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Recent happenings:

A family of three is staying at our house for a few days, to make up for the three that left our family last week. Their daughter, Esther, is going to be a freshman at UTA or UTD and it's been neat getting to know her. She is kinda shy though, but she does play the drums. Rock it, girl.

I had lunch with Benjie (UT RUF campus minister) today, though it was cut short by me having to jet off to work. He came up to Dallas to help out his grandma (!) fix up her house. It really stinks to be old living in this day and age of nursing homes, medication prescriptions and ageism (discrimination based on age). The last one kinda gets me after learning about it more in psychology and thinking about the elderly in my own life. I'm not really looking forward to being old, but I will rest in the hope that my family will have enough sensibility to treat me like a real person, someone who was once their age. But back to Benjie, we were having a conversation about the types of worship music and he said, "I think it is a sign of immaturity when we cannot accept something that is permissible to God." It sounds about right to me, and I'm guilty of it.

Isn't this a good line?
"I was the landscape in your dream
and all my mountains were on fire"
yowza! Add some tinkering xylophones and you've got a song.

My official birthday party is tomorrow! It's been exciting checking the updates on evite.com and a grand total of ten are coming. I invited thirty-five people (raided the gmail address book), but I had already decided that a turnout of at least six would do it. Do you see the title? I ordered my own cake and it wasn't until after I hung up that I thought it'd be funny to have the iced message be random letters and keyboard symbols. It's probably better that I didn't, for I fear that my girl friends would consider it much too absurd for the likes of me. There's always next year. I think we're going to watch "March of the Penguins," if no one objects too loudly, because surprisingly, it got pretty good reviews (Metacritic). It's a National Geographic (I think) documentary on penguins and their mating lives. The babies'll be cute for sure.

A couple days ago, my brain turned off and I watched a few episodes of the WB's "Beauty and the Geek." It was surprisingly normal for a contest reality show produced by jokester Ashton Kutcher and I imagine that it must have gotten pretty unsufferable in that house for both the primped up, shapely "beauties" and the socially awkward, girl-shy "geeks." They all became good friends though, and one girl even fell for a nice guy. I wonder if they would consider switching it up, as in smart girls and hot guys. It probably wouldn't go so well, seeing as how females in general are more tolerant of physical unattractiveness than males are. I'd hate to be in a reality show anyhow, knowing that everything is artificial that they're out to get you in a position, no matter how embarrassing, that looks good on TV.

Quick, d/l this song by SS off Amazon. It's deeply moving, the story of a friend dying of cancer. "Casimir Pulaski Day"

20 15 20 15

(newly edited)

Happy birthday to my brother Samuel! (And me!)

Am thinking about buying a new bike, a hybrid to be exact. Here are the models I've narrowed it down to, all around the same price range:

Trek 7300 $$$$
Specialized Crossroads Sport $$$
Raleigh SC40 $$$
Motobecane Jubilee Deluxe $$$$

I've test ridden the first three, except that the Trek was an FX (no front suspension) and it was a Crossroads Elite. The most comfortable one by far was the Specialized. It was so cushy and laidback, like riding on air. However, it seemed a little too relaxed and not for aggressive riding at any time. On the company website it is listed under "comfort;" it looked very recreational. The bike was pretty high (therefore a higher center of gravity), but I really liked the higher handlebars. The Trek FX was pretty rigid and reminded me of a mountain bike- it didn't treat my butt that nicely. The regular 7300 has seatpost suspension like the Specialized, so I want to ride this particular model before deciding. The Raleigh, in terms of comfort, fell in between the other two models. To me it wasn't as flashy and impressive, but it felt alright. I appreciated that the sport model (SC) had 26" tires that were a bit fatter than the thin ones on normal hybrids. I want to be able to ride off a curb and go over occasional gravelly or grassy areas without worrying about having the right tires. I'm just using this bike to get from home to school, which doesn't require much fanciness. I just hated the low handlebars on my old (mountain) bike, it kinda ached my back when I had to go up those long Austiny hills. All these other bikes are selling for about list price but I saw the Motobecane on bikesdirect.com selling for almost 50% off. Sounded like a good deal, almost too good? Mcoker, maybe you can eye the specs and tell me how it looks. Of all places, there happened to be a store in Plano, so I got to ride it around a bit. The salesperson made sure I knew that these were being sold wholesale (-> much cheaper price) and were the best bang for my buck as opposed to the other brands who have to make up for so much advertising vs. Motobecane, a brand with who few are familiar. And free service for life! So basically, I am looking for a bike with:
- higher/adjustable handlebars
- suspension seatpost
- front suspension
- the right tires (26")

Trek 7300 vs. Motobecane Jubilee Deluxe. If I get the Trek, how much of what I'm paying is for the Lance Armstrong name brand?

I don't know much about bikes. I wish I did, like be able to fix and adjust my own (like a flat tire!), know about quality parts, biking dynamics, go on real rides, stuff like that.
Later: I read some articles on sheldonbrown.com that expelled a few cycling myths. Smooth tires are absolutely the best for roads/pavement, no tread is necessary. Both types will get slippery when wet. Braking in the front will not cause you to fly over your handlebars- it's the recommended way to brake in normal conditions. Riding in too high of a gear will overexert your body = bad. Tires: a wider front and narrower rear increases cornering traction and overall shock absorbency. Sheldon Brown also said to stay away from hybrid tires (on the Motobecane) since they don't do great on either surface. Hmm, I guess I should take that into consideration. Should I get a road tire for the back?