i almost died twice this week

ok, maybe not death, but at the very least, severe injury. i've decided cincy is the most un-bikefriendly city in the world. combine cyclists who don't know what they're doing, with people that barely know how to drive and certainly have no idea how to drive around cyclists, stir and you have almost certain mayhem. my first experience was monday - i had ridden my bike to oakley library to pick up some books and then to norwood library for some more. on my way down allison, i signaled that i would be turning left onto courtland. a large black pick up pulled up at the stop sign and stopped. i don't know if they didn't see me or didn't know i was signaling to turn left (i mean, what can i expect, most people in cincy don't know how to use the turn signals in their own cars, much less the proper signals for a bicycle), but as i made my turn, they began to pull out, coming within inches of running me over. left me a little frustrated, little shocked. nothing like an adrenaline rush at the end of a ride.

then yesterday, i decided to ride to mariemont because, well, i've been feeling sedentary this week and wanted to shake off some of the malaise i'd been feeling. i followed mapquest directions to rt 50 and while i was heading into mariemont, i hit a stretch of road where some paving work had recently been done. unfortunately, it didn't reach all the way to the curb, and as i avoided a sewer grate, my tires caught the groove, which nearly sent me sprawling into the traffic coming up behind me. scary, scary moment. made me long for the bike path (which is one of the reasons i wanted to bike to mariemont, to find the best route to getting to the bike path in milford. not sure i've found it yet, but i hope i get the chance to ride out there before summer is gone).

and summer is quickly fading. technically, i still have two full weeks before we start back up, but those days are already filled with stuff. monday i leave for gethsemani for some solitude and time to process before the school year starts. looking forward to hearing what God has to say and where He is leading. after the scattered nature of this summer, i'm hoping for a little focus.

still no idea when i'm leaving for the reunion tomorrow or if i'll be heading out with the 'rents or not. get the feeling i'm just going to have to drive up on my own. i mean, what's another $50 in gas, right?

had breakfast with steve this morning after prayers. interesting conversation about drugs, parenthood, sex and dating (separate parts, not all together - that would just be weird). he gave some good advice on the whole online dating thing, which i still haven't completely followed through with. still stuck on the "ad" portion. never been very good at selling things. i just need to do something - not like i can't alter it later (heh. don't you love anagrams?).

enough rambling. only solid thing on the agenda today is the cookout tonight at the brownhouse - first time i've been able to go. also need to download my monthly songs from emusic before they expire on sunday. was going to cancel after this month, but have decided to go one more month. want to pick up the decemberists and possibly the new leigh nash. we'll see.
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Tunes: new order - krafty

question two

do you believe in ghosts or evil spirits? would you be willing to spend a night alone in a remote house that is supposedly haunted?

i stand with bill here:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy

i've always had a fascination with ghosts. some of my earliest memories are of reading ghost stories or hearing them and wondering about them. i had an old alfred hitchcock record that i listened to over and over and over again. strangely enough, it's hard to scare me now. rarely does a horror film get me worked up. i do believe there are inexplicable events in this world that we cannot make sense of. and i believe some of them may be caused by someone beyond the grave.

look, if we are truly immortal souls and if we truly believe there is more to our existence than this earthly existence, then why would we deny the fact that perhaps souls find their way back to us? i know for a long time we've sought to limit what is true to only what we can prove. i just can't buy that. it's like the celtic idea of "thin places" where another world exists just the other side of this one. and sometimes there's crossover. and just because it doesn't fit into our box of reality doesn't mean it isn't true.

as for spending the night alone in a supposedly haunted house....i don't know. i definitely could see myself getting myself totally worked up over every little sound. and it being remote - i just imagine myself becoming spooked and running out of a room, only to knock myself unconscious where i would be left while spiders and all kinds of creepy things crawled all over my body.

ah the joys of an overactive imagination.

so yeah, i believe in ghosts. and spirits, both good and evil. and i'd probably spend the night in a haunted house alone - as long as i was assured there were no spiders. ghosts i can handle. spiders are a whole different story....
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Tunes: grant-lee phillips - lonesome serenade

a quickie

need to be heading downstairs to fix something edible for tonight's house church but wanted to check in.

the good news: i bit the bullet and talked to my insurance agent and found out, because i've not had an incident in over ten years, my little fender bender will not negatively affect my insurance, meaning my rates will not go up. this is excellent news to me. so now i just have to wait for state farm to call me back with a claim number and i'll be able to get lorelai looking beautiful again. and it should help dawn get her car back in order as well. the part is waiting at kevin's, so now i wait.

i also called gethsemani today to see about doing a retreat there next week, but they didn't return my call today. hopefully tomorrow. be good to get away, get focused before the school year begins. lots of thoughts and experiences to process.

family reunion is this weekend - i was going to be speaking at our weekly gathering, but kevin graciously agreed to switch with me. i don't do nearly enough with the extended family and it's always a good time. i'm hoping things work out so i can ride up with mom and dad - save me the four-hour-plus drive and the gas expense. would like to get home semi-early on sunday - alison's having a new house warming get together at her new place and since there's a pool, sounds like quite the shindig.

why is my first reaction upon hearing someone likes me always, "You're kidding, right?"

picked up three books to read yesterday - anansi boys - gaiman; son of a witch - maguire; the great omission - willard. now with nothing going on in the evenings, i should have plenty of time to read. also watched wallace and gromit, but need to do so again because i kept fading in and out (my fault, not the movie's).


cooking time. more later.
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Tunes: lost dogs - the business is going down