Favorite songs of 2009

Dan inspires me to keep my list going, even if it's not as well thought out as his. Here's a slew of songs I listened to a lot in 2009, in no particular order.

1. "Poor Boy" from Blind Pilot's 3 Rounds and a Sound.
2. "Bracket, WI" from Bon Iver on the Dark Was The Night compilation album.
3. "All My Friends" from Broken Social Scene's To Be You and Me.
4. "Banshee Beat" from Animal Collective's Feels.
5. "La Llorona" (The Crying Woman) from Beirut's March of the Zapotec.
6. "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left" from Andrew Bird's Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs.
7. "Black River Killer" from Blitzen Trapper's Furr.
8. "I Wish I Was The Moon" from Neko Case's Blacklisted.
9. "Easier" from Grizzly Bear's Yellow House.
10. "Levelland" from James McMurtry's Where'd You Hide The Body.
11. "Just Breathe" from Pearl Jam's Backspacer.
12. "Rome" from Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.
13. "Fake Plastic Trees" from Radiohead's The Bends.
14. "You Really Gotta Hold On Me" from She & Him's Volume One.
15. "Family Tree" from TV on the Radio's Dear Science.
16. "Vincent O'Brien" from M. Ward's Transfiguration Of Vincent.
17. "Heart Skipped A Beat" from The xx's XX.

2009: (Nearly) final mileage check

I'll have about four more days on the bike in what should be a crazy end to 2009. With those rides, I'll fall far short of my goal for the year (3,500; too ambitious, clearly) but still hit a respectable 2,700 miles. Still, it was about 600 miles more than last year.


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Best single day was a 70-miler (a metric century) in August. In 2010 I will hit 100 miles in a day.

Worst single day was getting hit by a van (just lightly, but still scary) in, oh, I think it was June or July.

Hottest single day came in late July, when it was nearly 110 but in one stretch of North Portland my computer topped out at more than 120.

Coldest single day came last week when it was a bone numbing 12. Thankfully, it was a dry cold.

Next year, I'll aim for 3,000 as my goal.

Breaking Down Oregon's Win - ESPN Video

My morning ride (Sorry, Dan, ANOTHER bike post!)

A buddy at work writes about crossing the Interstate Bridge, which I do twice a day Monday-Friday.

Read the full story here.

Mom, because I know you're curious, here's what the route looks like.

Next weekend's challenge

Zoo trip

A few pictures from today's trip - Jasper's first - to the zoo.

One year later

Monday marks one year of my start bike commuting. In the past 365 days, I've put 2,898 miles on my bike, which is roughly the distance between Portland and NYC. Not bad.


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Next up... can I do 100 miles in one day? In about a month we'll see.

Excused absence

Spring began this week, and with it, I hope, will come more than improving weather.

The winter that just ended was a blur, largely because of work, which meant little to no time or energy for blog posts. Things are, generally speaking, crazy at work. Several factors combine to make it so:

1) August through March is the busiest possible time in my job. That is the stretch that encompasses the college football and college basketball seasons. This year, we had two bowl games, one NCAA Tournament team, at least one major coaching transition and the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament in town.
2) The unprecedented changes currently unfolding in how people consume media.
3) The collapse of our economy.

The fact that all that coincides with Jasper's first six months of life and it's been all the more wild and wonderful, frustrating and fascinating, terrible and terrific -- all together, often back to back, in minute-to-minute spans.

On top of that, as a factor of Nos. 2 and 3, last week we got sizeable pay cuts, four furlough days and a capped pension. And while my job remains guaranteed (knock on wood), some of my good friends at work face the prospects of layoffs. And friends elsewhere are enduring much of the same.

It's all utterly exhausting.

Which is why the three-day weekend I'm on now is so very good. It's been so nice just to have time with Amy and Jasper. To simply go play in the park, like we did on Friday.

Life lately

My family.


My ride.

Couple of pics

Nights like this are why I love the ride

My hometown

I'm sure there are lots of these "Barbie for (insert state name)" e-mails going around. They probably share the same pictures and some of the same funny lines. That may be, but this one pretty much spot-on nails my hometown:



"Norman Barbie"
This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible or Hummer H2. Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card and country club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won't be able to afford any of them.