Pakistan Cakes
Halloween Critical Mass last night, except Heidi and I got there late (but not later than the ride usually leaves) and everyone had left already. Fortunately, we were not alone in being late, and there were a handful of other latecomers in costume and on bikes who were wandering around just as confused as we were, so we rode in a mini-mass of 8 people, which was critical mass for the typical NYC one-way street.
It wasn't as rowdy as the typical CM ride, but it was fun anyway. At one point there was a driver who was stuck behind us for a while until he angrily punched through a hole that had opened up in our pack only to get stuck again about 10 meters later behind a line of about a dozen taxis. Oh, street justice. :) Anyway, we eventually found the rest of the CM, although this happened just about exactly as the ride was ending. Randomly ran into Arielle at Union Square. Afterwards, Heidi and I fed ourselves at Angelica Kitchen.
Costumes: I was dressed as a slide rule, and Heidi as a scientific calculator. Yes, we're giant nerds. Actually, it's probably more appropriate to say that I was a "dude with a giant slide rule on his chest," because really, my slide rule was more of an accessory than a costume. Nevertheless, people still got the idea that I was supposed to be the thing on my chest, rather than a guy with said thing on his chest, even though most people thought that thing was a "ruler." About 1 in 5 people correctly guessed "slide rule" instead of "ruler", though, which is better than I expected, but still pretty sad. Mostly everyone who saw Heidi's costume knew she was a calculator, though at least one person said "graphing calculator". The best incorrect guess for the calculator though was "magnetic poetry".
So today went/didn't go as planned. Got up about when I wanted to and grabbed the trusty ol' floor pump to top off the tire pressure on the Yamato before riding to the ol' stomping grounds in Bushwick. That's when I broke a valve. Again. I hadn't even started pumping yet; I just slipped the pump onto the valve and HISSSSSS. That's the third one in like two months. What the hell?
Luckily, I still had an extra tube from jsoltren so that went in, and off I went, a little behind schedule. Met up with napalmandroses on Flushing, then called Karen to see about the rollers. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get them from Ryler, and Ryler is out of town, so we'll have to figure this out later I guess. I headed to the L train, forgetting for a moment that the Bogart Street entrance is closed on weekends. I walked to the Morgan Ave. entrance, only to discover that I couldn't enter there, either. I had also forgotten how much the L train sucks (read: not runs) when they're doing construction.
It was weird being in the old neighborhood. I still miss 250.
Anyway, napalmandroses was staying in the same building as Life Café, which was revamerika and Chris Kitten's old weekend brunch meetup place, so I called revamerika and to ask if he had brunch plans. It turns out today is Chris Kitten's birthday. Word. Got out of the L Train in Manhattan and met them at the Organic Grill. Mmm.... tofu "omelette". The waitress asked us if we wanted dessert. I asked for the vegan flan, but they didn't have any. This is like the third restaurant I've been to that had vegan flan on the menu, only to be out of it when I order it. To this day I still haven't eaten vegan flan. What in the hell? In other words, no dessert.
Eventually, revamerika and the two naked veg Asian boys he used to live with parted ways, and I headed over to DS to play with the security cameras, which we still haven't set up. For some reason, we only have 3 cameras out of the 6 we ordered. I'll have to look into it on Monday. R2 is hands-down the best camera of the bunch, both in image quality and features. If you're in the market for a network camera, R2 comes highly recommended.
robarchangel popped by at the end of the day. damndirtydyke, of course, was at work. So basically I not only was at "the crater", but I managed to see all of the ex-250s today. Weird.
In relation to the title for today's entry, which is an interesting spoonerism for "go figure it out from context", I mysteriously smelled maple syrup when I was in Bushwick. This reminded me of when I mysteriously smelled maple syrup Thursday night leaving work, and the maple syrup smell followed me EVERYWHERE. When I was calling revamerika re. brunch, I mentioned it, and we both figured that it was probably an olfactory hallucination. Later in the day, revamerika informed me that he read an article (and also another one) about a mysterious maple syrup smell reported in the city. So I guess I wasn't hallucinating, or if I was, I wasn't alone. The source of the smell, according to the articles, is still a mystery.
What in the world could make a smell so strong over such a large area and still be a mystery?
So we finally have cases for the iPod nano at work (besides the Apple armband); however, all of them are made of leather. Yuck. It's the only company so far that has actually been able to ship to us. It's also the only thing we sell in the store that's not vegan.
Yesterday someone was looking at the cases, and asked me if they were made of real leather. Without trying to guess whether this question was being asked because this she wanted real leather, or because she didn't want real leather, I said, "Unfortunately, yes." I think I will try to be more subtle in the future. I can't remember whether or not she ended up buying the case, but at least now she has (hopefully) given some thought to the fact that leather is super-gross. Hopefully.
This Is My Life, RatedLife:
6.8Mind:
6.8Body:
8.8Spirit:
7.1Friends/Family:
5.3Love:
2.9Finance:
6.6Take the Rate My Life Quiz
Life: Your life rating is a score of the sum total of your life, and accounts for how satisfied, successful, balanced, capable, valuable, and happy you are. The quiz attempts to put a number on the summation of all of these things, based on your answers. Your life score leaves room for improvement. You can make changes to improve your trouble areas, and this will bring you greater satisfaction. Focus on your weakest points and set about to change them. Do not delay your happiness and success.
Mind: Your mind rating is a score of your mind's clarity, ability, and health. Higher scores indicate an advancement in knowledge, clear and capable thinking, high mental health, and pure thought free of interference. Your mind score is not bad, but could be improved upon. Your mental health is not weak, but you are not achieving full mental clarity and function. Learn how to unclutter your mind. Keep learning, keep improving, continue moving forward.
Body: Your body rating measures your body's health, fitness, and general wellness. A healthy body contributes to a happy life, however many of us are lacking in this area. You have an excellent body score, which means you are incredibly focused on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Continue in that focus, and your body will remain healthy and strong.
Spirit: Your spirit rating seeks to capture in a number that elusive quality which is found in your faith, your attitude, and your philosophy on life. A higher score indicates a greater sense of inner peace and balance. Your spirit score is relatively high, which means you are rewarded by your beliefs. Spirituality is clearly important to do. Never let it slip, and continue to learn and grow.
Friends/Family: Your friends and family rating measures your relationships with those around you, and is based on how large, healthy, and dependable your social network is. Your friends and family score is not bad but can be improved. Maintain your current social net, while you try to expand it. Try new things and form new friendships. You will be rewarded greatly.
Love: Your love rating is a measure of your current romantic situation. Sharing your heart with another person is one of life's most glorious, terrifying, rewarding experiences. Your love score is very low, indicating trouble. There is love out there for you. Seek the advice of wise people on how to go about finding it. Do not lose hope.
Finance: Your finance rating is a score that rates your current financial health and stability. Your finances are somewhat in the middle, neither bad or exceptional. Keep doing what works for you, and improve what doesn't. Focus on long-term financial stability as your goal.
It wasn't as rowdy as the typical CM ride, but it was fun anyway. At one point there was a driver who was stuck behind us for a while until he angrily punched through a hole that had opened up in our pack only to get stuck again about 10 meters later behind a line of about a dozen taxis. Oh, street justice. :) Anyway, we eventually found the rest of the CM, although this happened just about exactly as the ride was ending. Randomly ran into Arielle at Union Square. Afterwards, Heidi and I fed ourselves at Angelica Kitchen.
Costumes: I was dressed as a slide rule, and Heidi as a scientific calculator. Yes, we're giant nerds. Actually, it's probably more appropriate to say that I was a "dude with a giant slide rule on his chest," because really, my slide rule was more of an accessory than a costume. Nevertheless, people still got the idea that I was supposed to be the thing on my chest, rather than a guy with said thing on his chest, even though most people thought that thing was a "ruler." About 1 in 5 people correctly guessed "slide rule" instead of "ruler", though, which is better than I expected, but still pretty sad. Mostly everyone who saw Heidi's costume knew she was a calculator, though at least one person said "graphing calculator". The best incorrect guess for the calculator though was "magnetic poetry".
So today went/didn't go as planned. Got up about when I wanted to and grabbed the trusty ol' floor pump to top off the tire pressure on the Yamato before riding to the ol' stomping grounds in Bushwick. That's when I broke a valve. Again. I hadn't even started pumping yet; I just slipped the pump onto the valve and HISSSSSS. That's the third one in like two months. What the hell?
Luckily, I still had an extra tube from jsoltren so that went in, and off I went, a little behind schedule. Met up with napalmandroses on Flushing, then called Karen to see about the rollers. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get them from Ryler, and Ryler is out of town, so we'll have to figure this out later I guess. I headed to the L train, forgetting for a moment that the Bogart Street entrance is closed on weekends. I walked to the Morgan Ave. entrance, only to discover that I couldn't enter there, either. I had also forgotten how much the L train sucks (read: not runs) when they're doing construction.
It was weird being in the old neighborhood. I still miss 250.
Anyway, napalmandroses was staying in the same building as Life Café, which was revamerika and Chris Kitten's old weekend brunch meetup place, so I called revamerika and to ask if he had brunch plans. It turns out today is Chris Kitten's birthday. Word. Got out of the L Train in Manhattan and met them at the Organic Grill. Mmm.... tofu "omelette". The waitress asked us if we wanted dessert. I asked for the vegan flan, but they didn't have any. This is like the third restaurant I've been to that had vegan flan on the menu, only to be out of it when I order it. To this day I still haven't eaten vegan flan. What in the hell? In other words, no dessert.
Eventually, revamerika and the two naked veg Asian boys he used to live with parted ways, and I headed over to DS to play with the security cameras, which we still haven't set up. For some reason, we only have 3 cameras out of the 6 we ordered. I'll have to look into it on Monday. R2 is hands-down the best camera of the bunch, both in image quality and features. If you're in the market for a network camera, R2 comes highly recommended.
robarchangel popped by at the end of the day. damndirtydyke, of course, was at work. So basically I not only was at "the crater", but I managed to see all of the ex-250s today. Weird.
In relation to the title for today's entry, which is an interesting spoonerism for "go figure it out from context", I mysteriously smelled maple syrup when I was in Bushwick. This reminded me of when I mysteriously smelled maple syrup Thursday night leaving work, and the maple syrup smell followed me EVERYWHERE. When I was calling revamerika re. brunch, I mentioned it, and we both figured that it was probably an olfactory hallucination. Later in the day, revamerika informed me that he read an article (and also another one) about a mysterious maple syrup smell reported in the city. So I guess I wasn't hallucinating, or if I was, I wasn't alone. The source of the smell, according to the articles, is still a mystery.
What in the world could make a smell so strong over such a large area and still be a mystery?
So we finally have cases for the iPod nano at work (besides the Apple armband); however, all of them are made of leather. Yuck. It's the only company so far that has actually been able to ship to us. It's also the only thing we sell in the store that's not vegan.
Yesterday someone was looking at the cases, and asked me if they were made of real leather. Without trying to guess whether this question was being asked because this she wanted real leather, or because she didn't want real leather, I said, "Unfortunately, yes." I think I will try to be more subtle in the future. I can't remember whether or not she ended up buying the case, but at least now she has (hopefully) given some thought to the fact that leather is super-gross. Hopefully.
This Is My Life, RatedLife:
6.8Mind:
6.8Body:
8.8Spirit:
7.1Friends/Family:
5.3Love:
2.9Finance:
6.6Take the Rate My Life Quiz
Life: Your life rating is a score of the sum total of your life, and accounts for how satisfied, successful, balanced, capable, valuable, and happy you are. The quiz attempts to put a number on the summation of all of these things, based on your answers. Your life score leaves room for improvement. You can make changes to improve your trouble areas, and this will bring you greater satisfaction. Focus on your weakest points and set about to change them. Do not delay your happiness and success.
Mind: Your mind rating is a score of your mind's clarity, ability, and health. Higher scores indicate an advancement in knowledge, clear and capable thinking, high mental health, and pure thought free of interference. Your mind score is not bad, but could be improved upon. Your mental health is not weak, but you are not achieving full mental clarity and function. Learn how to unclutter your mind. Keep learning, keep improving, continue moving forward.
Body: Your body rating measures your body's health, fitness, and general wellness. A healthy body contributes to a happy life, however many of us are lacking in this area. You have an excellent body score, which means you are incredibly focused on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Continue in that focus, and your body will remain healthy and strong.
Spirit: Your spirit rating seeks to capture in a number that elusive quality which is found in your faith, your attitude, and your philosophy on life. A higher score indicates a greater sense of inner peace and balance. Your spirit score is relatively high, which means you are rewarded by your beliefs. Spirituality is clearly important to do. Never let it slip, and continue to learn and grow.
Friends/Family: Your friends and family rating measures your relationships with those around you, and is based on how large, healthy, and dependable your social network is. Your friends and family score is not bad but can be improved. Maintain your current social net, while you try to expand it. Try new things and form new friendships. You will be rewarded greatly.
Love: Your love rating is a measure of your current romantic situation. Sharing your heart with another person is one of life's most glorious, terrifying, rewarding experiences. Your love score is very low, indicating trouble. There is love out there for you. Seek the advice of wise people on how to go about finding it. Do not lose hope.
Finance: Your finance rating is a score that rates your current financial health and stability. Your finances are somewhat in the middle, neither bad or exceptional. Keep doing what works for you, and improve what doesn't. Focus on long-term financial stability as your goal.