n'importe quoi

I never thought I would say this, but I even like living in Lakeview. I've always had a prejudice against it, but I think I also confused and conflated Lakeview with Lincoln Park with any other bougie, white neighborhoods. This stretch of Broadway that I'm off of right now has a lot going on and is actually pretty diverse--but noticeably gay.

Speaking of tight clothing, I picked up my uniform for XXX last night. Hawt. I rode my noticeably inferior bike to Get a Grip, all the way out on Irving by Pulaski. The shop specializes in racing bikes and has Cervelos adorning the walls like art. But unlike art, these bikes are formed by their function, achieving beauty through practicality and efficiency. I saw some guys I know--like the ones I rode with on the Apple Cider Century and one I competed with--but no long, drawn-out conversations. I really would like to do some road racing this year--if I'm anywhere near the city.

This bike, for instance, is $4000 and is not the most expensive on the site.

Good news about ChicagoNOW blog; I got 20-something visitors yesterday without even trying (tweeting). Bad news: I need an average of 333 1/3 daily views for 3 months before I start getting paid. I'm going to stop worrying about page views and just try to find creative ways to create community. It's interesting to see how the payment model can shape how you think about what and how to write: you see a lot of short, catchy drivel on the site instead of serious, recherché prose poems, paens to Apollo. If I got paid per second that people were on the site, things would be different.

There's a ChicagoNOW tweet-up next week; I'm planning on going and trying to infiltrate that community. It's at Rockit, which I've always prejudged as an LA-wanna-be, surface-over-substance, Prom King & Queen hangout. Actually more of a judgement than a prejudgement.

P.S. The photo of my jersey I took with an iPhone app that makes much more beautiful pictures than the standard camera. Called ShakeitPhoto, it's worth 99 cents.