what was that? is that all there is? who is this? this is it.

20 years ago I poached this from Mudflap and reprinted it in one of the first issues of kickstand

For about 15 years as a commuter and a messenger I wore a bag on my right shoulder. Always on my right shoulder. From T2 to PAC to DANK with a brief interlude to an Ortlieb backpack and some legal messenger time with a DANK backpack I'd say 14 of those 15 years a one-strap bag was tugging on my right shoulder wearing holes in the right side of my shirts and jackets altering my skeletal system and the muscles that support it. 

7.5 years ago I stopped wearing a one-shoulder bag but my right shoulder is still noticeably lower than my left and my right hip is noticeably higher than my left. 

20 years later this cartoon speaks to me in a new way.  

 A Walk Across America   by Peter Jenkins

Dr 37 Mike gave me this book a couple three years ago and now that I’m a commuter zombie with some sitdown time built into my day I’ve finally read it.  it’s pertnear 40 years old but I feel like it makes more sense than ever in these horseshit times we live in today these times of instant tap swipe gratification where’s my uber where’s my jimmy john where’s my amazon fresh. When news is only news for 24 seconds. Calm the fuck down and harden the fuck up.  go for a walk from upstate New York to New Orleans in a pair of Chuck Taylors with a badass dog and a backpack.

Universal Harvester   by John Darnielle

I got this book for my birthday it's a novel that takes place in and around a video store in Nevada, Iowa in the late 1990’s. so right off the bat I was hooked because I’ve been to Nevada and I know how to pronounce it and actually I’ve been to a lot of towns in Iowa and I really appreciate the Iowa landscape and references in the book.  In addition I’ve lived through the be-kind-rewind years and I remember the look and feel of VHS tapes and video stores and VCRs.  This book is a VHS sized paperback packed in a plastic VHS case. It’s perfect light-rail reading in a durable versatile package.

You Think It, I’ll Say it  by Curtis Sittenfeld

I got this book at my local library it's a collection of short stories some of which you’ve probably already read in the New Yorker. I’m a big fan of a story that can take me some place I’ve never been or someplace I go all the time but I thought I was the only one that hung out there until I read of a character that goes there too and and and all that and more happens in 20 pages or less. These stories are amazing like you put the book down and the characters are in your mind like you’re not sure if you met them at a party or went to high school with them or it was just a vivid dream.

if you need a coozie for your otter pop grab a DANK

if you can't reach that high grab a Bob Anderton 

fast-map

2' x 2' laminated

custom made   in-house

a rolling infomation kiosk like one big bundle of answers on wheels. these maps were my idea a couple months back when I was getting lots of questions about buildings located on campus. this week the maps were finished and installed on the entire fleet of bikes although one rider removed his map after only a few minutes of riding because of the glare bouncing off the map and up into his eyeballs.

yesterday I narrowly missed the opportunity to photograph a man taking a photograph of the map on my bike. 

bike of the month

StumpJumper with 24" wheels

didn't get to speak with the owner before he rode away but he appeared to be old enough to vote but too young to buy beer