ghotifish.net

Miles Biked: 16.39
Average speed: 14.3 mph

Perhaps I should explain the sudden visual transformation of ghotifish.net.

As it turned out, I had jumped on the MovableType bandwagon just as everyone else was jumping off due to displeasure with MT’s new licensing scheme. To be precise, they didn’t merely jump off — they jumped directly onto a passing bandwagon, that of WordPress (in using this metaphor I am assuming that a bandwagon is a subclass of the classic wheeled wagon, which may or may not be the case). I find WP appealing for several reasons, notably its license and the programming language in which it is implemented.

So, to cut to the chase, ghotifish.net is now powered by WordPress.

Miles Biked: 23.69
Average Speed: 14.6 mph

Yesterday I bought a cyclocomputer for my bike. Today that cyclocomputer told me that I had biked 23.69 miles at an average speed of 14.6 mph. 14.6 mph doesn’t seem like a lot at first, but when you think of it as 58.4 trips around a high school track in an hour, it sounds a lot better.

I rode around three different lakes today (Calhoun, Harriet, and Nokomis) and each one was abuzz with middle schoolers with nothing better to do with their summer days than abortively splash around in the water, trying (awkwardly) to have fun and look cool at the same time. Such decadence! Why aren’t these children out in the fields, working hard to ensure that they have enough food to last the winter?

Speaking of working hard, today is my first day of rotation at work, which means I’ll be working 2:30–11:00 every day through next Monday — which, quite frankly, sucks. It does mean, however, that I can spend my mornings Getting Things Done, which will undoubtedly turn out to mean sleeping, reading web sites, and occasionally biking. Maybe I’ll make some bread, too.

I’d love to be out on a bike ride right now, but it looks like the weather is just trying to trick me into going outside so it can dump rain on me. Too cruel.

The Matt-n-Risa wedding last weekend was a blast. I got to drive bridesmaids around for two days in a bright blue PT Cruiser (it was that or a white Chevy Malibu). The ceremony was in the lovely UNC arboretum under very blue skies. Temperatures hovered in the high 70s; in the shade I almost forgot I was wearing a tuxedo. And to top it all off, Matt and Risa are now married! Holy cow!

My goodness, this “Web-Log” thing really seems to be catching on, doesn’t it?

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of kottke. Not only does his web page look good, it’s also full of stuff that I find pretty interesting. One of my favorites so far has been a link to this essay by Kurt Vonnegut. Kottke quotes a memorable bit, which I will reproduce here, mostly because I find it oddly thrilling to have it on my site as well:

Here’s what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey.

And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we’re hooked on.

Now, I normally don’t care very much for Vonnegut’s writing. There’s no doubt that he’s good, and I certainly won’t try to argue otherwise. I think what I don’t like, judging from the small sampling of his fiction that I’ve read, is that it is usually all too clear that he has a point to make, that he directs his writing towards that point — and therefore he ends up with characters and situations which I find contrived an unappealing. His essays are another matter: when not burdened with the care and feeding of dramatis personae, he can stick to the business of making his points.

And what a good point he makes.

During my freshman year at Carleton, the Residential Life office undertook a poster campaign designed to educate us youngsters about the perils of alcohol. They asked, “Do you have to eat a can of green beans every day just to feel normal?” Easy to snicker at, for sure. But also hard not to think about. It’s easy to decide not to eat a can of green beans. Why shouldn’t it be easy to decide not to drink a can of beer? Yet for many people, it is very difficult — that’s addiction. Do you really want to put yourself in a situation where you are unable to make choices?

Do you have do burn a gallon of gasoline every day just to feel normal? Could you choose not to?

That’s addiction.