Friday, February 20, 2009


I don't wanna be on the beach

Sand is hurting my tender feet
The air smells like rotting fish and solarcaine
I hate the people on the beach
With their towels and umbrellas
They're so insane

-The Dead Milkmen

"What makes people most unhappy? Not work, but commuting to work."

-Enrique Peñalosa

For weeks I've been meaning to link to this article about former Bogota Mayor Enrique Peñalosa
and add some sort of poignant commentary, but since that isn't really what I do here the task has proven daunting. What do I do here anyway? That's a good question. Now I will link to the article, ramble around, say something stupid, possibly something a little crazy, get on with my life, and let you go read a about a truly excellent human being.

In the above quote Peñalosa is talking about commuting to work by car primarily, but that statement could apply to buses or trains as well. If you commute to work by bicycle you are adding time to your day and your life, not subtracting it. I know it may seem like I hate commuting by bike some days, but I really wouldn't have it any other way, the alternative is ever so much more horrible.

He strikes a chord with me when he talks about Hedonics "an economic philosophy whose proponents focus on fostering not economic growth but human happiness". The happiness part is all I've got, so I better freakin' focus on it. It touches on something my buddy Pete and I often discussed while I was living like a refugee in Fairfax, CA - Standard of Living Vs. Quality of Life. If you have all the money in the world but no time to use it you may have the former but lack the latter. The only time most people have both money and time to use it is at retirement (if they're lucky...or come from money). What's the point of visiting Machu Pechu if you're relegated to using a Walker?

Oh ya, the title of the post and the Dead Milkmen quote...we're still in St. Maarten and this blogging is eating into my valuable sitting at the beach, doing nothing and going out of my god damn gourd time. Yesterday wasn't actually that bad, the weather got a little gnarly, whipping the waves into a frenzy which made for some good body surfing. One wave picked me up like Randy "The Ram" Johnson (if you haven't seen the Wrestler, do it, it is excellent) and body slammed me to the sand. Laying in bed last night, sore from my overzealous running and wave wrestling, I felt content. My bedtime daydreams of the new bike which is, as I speak with my hands like Terminator X , already in a box and on its way to me now didn't hurt either.

2 comments:

rick is! said...

doooooood! I didn't know you were getting the "can't be had" stuperfly. that'll be some sweetness!

ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ said...

Don't give your ice cream to the sharks, you won't have anything to eat.