i can't stand...

there are 2 people that i believe are potentially the most overrated people in the world. the first one is mark rothko. he highlights everything i find wrong with art, as he is considered a modern master for painting things like this.

and what rothko did to art, mies van der rohe did to architecture. while he has made some really cool furniture and a few cool buildings, he made it not just okay, but trendy to make all our buildings look like this.

thanks guys...

father

one of the reasons why i can't stand my dad sometimes: he says things like this (in relation to former bosses of his)

"she is possibly the laziest black woman i have ever met" and "emily; she was a lesbian, but she was a hard worker"

bleh.

grandmother

this is why i love my grandmother. she's not a liberal, she's not an environmentalist, she's not an advocate or an activist, but she says things like this

"i never had a fur coat. i didn't want one. i wouldn't wear one if i had one."

in other news, the magic of christmas is officially gone from my household. it's 11:58 am on christmas morning, my sister is in the shower, then my mom is going to shower, then my dad is going to shower, then i think we are going to eat? point being we haven't touched the presents yet. how stupid is that.

missionary

could they have picked out a worse title for this book?

fly fly away

so for as bad as flying can be around the holidays, my trip home was actually pretty pleasant, despite having to get up at 4:15. i showed up at the light rail just in time to get on, so i wasn't stuck sitting out in the cold. i have decided to take one of my bikes to leave at home, since i have so many, and i've always wanted to have a bike to get around kingwood on. continental's website says it costs $100 to check a bike. while my mom said she would cover the expense, i still thought it was silly, since southwest only charges $50. anyway, when i get to the counter the lady just charges me the regular $15 check bag fee because "it's not really that heavy." now that's obviously true, the bike and box together weigh 30lbs, 20lbs short of the "oversized" benchmark, i just didn't expect anyone to actually do such a thing.

after that i take my other bag of clothes, etc and make it through security in a reasonably expedient fashion, maybe 20 minutes? as my bag goes through the x-ray i get flagged for having my u-lock in the bag. apparently i could bludgeon the pilot or something. so they tell me i have to go check my bag. while this sounds like it could be a rediculous hassle, they had someone escort me out of security and told me to come back to that point after i checked my bag. i go tell the lady at the baggage counter about the situation and she doesn't even charge me for checking this bag, even being my 2nd "checked" bag. when i get back to security the guy lets me right through, no waiting in line. i was pretty impressed with the whole process... my dad says continental was just being extra nice because they crashed a plane in denver this week.

anyway, the flight itself was nothing to complain about, and now i'm safely in houston. it probably hit 70 today, i had to buy a pair of shorts with my other x-mas shopping because it's so warm. i'm sure i'll write more later, but that'll do for now.

antisocial

i've been feeling rather antisocial lately.  i don't really know what it is.  there have been several parties i've been invited to that i just haven't felt like going to.  i haven't been spending a lot of time at velocipede.   part of why i broke up with Kim was that i felt like i wasn't able to do all the things i wanted to do, including meeting new people, spending time at velocipede, going to parties, etc.  now i have the freedom to do so and i don't feel like doing it?  i blame the weather.

whatever the reason, i've decided it's no big deal.  i'll feel like going out more again and there will still be parties.  so for now i guess i'll just be content with being cooped up in my (fairly) warm little apartment.  plus when i'm lucky i get some company anyway.

spite

"is spite something that the lord taught you?"

RIP david

i lost a long-time climbing buddy this week.  this is my 3rd friend to be killed in a car accident.  you will be sorely missed david.

and everyone always tells me how dangerous riding my bike is...

awake

nothing like getting woken up at 9am (when you don't have to be at work until 1:30) to the loud banging noises of renovating the apartment above mine   *yawn*

dreams

so now that my ribs seem to be fully healed, i'm trying to throw myself head-first into my trials riding.  i can't believe it's almost been a year since i first decided it was something i wanted to try.  i could be so good by now, but i've just pissed away the time.  the avalon competition will be in jan or feb, and i'd like to compete, but i have a long way to go before i can even get on the courses, much less do any good.

i was just out trying to get over a wall and *almost* made it, then my foot slipped off the pedal and cracked my knee.  i had told myself before i went out that i should put on my pads and helmet, but then i decided i would just "take it easy."  i should know better than to ever believe that i take it easy with things like this.  i get out there, try to do a couple easy things, then spot something that makes me think "i bet i could do that"  and there i go, throwing myself at something out of my league.  i used to do the same thing with rock climbing.  it is great for pushing me and causing me to make myself better, but it's really working over my shins and knees... all because i'm too lazy to put on the pads.  *sigh*   you should all (like 3 of you maybe?) scold me if i don't wear my pads next time.

to make matters worse, i keep having dreams where doing these moves is really easy, like its second nature, and then i wake up and the next time i ride i'm instantly reminded how much i suck.  but before i was dreaming about riding i was having dreams about my dad, which are NEVER good dreams, perpetually frustrating, so i guess i'll take the bike dreams.