Heart, Home, Oregon

Or, a new adventure, same as the old adventure.

I moved away from Oregon almost exactly ten years ago for graduate school, and have been away (except for visits) due to the ins-and-outs of life and career ever since. I'm extremely happy to say that I'll be moving back to Oregon this spring. In a turn of events that seems almost too good to be true (not to mention a lot of hard work to make it possible), my wife and I will be moving to Corvallis, home of Oregon State University.

We will be putting Southern California in the rearview mirror with a mixture of sadness and gratitude, for although we appreciated a great number of things here, and made some wonderful friends, we never did feel that it was a good fit for us. When home is home the way Oregon is home, no other home will do.

Here are some really wonderful things about our soon-to-be hometown of Corvallis, Oregon:

• Highest percentage of bike commuters of any city in the U.S.
• LAB Gold Level city -- bike infrastructure everywhere!
• Literally the safest place in Oregon and the country.
• There are amazing parks/open spaces/wilderness areas in every direction.
• A vibrant, creative, innovative, and environmentally-friendly city and community.
• Creative culture the way the Pacific NW does it.

I'm excited that I can be riding my bike in the bucolic countryside in about ten minutes in any direction from town, and that we will be only an hour's drive from my dad and my childhood home (where my wife and I were married). I'm also excited that instead of being surrounded by several million people, I'll be surrounded by only about 60,000 people and lots of open countryside. Portland is only a couple of hours away, Eugene is just a little ways down the road, and all of beautiful Oregon is our backyard. We also have good friends in Oregon, and I'm looking forward to reconnecting with them, and of course making new ones. Oregon is where my heart has always been, and I'm so happy that I will soon be able to join it there.

The timeline feels quick, there's so much to do, so I may not be posting here much until we are settled, but I'll try to keep my reader(s) abreast of what's going on in the meantime. Not sure if I'll keep blogging here, or maybe start a new space for this new chapter in our lives.

Here we are again...

Here we are, well into yet another month, and no new posts have been forthcoming.  It has indeed been a strange autumn. My instincts have been telling me to stay close to home, hunker down, pull back, and focus on simple things. This has meant renewed attention to work more than anything. My work is my work, not work done for someone else, so to be immersed in work in healthy and productive ways does a great deal to create a good state of mind. It has been a long time since I have found myself in such a positive relationship with my work, and it feels good. 

The Bianchi project is finished, I'll do a post on that before too long, once I get a chance to take some good photos. I bit more diligent online research and finally deciphering the remnants of the decals has identified the bike with 99% certainty as a 1973 Bianchi Strada. From what I can tell, a good quality road bike for the American market from the beginning of the 1970s bike boom.

I'll keep posting here as often as I can, maybe I'll try again to use this space for writing. Here's hoping that my handful of readers is doing well and staying warm as we approach the winter solstice.  

It's the Middle of October?

Yeesh. Where does the time go? I've been thinking that it hasn't been that long since my last post, but it has been a few weeks. I've been alternating between working hard and hardly working. It's a weird time of year for me. Being a Northwesterner living in Southern California, I expect fall weather, but really we just get hot and dry. Add to that my 20 + years of conditioning that fall is "back to school" time, yet I am not back to school, and the months of September through November just end up being a muddle of contradictions.

My research trip to Louisville went well, and I've got a lot of information to sort through, plus more research to do as I get started on the article/chapter that will be the result. I really enjoyed my time in Louisville, which from what little I saw of it, seems like a great city. The Root Cellar was on my walk from the hotel to the archives, so I stopped a couple of times to buy some fresh local produce and chat with the owner, who was an extraordinarily nice man. Also, I think I saw more bricks in Louisville in a week than I've seen in Southern California in four years. It was nice, I like brick buildings. 

Here's the current status of the Bianchi project, which I'm still going to keep quiet about until it's finished. Yes, that's an IKEA flowerpot it's sitting on. The cranks and chainring are original, as is the front brake. The Brooks B66 came off another bike, the brake lever is from my parts bin, and the handlebars are Nitto Promenade B617.

In other news: I saw the largest spider I have ever seen "in the wild" and I ate my first pineapple guava. I would like to repeat the second, but not the first.

I've Been Right Here All Along

This is one of those "sorry I haven't written for a while" posts. It has been a busy late winter and early spring 'round here.

Mostly, I've been working to launch the San Diego Bike Union. We've got some exciting projects in the works to help promote the idea of bicycling for transportation and creating a more bike-friendly culture in San Diego.

Francis Moore in later life.
Courtesy National City Public Library

I've also been working on my ongoing writing projects and getting ready for my lecture next Wednesday, April 20 at San Diego State University on the creation of Civil War memory.

The lecture is entitled "Neither Historian Nor Novelist: Captain Francis Moore and the Making of Civil War Memory" and previews my forthcoming edited version of Moore's Civil War memoir (Northern Illinois University Press, Fall 2011). The lecture will be at SDSU on April 20 @ 7:30pm in LL430 (Malcolm Love Library).

I've also been adding bits and pieces to the Peugeot, which I'll write about later. Some time back we added a mid-1980s Univega mixte to the group, which replaces my wife's late 1970s Schwinn Suburban; more on that later.

I'll try to get back to blogging all of this busy-ness more often. 

The Daily Grind

For whatever reason, all of my writing projects are currently in non-writing stages. I'm finding that the old artist's maxim "a line a day" is getting hard to do in any sort of productive way on my work projects, so I'm going to start using DRFN as a writing space in order to keep my knives sharp. How's that for a mixed metaphor?

Inevitably, since I don't find myself having profound, well-ordered thoughts that lend themselves easily to short essays every day, this will inevitably involve writing about some of the mundane tasks and thoughts that occupy me on a daily basis. I don't anticipate using this as a "confessional" space -- I don't think anybody wants that -- and I will also make an effort not to let my posts devolve into just stream-of-consciousness writing. Of course, the golden rule of putting stuff on the Internet will also be followed: don't post anything you wouldn't be comfortable standing up and shouting in a public square.

If this doesn't sound appealing to you, that's fine, just don't read the posts that look boring or dumb. You have the power!

Anyway, that's that.

Oh, also, I'm going to be changing the look of the page again. I'm going even more minimalist (even more less -- ha!). I just started a photo blog called bikes in the house, which is going to be kind of what I'm going for with DRFN, style-wise, if you want a preview. Also, it's the source for pictures of bikes in the house, FYI.

A Moving Experience

Things have been very busy of late, so the blog slowed down a bit. Not least of the items on my long list was moving house. We are now mostly settled in our new place, where we intend to stay for a very long time, god-willing-and-the-creek-don't-rise. I'll have more to say about the space (and perhaps some photos) as we really get settled.

I've also been working on the final draft of my book and preparing an exhibit for the library at San Diego State University for the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, both of which have also kept me quite busy. The manuscript was finished last week, and the exhibit will be mostly prepped before I leave for my holiday vacation in a couple of weeks.

In the short term, I'm excited about the 2nd Annual San Diego Tweed Ride, which we will be attending with gusto next Saturday. I will definitely take and post photos.

It's About to Get All Local Up in Here

I did not start this blog with the intention of writing or posting much about San Diego, but this is where I live, so posts tagged "San Diego" do filter through occasionally (in fact, as of this writing, there are twenty-two).

But starting now-ish, I'd like to write more about San Diego. There probably won't be a noticeable change in content, but I will start sneaking more local stuff in, including more photos, reviews, and observations about life here.

It's a weird, frustrating, and wonderful place, and although it has taken me more than three years to really appreciate its nuances, I think I've finally arrived at a good enough relationship with this city to write something intelligent about living here.

Images: Top: Alcazar Garden, Balboa Park; Center: Under the Cabrillo Bridge near Hwy 163; Bottom: An abandoned house in the City Heights neighborhood.

DRFN on the Road: Chicago

For the month of August, I'll be blogging from Chicago while on a research fellowship. There won't be much of interest on a daily basis, but I'll try to post some of the more interesting adventures and photos as I go. This used to be home for me, but I haven't spent this much time back here for a few years, so I'll be seeing things with a mix of old and new perspectives. I hope.

Just got in today, and so far it's just hot, sticky, and there are lots of cicadas buzzing. Storms are coming in the next 24 hours, which I'm really looking forward to.

Is This a Bike Blog?

Okay, so I just changed the header image to a photo of me working on a bike, and the category with the most posts is bicycles, but is this a "bike blog"? It surprises me when I come across this blog on other bloggers' links under categories like bikes or bike blogs, but maybe it shouldn't. I do talk about bikes a lot, but I also post recipes, photos (not of bikes), essays, history-related things, and utter miscellany. In fact, my whole point in starting this blog was to have a space to write about all kinds of things, including but not limited to bikes. I suppose I should embrace the label, but I'm ambivalent about writing a "bike blog" again. I guess if you want to call it a bike blog, though, you can.

Image: Magritte, The Treachery of Images (1928-29)

Vacation Photos: PDX

So I wasn't so good with the blogging while on vacation, which didn't bother me one bit. Surprisingly, the Interwebs didn't implode without me checking them every day, and I also didn't go into a trembling, weeping fit just because I couldn't waste half my day fiddling around on the computer.

So anyway, I'm going to parse out my vacation photos over a few posts. First up, our 24-ish hours in Portland, including a really kick-ass wedding, reconnecting with good friends, and drooling over the bikey goodness that is PDX these days.

Yup, on-street bike parking. Sigh.

Just for you.

Is that a porteur rack I spy? And inverse levers? A bike after my own heart.

Oh Portland, I like you.

Bike box! They really do exist.

Wedding site, Cathedral Park, under the St. Johns Bridge

Black/white makes terrible photos look artsy.

The groom spent part of the morning after his wedding showing us his chickens.

Good haul.

A very early Columbia; note foot rests on the fork.

Tiny little rod-brake tricycle.

The Michelin Man of your worst nightmares.

DRFN on the Road: Orygun

Starting tomorrow at an unholy hour, we'll be heading up to my homeland for a couple of weeks, with stops in Portland and along the Rogue River in the southerly Cascades near Crater Lake. The majority of the time will be spent on the Ol' Homestead outside the boomtown of Silverton. I'll try to post some photos as we go, but it may be sporadic or even not at all. I'll try, though.

Blagh

I've never been one of those here's-everything-I-do-every-day kind of bloggers. I suspect that most readers are grateful for this without realizing it. An average entry would be something like this:

"Didn't sleep well last night. Having a hard time getting going on work this morning. Got a few hours of writing done, though. Worried about the deadline. Made some pizza crusts to freeze for later in the week this afternoon. Did a little more work before bed."

Wow. That's pretty thrilling, huh? But there are other things that are slightly more exciting, or even just things that I come across on the Interwebs that are worth sharing, but out of sheer laziness, I don't post them here. I'm going to start trying to do it more often, though, so look out world, I've got some bloggerin' to do.

Working Hard, or... Yes, Working Hard

So my recent (and ongoing) foray into cartooning notwithstanding, my posting here has slowed down a little bit because other things have picked up. After a slow winter, during which I primarily failed to find employment, the spring has brought a flurry of activity (but still no employment). Here's the list of things currently in the works:

Got a contract to publish an edited and annotated Civil War memoir by Captain Francis Moore, 2nd Illinois Volunteer Cavalry. In addition to the editing and the notes, I'll be providing an Introduction and Epilogue. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the transcription, and then comes all of the editing, notes, and writing. All of this needs to be done by July 31. Looks like the finished product will be out by 2012, right during the 150th anniversary of the war.

I'm putting together an organization called the San Diego Utility Bicycling Association. Our first steering committee meeting is this week, and I'm excited about the prospect of increasing the profile of utility (i.e. not sport) bicycling in our area. Wasn't quite able to get this off the ground soon enough to get in on San Diego's Bike to Work Day, but that's okay; there's always next year.

I'm also continuing to revise my dissertation for publication, and still trying to find a press for it. Related to this, I'm moving towards having a submission-worthy article for a major academic journal (which one, still to be determined) that will be the "preview" article for the book.

In addition to all this, I'm preparing for a month-long funded research trip this August, which will be time spent filling in some holes in my dissertation research and also doing some preliminary work on my next book, all of which requires no small amount of "presearch" to make sure I maximize my time in the archives.

Finally, I've started a super-secret project that combines bicycles and history (durr, why did it take me this long?).

So yeah, that's what's going on. Seems like I'm forgetting something. Of course, there's always the administrivia of daily life, too. Turns out, not having a job is hard work.

I Should Rename This Blog

"Idyllic Weekend Photograph Blog"

All photos snapped at the Adams Avenue Roots Music Festival in Normal Heights. Not my bikes, dog, church, or barber shop.

Here's the Thing

I have been blogging in different formats for a little while now. Primarily, I have been a "bike blogger"; that is, I have been a part of the massive online presence of the global bicycling community. My primary endeavor has been the Old Bike Blog, supplemented by The World Awheel. I also blog about my (almost) daily experiences on a bicycle in San Diego, California at Life with Bicycle.

Recently, I have become dissatisfied blogging only about bicycles, and have wanted a more integrated venue for expressing the range of interests that engage me on a daily basis. To that end, I have opened this space, entitled "Do Right and Fear Not: A Personal Weblog."

The title phrase was popular among the Victorians, especially as a needlework design. An example of the genre can be found aboard the Star of India, part of the Maritime Museum of San Diego. While the phrase may have religious connotations for some, I take the advice in a broader sense to suggest an optimistic, morally-centered, and humane course of daily action; and while I personally strive to meet both halves of the admonition, I also believe it is a useful sentiment for the times in which we live, and one we might all do well to heed.