Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Dan's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
7:50 pm	a letter in my handwriting Seriously, they can come play at my house. A big screaming half naked gay lead singer? Sign me the fuck up! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
11:32 am	that about sums it up From the mighty Cat and Girl. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 25th, 2009
9:29 pm	and, done I've put a recap of the Ride over on the mom-safe journal. The short version: did it, liked it, would do it again, conflicted as usual. Still processing the last part. (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
10:57 am	not here, there Been pretty much focused on the upcoming ride. What little posting I've been doing has been in a more mom-safe journal, but I'll still happily take your moneys. Skirt looks likely; singlespeed doesn't unless the magical maintenance fairy shows up in the next hour to fix the brakes. (Comment on this)
Monday, April 13th, 2009
1:07 pm	the hard part about going nowhere Since I'm still training for the Ride For The Feast (to which you can still donate, if so inclined) I had semi-grandiose plans for a bike ride Sunday; "semi" because I put off any sort of route planning until the last possible minute since my standard "pick something and ride there" plan was hampered by the Great Easter Shutdown (also by the Great Passover Shutdown, but that's mostly my neighborhood and therefore not much of a bike ride). But I got something sorted (thanks, Bikely!), put on all the stupid bike gear, walked outside, and walked right back in again because it was 40 degrees outside. (What the hell, April? Carnival weekend is next weekend; too early on the crap weather!) So instead I ended up on the windtrainer again, with the laptop perched nearby showing Futurama episodes. After 60 miles my ass let me know that it wanted to stop. We'll see what the second-day ass report has to say about the whole affair, and (eventually) how all this windtrainer mileage translates to actual roadworthiness. Current Music: Jesu - "Silver" (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
10:39 am	take me down to stalkertown His name is Chel Vanin*. He works for Hydra Head. He has a kitty. He's the Hydra Head mascot for 2009. He takes his shirt off a lot. I think he is cute. I also think I'm being creepy. * no it's not. plus he's married. Current Music: Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Dolores (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, March 20th, 2009
5:02 pm	shoes! Apparently the average cyclist either has skinny little feet or is okay with constant pain, because most cycling shoes are stupidly narrow. Fortunately the Italians still give us fat-footed folk the opportunity to spend absurd amounts of cash on very single-minded footware. The ones in the picture are Genius 5 Megas from Sidi, and they fit mighty nicely. They're not the most expensive shoes I've ever bought, but that's only because the most expensive ones are designed to let me wreck a motorcycle at high speeds and still walk to the ambulance on my own. I had forgotten the particular joy of trying to walk in road biking shoes (which by design have a stiff, unbendable sole). For simulation purposes, you could strap a couple saucers to the bottoms of your feet and then try to walk around your kitchen. Now imagine a whole crowd of you skating through a convenience store and you'll have a good idea of what it's like when a ride stops for a break. Hilarity ensues. I picked these up for the Ride For the Feast, where I'll be spending a couple days on a bike. If you'd like to donate some money to sponsor me, I'd surely appreciate it. Current Music: Mono - "The Battle to Heaven" (Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
1:09 pm	comment whoring for charity Last year, when I was bugging friends about riding the Allegheny Passage, a couple friends reverse-bugged me about doing the Ride For the Feast, a two day, 140 mile charity ride in May that raises money for Moveable Feast. Moveable Feast gives food to people living with HIV/AIDS or breast cancer. I am in favor of food. Sign me the fuck up. So now the idea of riding from Rehoboth Beach to Baltimore is starting to sink in, plus the idea of parking my tender ass on a saddle for 24-odd hours. Sounds like fun! But first I need to do some stuff, like finding some bike shoes that don't mush my ducklike feet (which hasn't been a problem for trail riding so much since I'm rarely on the bike non-stop due to hills, trees, rocks, gravity, etc.), finding some new bike shorts (since I've killed most of my roadie spandex by stuffing it under motorcycle leathers and frying it across South Dakota), and either sorting out the chain path on the seven-speed so it doesn't barf at random intervals or finally putting the Cannondale road bike back together (and pre-dosing on painkillers because the super-rigid aluminum frame will beat me to death over 140 miles; maybe I'll just stick with the steel frames). Oh right, and raising some money. I'm riding with Team Atomic (sponsored by Atomic Books), and here's where you can go to give me some moneys. Er, give the Ride some money. You get it. I'm totally open to pimping myself out for this, so lemme know what I can trade sponsorship dollars for. As an opening gesture, here's a picture of me looking all sweaty and bulbous after a hour on the wind trainer a couple weekends ago. (I suspect that any sort of delta of before and after photographic documentation will fall victim to beer and ice cream, but hey, that camera's not doing anything else right now.) I also apparently need a team name, a la roller derby nom de, um, skate? (Example from the team: Britney Gears) Ideas gladly accepted, as I truly suck at this sort of thing. (-5 on my Helm of Drag Queen Summoning, I guess.) Thanky thank thanks! Current Music: Inevitable End - "Distorted" (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
8:56 am	Tuesday comics (just one) From the inimitable Cat and Girl. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
1:35 pm	passing along the make stuff meme [claimed and copied from fidgetcub] The first Seven (7) people to respond to this post will get something made by me. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations: - I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. - What I create will be just for you. - It'll be done this year (2009). - You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a mix CD. It may be a poem. I may draw or paint something. I might bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure! - I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well, if you expect me to do something for you! (I will be checking too...) C'mon... sounds like fun, doesn't it? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, January 12th, 2009
1:14 pm	w00t! again On the advice of friends, I checked hotel prices in DC for this weekend, and now I'm staying the same place I was last year for $70 less per night. (Still no rooms available for Sunday night, though.) My anti-change brain is pleased. Current Music: Polvo - "Tragic Carpet Ride" (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
4:55 pm	w00t! Thanks to the open couches of DC friends, it looks like I might be heading to MAL after all. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 29th, 2008
11:29 am	checking in Sitting upstairs with our deaf cat on my lap, partially so that he'll shut up and not wake up Brian (deaf cat = no volume control on the meows = my ears! my ears!) who's trying to sleep off the chest cold that we both got for xmas, and partially because he's purring up a storm and is doing that therapeutic cat lap thing. Things have been better, but things have been worse too, so I'm trying to focus on the cat in my lap and the hubby downstairs. Wish it was that easy. However, the present immediate dilemma is whether to work on the house this week or flee to Columbus for New Year's Eve. Oooh, crisis! Current Music: purring deaf cat (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 11th, 2008
1:43 pm	Watching the Olympics makes me want to get back to the gym to figure out how to snatch properly. I can already do the clean and jerk, albeit at pretty low weights, and it's the most fun I've ever had in a weightlifting room. And I want to play badminton. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
3:20 pm	wanna watch fast things go fast? For the last couple years I've made squishy plans to get out to Laguna Seca for the Moto GP. It hasn't worked out so far, mostly because Laguna Seca is on the complete opposite side of the country and the Moto GP races there happen at a time that make the ride there (from Pittsburgh) more than a little bit uncomfortable. For the last couple years there's also been the rumor floating around that the GP races were going to come to Indianapolis, which is about 2300 miles closer. The rumors were confirmed, and Moto GP racing is coming to Indianapolis from September 12 through September 14. Admittedly, the Indy 500 course isn't as insane as Laguna Seca (which has the Corkscrew, a three-story downhill blind left-right chicane), but all of my family is from Indiana, I watched the Indy 500 every year until I was at least 16, and I've actually been around the Brickyard, so there's enough emotional weight there. Plus it's 2300 miles closer. However, it turns out that pretty much nobody I know gives a shit about motorcycle racing. Brian is mildly interested but work deadlines are likely to make it difficult for him to go. Three other people have made interested noises but bailed out. I don't particularly want to go by myself, but damn. It doesn't help that I no longer know anyone in Indianapolis, so I'll probably end up in a hotel; that, combined with at least $75 for tickets (for all three days), means this could be an expensive solo trip. Harrumph. So, anyone wanna go watch some motorcycle racing? An added incentive is the fact that the Indy Mile dirt track race is being revived for September 13 (in case Moto GP isn't insane enough for you). (Comment on this)
Friday, August 1st, 2008
9:25 am	silver ball mecca (There's about 30,000 sq. ft. of pinball machines; this is only about a fifth of that.) PAPA 11 is scheduled for 8/14-17. If you like pinball and are within 200 miles of Pittsburgh, you'd be crazy not to come. Edit: And if you need a place to stay, gimme a yell and we'll clear a space for you. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
10:53 am	change the name to something more Greek Last week: spent the latter half of the week in DC fine tuning a conference room so that everything (including the finicky videoteleconferencing gear) all played together happily. After nine months, I could finally call the room done. This week: started with the news that a water pipe in the ceiling of the DC conference room broke. Everything is soaked. Room is trashed. Once the insurance companies get done fighting it out (ours vs. the contractors vs. their subcontractors who actually did the lousy plumbing work) I get to go back to the land of Holiday Inn and Harris Teeter and do it all over again. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 7th, 2008
2:36 pm	at least one person will care about this Primordial, live in concert (from here). (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
11:00 am	the excitement in my life - Went for a walk Sunday and ended up on TV (about 2:15 in, rocking the Limp Wrist shirt). - Found a Wii, and started accumulating yet another color of plastic box. Recommendations? The pile so far: Zelda, Paper Mario, and the Sports that came in the box. Have only played Sports. Have not yet socked the wall playing fake tennis, but it's only a matter of time. Will probably pick up Mario Galaxy and Boom Blox when I can get to an EB; gotta pick up another controller too (probably the Nyko recharging station too). Got a recommendation for some cow bowling game, but the recommender was not sober and the reference was as vague as it sounds here. - Discovered that it'll cost about $60-70 dollars to replace the dying batteries for my old Ryobi 12v drill. A new 14v Hitachi drill is $150, and can share batteries with other available gear. (It's also the ugliest tool I've ever seen.) My conservational instincts are struggling. - Had a fan die, and discovered that the case is held shut by fucking security Torx bits. Northern Tool will save me from attacking them with a drill (with a cord) and an aircraft bit. Honeywell and their case designers can eat it. - Summertime FM radio in a box: Caps and Jones eat an AOR station. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
6:00 pm	In lieu of real content (as I've spent the last couple weeks wrecking my dainty nerd fingers installing gear), I bring you the Rachael Ray Drinking Game. (1 Comment |Comment on this)