8 posts tagged “lakeview”
I don't think I've mentioned this yet, so just wanted to let everyone know that I recently finished my third customized bike map of the summer, for use in both the 2D Google Maps and 3D Google Earth; this one covers over 40 small neighborhood parks on the north side of Chicago, using a route that covers roughly 25 miles (40 km) of city streets. As regular readers remember, this map took quite a bit longer to put together than the others I've made, since it contains just so much more information; over 150 photo placemarks, in fact, along with all that online research I had to do about each park's history. Anyway, you can click here to check it out online, and then once there you can click on the "KML" link in the upper-right corner for the Google Earth file; those who are interested can see all of my bike maps by clicking here.
Don't forget, I actually have the photos taken as well for my fourth and fifth maps, which I'll hopefully be getting to this week; the fourth will cover the trip from Uptown to the Loop, using only inner-city paved bike paths (i.e. ones that run along the edges of vehicular streets), and the fifth of course will cover the entire 18-mile lakefront bike path, the trip I made just a few days ago and from which I'm still recovering. (Seriously, I really overdid it on Monday. Remind me of this the next time I try to ride 25 miles in a single day.) Anyway, like I said, you can look forward to those maps as well hopefully soon.
Unbelievable, I know, but today I'm celebrating 70 days (or ten weeks) since I last had a cigarette, or indeed even a puff of a cigarette. Well, FUCK ME, MAN. And why does this particular attempt at quitting seem to be taking so well, as opposed to the other nine times I've tried quitting and miserably failed? You got me -- just a combination of age, I guess, my rapidly detiorating health my last year as a smoker, and the fact that I used nicotine patches this time as well, the first three weeks of quitting. Whatever the reason, I'm grateful.
For those who are curious, by the way, the temptation to smoke hasn't gone away one bit for me; right now, for example, I'm sitting in the outdoor seating at Lakeview's Intelligentsia Coffeehouse (Broadway and Barry), and there's somebody next to me smoking a cigarette, and to this day the smell of that cigarette smoke is awfully enticing, and reminds me of just how goddamn good that first cigarette of the day used to be. And to admit the pathetic truth, the main way I'm dealing with such temptations is to run away like a little girl -- to simply walk away from smokers when their smoke gets too tempting, or better yet not be around smokers at all, which of course is ridiculously easy to do in Chicago where all indoor smoking is banned except in certain bars. In fact, now that I think about it, that's probably something else that's helped with this particular quitting attempt; the city is more hostile these days towards smokers than during any of my other quit attempts, meaning that I'm not always running into smokers on train platforms and in cafes, and of course and bicycling a lot more this year so am not running into them at bus stops either. That's part of it, to tell you the truth -- to just have cigarettes in general be out of sight, out of mind, and not have any reasons at all to spend even an extra second of my day thinking about them.
Anyway, I'm still slowly counting the days until my 100-day anniversary -- I'm still considering myself in my "dangerous" period of quitting until then, and in fact am not planning on referring to myself as an ex-smoker until my one-year anniversary. Until then, here's hoping I can continue avoiding temptation.
And here's a shot from Intelligentsia Coffeehouse as well, where I'm posting today's entries from my Treo, while checking out all the pretty girls who hang out at Lakeview cafes on Sunday mornings. By the way, there are a lot of pretty girls who hang out at Lakeview cafes on Sunday mornings.
So how am I feeling, a day after making an eight-mile bicycle trip (13 km), which was not only my first long trip of the year but also now officially the longest amount I've ever bicycled in my life? Eh, not so bad, actually, besides being a little stiff and a little sore; don't forget, though, that eight-mile trip actually took me two and a half hours altogether, and I made something like 20 stops to take photos for my eventual Google map on the subject. So, it's not like I was exactly pushing myself yesterday, so it's not exactly unexpected that I'm not too worn out; but still, given it was my first long ride of the year, and was done exactly nine days after having oral surgery, and that the thought of putting in an eight-mile day a year ago when I was a smoker would've been a joke, no matter how slowly I took things, I'm grateful frankly that I could manage yesterday's trip at all, much less come out of it not too sore. (Of course, I did sleep 11 hours as well last night, which should for honesty's sake be noted. I'm such a decrepid old man, I swear.)
Anyway, I'm hoping this is all good news, as far as my plans to slowly increase my maximum distance this summer -- for example, the 16-mile trip I'm planning for Memorial Day (from my place in Uptown to Jackson Park on the southside, as well as Washington Park and the Midway); or the 30-mile trip I'm hoping to tackle by the end of the summer, from my place to the Chicago Botanical Gardens in Glencoe, via the North Branch national forest trail (and then back home by train via Metra, because you must be high if you think I can take a 60-mile bike ride in one day at this point in my life).
By the way, didn't want to let my muscles get all tight and spasmy today, so ended up taking another ride, although not nearly as long today of course -- just down to Intelligentsia Coffeehouse, via the lakefront path getting there, then a straight shoot up Broadway on the way back (total distance 4.25 miles, or 7 km). Here's a shot, for example, from the busy Belmont underpass in Lakeview, where I also shot a video for my eventual Google map; for those who don't know, one of the most magical things about the Lakeview area of the lakefront is that it was originally developed during the Victorian Age, and contains all kinds of intricate structures from that era like these grandiose apartment buildings you're seeing, most of which miraculously survived the years that Lakeview was a slum neighborhood (roughly 1950s to '80s -- post-war white flight ruined the neighborhood, punk-era gentrification saved it). Anyway, my eventual map will be getting a lot more into Lincoln Park and Lakeview's tony Victorian roots, and how elements of that spill all the way up into my neighborhood (for example, the golf course and tennis courts found near Waveland, originally created because of both activities' sudden popularity in the early 1900s), for anyone who's interested in learning more.
It's above 60 degrees again today (15 C), which means time for another bike ride, although less intense than yesterday's -- just to Intelligentsia Coffeehouse this time, on Broadway near Barry in the Lakeview neighborhood, which is only a mile and a half from my place (2.5 km) instead of the three miles of yesterday. Of course, I did take the scenic route in the park to get here today, which upped the distance from 1.5 miles to 2.6; that's part of my goal this year, in fact, to not only use my bike for most of my neighborhood traveling (which after two years I'm pretty much doing faithfully now), but also to add some distance to each trip as well, an to get in at least 3 miles (5 km) of biking each day, more like 6 to 10. As mentioned before, that's my ultimate goal, that by the end of the summer I'll be able to lay down ten miles at a stretch without getting too bent out of shape, and hopefully a couple of times even put in an occasional 30- to 50-mile day. (There are lots of interesting destinations 30 to 50 miles from my place, after all, in situations where I could ride Metra back into the city at the end of the day.) Hmm, any suggestions? Hmm!
In the back of Intelligentsia Coffeehouse now (near Broadway and Barry, in the Lakeview neighborhood), almost done with my errands, having a cafe mocha and warming up before the trip home. See, this is the thing to understand about Chicago winters, that it's really not that bad once you get to your destination -- Intelligentsia, for example, is both warm and warmly lit today, full of good-looking slackers of both sexes in their cute little slacker uniforms. The city doesn't stop just because the wind-chill temperature is 15 below zero (-26 C); just that it's more of a trying experience to get where you're going, and a lot more preparation is needed besides simply grabbing your keys and jumping on your bike, like you can do around here during the summer.
I've been caught in a dilemma recently, by the way; I've been getting hardly anything done with Second Life recently, which has had me feeling guilty, but I've been getting a lot more done than I expected with the archiving and re-publishing of all my old work, which makes me happy. And yes, I need to be doing more updating at my SL blog, and will be soon, because that's the only project I'm doing these days that has the chance to directly make money on its own (through ad revenue); but, I keep reminding myself, if I'm going to be completely honest, I really don't have the opportunity to make more than maybe $50 or $100 a month that way, not without a professional sales staff (which I can't afford) or without getting bought by a larger conglomerate (you listening, Jason Calacanis?). And so if I miss a week or two of updating there, I remind myself, it's not necessarily the end of the world, although is something I'd still rather avoid if I can help it.
Meanwhile, the re-publishing plans and other projects I'm doing have benefits of their own, which may seem insignificant at first but eventually add up: that the more of my old work I can get back online, and in a centralized, proofread, newly-published way, the more chances there are of random new people coming across that stuff. That leads to more of a sense from the public that I know what I'm doing when it comes to the arts, which helps my arts center down the road; it also gives potential clients a better understanding of what I do professionally, which should hopefully lead to more paid jobs down the road. So it's a balance, I supppose: a struggle to do more SL stuff than I currently am, but to appreciate the fact that the other stuff is important too, not only from a more general 'professional' sense but also just the personal satisfaction of finally completing some of the projects, and finally putting them in my past for good.
Of course, all this is omitting something important, something I'm often forgetting and that I shouldn't: that this is the first winter in six years (since 2001, in other words) that I've tried to get anything accomplished at all, the first winter I haven't fallen into a deep depression after finishing a major autumn project, and stayed inactive until the following April. It's a miracle I'm getting anything done at all these days, I should be reminding myself more, much less maintaining four blogs, starting a new one, publishing a re-designed book from my old catalog once a week, teaching myself Flash, and getting ready to re-activate my arts center soon. I should try to be happier, I guess, with the things I'm actually getting done these days, and not so endlessly frustrated by what I'm not. Easier said than done when you're me, I suppose.
Wind chill temperature in my neighborhood today: -15 degrees (-26 C). And believe me, when it's 15 below zero, you no longer care about what you look like when you're outside. Serial killer? Crazy old man? Hey, it's 15 below zero -- think whatever you want, I don't care, I'm just trying to make it to my destination without my nose getting frostbite and falling off. Nonetheless, after four days straight of fucking around in my apartment, I promised myself yesterday that I'd get out this morning and get some errands done, no matter what the temperature; so here I am on the Broadway bus, looking like a crazy old man or serial killer while doing so. Sigh.
It's 68 in Chicago, which officially qualifies as a miracle. Thought I'd take advantage of it and go to Intelligentsia coffeehouse in Lakeview. God, I forgot how many slacker hotties hang out here on weekday afternoons (to say nothing of the employees, natch). The warm day has me in good mood; why, I may even get a new entry done for my personal journal, speaking of miracles.
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