Xark!

Sponsor a bike rack

I collected this cell phone photo earlier this month whilst hoofing it around Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where work has taken me 11 of the past 15 weeks. The weather there clearly isn't as bike-friendly as what we enjoy here in Charleston, but during the months when the streets are clear enough for riding, there's a thriving bike culture.

We need all sorts of things to make Charleston a better place for riders: Abundant bike racks, covered parking, protected lanes, bike corrals, you name it. We could continue to lobby the city for funds. Or we could lobby the city to offer valuable sponsorships for the pieces of infrastructure that make up its bike improvement plans.

Don & Leslie get hitched

It wasn't until late 2009 that our buddy Don Lewis ran into Leslie McLeod Muller again. They'd been friends in high school and as soon as they reconnected, everything clicked. Like crazy. Janet started referring to them as the "GARC," a.k.a. the "Get-a-Room Couple."

We heard last week that, to the surprise of no one who had seen them together, Don and Leslie had decided to get married. Janet made plans for us to all go out to dinner together at 17 North on Saturday in celebration of their impending union.

It turned into a different kind of celebration though, as Don and Leslie quietly went down to the notary at the First Federal branch office in the Summerville Wal-Mart and got married on Saturday. This officially topped Janet and me, who got married on our lunch break at a Mailboxes Etc. in April 1999.

In the picture above, Don and Leslie share their wedding cupcake. In the shot below, they're just happy. May everyone who reads this be so very lucky.

What is a browser?

Only 8 percent of the people Google interviewed for this video (I'm guessing this was December 2008) knew what a web browser was. Does this mean all these people are stupid? Not really. Most effective speakers cannot diagram their sentences. But it indicates how long it can take for a basic concepts like a "Web browser" (I think Mosaic dated to like 1992) to filter into the mainstream.

We tend to see change as occurring rapidly and anticipate that it will always accelerate. But I keep seeing little signs that suggest (to me) that modern society is pushing back against The Law of Accelerating Returns, either consciously or subconsciously. This doesn't invalidate the principle, but it ought to temper some of our predictions.

Pissed-off polar bear blows up planet, plays wicked hockey

Discovered by Luke Conover, who unfortunately suffers from a sense of humor similar to mine.

Maid-Rite in Marion

"RELAX! We are not a fast-food place. If you are not served in 5 minutes... You'll get served in 9 or 12, maybe 15 minutes... We're cooking as fast as we can!!!"

and...

"IN A HURRY? May we suggest our EXPRESS LUNCH... Maid-Rite and Bowl of Soup -- $6.50. We can just about guarantee you'll get it in 10 minutes or less!"

-- Quotes lifted from the menu at the Maid-Rite in Marion, Iowa, where speed has a different context.