sadly... it would be better if this man were still alive this is not justice this is punishment nothing can right this wrong nothing can make things as they were
the unicycle... I do not know how to ride a unicycle I need to practice... practice... practice... I have not been practicing People's District on Unicycles http://peoplesdistrict.com
this is an odd little scooter... not sure if it should be on the streets it appears to lack the lights to make it street legal while it also may lack the engine size to merit the need of a license or a tag
either way... I am not sure what to say at least it is on the road rather than the bicycle path!
did a short mellow spin in Rock Creek Park on Saturday Rock Creek Park and Beach Drive was experiencing its multi-use glory
people on all sorts of bicycles moving at various paces with a wide array of objectives pleasant... but potentially chaotic
ran into this young man on my way out we rode and chatted
it was like an episode of HOW THE STATES WERE MADE only it was... a special International: Why Country Borders are as they Are!
nice ride... nice chatting good kid... smart kid good bit of information passed to me on this ride some information about history, politics, and diplomacy
started this am not going to finish it yet I will post it just the same... sorry if it does not make any sense MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND ah.... Memorial Day Weekend a three day weekend without a plan no soccer games or bicycle races to offer structure instead we follow the design of a few birthday parties... a few sleep overs... Saturday morning karate... and what ever else we can manage to organize in between
oh... sure Monday would have the requisite bbq and swimming pool but the days leading up to that would lack a certain amount of structure so many people leave town... we tend not to leave town on these three day weekends somehow we think we can manage without a formal plan
there is plenty of in between time enough time that we could have scheduled something enough time that I should have scheduled something
where does the time go? what did we do Friday after school? I can not remember that far back I hope it was fun! I am certain we did something... yet I can not recall
today in the morning I went for a run... I am not a runner in my youth I was an efficient runner that was many years ago that was also many pounds less ago
running is only fun for runners it takes a good deal of running to get back into running shape I am far from anything that resembles running fitness
I took it easy did a little stretching then did a mellow trail run spent a little under an hour in the woods of Rock Creek Park only about 40 of that was spent running walked the hills and walked the final mile home in an effort to cool down and not tighten up too much
back at the house I got involved in some intense LEGO PLAY I worked to build a tower that got demoted to a castle as it turns out... more LEGOS just creates more confusion
the kids have too many LEGOS someone needs to invent the LEGO SIFTER! PLEASE SOMEONE INVENT THE LEGO SIFTER!
my older son was at a Birthday Sleep Over while my younger son was linked up with a kid from down the block my wife Lisa had taken the boys up to Target in the AM they walked so they were not without some exercise but after they each finished building their new Lego sets I felt it was time to get out
so... I proposed a bicycle ride there was an effort to make this adventure end at another cash register I suggested the rope swing the rope swing is a winner nearly every time
the kid's trick to get soft ice cream was scrapped and the boys got motivated to ride to the rope swing I played through my head on what I believed would be the most fun in my mind I scripted rides that involved short climbs and winding descents then I backed off instead... I tried to select the most flat most direct route for the boys to our pleasure the road that I selected was shut off for repairs
ah... the pleasure to ride virtually car free!
we made our short ride in no time not sure why I try to push the pace I guess that is me just being me
FASTER FASTER FASTER my seven year old son is faster on the bike than the average non-bicycle riding 10 year old or so it seems on our rides with neighbors and friends I guess that is what happens when the kids do not have an overbearing bicycle dad to crack the whip and push the pace on every bicycle ride the journey is the destination for the boys... the rope swing is the destination but really... whether they know it or not... the journey is the destination
the boys enjoyed the bicycle ride as much as they enjoyed the rope swing the ride was short and they wished that the time at the rope swing was longer it can be good to keep it short a shorter ride usually ends on a high note... leaving the kids wanting more while a long ride can tarnish any memory of fun
the same goes for the rope swing keep if fresh no need to burn out on the rope swing! okay... I did extend the ride home a bit and yes this was met with munchkin objection I maintained our trajectory our reroute took us on some dirt... "social trails"
the boys loved when things got a little twisty and there were some kid quality technical obstacles once again reminding me that Washington DC needs some sort of bicycle for sport infrastructure a pump track... a bmx track... legal mountain biking something!
we got home my older son Dean was back from his birthday party sleep over lisa and I gathered the boys and took them to my mother's for another sleep over which allowed lisa and I to go out dancing... See-I and Empressarios LIVE at U Street Station followed by a Thunderball DJ set Lisa kept me out until 3PM we rode our bikes to the club a good weekend all around
well... when Pat Tillman died I did not understand things as I do now I thought about the money Pat made as a football player and how he could help if he continued to be a football player while also being war family philanthropist
well... I am not Pat Tillman no one else is Pat Tillman Pat Tillman made the choices for Pat Tillman I was arrogant and naive to question the actions of Pat Tillman
Pat Tillman is a hero!
Pat Tillman instills the meaning of what it means to give to your country Pat Tillman helps a civilian appreciate better what Memorial Day means
Thanks to all who have served in the US Military and Thanks to all the families who suffered because they had a family member die serving their country
Respect... It is Memorial Day Weekend! Remember those that lost their lives while serving this country
there is a music program called LITTLE KIDS ROCK this year DCPS John Eaton Elementary School in Northwest Washington DC was lucky enough to become part of this program
my two children are students at John Eaton Elementary School this spring my older son Dean participated in this program
through the efforts of the John Eaton music teacher Mrs Walson John Eaton Elementary School was able to qualify for the Little Kids Rock program this brought the funding and the instruments needed to start an optional after school program where the children could be introduced to guitar
this is a FREE Program... no cost to the school... no cost to the families without this program... so many children would not be given this opportunity
last week for the last after school session of guitar there was a music performance for each of the guitar classes... I attended my older son Dean's class to witness what the children had learned
John Eaton music teacher Mrs. Walson explained the Little Kids Rock teaching philosophy as well as the Little Kids Rock program as a whole I had not realized how lucky John Eaton Elementary was to get a chance to participate in this program!
without the donations from the various supporters of this program this would not happen... NO WAY A DC PUBLIC SCHOOL COULD AFFORD ALL OF THESE FENDER GUITARS! as mentioned... if this were not a FREE program for the students... most of these children would have no exposure to playing guitar or any music what so ever!
the LITTLE KIDS ROCK guitar teaching style is interesting to me... I am not a musician so it is an appreciation from an outsider it seems like a subtle and slow introduction to music giving each child a comfort level with playing music with others... singing while playing music... and creating your own music learning the basic chords... becoming comfort with the guitar on the basic level
I liked this philosophy and felt like it made good sense
the kids followed the patient instruction from their music teacher as a group they played simple one chord songs while each child got an opportunity to create their own guitar solo everyone got a chance in the spot light everyone got to jam with the group
I was not only proud of my son... but excited for the school and all of the activite participants this program seems to be an excellent building block for young budding musicians John Eaton Elementary school is lucky to have been selected to participate in this program and it is great how involved Mrs. Walson is with the program and its students
thanks Mrs. Walson... you show great patience in working with your class the results are AWESOME!
LITTLE KIDS ROCK and MUSIC INSTRUCTORS ROCK!
Thanks Mrs. Walson! and Thanks to the LITTLE KIDS ROCK organization as a whole
give a little extra respect to those that have given their lives serving this country in the US Military there are many that have given more than their time so many have given their lives
and yes... there are others that survived, but not without sacrifice they too deserve our respect
this weekend is a time to reflect on this country's history we would not be here living the lives we live if it had not been for the lives sacrificed in so many battles and so many wars
it is confusing... but there have been fights for peace
these guys have some nice Cargo Bike options I really dig this KINDERBAKFIET!
the initial purchase would be expensive but to get one as a "hand me down" would be awesome this set of random tangents is well worth a glance... I love the random connections on the gwadzilla page! http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/search?q=trike
I am a dog person... definitely dogs over cats fo rme
certainly drawn to some dog breeds more than others usually finding a greater kinship with the larger dogs... not the massive ones definitely not the small
the smaller the dog... the smaller the connection not sure why
is it me? is it the dog? is it jut too far between my face and theirs when I am standing tall?
pugs? an interesting breed I have known many people to love pugs some people even buy them by the bunch but me... pugs? I am not so sure if this breed appeals to me
so many breeds out there... it is curious what draws people to certain breeds it is sort of ironic that those who adopt grey hounds are often against dog racing without dog racing... I am not sure if there would be grey hounds
it appears that this woman could use a larger bike... a bike with larger wheels those look like 24 inch wheels... she could step up to the adult size bike with 26 inch or 700c wheels
the other day I was talking to a parent and they told me about their child's disinterest in bicycling they talked about buying the child the bike at an early age but the child never took to the bike
I looked... it was clear... the bike that the child was on was too small for him I thought about the age that they bought the bike for him at that point... the bike was too large for him
then I thought about things a little longer and realized my kids are getting too big for their bikes it is time for them to each move up to the next size wheel!
I have this pair of Lake Winter Shoes the shoes have seen use there was some damage to the shoes that was more of a defect in manufacturing than wear and tear... the stitching on the heel evaporated early in their use I tried to set things right with a glue gun... that worked for a minute then I just rode them as they were
over the winter after years of riding with these shoes I noticed that Cargo Mike had the same pair of shoes Cargo Mike aka Coach said his shoes had the same issue and he got them repaired at the shoe repair place just down the block from Edible Arrangements
so... working for Edible I decided to have my shoes fixed for 30 buck the crew at Liberty Drycleaning and Shoe Repair made my shoes "like new" again
the Frankenbakfiet catches people's eye people shout stuff when locking it up people strike up conversation the obvious DIY nature of this ride really appeals to people
ran into this guy Mark Stewart Mark was in town playing a show with Paul Simon
It is Memorial Day Weekend not just a time to grill and jump in the pool not just a time to mark the start of summer Memorial Day Weekend is a time to reflect and give respect to those who have served and gave their lives for this country in the military
I do not know this guy... just saw the image on FACEBOOK I asked if I could share it because I liked the themes of his "ink" that is Geoffrey Millard
thank you Geoffrey for use of this image and more importantly thank you for your service to this country and thank you to any and all who have served and Never Forget and Always Remember all those that gave their life for the freedom of this nation Happy Memorial Day