I bought my very own domain name and moved somewhere else on the Interwebs… peruse these archives at your leisure if you’re interested in learning a little bit about the past.  If you want to keep current, send me an email or leave me a comment and I’ll point you in the right direction!

I’m a fairly novice bike rider. I mean, I rode a bike when I was little, but I think I stopped doing that sometime in high school. Dad and Sister and I used to go for these marathon bike rides (I think our max was 30 miles. Maybe it was 20. Either way, that used to be no big deal).

Today I rode 16.2 miles and thought I deserved a fucking medal. Oh well, if I don’t, then the Minneapolis Parks and Rec folks DO, for plotting and building and paving so many off-street bike trails throughout these cities. AMAZING!

So, I’ve always wanted to explore some of the Grand Rounds Scenic Byways, and I kind of stumbled into that today.

My original goal was to take Summit to the River Road, take that south to Ford Parkway, cross the Mississippi River there and then come back up the West River Road and cross back onto St. Paul either at Marshall or Franklin. Option 1 would’ve been about 10 miles and is in red below. Option 2 added another 2 1/2 or so miles to that and is in the pretty periwinkle-ish color:

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Well, I got across the Ford Parkway bridge and decided I needed water, so I checked the Grand Rounds board to see where the closest drinking fountain was and go that way. Turns out that led me right into Minnehaha Park, which is a gorgeous two-tiered park carved out by glaciers and the Mississippi River (something like that).

Anyway, the top level (where I was) is kept up as a picnic area that includes a pavillion and a cute little seafood restaurant I’ll have to check out some other time. The lower level is left and maintained in its natural state and meanders along the path the river used to take.

So I walked my bike around the pedestrian parts, reading all about the history of the Falls, learned how the Mississippi River carved out this park to begin with, and even took a couple of pictures!

Figuring I should make my next move, I decided to bike just west over to Lake Nokomis (where our summer season softball fields are), bike around the lake, and then come back and take the Minneapolis side of the River Road back up to Marshall or Lake, as I originally had planned.

I biked on the trail alongside Hiawatha (the same road the LRT runs on), and then found myself forced to cross it if I wanted to continue on to Nokomis. Again, I’m a novice biker, so I got a little nervous about getting off the paved path, so I continued instead through Fort Snelling State Park instead, which was a BEAUTIFUL shady ride, covered by trees and on the bluff of the West side of the river. I could peer through the trees when there was an opening and see the beach below on the East side of the river. Very cool. At this point, I was energetic and even a little giddy as I enjoyed my leisurely exploratory bike ride of the Twin Cities’ great bike trails.

So I continued my way through the park (which took a little while) until I had to make another choice, where I decided to follow the sign back to St. Paul and start heading home. This brought me up to Highway 5, where there was – thankfully – a bike lane with a concrete wall separating me from the traffic. I crossed the river here, and then headed back up the south end of the River Road. I could feel myself getting a little tired, so I decided this was a good time to make it the home stretch.

Well, I thought I was going to die right about the time the River Road hit Summit Ave again, which granted is only a few miles from the finish line, but I still struggled. This is where I started wishing for a water bottle holder on my bike and luckily noticed the SA at Grand and Cleveland where I stopped for some quick shade and a Gatorade. Whew.

That’s what I needed to get the rest of the way home, and here I am! I’d hope to do one of those original ideas tomorrow, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to move my legs.

Here’s where I went:

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This is my hair now (I’m on the right):

This is my hair 3 years ago (3rd from the left, but PS, aren’t my friends adorable):

I’m thinking of going back. Votes? It’s only about 3″, but when you’ve only got 6 or so to work with… that’s a big chop-off.

PS. I wish I was as little as I was when I was 22. Damn.  Walking all over campus every weekday and to the bars and home on the weekends did a body much better than cabs and busses.

So what if I think Paul Simon’s video for “You Can Call Me Al” is the best music video ever?

(10:30:30 PM) lily: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOiVaE-pKqM
(10:30:38 PM) lily: my favorite music video ever
(10:30:50 PM) paul: you’re such a dork
(10:31:13 PM) lily: this i am aware of
(10:31:15 PM) lily: and have come to accept
(10:31:19 PM) paul: good. good

Look at that line-up! I wish I was Mary Lucia’s sister. She’s my most favoritest DJ ever. The Replacements (ok, fine, that’s her bro, but since it played at 7:02, we might have to give Mark Wheat credit for that one.), Carbon/Silicon (who doesn’t love old school punk rockers making a comeback!?), Brazilian Girls (heard ‘em at Lolla), Mates of State (love!), and The Fratellis (I have a whole Pandora station titled “The Fratellis Radio”).

Then again, being Mary’s sister would also make me Paul Westerberg’s sister.

Almost as cool.

(And by the time I got this posted… they’re now playing Radiohead’s “Bodysnatchers.” Happy, cloudy memories of Lollapalooza are flooding my mind…)

PS – you can stream this fantabulous Public Radio indie rock station from everywhere from here The Current.

5 Reasons I Know I’m Sick
- I’m crabby.
- My body can’t pick a consistent temperature.
- I turned down a beer at my softball game.
- My whole body feels like it ran, biked, and yoga’ed yesterday and that’s very not true (I drank beers and ate fried pickles).
- Tacos don’t taste good.
- My shoulders lack the strength to support my head, which feels like it’s going to roll off of my shoulders.
- I can’t count.

Blah.

Super Cool Wired.com article here about the evolution of the iMac

Hi from the metrodome! Go twins!

My cuz-in-law took this photo at a show earlier this year, and I know how quickly it grabbed MY attention when I saw it. But, in response to a “send in your best shot ever” request on a blog, his was one of the top 20 chosen. Check this out and you’ll see why. His is 5th down – AWESOME photo. Way to go, Chris!

Chris’s Picture

Interesting. Form your own opinions, but from an advertiser’s perspective? Risky, compelling, and probably nails it’s target audience.

sexy Levi’s ad