me before I left for work, and was happy he wouldn’t have to keep my shipment in the back of his truck for another day. We got to talking about what was in the box, and was rather intrigued that I would be building a bike in a couple of days.
And since then we’ve had a pretty cordial relationship. We tend to run into each other when he’s at my apartment or in my neighbourhood delivering the mail, and on occasion he’ll shop at REI. When I saw him this afternoon he asked about my cycling, the bike, my work – all the usual stuff. I guess I’ve always seen mail-carriers as just a given fixture in my daily life, neglecting to give any thought to who or what they may be like outside of their job. I’ve enjoyed seeing past this barrier, and getting a deeper look; regardless of what we do for a living, we’re all humans, with our own unique mannerisms and little details.
I rode my bike this morning. Very rarely do I have a plan set before I take off, beyond a very general assessment of “hard ride or easy ride.” My route planning is always done on the fly; if I’m feeling good, I know the turns to take to do more miles or hit bigger hills, or cut things short and head home. Of course, even my mileage is a general approximation – I threw away my cyclo-computer a long time ago. The non-cyclists in my life don’t quite understand – they ask me where I’m going, and I answer “east” or “west”; they ask me how far, and I answer “three hours” or “four hours”.
Back on track, I rode my bike this morning, heading out west of Austin on Spicewood Springs and around some shaded and curvy country roads in that general area. Despite cutting through a rolling landscape, it’s easy to find a rhythm and really hammer down Spicewood. I had to stop mid-ride to waterproof my electronics (cell phone and iPod), and caught a few rain showers as I headed home. The little bit of rain was pretty refreshing. On the way home I watched a young kid go face first into a street sign-post. He was absolutely buried in his Gameboy-whatever, not paying any attention to where he was going. I kind of felt bad for him, but the whole event was so cartoon-like that I couldn’t contain a little chuckle.
Thermal Variation
Back when I used to dabble in architecture, one of the first books I picked up was called Thermal Delight in Architecture. Without going into too much detail, the basic premise of the text was that our bodies respond to and greatly appreciate thermal variation in our day-to-day environments. Some moments and moods should be complemented with the appropriate thermal variations. The author eventually builds an argument contending that the effectiveness of architecture can be greatly increased by taking this dimension into consideration.
I’ve been thinking about this concept a lot recently as our temperatures begin to fall here in Austin, and as we typically see a daily shift from low 50s to low 80s each day. I try to embrace this temperature swing as much as possible; it really does seem to improve my mood and energy level. I’ll usually leave my windows open at night, bundling up under a thick layer of down. It’s like camping, but indoors. Keeping my window open serves another purpose too, allowing the sunrise to wake me up gently. It’s usually chilly when I take off on my bike in the mornings too. When it warms up in the afternoon, and I’m riding home, I’ll usually sweat a little bit. And then it all chills down again.
I really enjoy the temperature variation you find in hill country cycling too this time of year. Cold air will settle in the lower valleys, at the bottoms of large hills, and especially over water crossings. The body will heat up as you climb upwards, cool off as you descend, and then get hit with a pocket of extra-chilled air when you hit the bottom. Add in some shade trees over the road, and you have an incredibly thermally dynamic situation, never too hot or too cold to be uncomfortable.
I first discovered the pleasantries of thermal variation long before studying it at university, I just didn’t have the academic language to describe it. The house we occupied in England didn’t have or need air conditioning, and our heating system wasn’t the best either. Nights were cold in the winter time, with our bedrooms hovering around the 50s. You’d definitely have to get out of bed with a few clothes on… But it was a two story house, with the bedrooms upstairs, and once the sun came up the top floor would gradually begin to heat up to a tolerable temperature. During the day, the bottom floor would stay happily cool, so we would go about our day down there. At night we would retire to our chilled bedrooms and big blankets. It was thermal variation at it’s best.
I know and see a lot of people who have yet to embrace this, living as much of their life as possible between 72 and 75 degrees. The house, the car, the workplace – everything is artificially heated or cooled, every room and every floor the same. How dull!
Moving Forward
Last night’s election result will serve a focal point in U.S. history. I was proud to watch on as the numbers came in, favoring a young, progressive ideology over an obsolete and outdated worldview. The imagery bound to this ideological choice is even more powerful – on one end, a young and progressive black man; and on the other, an old and visibly crumbling bastion of conservative politics.
I’ve been disappointed with my country for almost seven years now. My university studies were dedicated to exploring alternatives to what I was confident was a failed government, one built on and maintained by racist foundations and social division. I still hold these beliefs this morning, not foolish enough to confidently say that the events of last night will erase the disgusting parts of our history and their projections into present day life. But last night, a majority of citizens living in the United States of America elected a black man to the highest office possible. We’re moving forward. Perhaps there’s still hope.
I’m confident that Barack Obama will be an important catalyst to move this country in the right direction, with specific emphasis on the reduction of social inequality. It won’t be through his politics alone – certainly not. But I think that the combination of political intentions favoring the disadvantaged, with a charismatic and self-made leader and public servant, can create a spark we haven’t seen since the 60s. A spark that has the capabilities to ignite change from the bottom up in our disadvantaged communities. For people like me, this is an exciting time.
Cowboys and Bicycles
I’ve had a remarkably lazy day today. The sunrise brought me to life around 8:00am. I was annoyed for the first ten minutes of the day because my neighbour’s internet connection wasn’t working, but that did help to shake me out of bed. I ate breakfast, cleaned my teeth, and was out the door to ride my bicycle by 8:45. I didn’t want to go too far or too fast, so I meandered around Shoal Creek for an hour and a half. I did run into Sol, from AustinBikes, going the opposite direction; he recognized me and our matching AustinBikes kits and waved energetically. That was exciting. Since then my day has been a filled with eating, two movies, and a nap. In an attempt to stir up something productive, I’m now sitting at my local coffeeshop, with hopes that a little caffeine will fight off the lethargy.
I had the day off yesterday as well. I used it to get in a whole lot of miles on my bike. A whole lot. I ventured out towards Johnson City around 10:30am, after dropping by my work to stock up on some power-foods. I didn’t quite make it to J-city, but I did end up with 70ish miles at the end of the ride, which lasted about four hours. Not bad for a windy, hilly, and solo effort. I was buying liquids at a gas station, approximately 20 miles from Central Austin, when a very cowboy-looking stranger struck up a conversation with me. He as a big guy, driving a big truck, wearing a big cowboy hat and a nice pair of boots. He said “damn, you’ve been a long way! I saw you at Barton Springs and Lamar [downtown Austin] three hours ago!” He told me to be safe and to watch out for traffic; just a really friendly guy in general. It really made my day.
It’s really nice outside right now – high 70s, breezy, and sunny. I like this weather. Pretty soon I’ll tune into some election results coverage, but right now I’m just enjoying the moment.
I have dinner ready to heat up at home. Last night I cooked up some pasta; to be specific, fresh spinach fettuccine, with a creamy asparagus and smoked salmon sauce. It’s one of my favorite dishes; the flavors go together incredibly well, and it’s nice and healthy too. If I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll post up a recipe soon. I might even take a picture.
What I will take a picture of now, as my departing gift, is a screen capture of my computer desktop. Bask in the beauty of customized Ubuntu…
