Carriers Of News

Today I was drifting aimlessly in cyberspace when I really should have been doing other things.  And, somehow, I came upon this:

Someone rescued a few sets of bags like these from an old newspaper building that was being torn down.  Now he's selling them.


I'll bet that some of you have never even seen, much less used, an old-fashioned newsboys' bag like the one pictured.  In cities, home delivery of newspapers is all but gone.  And in some cities, newspapers themselves, at least the print versions, are a dying breed.


In fact, I haven't even heard the term "newsboy" in a long time.  I wonder if that job still exists.  And if it does, is it done only by "newsboys?"  Back in my day, it was.


Yes, it was a gender-specific job.  I don't think there was any rule against girls delivering newspapers; it just didn't happen.  Or so most people think.  Little did they know...


Yes, I was a newsboy.  At least, that's what I was called.  I started delivering papers a year after my family moved to New Jersey, if I remember correctly.  


And--again, I'm depending memories not only of a long-past time, but of someone I have not been in a seemingly long time--I was even named Carrier of The Month, or some such thing, by The Asbury Park Press.  After I was delivering for about a year, our job titles were made gender-neutral:  newsboys became newspaper carriers.  I could not show the sigh of relief I felt within me when that happened!


I don't think I've looked at the APP since I stopped delivering it.  I've found the online edition, which I've linked.  But now I wonder whether they still have a print edition.


If they don't, what are all those newsboys--er, news carriers--going to do?  After all, that experience must have something to do with the person I've become!

Cycling Colleagues?

At my part-time teaching gig (which may well become full-time), I've become friendly with a few people in my department. Actually, they've all been friendly to me, but because of my schedule, I don't get to see all of them all of the time.  But there is a recurring cast of characters, if you will, and I find myself becoming friendly with a few of them.  One in particular shares a few interests with me, including cycling.

To all of you guys:  She's married.  Of course, that doesn't make any difference to me.  Our common interests include poetry and, as you can see from the photo, cycling.


Now you know I'm not the only one in NY crazy enough to cycle in a skirt through cold weather!


I'm mentioning her because, for one thing, she looks even better on a bike than I do and I don't begrudge her at all. But more to the point, she's the only cycling colleague I've had in all of the time I've been teaching in higher-education institutions.


The colleges in which I've worked have had cycling profs.  Not many, but they were present.  However, I've never had a cycling colleague in a department in which I've taught.


I've done all of my college teaching in the five boroughs of New York City.  So I don't encounter as many profs on bikes as I might on a suburban or rural campus.  However, I can't think of an explanation as to why none of the velocipedic academics I've met have been in English departments or writing or basic-skills programs, which are the departments and programs in which I've always worked.


Are cyclists in English departments as rare in other colleges as rare as they are in the schools in which I've worked?

In A Valley Or A Tunnel Of Wind?

Today I got out for a brief spin on Marianela.  I didn't go much beyond my neighborhood.  But it's nice to loop through side streets that are mostly free of traffic.  I was surprised at how clear they were:  Just a few days ago, there were patches of ice on even the more heavily-used thoroughfares.  


The temperature reached 40 F (5C), which is about normal for an afternoon at this time of year.  However, the wind made it feel a good bit colder.  According to a weather report I heard, we had wind gusts of 40 mph (about 65 kph). I don't think I was riding into, or with, anything so strong.  But I certainly did feel it.  


Usually, when most people think of wind, they think of open, flat areas.  I think of the creation stories and other lore of the Native American tribes who lived in the plains and the desert:  In them, "it is the wind that gave them life," as it did in the Navajo chant I've quoted. And in the places where they lived, when there was wind, there was no escaping from it.  On the other hand, if there isn't wind where you're pedaling, you're not likely to encounter any for a while.


On the other hand, the wind seems to be a more capricious part of urban cycling. Sometimes buildings can act as wind blocks.  However, long rows of the same buildings seem to create a "wind tunnel" effect.  At other times, they are a kind of "valley" of stillness among the relative turbulence.


Now, it's been at least three decades since I took a Physics course.  So I'm sure I've forgotten a lot.  Did the instructor, or the textbook, ever explain why the wind that's blowing in one part of town is stopped by one block full of buildings but intensifies in another.


Anyway...The ride was pleasant, if unremarkable.  My only complaint was that my camera's batteries were dead and I didn't find out until I tried to take a photo. Oh well.

A Reptile Tan From A Spider Saddle?

Now I'm doing something that I've done during the past few winters:  Buying and selling on e-Bay.


If you browse for more than a few minutes, you're bound to find a few ridiculous things.  Then again, people actually buy (and collect!) 8-track tapes, pastel-hued leisure suits and bike parts with designs that were obsolete the day they came out (e.g., derailleurs like Campagnolo's Valentino and Gran Turismo and almost any of Huret's.)


Funny how the worst ideas can become "collectibles."  What's even funnier is that there are people who don't want to merely collect them; they actually want to use them!


So, while someone may want to add this item to his collection, I'm sure someone out there would actually ride it:

I suppose that if I were riding bikes very different from the ones I have--and if I were a different sort of rider, or a collector--I just might want this saddle.  Actually, part of me wants it simply because it's one of the strangest bike components I've ever seen.  But I wouldn't ride it.  


This reminds me of the crochet-backed cycling gloves I just bought.  If you've worn them before, you know about the "reptile tan" you get on the back of your hands when you ride with them.  Hmm...Could something similar happen to your backside if you ride this seat?

Have You Seen This Man?

Would you allow him on your bike?