I'm so in agreement. Screw car alarms:

Just back from an amazing long weekend in Cleveland. Lots to tell. But not here.

Cleveland!

Looking forward to a lovely vegan lunch at MELT Bar and Grilled in Cleveland.

And OH, MY GOD, what perfect timing with the music: Don't Let's Start, on the eponymous album They Might Be Giants, is playing overhead. This is the song I played essentially nonstop, on repeat, on my first CD player while writing my Div III, a long, long time ago. I can still reminder how that music used to make me smile.

I have this special love for the Rust Belt. I can't explain it without being cliche. I'll try briefly: for the most part, it's so real, so friendly, so genuine. Yeah. It's like that.

Busy busy busy!

Yeah, I know: y'all don't want to hear about how busy I am. You want... FOOD PORN!

I did some cooking last week when a guest was in town. Unfortunately they didn't really eat hardly any of it, but I enjoyed the crap out of it both nights.

Above is garlic bread, and stuffed mushrooms in the oven.

Yay for tofu steaks! 

Collard greens and garlic on the left; collard stems, broccoli, and garlic on the right.

Clockwise from top left are the collards, fried tempeh, caramelized ONIONS!, boring bits, a wall bit, curved needlenose pliers, brown rice, the collard stems, and broccoli with fresh ginger and garlic.


Headed to Cleveland this weekend for some urban exploration, then have a pretty remarkable 3.5 weekends in town before going to the US Virgin Islands for snorkeling and rainforest exploration.

In other news, while in California a couple weeks ago, I definitely came to the firm conclusion that I'm keeping the Surly Cross Check. It's a fantastic bike. Just not nearly as well suited for loaded touring as the Long Haul Trucker is. It's a ton of fun to ride, nimble, responsive, and much more a "go fast" bike than the LHT.