Dear everyone who have been following this blog,
I have decided to discontinue this one and begin a fresh one about my new life as a grad student. You can find it here:
http://trainingcavalier.blogspot.com/
Thanks for following!
- Sophia.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Bonfire!
Liam has a tradition of building giant fires with the wood tossed from the Court Theatre stage set. It's also a goodbye get together for him, and soon to be myself.
It started out nice and tame. He had stopped by a cleaners to ask for some hangers to roast our hot dogs and marshmallows. I supplied marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers and felt very well prepared. He brought ... hot dogs, sausages, a pineapple, bell peppers, zucchini, onions, condiments: in short, a feast fit for kings and queens. Such a man. The veggies were for "foil pouches," something I haven't tried on a bonfire before, but I hope to replicate in the future.
Soon the evening was winding down and we still had a giant pile of wood left. So Liam threw the rest on to the fire and a giant conflagration ensued.
The fire was so hot that we all moved away from sitting on the stone benches to admire Liam's (pyro) handiwork. Some guy stopped by and asked us for a lighter. It was amusing to see Liam reach into the fire with his bare hands to pull out some embers, and then even more amusing to see the guy dart his face close enough to the flaming stick to light his cigarette.
Earlier on, Miles had amused us by attempting (and somewhat successfully???) roasting an egg over the flames. Actually, it exploded, leaving eggshell shrapnel on my face ... but Loren neatly outdid him later on by attempting to roast a chicken thigh on our "frankenstick." (hanger + stick)
All in all, a good evening.
It started out nice and tame. He had stopped by a cleaners to ask for some hangers to roast our hot dogs and marshmallows. I supplied marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers and felt very well prepared. He brought ... hot dogs, sausages, a pineapple, bell peppers, zucchini, onions, condiments: in short, a feast fit for kings and queens. Such a man. The veggies were for "foil pouches," something I haven't tried on a bonfire before, but I hope to replicate in the future.
Soon the evening was winding down and we still had a giant pile of wood left. So Liam threw the rest on to the fire and a giant conflagration ensued.
The fire was so hot that we all moved away from sitting on the stone benches to admire Liam's (pyro) handiwork. Some guy stopped by and asked us for a lighter. It was amusing to see Liam reach into the fire with his bare hands to pull out some embers, and then even more amusing to see the guy dart his face close enough to the flaming stick to light his cigarette.
Earlier on, Miles had amused us by attempting (and somewhat successfully???) roasting an egg over the flames. Actually, it exploded, leaving eggshell shrapnel on my face ... but Loren neatly outdid him later on by attempting to roast a chicken thigh on our "frankenstick." (hanger + stick)
All in all, a good evening.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Commuter Bike #2
A well maintained bike is a happy bike, and my commuter bike has been in need of some happiness for a while. Part of this is intentional. In the caste of bicycles, my commuter would be on the level of Undesirable. The frame is a women's Schwinn Worldsport - unremarkable to two types of cyclists: Hipster/Messengers and Racers. For Hipster/Messengers, it's unappealing because it's inelegant, no one wants women's frames, and I don't have it set up as a fixie. For Racers, dude, that frame is HEAVY. The finishing touches of Undesirable come in the form of the general look of unkempt-ness: the paint is mad-chipped on the frame, the bar tape looks ragged and about to unravel. Thus, even to the third category of cyclists, Ordinary Folks Who Cycle, it looks like it's in dreadful shape. However, this is exactly what I love about this commuter. I'm hoping that this deters people who would steal my bike. This, and a good Kryptonite U-lock, of course.
The big secret of course, is that it runs great. While taking some bicycle maintenance classes, my bike provided a nice example case several times, so it not only received a new cable and housing, but also a newly packed rear hub. The friction shifters are difficult to break, and the chain is pretty stretched out, but i'm not looking for instantaneous shifting on this thing anyways. The cassette looks pretty sturdy/chunky/beefy ... certainly not one of those Shimano/Campy/Sram race worthy deals. The biggest liability was the saddle. Chunks of saddle had long been lost, and I have kept it this long because it makes bike look so delightfully awful, but I decided that the gaping foam gets too wet when it comes to rain. Fortunately, someone on Bike and Build abandoned a saddle last year, so I had a spare one handy. $50 saved!
The trick is not to forget how the pieces go together ... I'm more accustomed to the modern seatpost design, and it was rather unnerving to see so many different parts going into clamping a saddle. Also, they are so corroded that I wonder if it's even safe to use them ... ?
Part of learning bicycle maintenance is trouble shooting. The first time I put my saddle back on, I realized that I mounted the clamp backwards. I'm sure it wouldn't have done much lasting damage, but the inner cyclist geek in me squirmed at the thought of other cyclist geeks raising an eyebrow at the awkward saddle clamp ... and it didn't take long to switch it around. Shiny new saddle!
The big secret of course, is that it runs great. While taking some bicycle maintenance classes, my bike provided a nice example case several times, so it not only received a new cable and housing, but also a newly packed rear hub. The friction shifters are difficult to break, and the chain is pretty stretched out, but i'm not looking for instantaneous shifting on this thing anyways. The cassette looks pretty sturdy/chunky/beefy ... certainly not one of those Shimano/Campy/Sram race worthy deals. The biggest liability was the saddle. Chunks of saddle had long been lost, and I have kept it this long because it makes bike look so delightfully awful, but I decided that the gaping foam gets too wet when it comes to rain. Fortunately, someone on Bike and Build abandoned a saddle last year, so I had a spare one handy. $50 saved!
This saddle has seen better days.
The trick is not to forget how the pieces go together ... I'm more accustomed to the modern seatpost design, and it was rather unnerving to see so many different parts going into clamping a saddle. Also, they are so corroded that I wonder if it's even safe to use them ... ?
Part of learning bicycle maintenance is trouble shooting. The first time I put my saddle back on, I realized that I mounted the clamp backwards. I'm sure it wouldn't have done much lasting damage, but the inner cyclist geek in me squirmed at the thought of other cyclist geeks raising an eyebrow at the awkward saddle clamp ... and it didn't take long to switch it around. Shiny new saddle!
Monday, July 27, 2009
A Gentlemanly Century Ride
On Saturday, I pried myself out of bed to ride a century with Tony's group.
Tony has assembled an intriguing group of cyclists who live in the Hyde Park area. They are all somewhere over 40 years old, have very intimidating professions, ride shiny expensive bicycles, and keep a very steady 18 - 22 mph. Needless to say, I felt somewhat out of place as the lone Asian, 20 something year old female on a low end Specialized Roubaix. However, they were all very welcoming, and did not make me feel like they didn't want me there or anything.
On the way out to Indiana Dunes, I rode alongside Ralph, an Austrian professor of Art History. We ended talking briefly about his specialization (Romanticism ... which I sadly know very little about), and quickly moved on to European architecture. Here was someone who not only appreciated Zumthor, but had visited the Thermal Baths at Vals, Switzerland, went to an exhibit on le Corbusier in Berlin, and wondered my opinion of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's famous prismatic structures in Chicago. It's not often that I get to discuss 3 of my most favorite architects on a bike ride, so I was pretty stoked.
We stopped for lunch, where most of us got some form of breakfast food for sustenance. On the one hand, my bike looked slightly absurd next to a carbon Storck Scenario 1.1 and titanium Serotta, but on the other hand, I was glad that my bike was definitely not the most desirous item when it came to stealing. Belgian waffles + 2 scrambled eggs + coffee = amazing combo.
On the way back, I enterred "survival mode" as I call it at some point. This means I focus on whosever wheel is in front, and all of my mental capacity is devoted to hang on for dear life. I wasn't to the point where I felt absolutely destroyed, and I knew I was getting back, so no worries. And then there were horses on the Point when we got back. Apparently they have a Black Rodeo once a year. It felt pretty surreal to see so many horses in the middle of a city.
And here comes the unfortunate part about the whole thing: when I got home, my mom handed me a salad to eat. I didn't want to not eat it, because I hate letting food go to waste, but with every successive bite, it was getting harder and harder to chew ans swallow. It was as if my body were actively rejecting the vegetables. And then, I just started to feel absolutely awful. Exhausted, depressed, everything. By dinner, I was livid. I had been planning to go to a concert that night, but I ended up cancelling on all my friends, and going to bed early.
Moral of the story: salad after rides is a bad idea.
Tony has assembled an intriguing group of cyclists who live in the Hyde Park area. They are all somewhere over 40 years old, have very intimidating professions, ride shiny expensive bicycles, and keep a very steady 18 - 22 mph. Needless to say, I felt somewhat out of place as the lone Asian, 20 something year old female on a low end Specialized Roubaix. However, they were all very welcoming, and did not make me feel like they didn't want me there or anything.
On the way out to Indiana Dunes, I rode alongside Ralph, an Austrian professor of Art History. We ended talking briefly about his specialization (Romanticism ... which I sadly know very little about), and quickly moved on to European architecture. Here was someone who not only appreciated Zumthor, but had visited the Thermal Baths at Vals, Switzerland, went to an exhibit on le Corbusier in Berlin, and wondered my opinion of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's famous prismatic structures in Chicago. It's not often that I get to discuss 3 of my most favorite architects on a bike ride, so I was pretty stoked.
We stopped for lunch, where most of us got some form of breakfast food for sustenance. On the one hand, my bike looked slightly absurd next to a carbon Storck Scenario 1.1 and titanium Serotta, but on the other hand, I was glad that my bike was definitely not the most desirous item when it came to stealing. Belgian waffles + 2 scrambled eggs + coffee = amazing combo.
On the way back, I enterred "survival mode" as I call it at some point. This means I focus on whosever wheel is in front, and all of my mental capacity is devoted to hang on for dear life. I wasn't to the point where I felt absolutely destroyed, and I knew I was getting back, so no worries. And then there were horses on the Point when we got back. Apparently they have a Black Rodeo once a year. It felt pretty surreal to see so many horses in the middle of a city.
And here comes the unfortunate part about the whole thing: when I got home, my mom handed me a salad to eat. I didn't want to not eat it, because I hate letting food go to waste, but with every successive bite, it was getting harder and harder to chew ans swallow. It was as if my body were actively rejecting the vegetables. And then, I just started to feel absolutely awful. Exhausted, depressed, everything. By dinner, I was livid. I had been planning to go to a concert that night, but I ended up cancelling on all my friends, and going to bed early.
Moral of the story: salad after rides is a bad idea.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Marriages and Bike Races
Rob and Lauren got married on Saturday! They are classmates from U of IL, and they are among the 36 people who studied abroad in Versailles with me for junior year. It is beyond a little surreal as they are my age!It was a very short and sweet ceremony. Liz was super nice and drove me, and it so happens our friend from Versailles, Marine is visiting and came to the wedding too. Actually, Liz, Marine and I made a small detour to the Walgreen's on the way there ... Liz had gotten a framed graphic poster for Rob and Lauren, but she hadn't had time to wrap it. We felt super classy walking into the Walgreen's dressed for a wedding the way we were. We felt even classier wrapping the frame in the Walgreen's parking lot before heading to the reception.
The reception was in a beautiful eclectic village of reception type buildings. Our particular building felt like a large mansion with a gorgeous backyard. Hats off to Lauren :)
The best part was being able to catch up with everyone and taking lots of cheesy Versailles reunion type pictures together. Everyone seems so grownup and elegant all of a sudden, and I still feel like an affordable house builder/cyclist/hippie. 
Today was the Evanston bike race, which is part of Superweek. I didn't actually race because I don't have a Storck, and non-Storck bikes were not allowed on the race car. In stead, I rode up to Evanston with Bernard, Loren Bo, and Joe to spectate.
Apparently this course is notorious for being quite dangerous. One corner in front of the Burger King is called the BK Stacker because of bottleneck corner. We checked it out while watching the men's 4/5 race, and it looks like they've put in a lot of effort to make it safer, notably pinching the road off with a parked car and cones before the corner as well as using plenty of old mattresses.
I was almost tempted to race just because some shop or team brought a fleet of Tarmacs for neutral support! The plan of action was, steal Liam's ancient, many times crashed Trek for a few laps, crash it out, get a Tarmac, and ride off with it.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Last Day at the Med!
Admittedly, I had romanticized working at the Medici a bit because it is such a fixture of my childhood and beyond. And then I got a lesson in real life.
I learned a lot about people in general while working there. How to smile even when completely ticked off by customers. How to politely say no. How to deal with people constantly asking for random extra this and that. What is it with guys, who some may consider physically attractive, asking for discounts and free things? Do they think they have some kind of a reprieve just because they have a cute smile? Strange.
Then again, I will probably come to miss this era of working low-wage jobs while anguishing over the poetics of light for architecture studio. After all, it's not really that stressful to deal with obnoxious customers. You smile at them, watch them leave, laugh at them with co-workers afterwards, and then forget about them. In contrast, I actually care about architecture assignments, and I can't take them lightly at all.
Goodbye, Medici, where Obama eats.
I learned a lot about people in general while working there. How to smile even when completely ticked off by customers. How to politely say no. How to deal with people constantly asking for random extra this and that. What is it with guys, who some may consider physically attractive, asking for discounts and free things? Do they think they have some kind of a reprieve just because they have a cute smile? Strange.
Then again, I will probably come to miss this era of working low-wage jobs while anguishing over the poetics of light for architecture studio. After all, it's not really that stressful to deal with obnoxious customers. You smile at them, watch them leave, laugh at them with co-workers afterwards, and then forget about them. In contrast, I actually care about architecture assignments, and I can't take them lightly at all.
Goodbye, Medici, where Obama eats.
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