Cooking implements, clipless pedals, and more

Yesterday I ended up lamenting the fact that I don't know of anywhere around these here parts where I can easily go to browse among kitchen implements.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Yesterday was one of those get-things-done sorts of days. You know, laundry, litterbox, groceries. I also finally (finally!) mailed a package to my brother. And I finally (finally!) put my clipless pedals on the Jolly Roger (that's my pirate bike). Clipless pedals aren't nearly as tricky as I had imagined--actually, toe clips are trickier than clipless pedals. The only nuisance is that I can no longer traipse around in my bike shoes for fear of damaging the cleats. Since I have mountain bike shoes, the cleats are recessed anyway, but I figure it's best to try to make them last as long as possible.

Somehow it was midafternoon by the time I had finished all of the chores, so I bummed around for a bit and thought about going shopping for kitchen implements as I researched sourdough bread recipes.

Basically, the only kitchen shops I know of around here are two Sur La Tables, both several miles away from home. Oh, and they're both in malls/strip malls. I just don't find it enjoyable to bike to strip malls--ugh. Especially when I'm not sure if I'll find what I'm looking for (in this case, metal rings to make crumpets or English muffins, and a dough scraper).

So then I decided to check teh Internets for a bit. But it seems silly to buy things like crumpet rings and dough scrapers on the internet because shipping usually costs as much as the items themselves (and the excess packaging is wasteful). I'd much rather buy them from some funky place than from "Uber-Industrial-Mega-Kitchenstore" anyway. Finally, I gave up in despair.

The whole experience (or, rather, lack thereof) makes me pine for Australia again. I spent way too much time salivating over kitchen implements there. Every time I turned around, I tripped over another kitchen store. Boutiques everywhere! I could also tell you of several similar neighborhoods in Seattle, all easily and pleasantly accessible by bus.

Perhaps once the expensive condos in downtown Tempe are finished (I can think of at least SIX new condo buildings being built right now), more wee boutiques will open up in the area to cater to the wealthy Californians moving in. But I fear we'll just get more Whole Foods equivalents instead. Middle America, you bore me to death.

talk about an adrenaline rush

I always forget how crazy the bike ride to Lux Coffee Bar is. I've tried many different routes to get to it, and the best out of all of them travels through a cross-section of this city that's hard to experience from a car. First I go up through Papago park, which houses the Phoenix Zoo and Desert Botanical Gardens. Aside from the trash along the sides of the road, it's a beautiful stretch of desert, full of creosote and cacti and rolling hills. Then I turn left in Scottsdale and ride along Oak Street, a back street that cuts east-west across Scottsdale but is small enough to discourage fast-moving cars. The first stretch through Scottsdale flows past McMansion after McMansion, but a few miles down the road the scenery changes and the houses get smaller. Today a few of the McMansions actually looked beautiful, with yards full of blooming flowers. But I kind of like it when the neighborhoods get poorer, more interesting, and diverse.

As one continues along the road, suddenly there are people in their yards, and quirky decorations and those houses that hold neverending yard sales. (these places bring both comfort and discomfort; help would be near if I got a flat tire, but I wouldn't feel safe at night) Today one of those places was under construction--a humongous garage was being attached to the side of a house, dwarfing the house and the other houses in the neighborhood (do Phoenicians worship their monstropolous pickup trucks?). Then I crossed a few more busy streets and hit the Grand Canal.

The Grand Canal is a desolate stretch, abruptly ending and beginning at every major road crossing. Although it's paved, which would seem to encourage use by bicycles and pedestrians, there are no crosswalks connecting it where it cuts across roads, and periodically gates block access by cars (and bikes must off-road to swerve around them). The canal itself is both beautiful and tragic, full of rushing water and abandoned shopping carts. But few people use it; there's no shade, only dirt. Broken glass litters the pavement. Eventually, just as I think it's really not worth it to ride my bike out this far, just as I get really tired of adrenaline-filled crossing after adrenaline-filled crossing, I reach Central Ave. and Lux.

Note to self:

Iraq in Fragments opens at Valley Art on Friday.

Valley Art has partially redeemed itself. (remember, they played What the fuck do we know? for a solid year)