PRO

I've just got to quickly plug this amazing blog that I've had the pleasure of reading for the past several months. Sprinter della Casa is a cycling blog that mixes training tips, historical cycling anecdotes, race summaries, and so on. It's a great read and long-winded (in a good way) – any time that I take a break from my work, I like to pull up SdC or Belgium Kneewarmers and read up on ways to get hardcore, get PRO, and get fast.

And now it's up...

As I detailed before in an earlier post, my blog of and about organic agriculture, rural sociology, journalism and the media industry, and how it all relates together, is now up. The name is obvious - but the URL of the blog, ackerbau.blogspot.com takes its name from the German word for "agriculture." Simple, really. I was going to use the Latin, but I thought it too unwieldy and obtuse – and now that I think about it, the German is kind of, too.

A New Project

Because I love being saddled with a million different projects, such as working on my thesis, searching for a job, and developing a cycling team, I see no reason why I can't add one more to the mix. Based in part on the research I've done for my thesis, I am hashing-out a new blog with which I can assemble some of the work out there that has been done on organic agriculture and its effects on rural sociology.

Certainly, this blog will likely be just an extension of my thesis' bibliography and literature review, albeit with ancillary discussion, but since I've received a fair amount of feedback from several different people, all expressing a desire to read this material themselves, I think it best to put it out there. With authors such as Michael Pollan inspiring a great deal of discussion about agriculture and its role on the fabric of modern life, now is a greater time as any to further extend the conversation.

I expect to have this blog up and running within the next week or so. Stay tuned, all.

Just a minor update (and acknowledgement)

This will be brief, only because nothing much has changed in my set of circumstances as of late, only that I am now in Cincinnati for a couple of days, in order to see my brother, and I have gained a fair amount of traction on my academic research.

My brother Ian, who lives up in Concord, NH, is down here in order to visit our parents and to play a show with his band, Make It Nasty. Of course, being that his band is a product of a Thomas Boy, it's for the most part, utterly ridiculous and silly. That's alright, though. This new effort is considerably better than his old band, Get Sweaty, which featured nearly the same line-up of musicians, all with the exception of one, being from Walnut Hills High School.

So besides seeing Make It Nasty (and going to thrift stores) my time here in Cincinnati is also to get some good riding in, hang out with the parents, and see my friends. However, more often than not, I usually just end up cloistered at my mom's or dad's, reading a book, or just relaxing with some friends. I almost never have an urge to "hit the town" or go to one of the two bars in this town that I somewhat tolerate, as the experience is usually just annoying and frustrating. I tire quickly of explaining to people why I now live in Chicago, and explaining that Cincinnati is actually a great place to live. Few people who live in Cincinnati actually acknowledge how great of a place it is -- other cities may be larger and have more opportunities for cultural enlightenment and things to do, but honestly, the differences aren't that considerable.

But it's funny how I've come to love Chicago, which is completely due in part to the set of awesome and amazing friends (see blogroll to the right) who've made me feel welcome and involved. Everyone from the Half Acre Cycling Team, Allison's friends from Columbia who have in turn become my friends, and everyone else I've met have all contributed to growing appreciation for the Windy City. High fives all around.

A walk up Halsted

Gaper's Block has up an entertaining and interesting piece by John Greenfield that details a day spent walking north up Halsted in Chicago, all the way from its terminus in the far south side of suburban Chicago, all the way to where it becomes Broadway in the neighborhood of Boystown.

Articles like this always fascinates me, as it focuses in on the minutiae and small details of the street and city – stuff found on the sidewalk, signs scrawled and hung up on poles announcing to the community a yardsale of lost dog. Whenever I walk around my neighborhood on my way to the grocery or just to stretch my legs after spending a day studying, I like to peer down alleyways to see what people have thrown away. I like to read the gang graffiti that seems to tattoo the city. I like to see what kind of trash has made its way into the branches of a denuded tree. Stuff like that isn't attractive, but by no means is it without worth. Those artifacts are the mark of our civilization and culture, and no matter its transience, it's all here for all to see, regardless of its import to any intended audiences.

And thinking about all of that, I believe that it may be time for me to put on my shoes and head out for a stroll, to the beach or nowhere at all.

Big News

My apologies for not posting as of late. I've been traveling back and forth from Chicago and Cincinnati, and that coupled with work on the thesis, has left me a bit frazzled and uninspired.

But I could dispense with the excuses and admit that I've not been in that blogging spirit in the past week or so. To all my fans, I promise that I'll be better about informing you all about the minutiae of my life. To all my enemies, well, don't you worry – more fodder for use against me in the future is just trickling down the pipeline. http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

I just received word from Naz that the Half Acre Cycling team website has just gone live. Check it out and marvel at how beautiful it is.

Oh, and also on the HAC front – we had our first team ride this past Sunday. The cycling gods were not smiling down upon us, as our group of 8 received a fair whupping in the form of five flats, a broken seat collar, a low-speed tumble onto ice, and teeth full of grit. Our ride to the Botanic Gardens, cut short by mechanical malady, was a rather inauspicious start for the HAC, but I think that things can only get better. Maybe next time we'll get away with only three flats.

Thanks to Naz for the hot pic of me doing my best impersonation of a confused-looking pro.