...where did I go?

Well, a lot has happened as of late. I'm regretting not posting more, but a lots been going on, the good news is that I no have plenty of stuff to write about! I'm going to start of start off with the boring stuff to get it out of the way, namely my new bike.
It all started when Emily's wheels were starting to go on her redline t&t, and before long I decided I was just going to give Sleipnir (my previous bike) to Emily and upgrade my bike, as I really like flatland and Emily deserved a nice bike, not some rusty clunker. So I pretty much upgraded almost every part, I still have the same cranks, but other than that it's all new. I managed to drop the weight by about 4 pounds (around 24 now) and added some very flatland specific parts, some of the high lights are:
-My new frame! the St. Martin Wells, it is unbelievably beautiful! the extra clearance above and below the frame is definitely noticeable. The geometry feels great and weight is a ridiculous 4.3 lbs!
-My new back wheel is a KHE geisha free coaster. A free coaster (as opposed to a freewheel or cassette drive) has a clutch system that keeps the hub disengaged from the wheel until a certain pedaling happens. The point of this is that when I roll backwards, my clutch isn't engaged and my pedals don't move (where normally they would spin around and smash my poor shins!), and as a bonus it is damn near silent, no annoying clickity clickity clickity clickity when I coast. Also the 9t driver on it allows me to go down to a 23 tooth chain wheel!
-My sweet braking system! the brakes were a score on ebay (mad cheap) and the complete SNAFU dual braking system is smooth as butter! I have front brakes coming in the mail with a matching brake lever!
All in all the bike is absolutely awesome, light, ultra responsive and oh so very roomy! My progress had been a little slow however, the bike took forever to all get here (it was purchased piece by piece off line and I built it up) and then school and weddings and trips and financial aid and AHHHHHH!
Luckily the last few days I've gotten a ton of time in riding and I'm getting better. I'm about a hair away from landing full fire hydrants, I can pull, hold and scuff steam rollers now and I'm working on figuring spins out. The only problem is that my riding spot (the teen center on Harris) is busy later and later and the dang sun is setting sooner and sooner! I've looked around, but without having to drive in my car I can't really find another decent flat open space (let alone smooth!)to ride on.

Any way, expect more bike stuff to come, but in the next few days/weeks expect to hear about: My schooling ,my brothers wedding, and lots of new photo's, but for now I want to go watch t.v. and then sleep!

-Kai

The world is flat!

Well it's been a while since i last posted, but what can i say, not much has happened. Mainly of note is that i have switched from riding street bmx to flat land. I feel it is more of what I'm looking for, not to mention it takes place on flatland... not stairs and ramps...less pain. But seriously, I'm really into it, i bought a new frame kit to basically mod my Kaizer 1.2 into my brand new *drum roll* Sleipnir 1.0 ,check out the bike check, what a magnificent beast. I put in probably around 6 hours at this point (which is over about a week or so) and am already making progress. I'm working on fork glides, Dork wheelies, and tailwhips*, and i can proudly say i have landed successfully all of those tricks and am well on my way to dialing them in. I think a huge part of this learning curve is getting comfortable on my new whip, it's much smaller: 2 1/2 cm off the stem 1 1/2 in off the top tube and and inch shorter chainstays! The wheel base is shorter and the bars are closer to me, but at the same time i have more internal maneuverability due to the frames gusset and geometry...lets just say it's taking some getting used too.
Really that's all that been going on, walking my dog and riding my bike. I did manage to see 1408 on opening day, i thought it was very good, but I spent most of the time drawing connections to Dantes inferno instead of being afraid....The group of girls behind me screamed a lot though, so that's a good sign, and Samuel Jackson was as good as ever in the few scenes he graced. The movie did have trailers for two movies i am interested in seeing: 30 days of night, and I am Legend. 30 days of night is based off a weird ass comic book about vampires moving to a town in Alaska where night is more prevalent than day...such a sweet setup, i hope they just pump it full of gruesome special effects. I am legend, frankly looked really good ( i am such a fan of post apocalyptic survival horror), stars Will Smith, and also happens to be the title of a white zombie track, so I'm pretty sure I'll see it.
Until something cool happens I'll probably just update the look of my blog and load some new pics or something...we'll see.

-Kai

*tailwhips in the flatland world are not the same thing as tailwhips in the street world, the flat land ones are much, much easier as you never leave the ground.

New bike swag

After a tedious 8 days of not getting to ride my bike, my parts finally came in the mail. I purchased new forks, grips, and a chain wheel, and so spent most of today putting it together, but i still managed to get a solid half hour of riding in before my stem came loose and i had to go in.

Man am i glad i got my bike back, i was getting scary bored these last 8 days, i even went so far as to paint detailing on my bike (the pieces that were here any way, i'll post pictures), thankfully i had a decent amount of clothes shopping to do, and a dog that seems to actually live for fetch to occupy my time. I also watched a few movies: "Spiderman 3" was terrible, "Idiocracy" was great, "Night at the Museum" was funny but filled with plot holes, and "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" was okay, but built up the third movie to much.

I know this was short post, but what can i say, not much has happened, maybe i'll go take photos of myself to post, then it'll look like i added some more content...Oh, and i'll update my bike check too.

Graduation and the summer lull...

Well i did it. I graduated in front of a huge crowd of people including many family and friends. The ceremony was great, the sun came out just in time and it was just warm enough. It was pretty short, and afterwards there was an even shorter reception in the math department. I didn't really need to say goodbye to anyone (as i'm coming back next semester) except for my advisor Beth Burroughs, she really helped me get this degree and is moving to a new position at Montana State University. After the ceremony (and before) I went out to eat with Emily and Dad, and generally had a great day. I was given plenty of swag, including; a new wardrobe from Emily's family, a ton of teaching supplies from my mom, and two massive chocolate cakes, what more could i ask for?

Now that i'm done with this semester the summer has officially begun. So far it hasn't been to boring, i have clothes to buy and plenty of sunny weather to ride my bike in. I'm planning on changing up my bike a bit, mainly i want a smaller gear ratio (so it's easier to take off, i don't need top speed) and lighter forks. I've been really into wheelies and manuals recently and want to make my bike a little more friendly for those tricks. I'll update my bike check when parts arrive and finally get installed.

Other than biking and shopping, i've had to figure out what classes i'm taking next semester. So far i have decided on taking the ones i have to (basically three different orientation classes, one for grad school, one for my specific program, and one for teaching a class) as well as a modeling practicum and an intro to optimization class i'm super psyched to take. Besides those i'm considering taking the graduate colloquium (read: speech refresher), beginning guitar, and intermediate tai chi, not all of these, just one or two if they end up fitting in my schedule.

Lastly, you may have noticed some swank photos to your right, i plan on updating these semi often (basically whenever i have a good new shot) so keep your eyes peeled...

-Kai

Summer time...

Well that's it, I'm done earning my bachelor's degree. The graduation ceremony is this Saturday (the 12th) and i'm damn proud to be walking. It's somewhat of a hollow victory as i'll be going back next semester for grad school, so it doesn't really feel like i'm "done" with any thing. It's just my normal summer break and back to class for me, except now one of those classes -i'll- be teaching. On that note i have learned that i will be teaching beginning algebra next semester unless something changes, and no matter what i'll be teaching some level of remedial algebra, but the good news is that i get payed, i definitely know the material, and i just have to keep it simple, and not go all "higher math" on them. I already have my teachers edition book to look over and apparently i'll get an office (or some sliver of space that they deem to qualify as an office). All in all i'm pretty excited about next semester...too bad summer has to happen first.

That's right! you heard me, i'm actually a little upset that it's already summer. School gives me something to focus on and apply myself to, summer doesn't so much. I'm already thinking of ways to kill time this summer. I'll definitely be biking and walking the dog a lot, but i think i want to do something creative as well. So far i've thought about wood working, guitar, martial arts, painting models(...not the people kind), photography, film, sculpture (clay or composite), and landscaping. As you can see the list is pretty random, but it's all stuff that seems interesting and creative to me. I'll probably also sign up for a class about one of these next semester as well, unfortunately the art classes are already pretty much full, but i think beginning guitar might work out. Anyway, i'm sure i'll figure it out, but in the mean time, you can probably expect a lot more posting by me...

Professor Ross

It turns out that going to grad school makes you a grad student, and grad students don't really get financial aid. After weighing my options i have decided to finally get my first job(ever). I am proud to say that I have never "worked" a day in my life at the age of 21. Sure some volunteer work and tutoring here and there, but never a paycheck. Of course this hopefully won't be just any first job, I've applied to be a TA at Humboldt state university. There is a very good chance that this means I will end up teaching a class...did you hear me? TEACH A CLASS! You know, me in front of like 35 incoming freshman writing things on the board, assigning homework, calling on people, what a trip! As you can tell i'm clearly excited, huh, excited about working, who would have ever seen that coming...

In other news, two of my three presentations are over, and i think they went rather well. In stress class me and Emily presented on tai chi as a way to pull it all together, she made a sweet power point, i blabbed alot, it went well. In math programming my presentation was just right on time (about 15 minutes) but i skipped over some parts to make it happen. I'm still happy with my program and even received some hushed "eww"s and "ahh"s from the crowd when i showed it off, so that was nice. All that's left now is present the traffic model in PDE and i'm home free...


p.s. The doggie daycare people didn't like rajah, they said he was aggressive because he growled...but he's still a puppy and they're just rajist.

Poetry

...
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then–in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life–was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.
...

I came across this in my complete Poe book, and after reading it like a dozen times, this has become one of my favorites of his works. It has it all, the dark, macabre feeling, references to the supernatural, and that haunting marching rhythm that defines his poetry. What you take from this piece is up to you, wiki and poe sites claim it's about him mourning his mothers death, but i take it more personally. We've all questioned why and how we're different and wondered about the nature of good and evil, and where we fit in in this world. Do dark thoughts beget a dark nature? or does a dark nature beget dark thoughts?... none the less it speaks to me in some amazingly personal way...

Onto other notes. Rajah is at his first day of doggie daycare today, we hope he likes it. We're putting him there for two reasons 1.) So he isn't alone on the days when we both go to school for a long time, and 2.) we want him to get to play with more dogs, you know, socialisation and fun. Other than that school is being ugly right now, lots of projects and papers due, it's all quite frustrating, it's just hard to care about stressful projects when you've already got a passing grade in the class. Hey, at least Emi gets to be my partner for one of the presentations i have left(nurs 400, Tai Chi)

Monitors,Grad School and Rajah

...So much for posting once a week, at least I've got excuses.

The good news is I managed pulled a 90 on my PDE test, and I set the curve on my programming test, meaning that very little stands in the way between me and graduation. I also was accepted in the graduate program I applied to, for the next two years i will be working on a Masters of Science in Environmental Systems at Humboldt State University, and I'm thrilled. The program is interdisciplinary combining; geologists, environmental resource engineers, math modelers, and students of international development technology. The program has us work together in a more "real world" context, but still gives out individual degrees (mine will be an MS in Environmental System Math Modeling). Suffice to say you'll hear plenty more about this...

The bad news is that my monitor crapped out. The damn thing isn't even that old, but poof, dead. So now i have to scrounge up so money to go get a new monitor ( you know, so i can use my computer at all) and they aren't that cheap! Plus I'm being forced into ordering a flat monitor from the internet!

We also took Rajah into the vet to get, um, altered. The surgery went fine, and he's getting his stitches out today. The good news for him is that now that he's at least 5 months old and fixed, we can start taking him to the doggie day care when we go to school. So instead of being bored at the house all day when we're gone, he can go play with other dogs and earn some socialization benefits.

Hopefully my monitor will come soon...

What a show

What a week! Emily got back from Japan on thursday, she had a good time, but i'm sure happy to have her back. She brought back all sorts of Japan stuff, and i have now eaten way to many odd flavors of kitkat(white peach, cherry, Strawberry, and Red Bean). That being said, the other big deal was our trip to San Francisco to see Japane Nite! (but really just for Go!Go!7188). This was my first time going to San Fransico (I don't count the airport) and well...I don't think it's for me. It was such an urban jungle,everything was so packed in and tall I seriously felt clausterphobic. I guess if i couldn't handle L.A. it makes sense that Frisco seemed like chaos manifested to me. It was all worth it though because the concert kicked ass! it was at medium venue called the Independent. A no frills joint with a good sound system...and thats about it, but really, what else do you need? Five bands played:

-Asukasa-Totally rad "Heavy Marching" band, plenty of brass and an electric standup bass thats the lead singer rides!...amazing.
-Oreskaband-6 piece japanese school girl ska backed by sony production...nuff said(plus they stayed at our hotel!).
-The 50 kaitenz-wtf? are these guys for real! I can't even describe it, like power rockabilly dirty pop? either way, totally entertaining and by far the most stage prescence out of any of the bands
-KY-these guys just didn't fit in, Happy sing song pop...not my cup of tea, although apparently it was for alot of the crowd.
-Go!Go!7188- The reason we went to the concert, and they delivered, my only problem was that it had to stop. They played for about 50 minutes plus an encore and just rocked the house...Ako is a goddess on the bass...

After the concert we stayed at the Miyako hotel, which was actually quite nice and peacful. Staying on the 5th floor gave us a great view of the city and lifted us above the noisy traffic down below...one of the best night sleep I have ever had in a hotel, and in general a great cap to my spring break.

Anyway now school is back in session and every ones in a panic about the end of the semester coming...not me, i'm just smiling...

Blog check

This first post is mostly a test. I plan on "blogging" this way about once a week in order to let friends and family no whats going on, also i here from many sources that journaling is a decent stress reliever and generally beneficial, so here i am. Expect future posts to be on topics including: My trip to Frisco to see Go!Go!7188, The ridiculus growth rate of my dog Rajah, My success and failure at biking, plenty of boring Math talk (it is my major after all), and anything else that might be on my mind.