Archives for July, 2008
209 Miles to Matagorda
11:55 am | 0 | Photo Album | Places, The Man, Two Wheels
C and I have been daydreaming of a multi-state motorcycle trip. It’s something both of us have always wanted to do, and now that we have a big person’s motorcycle we’ve been taking day trips and overnight trips just for the pure pleasure of being on the machine.
Last month, in the few days between C’s return home and our trip to Florida, we managed to take a seven-hour ride down to Matagorda and the Gulf, exploring country roads as we went.
The water wasn’t any nicer than Galveston, but 521 is a great little tree-lined shady highway with a few twists and turns and plenty of tiny red farmhouses along the way.
This month we hope to ride out to the Texas Hill Country, maybe stop near the Guadalupe River for a dip in the icy waters. It’s all part of our Great Texas Tour. Incidentally, if you’re planning your own Texas Tour, might I recommend two books? Day Trips from Houston and Weird Texas.
Wow. Things sure did get boring around here for a while. Sorry about that. More adventures to come soon.
The Death and Life of Ice Cream
8:57 am | 0 | Video | Watching
Hope you have a hot, sticky, wonderful July 4th.
Crispin Glover : Andy Warhol &…
4:31 pm | 0 | Shorts | Watching
Crispin Glover : Andy Warhol > Guy Pearce : Andy Warhol
I made like Betsy Ross today a…
4:46 pm | 2 | Shorts | Girly, Made
I made like Betsy Ross today and sewed an entire dress from scratch.
Alligator Alley
10:40 am | 0 | Photo Album | Places
It’s taken me a long time to edit and cull them, but I have finally posted pictures from our two-week road trip through Florida. Click the picture to come along with me.
Make You Say Wow
3:39 pm | 0 | Video | Listening
Bob Log III is playing tonight at Rudyard’s. I’m going. You should too.
There is more video awesomeness here.
Bob Log III is awesome love.
2:49 am | 3 | Shorts | Listening
Bob Log III is awesome love.
Gonzo
10:48 pm | 1 | Video | Watching
I saw this movie last week. Serendipitously, as I didn’t know it was coming out until the day before it opened and I am currently finishing “Hell’s Angels.” Overall the movie is pretty good, although plagued by “Unsolved Mysteries”-style dramatic re-enactments. There are a lot of video interviews and photographs with Thompson and the best part is the last half hour during which they touch on the author’s suicide and self-planned memorial service, which looked pretty great. If you’ve read all of his books you won’t learn anything new but the value of the movie is hearing from Thompson the author as opposed to Thompson the character (Raoul Duke).
Beware of the dog
10:30 am | 0 | Internerd | Ha!
More photos here.
Waiting for the War on Bastille Day
1:31 pm | 0 | Video | Listening
French late 70s glam-psych rock band Soggy, via Beware of the Blog, who has more delicious info.
Epilating hurts. We women are …
Epilating hurts. We women are a stupid bunch, what with our eternal quest for unattainable standards of beauty.
Home Sweet Houston
11:28 am | 0 | Internerd | Houston
Five years ago this month I packed up more everything I owned and drove to Houston. I got here on a Monday with no job and no permanent place to live and by the following weekend I was bartending in Rice Village and saving up money to buy a bed and some furniture and put a deposit down on an apartment.
I have said it a million times here and elsewhere but moving to Houston was the best decision I have ever made, on a whim or otherwise. I can’t express how much I love this town and how happy I am to be back here after living in Korea.
On that note, here is a Wikipedia article explaining the Six Wards of Houston. I live in the Fourth Ward, which is also home to Freedman’s Town. Here is an interesting article about Freedman’s Town.
has a broken clutch cable.
6:05 pm | 1 | Shorts | Two Wheels
has a broken clutch cable.
Needing your lovin’
4:57 pm | 1 | Video | Listening
Johnny “Secret Agent Man” Rivers is playing in Stafford, TX the night before C goes offshore again. You better believe I already have my tickets, and my outfit picked out. I’m working on the dance.
While we’re on the topic of music, I’ve started (another) list — Shows I Have Seen, 2008.
(Crossposted at Houstonist, where I’m now a contributor.)
Roadtrip beginning now.
Roadtrip beginning now.
I’m afraid my body might spont…
10:50 am | 0 | Shorts | Girly, Places
I’m afraid my body might spontaniously burst into flames the minute we cross the Louisiana border.
Choo choo chaboogie
6:51 pm | 0 | Blog | Places, Two Wheels
We (the royal We) have taken the town of Chattanooga over. We got here about 5 p.m. Thursday afternoon (too late for the ride to Deal’s Gap) but early enough to socialize and meet a few people. We missed the ride today too because SOMEONE (not me) wanted to go antiquing in the morning. Probably a good thing though, because it rained all damn day. We tried to catch up, riding the twists up to Lookout Mountain (where C was once the youngest person ever to hangglide). It started pouring rain. There was fog everywhere. Even after it stopped pouring rain our clothes were so soaked it felt impossible to get warm. Eighty degrees is one thing. It’s a whole lot cooler 2,000 feet above sea level and at 45 mph.
When we got back to town we heard rumors of wrecks. More than 10. The second ride was canceled. But the rain cleared, so we rode up to to Signal Mountain, just C and I. Maybe tomorrow we’ll try Lookout again.
While hanging out at the Chattanooga Choo Choo I was interviewed by a local newscaster. I’d seen her interviewing other scooterists across the street. “I wanted to talk to a girl,” she said. Hopefully I won’t look like a dork. I’ll post the video as soon as it’s online.
AmeriVespa was on the cover of the Chattanooga newspaper this morning. Oh Bumblebee Dude, ride on my friend. Ride on like the Transformer you wish you were.
Indulging myself in narcicism
2:38 am | 7 | Blog, Video | Girly, Places, Two Wheels
Here’s the video from Chattanooga Channel 12. That’s me in the first montage, kick-starting my scooter in one shot and then revving the throttle a few shots later. That’s also me at the end of the video, rambling about helmet hair. For the record, I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about when I say I can ride “for weeks” on one tank. For those thinking of buying a scooter, that’s not true. She just asked me a mindless question and I responded in kind.
The current *spin* on scooter stories is about how people sick of high gas prices are turning to two wheels to ease their economic woes. It’s the only way the news can come up with to relate to the scooterist community. But I’ve been riding scooters for 5+ years, way before gas prices reached unreasonable levels, and even before then I was raised by a father who raced and was obsessed with moto-cycling. There are so many people out there now who have bought their first 2-wheeled vehicle and who have no idea on how to ride safely (flip-flops? no helmet? tank tops? lane sharing?) and in my opinion they are not the bulk of the scooterist community, nor are they representative of what AmeriVespa is about. I mean, my bike is a greasy 30-year-old 2-stroke highly-pollutive inefficient engine. If I was in it for gas prices, surely I’d be driving a hyrbid. I’m in it for the scooters themselves.
Okay. End rant. Enjoy the video. Sunday Punchers REPRESENT!
Not sure what’s gaudier (bette…
Not sure what’s gaudier (better), Elvis’ house or Liberace’s