Ok, so I’ve been sort of neglecting this blog thing in the last few weeks, I can’t imagine why (cough *thesis* cough). Aaaaanyway, here’s what I’ve been doing since Friday and will continue doing until the end of the month. It’s called 30 Days of Biking and the rules are fantastically simple: bike, for any length of time or distance, each day for 30 days, and tell people about it. I’ve been cheating slightly and while I have been biking at least to work every day, I’ve only been writing it down on my Forward Facing Feet page. But I tweeted this morning (70 degree rain yesterday and now its 35. Oh Indiana #30daysofbiking) and now I’m blogging! So take that, communication! The Star Tribune had a great little article on it which is fitting, considering the event is Minneapolis based after all.
So how did I, a lowly masters student all the way in Indiana, find out about this event (which I also did last year, btws) you may ask? Well, that would be the fault of Kate Roarty, what a Chatty Cathy (or Lazy Loretta, if you read both her blogs). Kate and Adam (that ever elusive brother of mine) live in the great City of Twins, which is evidently full of bike lanes, paths, pedestrian bridges, and the spirit of alternative transportation. Kate did the 30 Days last year, so I had to copy her and do it here.
I’m having fun so far, even though I really should have brought a second pair of pants to work yesterday so I wouldn’t have had to slowly dry off for the next few hours at my desk after my soaking wet ride, but whatever. Details. It’s day 5, and I’m still going good. Work is only 1 mile from home, so it’s not like I’m doing anything fantastically exciting, but maybe I will once I get this “defense” thing over with next week. Oohhhhh, ok, have to go do something else so I don’t start working myself up too much. Dddddddeeeefense…… But yes, here’s an oldie but a goodie to put my biking into picture form. Enjoy. Now stop reading my blog and go for a ride already!
Quick post, still trying to finish my thesis. I’m going to start a “Dailies” page or section or something, so I can post a picture every day. Hopefully. So here it starts –
The big three things I’ve ever wanted were a bike, a kayak, and a camera. Through connections I had with a friend who worked at a bike chop shop (legal, I swear, well, I assume) that took bikes liberated by the police, refurbished them, and resold them for fantastically cheap, I got my road bike for about $25. That’s right, my back bike rack cost more than the bike itself. My work here at wonderful Purdue happens to be in aquatic botany, so, therefore, I got my professor to buy lab kayaks for research purposes. So the use of those were free, maybe even negative free, as I get paid for that research.
Which just leaves camera. The only camera I’ve really ever had is my Canon whatever it is that I got because of the 12x zoom and a whopping 5 megapixels! Mind you, that was utterly high tech when I got it, oh, 8ish years ago. It is the next step up from a point and shoot camera, and I have loved it dearly for that whole time. Loved it dearly unless I wanted to a) take clear pictures in pretty much anything but direct sunlight, b) take pictures at any particular distance, and most importantly, c) spend less than 10 seconds pressing two buttons at the same time and guessing in order to get objects in focus. Needless to say, this upgrade was a long time in coming.
I’m looking at this little beauty – http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/digitalcamera/slr/d3100/
a digital SLR with 14 megapixels, interchangeable lenses, infinite control of exposure and everything you’d ever want to control, HD video, fast processing time (meaning shorter wait between shots, meaning 3 shots per second or so), and lots and lots of other fun things. Yes, this fun isn’t cheap, but I’m considering it an investment for my future. Who knows, maybe I could use it for some part of my next job! The only big decision I’m facing right now is figuring out when I want to go start that next phase of photography… Really, it’s a matter of how patient can I be right now, as this is the carrot I’m dangling in front of myself to finish my thesis. We’ll see…
Until then, here’s a song from an old friend –
what Was, what Is, and what Will Be 
