Sunday, November 27, 2011

No Black Friday Post this Year

Last night I was having trouble falling asleep and to add to this tossing and turning I realized that I had forgotten to do my annual Black Friday post about this awful tradition in America where citizens fight one another for two-dollar waffle irons and pepper spray their fellow Americans (no, I will not link to these items because they are old and everyone's probably read them already, anyway).

So, just thought I'd acknowledge that there was no Black Friday post this year because it seems like there are enough people on the Internet scorning this practice, now, that it makes my contribution seem mundane.  Here are some links, though, to my previous screeds.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

"Pussy" about biking?

Instead of writing about the Breakfast on the Plaza event I helped the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board of the City of Gainesville with this morning, I will instead link to this DKos piece posted by A. Siegel who is a dedicated poster about things eco on the Daily Kos site. Here is one of those situations that we have all had happen to us on one side or the other; confronted with cyclists who feel utterly entitled to take up as much road as possible. This is why we have Bike vs. Truck races to show how inefficient cycling is - I believe that it is the best form of transportation especially in the city, but because of jokers who make it slow-going for auto drivers this is the kind of unsupportive backlash the cycling community as a whole has to deal with. We have to share the road, people, and we have to make sure drivers can see us, that's all I'm saying.

Dakova Batey helping a cyclist get the right fit for their helmet at today's Breakfast on the Plaza on Downtown Gainesville's Bo Diddly Plaza.  The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board, through the City of Gainesville, handed out safety equipment such as helmets and lights to area cyclists.  Dakova is the coordinator for this great, great group (of which I was once a member [shameless plug])