Jeaun Blogs

Songs for looking forward, backward, sideways, and askance.

“The Love I’m Searching For” by The Rentals
“You’re Lovely (But You’ve Got Problems)” by Death From Above 1979
“Girl/Boy Song” by Aphex Twin
“Nikki Oh Nikki” by John Vanderslice
“Fake Streets Hats” by The Streets
“I Feel Like the Mother of the World” by Smog
“White Mole” by Death Vessel
“A While Ago and Recently” by Erlend Øye w/Kilogram
“An Owl With Knees” by The Books

I invited half the world to Danny’s for my birthday and most of them showed up and it was awesome. My friends are the best.

Average amount I spent on public transit per day during the 502 day period ending April 10, 2006: $1.51

365 days x $1.51 = $551.15

Approximate cost of Windjammer: $500

Obvious savings there; of course, that doesn’t include extras like my helmet, chain lube, batteries for head/tail lamp, tires, proper attire for inclement weather riding, etc. But, like the bike, those are mostly one-time or very rare purchases that will eventually be recouped.

Also, I’m not including automotive costs in this analysis because I don’t have the info available to calculate my average cost per day for gas, depreciation, insurance, and maintenance. It’s worth noting, though, that many of my auto-related costs over the past few years have been due to long-distance trips, a trend that will likely continue. Biking will have a greater impact on my intracity transit costs.

But, even more difficult-to-calculate costs are at stake also: reduced pressure on city transit infrastructure which will theoretically reduce the tax burden, the long-term health care savings that result from an active lifestyle, and the multi-faceted benefit of releasing fewer hydrocarbon emissions into the atmosphere. Then there are the complete intangibles like folks on bikes effecting a friendlier neighborhood and city. A small idea, but one that could set into motion positive social and economic change.

1. His songs are fucking catchy.
2. Mike Skinner is more earnest than any other musical artist out there.
3. Mike Skinner is hilarious. I have no doubt that he would be a good actor.
4. I feel like I’ve grown up with him during a significant time in my life.

The other day I wanted to make a playlist of songs I really liked in 1999. I could only come up with four. Part of the problem is that I only chose songs that I still have an interest in hearing in 2006. So, I skipped over the KMFDM and Jamiroquai and Len (hey, I was 18). Here are the four finalists, though:

Chemical Brothers: Let Forever Be
Beth Orton: She Cries Your Name
Elliott Smith: Angeles
Jason Falkner: Holiday

I would have also included “Futureworld” by Trans Am, but somehow I don’t have that album. I think I can pinpoint a trip to Wisconsin to see my brother in May of 1999 as a very important moment in the development of my musical taste. He lent me Trailer Park, Futureworld, and a few other CDs I don’t remember. I took them back to Grinnell and listened to them while I played Goldeneye on the N64 Ransom lent me, and discovered that there is a gargantuan amount of music out there that I should be seeking out. As a teenager I had decent but strange taste in music. Mostly Gary Numan and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and the Rentals. This was all news to me.

I remember listening to Trailer Park on the drive to school one morning just weeks before graduation. I still remember getting goosebumps at the acoustic intro’s cadence as I crossed the intersection of East & 8th. The moment crystallized the excitement and sadness of the time, of being very young and intelligent but still completely ignorant, of having lots of friends, a girlfriend, and no worries except the entire idea of going to college. Obviously. It was sunny and about 60 degrees that morning. It’s the sort of moment I’ve always wanted to recreate, which of course is impossible.

UPDATE: Did you know that Trailer Park came out in 1996? I did not. This blows my mind. To think that it was available as an alternative to everything else I listened to in 1999 was interesting enough to me to merit this post. But 1996? Don’t get me started.

I receive two news periodicals free of charge at my apartment: Time Magazine and the Chicago Journal, a neighborhood newspaper. The usefulness and journalistic intergrity of the latter is tenfold that of the former. The Chicago Journal covers news that’s relevant to me: I recognize the locales in the photographs, I can walk to any event they write up, and the news actually affects me.

Time, on the other hand, attempts to offer up a bunch of irrelevant, questionable insight on world events. The latest issue covers the “lives and ideas” of the world’s 100 most influential people. I have no idea how they winnowed the list to a mere 100, but the results run the gamut from predictable to fluffy to ridiculous. And they might as well have swapped “influential” out for “keen!” In my (admittedly brief) flip through the feature, I didn’t find much criticism of any of these people (besides a few dudes like Aymana al-Zawahiri). Otherwise, it seems being influential is enough to warrant a nice backrub from Time Inc. The list includes visionaries like Angelina Jolie, Myspace Tom, P. Diddy, Steve Wynn, Michelle Wie, and Matt Drudge. Awesome.

Every night I look at a folder’s worth of bookmarked photoblogs. When I started mine, I began looking at a handful of others for ideas, inspiration, etc. Over time I’ve added and deleted sites from my list, and currently keep track of exactly 22.

Of these 22, about half are consistently any good. The rest are boring and make me want to puke into a backpack.

I came up with a name for my new bike: Windjammer. Windjammer is my favorite name for a boat, but since I’ll probably never own a boat, this bike’ll do.

Windjammer can fuck you up.

I’ll update.

First off, this is a pretty good series of photographs.

Secondly, I didn’t get that job. They said I’d get a call if I got it, a letter if I didn’t. So while I was keeping a close watch on my phone and the mail, an email snuck up behind my back and shivved me.

Sort of a surprise because obviously I’m awesome, but also because I’ve been on a winning streak lately. First I won the MCA bowling tournament, then poker at Maria’s the other night. That counts as a streak, right?