Originally I was going to take a few days off to visit relative in Houston but more local familial demands made me cancel that, BUT since I had already asked for the days off I have tried to squeeze in some fun time between those trip canceling obligations. I had two goals, read Wise Blood and ride my bicycle. Check and Check!

Here is the situation...you ate your lunch of a simple green salad with some marinated mozzarella balls thrown in plus you have the day off and have 3 beers to wash it down...THEN you think, “Hey, I should go for a bike ride!!”

So you take off and ride on the White Rock Lake trail from the lake north towards LBJ
(aka 635). On your way you realize you REALLY should have used the toilet at home, but with few options you look for relief. Do you use the freshly installed port-A potties for tomorrows charity run, or the long establish restrooms at the park? Here is the comparison.



I think it shows what kind of person you are from which choice you make.

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Yesterday I went south from White Rock Rail station and today I went north. Yesterday I was on a bike trail that was newer and when through the older parts of a large city and today I went the other direction through what is now urban but once was SUB-urban. The result is the view today was just as level but way more boring and frankly a little more messy.



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But it all ended up with a half way point coffee break at central and Forest Lane

On The Trail Again

To avoid a complete mental breakdown I took off work today with the primary goal of riding my bicycle. Of course I didn't get away as early as planned but I rode via White Rock Lake Trail to White Rock Light Rail Station.






I tried to lug my bike in the first rail car and the driver opened up enough to tell me I was doing something wrong and all I got out of him was that I should move down. So I entered through the next door down and only later realized he was telling me to go to the middle car that has no steps and two measly bike hooks.

But I finally made it to Mockingbird Station



And took a short break at a convenient Starbucks for coffee


And then on my way to Katy Trail


And I unexpectedly found my way...


AND a police escort


There were plenty of places to stop and look...




And took a detour to Reverchon Park






Which led to the path on Turtle Creek





The path back through Reverchon Park has some interesting underpasses



..that are cleverly decorated...



FYI, those are not nooses hanging down, they are some sort of twisted steel cable.




Katy trail ends at American Airlines Center


and Victory Park, which is neither a park nor a victory



Then onto downtown Dallas



And a short stop for a photo of the art museum







and catch the train at one of the downtown stations



Where I finally found right place but disobeyed the instructions on which wheel to hang by



And back by White Rock Lake, watch out for the broken railing

A Spill By The Spillway

The new and better part of the bike trail at White Rock Lake opened this morning and you can see the result for me in the picture above.

the thing is for many years you came down the path toward the spillway, across the bridge and then I would aim straight for the road. BUT now it turns out you make the same route but there is now there is a brand new curb between you and the street. I didn't see that in the pre-dawn light and while I didn't hit the curb straight on it flipped me onto the street.

I think the wheel is OK and just twisted the handlebars out of line since I wrenched it back in place and finished the ride without noticing any difference.


Below is the view of the spillway from a few years ago

A Windy Morning At White Rock Lake

Here is short video of a stop during my ride around the lake this morning.

A Different Sort of Messi@h (for E@ster)

I finally finished reading a novel I started last Christmas, Messi@h by the poet and sometime NPR commentator, Andrei Codrescu. It is definitely readable but there are over a dozen characters with wildly different back stories and many of them are historical characters from throughout world history. Anyway, it is a little confusing some times.

It is like the author worked in an busy used bookstore and read every book that came in and used bits and pieces from all of them as the material for the novel. There is a plot but it seems more “poetic” and not so much a structured narrative. Kind of.

Or, it's like Codrescu had all this info in his head from reading all sorts of things and he wanted to paint a picture with those ideas, and the best way to get all of it out was to write this novel.

Memorable quotes...

the point is,...that I believe you when you say that there is only half of you. Love, and the loss of it, leaves huge holes in us.. Christ, who reputedly loved everyone, was like a sieve by the time he died, nearly transparent. You may not understand this yet but one of my gifts is to look at a person and be able to determine just how much of them there is. Most people, trust me, have had extraordinarily large chunks removed. Their souls are minuscule, like commas in the compact OED. pg 41

Of course the OED reference is lost on anybody who doesn't know that the Oxford English Dictionary is a HUGE book that also came out in a two volume format with minuscule print, in a box complete with drawer for a magnifying glass, to magnify the tiny definitions of big words. From the days before dictionaries on CDs or online.

The divine gift of faith had been perverted by preachers, priest, texts that promised closure, prophesies, depictions of the end, promises of salvation. The wielders of these false closures were guilty of cupidity and ignorance. Pg 348

Interestingly at the beginning of the book he predicts New Orleans is doomed to suffer a major flood and at the end where somebody attempts to bring about the "End Times" the collapsing of the World Trade Center twin towers is depicted.

Another Morning Ride

Look At My New Picture

I just now put a photo of myself in my Blogger profile. How do I look?

I only now realized there was place to put the blogger's pic. Plus I only now realize you can find other people who have your same favorite movies by going to their profile and clicking on those movies. It is not easy to find Italian blogs by clicking on the favorite movie Mediterraneo.