Spring is already here!

Warm weather is creeping up on us already and February has just started...I am weary of RV having to go through a flashback moment with the heat wave that scorched us heavily a couple of years back.

What this sunshine is doing is making me have to re-adjust to sleeping on some common time zone and wanting very badly to begin preparation for our tandem biking.

So many beautiful parts of France surround us and I can't imagine a more pleasant awakening then cycling with RV to find some peaceful spots we can retreat to when needed. I want to smell nature and bring our tasty picnics along, I want to draw and write then take an afternoon nap in the sun...



-RV's Girl Listening to France Musique

Two Years Ago...

Two Years ago, I was a mess. I felt that so many choices I had made were turning me into an alcoholic zombie, a wandering heart with too much love given and taken and I felt very alone despite.

Had it not been for a wonderful friend and confidante, I don't think that I would be sitting here content, calm and so sure of who I am and where I am at.

This special person became my boyfriend. His naive wisdom captivated me and his obvious intelligence, way beyond the norm of someone his age, gave me a voice to work out my bohemian thoughts I had collected so hastily along the way. I admit, I felt very strongly against our partnership and tried thoughout our first year to deter him from me. I was dangerous and seeing how friends and acquaintances had taken claim on their interpretation of me, he was undeserving of a life or first love with 'someone' like me. Yet, something deeper was always there, a notice, a sign that even if just platonic, we would have gotten together somehow anyway.

The first awkward moment of intimacy was catapulted by innocent drinks, good conversation and the dreaded early last call of Dublin bars. We walked to my temporary rental and after great discussion, I asked him to leave for fear I would take advantage of him, he stayed. For a week.

Neither of us understood what this meant be we remained, we truly respected eachother as friends. We continued in a hazy mix of exploratory sex, talk and drink.

I finally said goodbye after a shared taxi ride on the way to the airport. He dropped off and the taxi sped forward. I turned back, not knowing why, and there he was smiling as I was. Our shared moment was the beginning of what began a sweet and torturous realisation that indeed we were a good couple.

A year ago we swayed in eachother's arms at one of the best concerts of my life. We celebrated by living together for the first time and discovering from a non long distance trial that relationships can be simple, that adventure can be found without chaos and that we loved eachother for who we were and nothing changed except out growing affection, imagination and trust.

With all the mistakes and hard times I have made RV encounter along this journey, I realise now that fear and uncertainty took reign; that I was so scared of giving myself completely and scared of who I really was. Silly Girl. Who would have thought this young man would teach me a thing or two. RV you did teach me so many things and I know that now.

RV is an incredible person and lover. He never rejects any idea or emotion and only makes me want to be a better person. I still look out for him like a protective older sister (he is too nice!) but never will I underestimate his knowledge and capacity to love, to love me.

Through all these hard times, you were there for me because you believed I wasn't so bad. Baby, thank you...RV I am so proud to be with you for two years and I hope that there are many more to come.


Happy Anniversary! Many, many kisses from your 'Mogwai'.



-RV's Girl Listening to UNKLE

Canadian Environmentalist Tim Harvey on CBC

An interesting and thought provoking segment (originally aired in Nov.2006 on CBC) on Tim Harvey who biked, canoed and tried to make his way around the world, emission free.

This feature documents the many obstacles Harvey faced including losing his initial partner and having to find a way out of various situations that could have deterred his plight.

See the video here via Google Video.

"It began as a dream to adventure by zero-emission means: Vancouver to Moscow by human power. The dream then grew - how to make it home, and circle the world, without fossil fuels? It took two and a half years on bicycles, by foot, in rowboats, canoes, wooden raft and under sail, on a route across five continents and two oceans."

To learn more about the trip click here to see the official site.



-RV's Girl

What Happens When...

You make a barter 'ad deal' with someone and they don't do their share?

It's gone! Sorry!

(Anyway, I'm not that much of a bitch so here is the direct link to them)



-RV's Girl listening to RV watching Aeon Flux

Monday Morning...

Been up since six this morning due to mogwai interference but I overcame my tiredness as soon as it was light out, its funny how your body tells you your not tired simply because there was a transition from dark to bright.

Anyway this gives me a chance to do a little blogging as the mogwai is sleeping and I have the computer to myself for another hour or so and so I can impart onto you the wonderful things my journey through the internets has thought me this morning.

First up is a great bike related project from Trondheim Norway that I caught on Rocketboom and thought was worth a mention. Trondheim has the highest bicycle use in Norway, maybe even the developed world (90% of people claiming it is their primary means of transport) and one of reasons for this is the cities investment in an infrastructure that includes dedicated bike paths and this fantastic invention. Its a bicycle lift that transports you and your bike to the top of what I assume is a very steep hill. You can see a youtube video here.

And now another innovative transport solution found on BoingBoing earlier, its called Train and is was created by the French design duo HEHE. I love this idea.

Still thinking about that tandem design and no one has been forthcoming with any solutions as to how to create a DIY tandem bike that can be broken down and carried which means one of two thing either no one has any solutions or no one reads this:-)

Ok its bye bye from me, stay tuned...

Hello Friends...

Ok, this is my first post of 2007, its a little late I know but the WiFi signal that was so graciously left unsecured by some wonderful person who probably lives not more than one hundred feet from me suddenly vanished. And so I got a little lazy not wanting to hog my favorite girls laptop for too long because she has things to do to and also because I have to surf for at least four to five hours before I overcome the static friction, open blogger and build up the speed necessary to write two hundred words or so. Its not easy for me, this is why I quit my job to begin with, so I could work when I wanted to not when I had to.

Well enough of my ranting, its the new year and my special lady friend has taken her new years resolution to heart and started smoking rolling tobacco as part of of cost cutting exercise, and she is pretty good at rolling to. I also think this is better for her than the French cigarettes she was smoking before as well as the fact that she saves about fifty Euro a week.

On the bike front Ive been thinking about our dream to go biking together in the spring and trying to figure out how we can make or get a tandem that can fold up so we can take it on trains easily. I'm all ears in terms of suggestions. Stay tuned.

The Begininng Of A Slow Week...

And, it's Thursday! Rv & I had an awesome holiday weekend with ALOT of food and drink AND good sex! We amused ourselves and ended up making a funny Christmas meal on Monday. Normally when you make stuffing it's supposed to be with Turkey but we created the Holiday Stuffed Ham Roll!

Here's a glance at the beauty. Ta-da!


The Turkey we purchased turned bad on the 24th and RV said that 'normal people' usually eat on Christmas day so luckily we enjoy improvisation.

We finished off the stuffing properly though the day after for Boxing Day after a match of chess with chicken filets as the Turkey stench never left us and we were too scared to try again and be disappointed. We weren't. Yummy. It was the first time in my life I made a Christmas dinner.


We finished the evening with a viewing of 'Shortbus'. Surprisingly this is a great film to see as a couple, or maybe more appropriately, for the kind of couple we are. John Cameron Mitchell made a film so warm and human that the fact of real sexual acts being performed is relevant without it being 'porn' or awkward or whatever it was/is negative responses have deemed. Don't follow the sheep, see it for yourself. If you haven't seen JCM's Hedwig yet, watch that too and make it a double feature.


I'm kind of surprised the end of year is already near. RV picked up our key for the workshop yesterday, on bike, and now we have to load up on champagne, supplies and get the place running. I can't wait. We have been slowly leading up to bigger and greater things and like it always feels, some things are worth the wait.

Hope your Christmas was wonderful, no matter what shape or form.



-RV's Girl Listening to Trente Moller Essential Mix

Our DIY USB Powered Mini Christmas Tree

Video

About

Happy Holidays!!

-RV's Girl Listening to SomaFM

Happy Christmas Everybody:-)

Well its that time of year again and its my first Christmas away from home but its ok I have my girl to keep me company. We basically plan to eat, drink, smoke and watch a vast array of televisual delights which I'm sure will be beamed into our telebox.

Anyway, my special lady friend found this wonderful website somewhere on the net the other day and I've been itching to post about it since she dropped it in my inbox. Millegomme is a site which specializes in the creation of a range of objects which utilize old bike and car tyres in their construction. There is very little information on the site that describes Millegomme but I think their primary mission is to put on workshops that teach children and adults about recycling by focusing on the reuse of tyres which are a cheap and abundant material.



Today Make magazine has a link to a site which supplies kits that can turn your modest bike into a crazy pedal powered snow mobile. I don't know what sort of ride this would be but it looks like a barrel of fun. Just add snow.

So its bye bye from me, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the rest of In the Actors Studio with Eddie Murphy. Have a great holiday everyone.

Pedal-powerd LED Reindeer Billboard

"One by one, 120 volunteers took turns on a single bicycle to power a 1500 LED reindeer billboard in Vancouver, BC. The holiday showcase, sponsored by DDB/Vancouver and BC Hydro (hydro is a Canadian term for power or electricity), was powered solely by the cycling samaritans for 5 days straight." - Taken from Core77

-RV's Girl Listening to Radio Suisse Classique

Sunday Morning...

Hello again have been on a really weird schedule of late, getting up at three in the morning trying to stay awake as long as possible and usually back in bed by six of seven in the evening. It was a terrible regime. I was constantly tired and depressed as I had to wait for hours before anything was open, actually I had to wait for hours till the sun came up so I could go out. I think I've managed to shake it today I got up at half seven had breakfast and I sit here now typing at a more social hour than I have in a while. I think the point of this account is to demonstrate how not having a rhythm to your day that corresponds with the natural light cycle can screw with your brain. I'm all better now, I think...

Anyway, my girl spotted this the other day on Treehugger. Sussex enterprises are a company that builds shaft driven bikes, yes bikes with no chain. I like this idea it add to the complexity of the bike but the overall performance and efficiency is apparently increased. It seem like the type of assembly that would require very little maintenance and it looks solid enough to me. Some people a sticklers for doing things the old way and are not open to new concepts like this so I hope it takes off. I feel their folding city bike is the perfect thing for those commuters who would bring a bike on a train or bus for a portion of their journey and the shaft system should drastically reduce the possibility of getting oil on you work clothes while you carry it.

Well winter is here and you may have noticed that it gets dark a lot earlier now so you'll be needing a decent light on that bike or your so you don't cripple yourself by hitting a pothole or curb. I would always forget to take the little LED lights off me bike when I parked it in the city and so they were always being stolen. These little lights never really worked for me as I could be seen by other road users but on a dark road I couldn't really see what was in front of me. The construction was crap to, the little plastic mounts were weak and attaching them with cable ties made the vandals were more determined. One solution is to make your own bike lamp. The Make magazine blog has this little piece (Is well as other links) on how to build your own heavy duty, 18V (Looks like a drill battery), super duper bike light. The full instruction set is available here through instructables.

Reuters has an article today about extreme recycling in Antarctica. Everything that is produced by the myriad of scientific expeditions there is boxed up and sent back to America to be recycled. There are fines and other punishments for anybody on the continent who breaks the strict rules which are in place to protect the delicate environment there which is under threat as it is from global warming. This is something that should be a lessen to us all in my opinion.


Another environmental piece that has been doing the rounds the last few days is this list of the top ten alternative energy solutions for the future. An interesting read, no one of these technologies will be the saving grace of humanity but if we combine them all an apply them in environments where they will be best suited then we can replace virtually all our current fossil fuel dependent transport and power stations.

Ok I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday. Bye bye...

ATB...

DIY all terrain bike, now you can go anywhere under pedal power. I love custom bikes of all shapes, sizes and uses.










Things here are pretty relaxed now that my parents have gone home. They did bring over my micro-synth so RV and Girl can make crazy sounds together and I received the Arduino micro-controller I ordered last week so lots of little projects to look forward to over the Christmas period.