This blog is getting a new theme (which you probably won’t see in a feed, which I’m guessing is the only way anyone will still see this site). It’s also getting moved out of my root directory and to the following address:

(This entry is also a test to see if posts show up in my existing Google Reader. And yes, I do have my own site in my Google Reader. Never said I wasn’t an egomaniac.)

Yeah, you knew I was going to be excited about it. I breathlessly gloated about acquiring my current phone lo those many years ago, and now it’s time for an upgrade. The current phone is really showing its age, too; I have to preemptively tell Liz to hush about its slowness every time she picks it up.

FaceTime… eh. When it’s integrated with iChat and Skype, maybe. I’m excited about HD video (I almost bought a Flip; glad I waited), that amazing display, and the case. And if there’s a gyro mouse app… wow. Just wow.

Think I’m going to go for white, possibly with a black bumper case if I can bear to cover up that steel band. I’ve never dropped my current phone, which leads me to think I’d be okay without it.

Switch plans this weekend. (Off the parents’ fam plan — yeah, I know, but it’s so much cheaper — and on to one with Liz.) Pre-order on Tuesday, the 15th. Pure steel-and-glass bliss on June 24th.*

* You better believe that if I can’t get it shipped to me on release date, I’m picking it up at the store, waiting in line like a sucker.

I am sorely disappointed about the lack of Mac Mini updates. I really need one to replace some DVR functionality (since I ditched digital cable) and act as a beefy set-top box. I’m giving it until June 14th… then ordering one anyway. Damn you, Apple!

I bought a new bike a few months ago— a Specialized Allez Double Steel. I wanted a steel, traditional-geometry road bike, and this fit the bill very well. It was cheap, but the components aren’t great. So I figured, I’ll upgrade components gradually, and when I get the equivalent of a full build kit, I’ll start saving up for a new frame.

That’s worked out pretty well… except the “gradually” part. Got the bike at the end of February, and by mid-April, I sniped an older-model Ultegra crankset on eBay, and it was all downhill from there.

On Wednesday, the last of my drivetrain parts came, and I started the build last night. Got the old parts torn off, plus the new cassette, bottom bracket, and cranks installed. Now comes the tricky part— derailleurs.

When it’s all said and done, I will have shaved almost two and a half pounds off the stock Allez (including wheels and tires). Can’t wait to ride it.

Fingers crossed, and pictures soon.

I’ve thought about doing it for a while. It’s not a privacy thing. People who whine about (gasp!) your information being public perhaps shouldn’t have put it on a (semi-) public forum. Yeah, it’s a little dickish when access to your information changes with little-to-no notice, but if it’s that private, put it in an e-mail.

No, it’s just a waste of time and a really bad way to keep up with people. I genuinely would like to keep up with at least seventy-five percent of my Facebook friends. But I’d rather you read this site (add the RSS to your Google Reader!), follow me on Twitter, or just talk to me over Gchat, AIM, or e-mail. Details for those:

My RSS
My Twitter (like simple status messages, no BS)
My Gchat: [my last name]@gmail.com
My AIM: [my first + last name, no punctuation]
My e-mail: [my first initial + last name, no punctuation]@mac.com

(I’m also going to get Flickr set up once I have all my photos on one computer.)

So follow me on those if you like, talk to me online, and/or leave an occasional comment on this page. Most importantly, drop me a line and let me know if you have a preferred method of sharing fun stuff– Twitter, blog, Google Reader shares, Flickr feed, whatever.

I just don’t think Facebook is the best way to communicate, and it seems like it’s taken over. It does a lot, but doesn’t do anything very well. And hey, you can integrate everything into RSS feeds anyway.

Okay then. Bye, Facebook. It’s been a long six years.

I bet you were thinking, Man, what’s it going to take for Patrick to BLOG again? Something ridiculous and big huge, I bet!

Well… you’re wrong! Wait, no, the other thing: totally right. You’re totally right.

(Also, I hope you’re reading this via RSS or something, ’cause I’m sure no one ever visits this ghost town in person any more.)

Because I only take to these forgotten corners of the intertubes to share some big freakin’ news. I’m… well…

…To Liz. I mentioned her before. I know I have, because she has her own tag already.

(I picked out the ring — see above — all by myself. I think I did a pretty good job. It’s handmade by a gentleman I found on Etsy. Already thinking about commissioning two more matching pieces…)

I feel like I had a lot more to say, but I guess not. It all went down last night. I got the ring in the mail and wanted to wait until we went to Amsterdam (more on that in the near future; leaving March 5th), but I just couldn’t. We told parents/friends today. (That had to be taken care of before telling the internets.)

More info… well, as soon as we make it up. We’re planning on a small ceremony, but I bet my dad will livecast it if I ask him to.

P.S.: The iPhone corrects “girly” to “gorky”. I just thought you should know that.

Post title taken from this excellent article.

Absolutely. [The regulations are] Anti-cyclist.

I’m all for the sidewalk-riding law, though $300 is way too steep. Leave it at $50 and enforce it, and that’ll be enough incentive for people to not be lazy (i.e., people ride on sidewalks when the street is going the wrong way) or to get over mostly-irrational fears and bike in the bike lane. Yes, accidents occasionally happen when you bike in the road, but they’re far more likely on the sidewalk.

The anti-fixie and registration regulations are sheer public-appeasing prejudice, though. There’s no question that people who ride brakeless are almost certainly able to do so. Registration won’t prevent anything. It’s a tax on a currently-unpopular minority that will overwork the PPD far past its benefits.

And here I go on a bit of a rant, unrelated to the regulations in question:

I’m sick to death of non-bikers screaming for stop-sign and red-light enforcement of cyclists. What about for cars, people? Have you ever seen a car not do a rolling stop at a stop sign? How about buses and taxis (and others) inching (or more) onto the crosswalk and into the intersection when they think a light is about to change? Bikes can be dangerous, yes, but they don’t have a literal ton of metal behind their motion. Bikes are not cars. They are lighter, more maneuverable, and afford much much better visibility.

And speaking of the differences, don’t get me started on cars (especially taxis) that floor the gas from stoplight to stoplight, easily reaching 40-45, then slamming on the brakes 10 yards from the traffic light. Not only is this terrible for the environment (air and noise pollution), but it exacerbates the gas crisis to no end, and probably causes more accidents in a year than bikes do in a decade.

Enough has been said about pedestrians already. They appear from nowhere and jaywalk across the street, ignore red lights at intersections, then have the gall to act like cyclists are the only/biggest problem with Center City traffic? Infuriating.

This is all to say… if drivers and pedestrians were saints, then I would not chafe at calls for a crackdown on “scofflaw cyclists”. But with rampant lawlessness by ALL travelers who believe that saving a few seconds (at most) is worth lives, well… PPD has bigger problems than a cyclist rolling through an obviously-clear intersection.

Or maybe I just like being lazy and watching other people work.

I’m a bit hesitant to do this, because I’d like to keep it all to myself. But then… I know it wouldn’t be around very long if no one shared the awesomeness.

There’s a new food cart on Penn campus. I found out about it from Under the Button and my friend Stephanie. I checked it out at about 2:30 this afternoon. It has an awesome name: Coup de Taco. The “storefront” looks like this:

Awesome logo too, no? But. BUT. The even more awesome part is the food. I had the Chicken Tikka Masala and BBQ Pulled Pork tacos. The latter looked something like this:

It had diced apples in it, people. DICED APPLES. IT WAS FANTASTIC. The fact that I only remembered to take a picture 75% of the way through my second one should say something.

The most happy I’ve ever been from a $6 purchase? It’s possible. Laced with something? A Prozaco? Also possible. I will be going back. Probably tomorrow. Until then, there’s the blog. I’ll recommend a Twitter account when i go back.

(If I forgot anyone in the Philadelphia area, let me know if you’d like to stop by. It will be fun and delicious.)

DEAR FRIENDS, ROMANS, COWORKERS:

THE TIME IS AGAIN UPON US to put more formerly-alive foodstuffs (yes, soybeans count*) into my beautiful vertical water smoker oven contraption. (* Because if turkeys and I both have souls — a big if — then so do soybeans.)

THE CONCEPT FOR THIS EVENT will be something of an early Thanksgiving. A warmup, if you will. A practice round. The centerpiece will be a brined, smoked, basted, delicious turkey. Apparently smoking is a really nice treatment for turkey, and the recipe is coming from the same cookbook as the pork shoulder from last time (i.e., I have high high expectations).

I WILL ALSO SMOKE A TOFURKEY (or something similar) for the herbivores, and probably sausage, mushrooms etc to make meat and vegetarian stuffings (though it won’t actually go into any avian orifices).

THEREFORE, GOOD PEOPLE, it is incumbent upon you to bring your favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. Or beer. Beer is always good. Last time we had 2.5 cases and went through them like they were, well, beer at a barbecue. (That is to say: very quickly.) But I have good, tasty, easy recipes for mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, sweet potato dishes, and various vegetables if you would like to flex your culinary muscles.

THE DATE OF THIS SHINDIG is to be November 21st, the Saturday before Thanksgiving. (Probably. If there’s a popular uprising against the 21st, the 14th may be considered.) The festivities will begin at 5 pm to catch the last of the late Fall twilight. Come early to soak up the sun (along with the best of the beer selection). I live at 1130 S 26th St. It’s a bit out of the way, but very easy to bike to (I have space on my back patio to secure bikes) and there’s always plenty of parking.

PLUS ONES ARE WELCOME. Please RSVP (again, yes, I know that’s redundant) when you can; let me know if you’re bringing anyone, any dietary restrictions, and let me know what you might be so kind as to bring along.

YOU WILL BE REMINDED approximately a week before the event.

CARRY ON, GOOD PEOPLE.

–Patrick
(Henceforth known as Señor Coconut. See below.)