May
08

May day

I originally wrote this on May 2.

Yesterday, International Workers Day, was an exciting day in Seattle.  Walk-outs began at 1130a and continued most of the day for the General Strike, something Occupy had been planning for a long time.  In the morning, I attended a program on the campus I work at about the rights, love, and struggle of prison inmates and people of color. (oft times one in the same)  As I was walking back from lunch, I noticed tons of helicopters swarming downtown.  Ohhhhhh Occupy, always gathering so much attention.  But it was more than that.

Vigilantes (I don’t even know if that’s the right word for them) bashed in windows of storefronts in the shopping district.  Superheroes were pepper-spraying crowds (admittedly this is a rumor).  Things just went awry.  There is a serious confusion about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to making political change.  Forcing Nike into spending $14k to replace windows makes an impact, whether it’s appropriate or not. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

So pretty much from about 2p on I was nervous about how the heck I was supposed to get home to LQA.  I hopped on my bike around 445p and headed downtown.  Not after getting a judgmental look from my boss about having to go toward that area.  Um, do you wanna drive me?

Everything was good down Pine from Capitol Hill.  I even met another lady biker on a sweet Motobecane who was also wearing non-sensible cycling shoes.

 

Then, downtown.

 

All the streets were closed to cars! It was like a biking dream.  Of course there were cops swarmed everywhere, and yes I almost got clipped by a scary looking black suburban with under-cover police cars tailing it, but no stupid drivers not using their signals or checking their blind spots!  Stuff dreams are made of, kids.  While stopped at 5th Ave I commented to a dude next to me how wonderful it was.

“Yes! Really! There should be riots every day!” he said.

May
07

by bike & bus

The beginning of my very first blog! Well, unless you count LiveJournal in the early 00s. But that was mostly for passive-aggressive sad-sap emo behavior I, and every other 20-something, was sporting at the time.

For the last 2 years I have been an avid pedestrian and Metro’er. I have funny, sometimes hilarious, rarely scary, always interesting experiences while commuting around Seattle.

To celebrate the 2-year anniversary of my not owning a vehicle, I decided to purchase a bike. The saga of my bike-search is another post for another time, but I am now the proud owner of a 2008 Schwinn World Sport hybrid. I have a lot of work to put in to it (new saddle, grips, and pedals are en route), but it’s a great bike for me right now.

My dream bike is a Bianchi Milano Citta. Again, another post for another time. (but – if you know someone who is selling theirs, I need a 19.5”.)

So anyhow, now I get around this beautiful city of Seattle by foot, by Metro, and by Sally my Schwinn. I’ll be chronicling my daily commute, amongst other things.

Cheers!
N