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Review - Los Gallos Taqueria (or, How To Choose a Mexican Restaurant)
IntroductionRoad trips can be great for dining. They can also be lousy if you guess wrong about a restaurant. (For example, I went to a dynamite-looking Bavarian pastry shop in Michigan back in ’94...
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My Father’s Things ... Looking For a Home
IntroductionThis post is about getting rid of my late father’s stuff. Not the valuable stuff, like his house and his car (which have new owners), but all the rest of the stuff that meant something to...
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The Autocomplete Zeitgeist
IntroductionAs everybody knows, Google Autocomplete is a function of Google Search that starts providing feedback even before you’re finished typing your search query. The search engine predicts what...
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Biased Blow-By-Blow - 2018 Paris-Roubaix
IntroductionCycling commentators are professionals. That means they generally hold their tongues, and don’t bag on anybody, even the dopers and the clowns. I’m an amateur with nothing to lose, so I...
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From the Archives - Fiction - Roommate
Introduction It being a slow news day, here’s a bit of short fiction from my archives. Enjoy please enjoy. Roommate – June 1, 1989It was an art, really. Nobody cooked ramen‑spaghetti like Nick did...
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Ode on a Double-Edged Razor
NOTE: This post is rated R for mild strong language.IntroductionSometimes when I’m feeling grateful for a consumer product, I am moved to write a poem. This is one of those times.The PoemOde on a...
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The Maple Syrup Relabeling Travesty
IntroductionIn my last post, I lambasted modern razors, which are excessively expensive and fictitiously superior to what your dad or grandfather used to use. I should probably blog next on a...
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Beer Pix - Pure Beck’sting Satisfaction
NOTE: This post is rated R for alcohol references, mild strong language, and an obscene gesture.IntroductionAs I’ve noted before, people seem to really love photos of beer. Once in a while I forget to...
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From the Archives - How a Camp Stove Almost Cost Me My Marriage
IntroductionIt goes without saying that every obstacle thrown at us presents a litmus test of our value as a human being. If you can’t meet every challenge with grace and aplomb, they might as well...
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College Application Frequently Asked Questions
IntroductionI have a teenager who is a junior in high school and will apply to colleges this fall. Through her advance work and the helpful advice I have received from other parents, teachers,...
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Is It Harder to Get Into a Top College Now?
IntroductionIn my last post, I presented a list of college application “frequently asked questions.” Because research is a hassle, I didn’t do any. My answers were all based on what I’ve heard from...
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My Humiliating Senior Prom!
NOTE: This post is rated R for mild strong language and alcohol references.IntroductionThe official story I tell my kids is that I never went to the senior prom. Allegedly I couldn’t, because I had...
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From the Archives - Horsefly Spider Smackdown!
IntroductionHere is another bike touring tale from my archives. I had photographic proof of this remarkable incident, but this was 24 years ago and I can’t find the photo. Alas.The spider and the...
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Bomb Pop - A Bicycle Retrospective
IntroductionI’m enchanted with the spoken track “The Pontiac” on the Tom Waits album Orphans (Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards). I won’t try to describe it—just click here to listen. I played it for my...
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New York City Bagels
IntroductionI think that, in general, New York City is overrated. Probably this is because of cognitive dissonance … the people who live and suffer there need to overrate everything to justify their...
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Biased Blow-By-Blow - 2018 Tour de France Stage 1 & GC Preview
NOTE: This post is rated R for mild strong language and intimations of not necessarily consensual sensuality.IntroductionTraditional coverage of bicycle racing refrains from subjective judgments; legit...
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From the Archives - How to Be a UCSB Student
IntroductionIt’s not back-to-school time yet, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned about the younger generation, it’s they they’re organized and plan ahead. So as a service to them, and because it’s a...
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Biased Blow-By-Blow - 2018 Tour de France Stage 16
IntroductionOf course there are many ways for you to enjoy the Tour de France, or at least try. My blog has the distinction of whimsy: if I feel like casting aspersions on this or that rider, I will....
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Cycling Commentary - Why I Believe Chris Froome Is a Doper
IntroductionI have been doing “biased blow-by-blow” bike race reports on this blog for over five years now. My gimmick is that, not being a professional journalist, I don’t have to hold my tongue. If I...
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Cycling Commentary - Why I Believe Chris Froome Is a Doper - Part II
IntroductionIn my last post, I laid out the first half of my case against Chris Froome: that is, why I think (and have long thought) he’s a doper. My aim isn’t to change anybody’s mind on this—I doubt...
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