Snow?

Perhaps. I am charging the batteries in my camera and having a hot chocolate now , and waiting.

It's supposed to fall to 35°F. overnight with a 60% chance of rain. The front has already passed and the temperature is already falling. With scatterred clouds and a chance of precipitation -- there's a chance we may see snow on the flat in the morning. And we definitely should see it on the surrounding hills.

S

Update : Yes -- here.

Feeding a Tapeworm

Gluttony is still one of the seven deadly sins. Looking at this empty carton you'll discover that it contains 4 servings of 300 calories each. Burp.

The temps have been low, and it's been windy. Over the last two days it has been below freezing a few times and the onshore breeze has kept everyone a bit chilly. I rode my bicycle on sheet ice and black ice over the past two days. What I notice the most is this insatiable hunger like I might get if I had a tapeworm, even noticeable right after I eat.

Number of comparable items required to deliver 1200 calories:

Qt. Vanilla Swiss Almond Ice Cream -- 1
Venti® Caramel Machiatto -- 1.5
12 oz. Beers -- 6
Small cans of bumble bee tuna -- 12.2

The ice cream is clearly the best choice from this list. Why do we eat it on hot days? Because it's cold. Why eat it on cold days? Because we are cold.

Pick of the Week®

Goes to Fritz! Great Photo.

Date: 13 January 2007
Mileage for the week: 58.89
January total: 189.40
On the Ipod: Don't Look Back, Luscious Jackson

Buying a Guitar Really Might be Easier

So now -- I've read the faq here. and I've read two books on the subject. Since I am now into it more that it would take to buy an acoustic guitar, it seems that I have again chosen the harder less travelled path. I haven't memorized them yet, but I did read Guitarmaking, Tradition and Technology, by William D. Cumpiano and Jonathan D. Natelson and The Guitar Masters Workshop, by Rik Middleton, which I didn't like because he calls clamping "cramping" and a c-clamp a "G-cramp". That troubles me. I am not sure what a G-cramp is, but I think it might have to do with not having sex during pregnancy. I shouldn't be so irreverant of someone skilled enough to make a guitar. The book was quite informative. It primarily talks about making a classical guitar. Later, when I have taught my self to play Flamenco -- I will be more interested in classical guitars.

Now, I am sure you are wondering what has possesed me to think I should build a guitar. I once read a detailed description of how to build a violin and it was quite facinating. Right now I am shopping around for that thing that is going to carry me emotionally and financially through the next 20 or so years of my life and it seems that making something with craft, tradition. and history, could be a cool place to start. I have the kind of patience, hands, and intent, to do quite well at something so simple and sophisticated.

I considered some other things, like being a bum, or just getting paid to travel.

I have a great piece of Port Orford Cedar which is just an inch or so too small to make a guitar soundboard ... so I think I am going to need to buy some spruce. Tomorrow -- I will do what I always do when starting a project. Clean up and collect the tools in one place.

After I go for a nice long ride.

1966 Miles Riding in 2006

Although this is a great photo of Mono Lake, I didn't ride there, or ride in the snow. © Shawn Kielty 2005. All rights reserved.

Month/Miles

January 6
February 211.7
March 330.47
April 415.21
May 303.89
June 159.67
July 95.16
August 139.47
September 70.21
October 67.05
November 194.36
December 299.91

Total 1966.10

Well -- that's not really 2000 miles; now is it? Maybe if I count the miles hiked, too (it's only 5ish miles a day, which ain't so good).

Per Volquartz' Joshua Tree Photography Workshop

It's free. Dates: January 26-27-28, come all three days or just for one day! Place: Jumbo Rock campground, second to the last loop, Joshua Tree National Park, Southern California.
I think I'll be there! For more info find Per Volquartz here. Just to make sure sure there's no confusion, that image is © Shawn Kielty, 2005.

Shoot the Dog

It's quite nice right at the moment. The cold of the recent past was replaced with warmth and sunshine in the seriously California way. Shoot the Dog by The Alison Brown Quartet on the iPod.

It won't last is what I hear. But let's just say it was a nice ride into work.

Date: 7 January 2007
Mileage for the week: 94.65
January total: 130.51
On the Ipod: Do the Do, Howlin Wolf, from The London Howling Wolf Sessions

Lentil Soup Monastery Style

This is adapted from Frances Moore Lappe's recipe in Diet for a Small Planet, which is good, hearty and well ... it just needs garlic, ham and a few more carrots. Her original recipe is tried and true, since her book is now over 20 years old. It's guest tested. I personally have served it to several dozen guinea pigs people.

1/4 cup olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped (optional)
2 fresh (never frozen) carrots, chopped
1/2 teaspoon each thyme and marjoram
3 cups Seasoned Stock (Lappe calls for vegetable broth -- I never use that I always use chicken stock)
1 cups lentils, rinsed
salt to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1-pound can tomatoes
6 oz or so cubed ham pieces (optional)
1/4 cup dry sherry
2/3 cup grated swiss cheese

Heat oil in a large pot and saute onions, garlic and carrots for 3 to 5 minutes. Add herbs and saute 1 minute. Add stock, lentils, salt, parsley, ham and tomatoes and cook, covered,until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes. Add sherry (or use red wine, or my personal favorite, beer). To serve, put 2 tablespoons cheese in each bowl and fill with soup. Or grate the cheese on top. Or do both Serves 4-6.

With this soup I would choose a light salad (Romaine hearts and endive with a dressing made from plain yogurt, maple syrup and Indian curry) before it with a crisp white like a Suave Bollo or Pinot Grigio. Serve this with flatbread and a red like a Merlot and follow with a plate of aromatic cheeses and a Petite Sirah.

Or -- just toss it down with a beer.

Mangez!

Notes on Making a Guitar

[Air guitar playing]
I walked 47 miles of bobwire
I got a cobra snake for a necktie
A brand new house on the roadside
and its made out of rattlesnake hide
Gat a brand new chimney made to fit on top
and it's made outta human skulls
Com'on take a little walk with me baby
And tell me who do you love ...
Now around the town I
Use a rattlesnake whip ...

Around noon today I set out across the soccer field after eating a bowl of miso soup, butteryaki somethingfish, and about a pound of rice, when I realized that the internal furnace was kickin in. I was hot. It was still bitter wind winter San Francisco California freezing, but I was feeling normal.

This has happened to me before, like the time I decided to put cream in my coffee. I was a grad student in Eastern Washington, and I got up one morning and it was 15 degrees out (the day before it was like 47) ... and there was snow on the ground. I walked across town and froze. And decided to start putting cream in my coffee to add some fat in my diet. I had already started putting the cream in my coffee, when a couple of days later -- I suddenly got warm. I stayed warm until March when it started to rain.

Yes, I was overdressed. Yes, I wasn't all tucked in in the right places. Yes, I left my Goretex™ windbreaker and jacket™ at home. Yes, I was getting sweaty. And I wasn't even playing soccer. Just burning rice and evolving. Just surviving.

Darwin was right... Here's to evolution.

As a sculptor, I occasional get these bright ideas to build things. I was looking at a piece of sculpture I made a few years ago (It's made from the arm of a chair and invokes the image of a violin) and thinking about my son and a guy named Tim Doebler and what was so special about Stratovarious anyway. I never really cared for Tim's ironwork, but he often made these sardine can mandolins, and other weird and unique string instruments, which I thought were brilliant. I hear a Stratovarios™ is actually brilliant.

So there I was, remembering the book I read about building a violin, and thinking how I never managed to get that boat I built all those years ago to float -- how I never built that wood canoe ... and I was thinking that I would never manage to build a guitar. Then I remembered that I know how to do that. I have an advanced degree in building stuff. SO I went to the bookstore and the big library in sky.

Tomorrow I am going to look for some wood.

Then, I'll start to make notes about building a guitar.

I am Cold

I am cold. It's 46 degrees out. I rode a measly 9.35 miles today. The wind is out of the NW at about 10-15 and gusty. Nothing like the weather reports of yesterday. But I am cold. Folks in places like Alaska, Minneapolis and Colorado, Toronto even, must think I am a bit crazy.

Let's not forget I just spent 2 and a half years in *&$#*@& hell paradise. Arizona.

So I put on an extra layer today. I saw the guy with a balaclava and shorts on the train, Lauren. I threw the rain gear in my bike bag. I even ate breakfast, to help me keep warm. I froze totally. Anything I might have offered as advice about how to keep warm is pretty much crap at this point. The one part of my anatomy that wasn't cold was my lunch office feet. The Mysterioso™ are good socks when they are not wet. All those clothes and I am cold.

I never was wet. When I got on the bike at 9:30 Pm across town to ride home -- I threw on my raincoat. It was 30 someodd degrees and straight into the wind. Grin and bear it. I grew up here on a bike. It can be nasty here. I rode home and I wasn't wet. Now I am here with hot chocolate and a heater. It was a character building experience.

And a lot of you are in places like Minnesota and Colorado and Juneau. I will get warm eventually, as for you, I can't say. I hear that with the exception of the occasional blizzard -- it's been warm there. But it's still colder than here.

It's Acting all like it's Going to Rain ... And Stuff

Tim and Marco play Felice Navidad at the Cafe.

The weather tomorrow looks like it might be a bit scary. Particularly this bit:

Thursday: Rain showers. Strong winds developing in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 50s. West winds 15 to 25 mph...becoming northwest 30 to 40 mph with gusts
to 60 mph possible in the afternoon.

"Rain Showers ... Gusts to 60 mph." "Dress thoughtfully," to quote Jill. I will be testing out the Mysteriouso™ Sock under my Shimano™ riding shoes tomorrow, as I continue with my plan to avoid buying any $50 (at the local bike shop) waterproof shoe covers by Louis Garneau™.

I am not good at the calculation of any thing really, so rather than try any sort of math, I'll try this. At 52° F. with 60 mph gusts it could get freaky cold, especially with the wet from rain part included. So ...

Patagonia™ Capilene™ performance baselayer (sometimes referred to as long underwear) , SmartWool™ 100% wool long sleeve pullover, thin REI™ balaclava, helmet with helmet raincap, levi's and Marmot™ rain pants, Cotton shirt, fleece pullover, NorthFace™ Goretex™ rain jacket, wool socks with the Mysterioso™ socks, and the Shimano™ shoes. Some Fox™ insulated gloves.

In the messenger bag: A change of shoes and socks. bag of m&m's™ and Gu™.

Something tells me it's either not going to materialize, or it's going to be quite nasty™. Sometimes it just get's that way here. Maybe I'll just stay in with a hot coffee.

New Year's Day 2007

Last year on this day I was out in the shed digging up an old bicycle and washing it off because I was having a hard time walking more than about a mile driving through the Nevada desert, dodging a blizzard. This would be the first year I can go back into my blog and check to see what I was really doing. I will have to be pretty honest from now on. By this time last year that bike was clean and in the truck -- I think. Any way -- some time around now last year I was thinking about a bike ride.

Date: 1 January 2007
Mileage: 35.86
Average: 14.8
Max: 24.0
Week: 45.96
January total: 35.86
On the Ipod: Time out of Mind, Steely Dan

This morning my back was troubling me, and I was sitting around thinking about how to start out the New Year. I looked around at my messy house and the state of the place and being reminded by the gnawing thing in my back that I am not getting enough exercise and I thought -- I should go for a decent ride. I could hustle out to Coyote Point and ride down the Bay Front Trail and find out how far I can go.

Since I had to be at my parents for a little later in the day, I cleaned the house instead I suited up immediately. The best way to cross the 101 at Peninsula is to walk, to use the staircases and walk your bike.

From Coyote Point south the Bay Front trail is a hodge podge of routes adjacent or very near the San Francico Bay, mostly paved multi-use trail with a lot of folks on it. New bikes, new runners, new riders, and me; I was trying to keep my pace above 15 mph for the day overall. Since it follows the west shore of the bay down the Peninsula, it's dead flat ... and nothing about it is straight. I traveled about 15 miles before I gave up on a gravelled stretch, just past the dog park in Redwood City, after some debate about whether it was going to be possible to continue in a 1/2 mile or so.

Ultimately, I was hoping that it would be possible to ride a century out my door on that route. Maybe next time. It may be possible to connect the stretch of it further South with this section of it by actually riding on the road. I'll need to get out a map and start earlier.


These are Canvasback Ducks, red head, white body, formerly fairly rare, having been overhunted.

I think Thom is going to give us annual tallies from the Saturday Spinners. It will be interesting to see what I have tallied since then ... I am guessing my miles for the year to be about 2500. We'll see.


Since I was in the desert last year -- It probably wouldn't have mattered if there was an earthquake on the Parkfield section of the San Andreas Fault, like there was today. The USGS is banking the farm on that one going next. Let's all wait and see.


I think that these cats out on the trail are maybe being overfed by the cat feeders. If you notice, that cat seems unaware that there is a pigeon right next to him. There were so many fat and healthy cats along the trail, I was beginning to wonder if they were actually pets feral. I guess we are a benevolent society after all, towards cats at least. And, I guess I am still a cynic, despite the New Year and all it's optimism.

Happy New Year everyone!

That's your moment of optimism; enjoy it.

I Once was Lost, but Now I am Found ...

Was blind, but now I see. ...

Well, -- I went for a leisurely little climb today. I was discussing routes around town the other day and *someone* suggested I ride up to the College of San Mateo via 26th Avenue. It's a short climb ... Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound ... a climb.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

Through many dangers, toils, dangers toils and snares
I have already come
I've already, I've already come
'Tis grace hath brought me safe, it's brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead, gonna lead me home
Oh, yes he will

I believed I could make it to the top of that hill ... Some young women (downhill) runners on 26th Avenue were cheering me on. I am thinking they will probably want to take a cab (that's what I wanted) back up the hill after having coffee at the mall. It will be really bad for them if they insist on running.

From the hard deck (20' elevation max -- i.e. just slightly above high tide) to the top of the top of the hill at CSM is about 600 vertical feet. Although my ride was around 10.6 miles, the hill climbing part of all this was in less than a mile. Ultimately my route doesn't go all the way to the top -- bailing out early at about 525 ft.


The sweet view at the top from Parrot Drive.


That's San Francisco there, go ahead and blow it up (the picture, silly).

When I was a lad, the route up Parrot Drive was my favorite. After school I would often ride up there and come down 26th to the mall and get coffee. It was always fun. The rapid descent of 26th Avenue was -- well -- fun. The route is the same route in reverse. Ride up 26th to the top. Toss your 1000 $100 bike over the fence onto Campus Drive. Hump up that hill to Laurelwood, and turn on to Hillsdale up and up to CSM Drive. Turn left and then right on Parrot Drive. and enjoy the panorama, and the rapid descent into downtown San Mateo. Enjoy coffee.

I am redeemed. I made it. I had to stop for oxygen at the cul-de-sac, and for beer water at the liquor store. I got spotted by Tassia in the Hallmark store at Laurelwood. I rode up the hill and returned. It felt great to take a ride again for pleasure.

I know it was just ten or so miles -- but I smell bag balm linament ... it hurt just a bit. I feel great though. Pass the Chili. If you can't warm it from outside; warm it from within.

The route. Yahoo's routing algorythm isn't consistent enough to produce the same result when I plan as it is when you view it. I tried to get them to hire me to do their quality -- but ... So it isn't quite right. You probably won't want to ride on that freeway.

Keep on rocking in the free world!

Shawn's Chili

You might be wondering right about now, "What the heck is wrong with Shawn?" It appears as if he is on vacation, but he is hanging around the house cooking. Yeah. What's that about?

Well, I like it here. And I don't want to go anywhere. I need the down time.

So -- I am at the golden spot -- I have made the chili and now wait for the result. 45 minutes of stinky ecstasy, as the beans cook and the chili roasts, sending the neighbors to place like Mesa, Arizona in search of these delights. This is not my mother's chili. This is serious tailgate party chili. Serious southwest chili goodness. The house is rich with the aroma of it all. I promise to sweat when I eat it.

It all started because I told my ex-gf that I made chili for my parents. "You made that chili you make?" No ... I made my mother's chili. "Oh, I thought maybe you were seriously cooking for them. That's too bad." ... or something similar to that.


I am going to share this recipe with you ... gentle readers.

1 lb Pinto or red beans
One cube of butter
2 T. vegetable oil
2 lbs. chuck steak or sirloin tips cut for stir fry into 1/2" x 2" strips
1 1/2 lbs. of good ground beef
4 small onions reduced to 1/2-1 inch pieces
4 hot house tomatoes chopped and seeded
8 garlic cloves crushed then chopped into large pieces.
1/3 c. powdered chili (herein lies the magic -- this is ground/crushed arbor chilis, hot New Mexico chilis, California Mohave chilis. Mohave Foods Corp in Los Angeles offers them in little bags in Safeway.) Adjust this to your palette. It can get out of hand quickly
Large can of stewed tomatoes
2 cans of ortega chilis chopped
2 Jalepeno peppers -- chopped
1 Pasilla or Anahiem Pepper chopped
1+ t. brown sugar
1+ t. salt
1/2 t. fresh ground pepper
A bay leaf or two -- If you live here on the west coast you can find these -- they grow as a Bay Laurel -- or Myrtlewood tree.
1+ t. cayenne
Pinch thyme
1+ T. Worchesterschire sauce
32 oz of beef stock
Squeeze of Lemon or touch of vinegar or splash of beer -- to add interest and help emulsify the fat ...
Beer
Cheddar Cheese
Crackers

Oh my -- I just tasted it. I simultaneously thrills the tongue and warms the testicles soul.

Soak the beans overnight to reconstitute them.
Fire the wod burning oven to 300 degrees
Brown the strips of meat in half the butter and half the oil -- reserve all the result in a large pot.
Add the hamburger to the skillet and brown -- add that to the large pot
Discard all the fat from your skillet add the rest of the butter and the onions and saute -- add the garlic near the end -- when the onions are transparent -- move to the pot with the meat.
Add the chili powders to this mix.
Add all the remaining ingredients to the large pot except the beans.
Boil all this and put in a 300 degree oven
Bake covered for 1 1/2 hours
Drain and cook the beans for about an hour
Add the beans and the meat mixture together
Add a splash of beer. vinegar, or lemon juice and stir
Bake uncovered for an additional 1/2 hour
Add more beef broth if it dries out
Drink remainder of beer


Grate cheddar cheese on top and serve with raw onions for real chili goodness.

From my Mother's Kitchen

She claims this is the Smacky's chili of Eau Claire, Wisconsin fame.

One large can (or bottle, go figure) tomato juice
Two stalks of Celery (chopped)
One small onion diced
One lb ground beef
1 T. Chili Powder
1 t. Sugar
1/4 to 1/2 lb sphagetti
1 can dark kidney beans
Salt and pepper to taste

This is quite simple.

To a large pot add the tomato juice and an equal amount of water, the chili powder and sugar and bring to a rolling boil. Be sure to salt (imagine trying to kill the nearest coronary patient) and pepper this. When it boils, uncover, add the pasta and the celery and cook till the pasta is done -- about 15 minutes.

In a skillet fire up the meat and add the onions. Brown the ground beef and drain most of the fat (save that coronary candidate now) . Add the kidney beans to this and heat it up.

Combine the two in the big pot and make sure it's all hot.

In my family, on a cold day, a windy day, a wet day, this was the best meal ever. I called my brother and that's what his wife made today. It was windy and cold today -- so that's what I made for my folks tonight.

The storm front has passed and the wind is howling down here from the north, bringing cooler temps and fallen trees. I like to eat the chili with soda crackers coated in butter. Yum. And it's good with a glass of milk.

My other brother used to insist that the kidney beans be in the pot -- but he wouldn't eat a single one. He would dig them out and give them to my father. Go figure.

My Package from Alaska has Arrived

Three or four days of Jill's weather. Notice the resemblance of my weather to Jill's. The only real difference is about 20 degree's in temperature. She has had wind advisories, hazardous weather outlooks and probably even flash flood warnings. I been here for a while, and it's fixing to rain in a grown-up way.

Any way -- I still have no seal skin booties neoprene socks, but I do have marmot rain pants. ... I can get a bit grumpy when my feet get wet. Maybe I'll need to ride over to the dive shop. It's either that or poach a seal and find an Inuit wife.

Logs

Turn up Ipod -- Mingle with pedestrians and cross street to enter traffic. Talk to ups driver waiting at light ... avoid acute crossing of rail by cutting into traffic slowing down some BMW driver who is a hothead. Fantasize about working at Advent or one of these cool content shops near the rail station. Oh that's a truck stopped ... pass this doofus -- stand up and pedal hard. Sprint through intersection! Scream at person on phone trying to kill me with a Honda. Realize adrenaline. Signal. Ring street. Ring bell. Miss pedestrian! Pick up egg mctedwich and secure to rack. Jump curb. Avoid same woman trying to park as yesterday. Race uphill, accelerate. Coast ... to time intersection to run stop sign. Jump curb, wave to security and ride into lobby.

Who needs a training log?

Mileage for the week, 63.90; Maybe I do. because I used to ride that in a day.

Manfrotto Mono Pod

My new Manfrotto™ 679b tri mono pod. it weighs 1 pound 6 ounces. It also came with new Slic ball head (SBH-120).

It can double as a walking stick.

Merry Christmas everyone.