Terrarium Class!

Last night Annie, Rashaun, Jenny and I took a class at the Palm Room in Ballard. The class was on terrariums. So much fun! Maybe it was because we had the instructor all to ourselves because no one else showed up or maybe it was the fact that making our own self sustaining tropical ecosystems is rad. Either way, we are starting a terrarium club. This is where we all pool money to get supplies for our hobby. Phew I was feeling like I was running out of them.

Very first terrarium ever! I can't remember the plant names but the big one was called a spotted something or other, there is a tiny fern type plant and some moss.


This one is a lean mean terrarium. I the plant is a climber type and it has some rocks for company. I should have trimmed it down to it could venture around the vessel. We will see how it does.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

FEDERAL HOLIDAY!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!

Now I got that out of my system. Man I love three day weekends. Three day weekends mean fun and super productivity. Today I finished my bicycle project (even though I am not going to have a chance to ride my bike for another two weeks due to doctor's orders). A doctor isn't going to keep me from finishing my bike. I called the Dutch Bike Company to see if they got my basket in. I phoned up and got Alex who told me that he just got the package in of what appeared to be baskets. He then proceeded to open the package with me on the phone which sounded hilarious because it seemed like he was holding the phone purposefully close enough so I could hear each part of the box opening and being unpacked. "It's like Christmas, or my birthday, or like I ordered a package and I am opening it up for the surprise... but I am not there...." I awkwardly said to break the phone silence (Hey, I don't know if it is just me or if it is our generation but I feel like I have become a terrible phone conversationalist. Don't even get me started on leaving messages. Okay I just did. I leave the most rambling messages on the planet. They may or may not include singing. So socially awkward.). Long story which is still long they had my basket in. And I headed down to the shop. Just as everything I do, nothing was as easy as just attaching the basket to my bike. The bars which attached to my wheel to the basket were too long. Alex was ever so kind in drilling new holes and cutting the bars. He also helped me get the bike up and running with the new basket.

Now a not so shameful plug. Dutch Bike Company is awesome my friend. I highly recommend giving them your business. They are a small shop with limited accessories and bikes but the guys who run it are super friendly and not pretentious at all. Great senses of humor all around. Hell, they laughed at my terrible jokes so you already have that in common with them! They spent countless half hours to hours on my simple basket project alone. I think that I will try to beat the spring rush and bring my Tiny Giant into their shop for a tune up.

Oh you want to see the finished product? Well see below. I am going to add corks to the inside of my handle bars so I will not core myself. Oh and not only did I work on my bike but I replotted some plants.

So you might be wondering what I mean by "core myself". This is a horror story told to me by my old roommate, Bobby. It is really important to put stoppers in the ends of your handle bars because if you don't and you are involved in an accident there is a good chance that you could land on your handlebars and they can penetrate your skin taking a good cylindrical chunk from your body. Sorry. The more you know, people, the more you know.

And then I did this.

The night was still young. I decided to use some of the left over leather from my handlebar grips to make a little pouch for my iPhone.

What did you do tonight?

Well I cleaned my apartment and did a little shoe maintenance. After watching an episode produced by the guys at Put This On I decided to clean my leather shoes up. All I have here is Buffalo Butter which is a leather cleaner and conditioner. I need to get my hands on some polish but the question is how do you pick out the best polish for your shoes? I have so many different colors of leather shoes, even a pair of black and white wing tips. The question is still up in the air. Conditioning alone has really brought the life back into my shoes. After the conditioner dried I did a little buffing to get the excess conditioner off. I feel very productive!


My Shoes!


Oh and I went on a walk today to go to the Ballard Farmers Market. I walked the same route as my run the other night so I could confront my enemy: the crack in the sidewalk. Well I found the culprit.

This sidewalk is an asshole.

New Additions to the IRO

Today I followed through making a pair of leather grips for the handle bars of my IRO bike. I needed a new pair after deciding to switch out my handle bars to make room for a basket. Pretty much they are two rectangles with holes punched along the two long sides and sewn together onto the bar. I used waxed linen thread. I couldn't find the actual natural tan color at the store like I wanted but the black does well for now. We will see how they hold up!


Top side view of the new grips.



Looking from the bottom up at the stitching.

The Great Fall of 2011

As you may know I am a very active person. You may not know that. Well I am. The last year I have been plagued with tendinosis of the ham string. It has really taken me out of my favorite activities. Well tomorrow I am slated for a procedure called an Autologous Blood Injection (ABI) at the University of Washington's Sports Medicine Clinic. This will hopefully help with my recovery because it has been way too slow for a healthy person my age. In my last hurrah I decided to go on a little jog... in the dark... on the city streets. Needless to say I have learned a hard lesson. I make it about three blocks and I become airborne. I tripped over a crack and slid on my hands and knees. My iPhone went flying.

So I limp back to my house in worse shape and without really working out. Now come the pictures.


Minimal damage done to the knees.


Left hand fared pretty well.


Oh God! I think I can see the tendons in my elbow.

So then I decided to make some jenky bandages. My friend Jobie is coming over for dinner and I asked her to pick some up. Yay. For now some extra fabric, paper towels, toilet paper and duct tape will have to do.



Luckily I am headed to the doctor tomorrow so maybe she will let me know if I need to head upstairs to the regular clinic to see someone about my elbow. It burns.