In the middle of the journey of my life, I am--as always--a woman on a bike. Although I do not know where this road will lead, the way is not lost, for I have arrived here. And I am on my bicycle, again.
In New York and other cities around the world, one can find "ghost bikes". They usually look something like this
and are dedicated to cyclists who were struck by motor vehicles at or near the spot where the "ghost" stands. They are indeed solemn reminders of the dangers we face. But why can't we have more monuments to show the joys of riding--or at least the spirit of cyclists
I'll never forget the guy who just couldn't wait to show me the "deal" he got--on Canal Street. For ten dollars, he got himself the watch he always wanted--in gold, no less. That timepiece of his dreams was a "Roxel". Was that name the fruit of a counterfeiter's creativity--or dyslexia? I asked myself the same question when I saw this:
"Shimona" bike parts have been showing up on bikes purchased online--mainly under the "Aspen" brand. The typeface on the disc in the photo is all but indistinguishable from that of Shimano. I wonder how many people didn't catch the "typo." Is the same person responsible for "Roxel" and "Shimona"? Or was the person who came up with the latter name listening to song from a late-70s one-hit wonder. I'm talking, of course, about "My Shimona":
Here is another reason to Beware the Ides of March. All right, so this happened yesterday. What am I talking about? More to the point, what was he talking about? Rush Limbaugh commemorated the death of Stephen Hawking as only he could have: by casting doubt on one of the great physicist's main contributions to science. To wit, the radio loudmouth asks whether we can really know that the Big Bang happened if nobody was there to see it: I'll admit I'm just a college dropout radio guy, okay? I'm not a professional physicist. I'm not a professional scientist. I do not own a lab coat, white or light blue. So they tell me that the Big Bang is where everything began. Hawking says it's the Big Bang and we're still expanding. Now, I won't make any snarky comments about Rush Limbaugh using the word "expand." But I will say that the man accomplished something few, if any, of us could have. For one thing, he made Ken Ham seem like a rigorous thinker, if not an out-and-out intellectual. And he managed to show us what it's like when The Smartest Person In The World has shade thrown on him by the Damndest Ass In America. Oh, dear Stephen Hawking, you deserve so much better. Rest In Peace.
