(no subject)

[rebeccmeister]

I like it when life just feels right.

Yesterday I drew a blind contour drawing of D--the results were pretty funny.

I don't think I got enough sleep last night, so I have a feeling that I'm going to crash sometime this afternoon. But oh well.

This morning I told the biker gang about my bike map project, and of course they were enthusiastic about it. My friend K said that apparently the New Belgian brewing company (makers of Fat Tire beer) is starting a project where they are giving away a fancy bike in each of the cities where they hold Tour de Fat beer festivals. The catch is that they are giving these bikes to an individual who is willing to exchange his or her car for the bike, and then the new bike owners have to write about what it's like to live without a car. (oh, and then the car will be auctioned off and the proceeds will be donated to a charity)

Part of me wants to scoff, just a little. I've tried very hard to get over any sort of self-righteousness about living the car-free (carefree) life, but I just want to say to them, "Come on now. I've been living in this city for the past four years with no car! The first year is just the beginning!" (along with the scoffing: I kind of want to redecorate my trailer to celebrate the car-free lifestyle)

But OTOH, a freshly car-free person will have a different perspective on what life is like without a car, and I am sure that it will be valuable for other people to learn what it's like to be suddenly weaned from car ownership. Especially in cities like the GPSPA (Greater Phoenix Suburb-o-politan Area), that are designed for cars, through and through.

Ant-bike boy and I talked a lot about what it's like to commute by bike around here--I think he was still kind of in the angry phase about the whole thing. I can't say I blame him, although I find it hard to maintain that sort of attitude.

Comments

[faisdodo.livejournal.com]

i like being able to jump in my car and drive 4 hours to be in the middle of nowhere, i would have a hard time giving that up!

i want to commute more on my bike, do you know if there are like...casual urban bike excursion groups that i could join to ride with? nothing super intense, just to get more confident with riding in an urban setting.

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

Ooo now that's a good question. I know of one such group called AZCRAP (Arizona Car Resistance Action Party). I won't be able to go for the next couple of weeks due to scheduling conflicts, but I've been meaning to go for quite a while and I've met a few of the people who go and they seem pretty cool. Aside from that, I think I'm going to have to write my guide book. :)

[faisdodo.livejournal.com]

Things to leave at home:
-anything that is on fire
-anything that is not on fire

I think I'm game!

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

Hee hee! Yeah, one of the guys (named Ryan--you could mention that you know someone who studies ants at ASU and he'd put two and two together) has said that people show up on all sorts of bikes, ranging from tandems to cruisers, so they probably don't go too fast or crazy-like. I can't wait to go.

[faisdodo.livejournal.com]

well, let me know when you have time to go, and maybe i could meet you at your place and we could head out on bike from there? i think that if i rode from my house to Mill & Rio Salado i'd be pooped before the actual ride even began. ;)

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

That's a great idea, and it will give me incentive to go as well!

[earthlingmike.livejournal.com]

I wasn't using my car, several years ago, and it was just sitting in my parents' drive way. Eventually my father asked if he could have the title to it, so I gave it to him. He never gave me any money or anything for it. So now every once in a while he mentions that he owes me a car. But if I had a car, it would just cost me insurance and parking money, that I can't afford, and I don't know whether a car would really improve my employement possibilities or do anything else to pay for itself. My city is small but has a great bus system.