I seems I've officially become one of these LJ users who just can't seem to post regularly. You know the drill, I'll make a post trying to catch everyone back up by listing highlights of my life over the past couple of months, post a few photos, and a promise to be a more consistent participant in the blogosphere. And then you won't hear from me again for another couple of months.

The truth is, I can't even remember anymore what all has been going on; there's just been too much to report. For one thing, I never really blogged about the fact that I switched careers last year from running the bike shop to becoming a graphic designer/marketing officer--but that's one of the main reasons I'm never on IM anymore, much less LJ. There's no access to those aspects of the net at my work unfortunately. I do really enjoy being away from retail, and having a "real" job that allows me a certain degree of creativity. Also, I truly love being in downtown San Francisco everyday--and having weekends off for once in my life. I've been using those weekends to travel all around the city and outside the city, soaking up lots of great experiences in NorCal. Coming up pretty soon, I'll be taking a vacation to tour through southern California too: LA, Joshua Tree, San Diego, etc.

I've been, of course, taking pictures all the while, but I'm also pretty far behind editing those and posting them on Flickr. I still need to go through all my shots from a trip to Yosemite back in December, for example. The biggest news on the photography front for me, though, is my new camera, a Canon 40d with an EF-S 17-85mm IS lens. I finally bit the bullet and got an SLR, which is already proving to be a formidable tool. I had really pushed the limits of my little point-and-shoot, despite its manual capabilities. So, lately a lot of my attention has been devoted to learning about the camera, experimenting with the settings, looking for new inspirations for subjects. I'm even looking into a possible opportunity for my first real gig as a photographer.

By the way, I did get a photo published (a first for me): This shot was included in a catalog for the Des Moines Art Center, as part of a study that explores the history of the Art Center's sculpture "Man and Pegasus" (1949) by Carl Milles.

I'll try to post some photos soon...and I'll try to visit LJ more often too.

Talk about a fookin' comeback. JAMC are back together, at least for the time being, and they're fuzzing out at the Fillmore in San Francisco on Friday and Saturday. Of course I'll be there, didn't even blink at the $40 ticket price. No second thoughts, not for the band that launched a thousand noisy indie rockers and paved the way for the entire shoegaze movement. Only got to see them twice back in the heyday, '87 and '88 if memory serves, but those were nothing short of awe-inspiring shows. Buzz-laden, fucked-up noise rock, candy-kissed by the perfect sing-song pop beneath, punctuated by squalls of feedback unlike anything I'd heard. Velvet Underground shot in the head by Phil Specter's girl gangs, and left to ooze blood next to the zombie carcasses of Bo Diddley and the Ramones. Fuck yeah. I'm there.

I'm actually pretty psyched to go to the Fillmore, as I've never been there, despite the fact that I've been in SF for nearly a year. In fact, I've barely seen any shows here in "The City", sad to say. A couple of weekends ago though, I did finally make it to the Bottom of the Hill for the first time, to see Film School, one of my somewhat recent favorites. They basically put on a shoegaze show, moreso than any band I've seen since the early 90's. They certainly have the sound down, but kept it up to date with a healthy mix of post-punk atmospherics and psychedelic melodies. Nicely thick and layered, with a slightly off male-female harmonies (actually more like singing in unison an octave apart, but loosely, in a damaged sort of way) which lent a hazy prettiness amongst the noise. I highly recommend the two most recent albums.  Hideout, the new one, is most like their shows: a lot of woosy, heavy shoegaze, with repetitively hypnotic refrains that melt your brain. The self-titled middle album is the best of their three long-players, with a good dose of 80's post punk--think synths and echoey, reverbed guitar lines ala the Chameons, for example. The first record is nearly great too, but much more subdued and Floydian.

In other music stuff, a month or so ago I heard a familiar song in a car commercial, for a cadillac, I'm pretty sure. I know that its pointless anymore to be surprised by these sorts of things, but I truly would not have expected to hear the Lilys' "Ginger", the crunchy overdriven mid-tempo slab of sonic bliss from 1993's A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns. It made me pull out my copy, and it's been in rotation for weeks now. I nearly forgot how amazing this 6-song mini album is. It's at that perfect transition point in the band's (OK, Kurt's) career, where they've shrugged off the copycat shoegazing of their earliest singles and debut album, but not yet fully immersed themselves in the Kinksy 60's pop that they came to explore soon thereafter. Letdowns is nothing of the sort, retaining the amped up warm tube sound that shares some sonic space with Dinosaur Jr, while hinting at the Pink Floydisms  to come on the next weirdo outing, Ecsame the Photon Band. I have to admit I like these two records even more than I originally did at the time. Back then, I found it easier to get into the MBV ripoff of In the Presence of Nothing, and the immediacy of the super catchy Better Can't Make Your Life Better. "Ginger" though, holds up as well then as now.

I've got a handful of other musical musings on my mind these days, but I'll save it for later, as the song says. Happy listening.

Pedaling past beautiful views of mountain meadows and lakes. Spinning by frosty farm fields completely surrounded by mountains on all sides. Pushing up relentless climbs going seemingly on and on and on. Racing down winding S-curves for miles at up to 40 mph with the wind rushing by...

Well, it's actually been a couple of weeks since the big charity bike ride in Whitefish, Montana. Team Sarah (myself included) had a great time riding in what can only be described as amazingly gorgeous scenery. Just outside of Glacier National Monument, the routes were basically twisting mountain and valley roads with breathtaking vistas of rolling fields and rocky peaks. The weather was clear and crisp, but much colder than I was used to riding in, as low as around 40, which required layers--including tights, arm warmers, and full-length gloves. A lot of sweating on the long, slow climbs, then zipping up for the bitingly cold (but exhilarating) rocket descents.

Besides the cold, at times the wind was really way too strong. Chuck, Eric, and I took pulls at the front during some of the worst of it, which really does make a difference. I hadn't ridden a paceline for many years, but I was entirely grateful to work 60% less, 1/3 of the time, shielded from the headwind. Unfortunately, I had to stop repeatedly for repairs to my defective rear wheel, leaving me to ride on my own more than I was really able. Though I didn't do all the miles I wanted, it was a tremendously satisfying ride, and a great experience all around.

There's nothing like a supported organized ride. Big buffet meals throughout the weekend, snacks and gels and drinks every 15-20 miles on the routes, a party-like atmosphere for about 4 days, in a crazy resort lodge with giant fireplaces and almost as big animal heads on the walls. It was great to be with friends, family, and strangers all there for a unifying worthy cause. Sarah volunteered at the rest stop at the very top of the tallest climb, a sight for sore eyes, ringing a welcoming cow bell and offering nutrition and encouragement. Chuck's roommate James was one of the interesting people I met--he ate with us and rode as sort of an honorary member of Team Sarah. I had forgotten how easy it can be to connect with a total stranger, talking about common experiences, discovering quirky coincidences and so on. (James actually had a crazy head-over-heels crash coming down one of those fast descents, and bent the hell out of his wheel, somehow landing in soft grass and luckily managing to continue with a new wheel soon after.) More than anything though, I really got a chance to hang with Chuck and Eric, two of my favorite people. I really think of Eric as my own brother now, not only my girlfriend's.

I'm a pretty cynical and often sarcastic person, but I have to say I really was inspired by all the work and fun everyone put into the JDRF cause. The guys from Team Type 1, who are a diabetic cycling squad who won the Race Across America, were there, practically celebrities to us all. There were diabetic kids riding, moms riding for their diabetic kids, people riding in memory of diabetic friends, and just about every other story you can think of. I have to say I'm proud that when the fundraising is complete, our team will have raised $12,000 for Juvenile Diabetes research. Thanks so much to those of you who have donated, and who helped spread the word!

I am personally still about $600 away from my (required) goal of $4,000. If you haven't, it's not too late to donate, or to tell someone else who would like to do some good. Please visit http://ride.jdrf.org/rider.cfm?id=7166 and help push us over the top of the mountain--the view's great up there.

• Drives along the PCH, and all through Marin county, where the views of the ocean can be truly dramatic. This is typical Tim-n-Sarah behavior, but two drives in particular took us on tiny, swerving, entirely jaw-dropping roads through the mountains with incredible terrain and awesome vistas. There simply are not roads like this at all in the DC area. At one point we turned onto a road leading inland from the coast: So canopied with trees, the car's headlights automatically came on; the road was rough and barely larger than one lane; a sign said "no services next 45 miles...speed limit 15mph". This was driving as a sport, and an art form. My arms ached from steering the next day.
• Wine Tasting, with Marc and Rena. There's really nothing better than heading up to Sonoma and Napa with friends.
• Downtown Farmers Market, which is really unrivaled anywhere that I know of. Imagine the largest, freshest, most amazing market you've ever seen and multiply it by 10, in both size and quality. Sarah's brother also took us to a gigantic farmers/flea market near Roseville, which had so much junk (in a good way) that we probably only saw about a 10th of it, literally. All four of us, happily, did buy cool hats from punk-rocker guy for about $3 each--Sarah's is sort of a cowboy hat with an iconic drawing of our savior Jesus Christ.
  

And these things don't even begin to scratch the surface of things to do and see. The other weekend I was trying to decide between seeing 1) the North Beach Italian festival, 2) a robots convention/showcase/competition, 3) a multi-media exhibit of projections and music by Brian Eno, or 4) a free outdoor concert by Huey Lewis in Stern Grove, a cool wooded park with no-charge shows all summer long. OK, I wasn't really considering seeing The News, but you get the point. I'm actually so overwhelmed with possibilities, it's nearly impossible to make a decision.

Once again, I think I need to try to post more often, if only so I can write down and remember everything I've done. My computer has died, for one thing, so I'm waiting to retrieve lots of photos on that hard drive, including pics from our TRIP TO PRAGUE (!). I'll definitely write more later on that, when I can post those shots on Flickr too. Suffice it to say, visiting the Czech Republic was a singular experience, made all the more wonderful because we went for a wedding. Hanging out at castles and pubs and historic sites with good friends, on the other side of the world is something I can whole-heartedly recommend.

So hey: When are you coming to visit us???