The blogging muse is gone again. Fortunately I've stopped (as of this morning, anyway) biking to work, which means I'm back on the CTA red line, which means I'm reading again, which means that Buddy Glass is telling me, for the third time, "that if my Muses fail to provide for me, I [can] go grind lenses somewhere, like Booker T. Washington."¹ Yes!

In light of that lens-grinding spirit, then, I am thankful for these things and others:

• My brother, for a) flying me halfway to NY and halfway back to Chicago and b) introducing me to the pleasurable effects of ginger tea. Many regards, Dave.
• Confucianism, its perfect gentleman and their harmonious residence on Wikipedia for keeping me from doing any real work after 2:00 today. Don't frown at me, CorpAm -- I needed it. Badly.
• My former roommate Ryan for dragging me away from the claws of my cube and into the embrace of Henry Johnson's sweet, sweet vocal chords on Monday night. Amen.
• A new weekly tradition: Tokyo Marina.
• Henry Hudson

This week's Geist? 5-B-Blitzing for sure. [Amended but non-chronological slide show here.]

¹I can find no internet documentation to support this fact of B.T.W. having been a lens-grinder. And his wiki article is crap.

Wow. Below please enjoy a really nice-looking group of five-borough-blitzers. Photos are from the Bronx (Bronques? Bronks?), the Bronx and the Staten Island ferry, respectively. More photos (come December 1st), stories and/or five-borough-histories to follow, possibly per Dave.

. . . there are too many cooks (five, including me, but who am I fooling?). I de-veined some collards, bought some booze and will now post some pictures from yesterday. Then back into the fray.

Below: 1) Brooklyn Graffiti, 2) Dave's Waterfront (mine is better) and 3) Dave in Chinatown. Enjoy.

The Zeitgeist of this past week has definitely been the WOLVERINE -- not because of the great lake state, and not really even becuase of my [disappointing] allegiance during Saturday's big ten football game (though maybe somewhat because of game watch featuring impromptu on-the-house halftime drinksies) -- nah, it's the Zeit because of antics that correspond with the following mix CD, a rather unlikely but completely amazing compilation of tunes. Ready? GO!

1) Sambucca, Wideboys Ft. Dennis G
2) Crazy, Gnarls Barkley
3) Yard Of Blonde Girls, Jeff Buckley
4) Hold the Line, Toto
5) Fidelity Regina Spektor
6) Ditty Paperboy
7) Life On Mars? David Bowie
8) Things In Life, Dennis Brown
9) Head Over Heels, Tears for Fears
10) Yah Mo B There, James Ingram with Michael McDonald
11) Human Behavior, Björk
12) I Want to Know What Love Is, Foreigner
13) Dream Person, Faye Wong
14) Come on Eileen, Dexy's Midnight Runners
15) Mad World, Tears for Fears

WOW, right? Off to New York in ten hours! Woo.

So 'tis my final day of cleansing/fasting and I am pretty happy. This has been my easiest blitz so far, minus the Bikram [A word to the wise: avoid steamy yoga when fasting]. For a brief 48 hour stint I was joined by roommate Jake, and I enjoyed the solidarity. Now it's just me and I am enjoying the solitude. For the record, though, my mouth tastes bad and I feel like I need to shower all the time and I can't wait to sit down for some delicious sushi. Home stretch! Woo.

Three things:

• I received two pair of Asics in the mail yesterday which means I can throw out my other two. Amen. They reek.


• Apparently someone broke into our apartment complex last night. Eek.


• Below is a photo from Halloween -- i feel this one is definitely worth at least fifty words. WoW.

It's really difficult to put a finger on this week's zeitgiest. Choices:

a) Cleansing
b) Fasting
c) Metal in the Microwave
d) Bikram
e) Bingo
f) Tango
g) Argentineans
h) GoldSpike

See what I mean? I feel that elaborating wouldn't even begin to do justice to any of these entities, let alone lead to deduction of a clear winner. I'll have to designate at random . . . later. One thing I can address, though, is that today I was in my cubicle at 7:30 a.m. (a record by FAR), and on the way to work I stopped at White Hen where I witnessed a gentleman making a King Cobra purchase with pennies. Ew.

Direct from Melbourne, here's a picture o' Ayako and Megan, two great friends from Toyko. Megan currently studies speech pathology in Melbourne and Aya just moved to Sydney to study ESL Instruction and to improve her own English. I got a joint call from them a few weekends ago and it was heartwarming indeed to know that past friendships are being maintained in other hemispheres.

• Gubernatorially speaking, JBT is out and frankly Illinois has been a little dull ever since. We need our muse back.


• As of a not-so-rash decision made this afternoon in conjunction with a dramatic drop in flight prices, come Thanksgiving I will be in Greenpoint for the first time. Woot.


• Database manipulation, like regional television commercials for furniture warehouses, leaves me cold . . . but I am getting pretty good at it.


• I missed The Office for the third week in a row. Unacceptable.


• Maoxie fully lost and then completely regained her dignity yesterday in a rare feline shampoo/blowdry extravaganza.


• Plans for this weekend include [and may be limited to] car battery changing and college app. completing. Amen. Both need to happen, and desperately.

'Like an election angioplasty, they have blown through that logjam."

Who said that? Was it this guy? I forget . . . but it was definitely one of them younger, male ABC Chicago reporters. Hmmm. Regardless of context (I think it related to a holdup of voting results from various townships), it was a pretty brilliant combination unrelated non-political metaphors.

Embracing Cat-Ladylike tendencies to share images of Maoxie on the fridge is ok, I think. The fridge and the cabinets above it are new territory for her, exemplifying the fact that she is NOT a static animal -- no indeedy. She is constantly exploring, foraying, breaking new ground, making new friends, solving new issues, adapting to new environments and creating new metaphysical queries. WOW.

• Much like the aftermath of the [Double] Dim Sum feeding of both two weeks and one week ago, that of Friday's BK-Then-McDonald's extravaganza (veggie burger at the former, ice cream and coffee at the latter) involved severe intestinal duress. Never again. Until next time.


• Dave looks pretty good on TV [click on Meat Loaf Madness, hear/see him rock out at the beginning and then play Where's Waldo throughout. It's cool].


• Riding through a pile of glass with one's ancient Schwinn pretty near guarantees a[nother] flat tire. Gosh. Fortunately I am getting pretty good at changing ye ole' inner tube, or at least at asking the right people for help.


• Not only is it uncomfortable to have to pee while tailgating -- it is also DANGEROUS. Apparently one's body must work overtime to keep ye ole' sack of urine (some might call it a bladder) from freezing from the inside-out. They tell me it's science.


• And now A MOVIE REVIEW: Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep is very tactile, ergonomic (aesthetic?) and pleasurable to watch. It made me giggle a lot, and smile. I wanted to do felt-crafting afterward but was left able to neither form complete thoughts nor convey them. All I wanted was for someone to rub my belly. If the combination of these effects appeals to you, go see it.


• And finally, this week's Zeitgeist is the concept of glowing points of light blitzing seperately but equally along either parallel lines, great circles or rhumb lines. It's a vaguely esoteric (but not really) idea that I would simply love to discuss over, say, some Orange Crush and Mandarin Absolut at the world's classiest tailgage with anyone who's interested . Call me.

Uncanny? Creepy? Idolizing? All of these things, perhaps? Despite our best efforts, we didn't win any sort of booty for these stunningly accurate representations of Illinois' Gubernatorial (or at least potentially so) Finest -- our hasty preparations gave us an amazingly small window o' time to register for the parade/contest. Alas.

Why can't my chin be more square? Seriously.