knit•er•a•cy |'nitərəsē, 'nitrə-|

Here is a rare public entry with actual content, mostly because I want to email it to my sister for her help with cycle-choosing advice. It will very likely be marked friends only within the next seven days, because I'm weird like that.

In my family, September means we're already bandying about ideas for Christmas presents. I usually post a list sometime in October, but this year I'm getting my thoughts on record early, as it's going to be a different kind of year here.

filceolaire already knows that all I want for Christmas from him is new wedding bands. Seriously, on a cooler day when my fingers feel smaller, they're already threatening to fall off my hand, and I must remove them now every time I wash dishes or do anything that will make my fingers slippery. Twenty more pounds, and it'll be dangerous to wear them at all for fear of losing them.

So, for the rest of the family (my definition), it's gonna be really simple this year. I want a new bicycle. I don't care if I get it slightly before Christmas or slightly after Christmas, but I want a good one. I intend to spend a lot of time cycling over the next few years, and J and I both could actually use new bicycles, to tell you the truth. My cheap used one has already developed a problem J's having trouble fixing, and J's cheap used one may or may not hold up over things like potential cycling holidays and the like. I don't care if you all get together in a mob and make a Harper Bicycle Fund, I don't care if you all just ooh and ahh over the photographs of bicycles I'm looking at. There is, as always, no obligation to contribute or buy anything. If you have advice to give, I'd love to hear it. Right now, I'm cycling back and forth to work every day and doing all of my day-to-day errands on the bicycle. I want to extend my range and expand my abilities, and I like input. :-)

What bicycle do I want? I've spent some time thinking on that, particularly since I had to steal borrow G's when my back wheel went out of alignment and J couldn't fix it. Fact is, although G's bicycle is newer than mine, I don't really like it. Even with handlebar adjustments and a custom saddle, it doesn't feel right for me, and I miss my other bicycle. Now, since I've been riding his slightly taller bicycle, my muscles have stretched quite a bit and I might find my old one a bit too short for me; I don't know. But the most important thing I need to think about is the fact that this for us will be an investment, so I need to shop long and hard, every bit as hard as I'd shop for a car. I want to find the right bicycle for me.

( Rambling on bicycles )

ETA: I'm going to unlock this entry and make it public for a limited time only, so I can point My Sister The Doctor at it, as her opinion on these matters counts for me, since she's part of the reason I'm cycling, and she's been a real inspiration to me as far as telling me all the good things cycling will do for me that walking, running, lifting weights, and high-impact aerobics won't.

Lightly discussing terrible Christmas music with autographedcat, I presented my personal 'holiday hell' song. This was on a Christmas album my mother used to play. It included things like Aretha Franklin singing "Walking in a Winter Wonderland", and this monstrosity, "That Holiday Feeling", a duet between Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. She sang the first line of every verse, and then they'd trade.

Alas, I have not been able to find an mp3 of this anywhere, so I'll offer some prize or other to the person who can supply me with audio. ;-)

The album, if I remember correctly, also featured Gary Puckett singing "O Holy Night".

( Click if you dare! )

What's your Worst Christmas Song Ever?