Blawing

Has become increasingly difficult with the advent of nice weather.  I’ll soon be doing more extended rides due to the temperature/daylight.  The past two days have been absolutely gorgeous.  After turning in “The Brief Which Ate My Weekend” on Monday, I had an outdoor lunch with some 3peeps at Capitol City Brewery, followed by a long walk with Rockstar and Sister School down to the national mall.  I love the mall – it’s such a well designed civic space.  I can’t wait for the summer when it’s all green and the marble throws the light back at you.  We chilled on a bench in front of the Smithsonian and watched passers-by and kite-flyers.  The air was beautifully clear and there were no bugs out.  Rockstar brought his dog Chops with him.  Chops is a babe magnet and made at least 2 conquests for the Rockstar – not that he needs help in this area.

Today, which was less windy but still warm and clear, I went on a 10 mile errand-ride over lunch.  I had to return shortly after I left because Hush’s rear tube is again losing air.  This is becoming a chronic problem and it’s starting to really piss me off.  I’m going to try retaping the rim the next time I replace the tube.  The weather was glorious although I almost got hit by an SUV.  It was one of those situations where the guy in the left lane waves an oncoming car through multiple lanes.  However the guy in the left lane is not a traffic cop.  He does not control what happens in the right lane (Scoplaw riding forward.)  I hate it when drivers endanger people with their misguided sense of courtesy.  To my mind it’s a very Southern thing. 

After Bargain I went on a 16 mile ride with In Limine.  Had I known the ride would happen I’d have taken it easier during the errand ride, but it was well enough as it was.  I showed him the Custis trail and the Mount Vernon trail.  While in VA, he almost got tagged by a jeep whose driver was making a thoughtless right on red.  What is it with people?  I blame the spring.  On the way back we dashed through backed up traffic by the mall.  My favorite kind of riding – fast and twitchy.  Then we sprinted for the final leg, which was much fun.  (Note to self – buy grease for derailleur bearings.)  IL claims he’s out of riding shape but it’s not really backed up by his performance.

For the final prong of my kvetching, I have to say that pedestrians are the worst.  Everyone in this town seems to look at their feet when they walk.  Which means they don’t look up when they veer into the roadway, or step into mostly stopped traffic.  Pedestrians scare me far more than cars do.  Pedestrians with dogs are bad but pedestrians with strollers are worse.  I don’t have kids but if I did it would be an absolute no-brainer to not put them in a plastic basket and leave them blocking a bicycle path (around a turn no less!) down which bikers routinely travel at speeds of about 25mph.   I mention this for no particular reason beyond that IL and I almost hit two of them today. 

**

I need to get more sleep (tonight!) as I’m pretty tapped out right now, probably due to the 26 miles.  I got a fair bit of sleep last night but don’t feel fully caught up yet.  Trouble is there’s this law school thing I’m doing. 

**

In exciting news, both Photogal and Atomic may be visiting over the next month.  I haven’t heard from other peeps, but fortune favors the bold.  It will be very good to see each of them – I’m very excited.  Atomic used to live here and I’m sure she can casually show me DC things I’ve not yet discovered.

I also get to read some of Sister School’s poetry – which is a pretty intriguing thing.  I have a document on my desktop full of poems.  I think I will make some tea, hit my reading for tomorrow and reward myself with some poetry later in the evening.   

I should also work on some poetry of my own.  I have one that’s been burbling.  We’ll see.  But then there’s that sleep thing.

Comments

[Raz Fan]

Do you realize how much of a douchebag you sound like when you refer to people as "3peeps" or "Sister School"? I bet you're unbearable in real life. An unbearable douchebag. On wheels.

[Scoplaw]

Um. Yeah. That’s pretty random. What pushed your buttons Raz Fan? Some kind of class/educational issue? Or do you just push your kid’s stroller into harm’s way?

Not that I care about your opinion, but for others who might be interested “3peeps” are just people in my section at school which happens to be "Section 3." Sections take all their classes together so we see each other all the time (hence they’re mentioned in a lot of blog entries). I suppose I could go with something less colloquial, “friends from my class section” or “people I attend class with") but that’s just plain wordy. Plus I like the sound of "3peeps"; the assonance amuses me.

Sister School is a sobriquet for a friend of mine who did her undergrad at a sister school of my graduate school. The colleges have interesting and significant overlap in terms of poetry (a pretty esoteric thing when you get right down to it) and the poetry bond is a significant factor in our friendship. Both places are mostly self-selecting and have a decidedly liberal bent. . .there are other blawg names I could have given her I suppose, but there are further amusing non-blawgable parallels which lend the name more weight.

I fail to see how either is really all that offensive. And it’s not like anyone is forcing you to read the blawg.

Ta,

Scoplaw
-who never confuses the internet with the real world