lumensoutdoors.org - Page 14

• Monitoring progress - May 10, 2007

  I’ve posted a variety of links to some maps and tables showing my hiking progress. Keeping track of lists is a pretty common thing to do up here so I thought I’d join in. I’m tracking four different lists of peaks right now with two tables. The purpose of this is to get me hiking more and in new places. It’s not to focus all my attention on having to complete some list to the exclusion of everything else.

• Roadkill - May 8, 2007

  Seen on the highway this morning:

  • A tanker truck with the words “TECHNICAL ANIMAL FAT NOT FIT FOR HUMAN FOOD” on the side. I wonder what technical animal fat is.
  • A Mass Highway truck driving down the shoulder dragging a dead deer behind it.
• Day 8 - May 8, 2007

  I’ve finished section 2, putting me on page 282 in my copy. The story’s really moving now, to the point where I wonder whether I should go back and re-read some of the past couple chapters. The last couple pages of section 2 revealed quite a bit that seems like it’s going to be very important later and I must admit I kind of skimmed over it because I knew my goal for the night was in sight.

• Day 7 - May 7, 2007

  I lied. I was going to post an entry about my knee hurting and missing the hike I wanted to do this weekend, but it suddenly got late and I don’t feel like writing all that much tonight. Instead, have another update on the reading.

• Day 4 - May 4, 2007

  I’m now up to page 122. Yesterday’s reading was really tough - I can only remember two major things from it, and everything in between those two has already left my memory. Today’s reading was much easier, though the material itself was pretty disturbing. We’ve had some more plot points show up along with a couple more big characters. The organization of the book is interesting. Pynchon seems to keep adding on more and more seemingly unrelated stories with their own main characters, but these do eventually start to tie together in some way. It’s a bit difficult to keep it all together in my head. I feel like I should be taking notes or making a big chart of characters.

• Day 2 - May 3, 2007

  I got to the boxes on page 61 of my edition, which is right before the letters back and forth start. While I’m not having too much trouble understanding individual sections of text, I’m having a hard time piecing them together into a complete story. It feels like at least half the text is flashback or dream or someone else’s memories. Which of them are relevant to the story, and which are just little half-paragraph diversions thrown in to keep my on my toes?

  Anyway, certain parts of the plot are beginning to emerge. I’m enjoying it well enough but it’s taking a lot of concentration to get that enjoyment out of it. Who knows what tomorrow’s reading holds.

• Birthday girl - May 2, 2007

  I would like to wish my friend Sarah a happy birthday! Even though she has a final today and needs to be studying for another one on Thursday, I hope she finds something much more interesting to do. In case anyone’s wondering, I got her some hiking boots for her birthday so now there’s no excuse for us to not go hiking together.

• GR death pact now open - May 1, 2007

  It’s now May 1 where I am, so I’m going to go ahead and declare that the previously mentioned Gravity’s Rainbow death pact is up and running. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, you still have time. Don’t worry about getting started immediately since I don’t think a couple hours isn’t going to make all that much difference anyway. I’m not planning on getting started until after work.

• Day 1 - May 1, 2007

  I got to the top of page 30 today, where there’s a big row of boxes (which will henceforth be called Pynchon Narrative Discontinuity Boxes). It seemed like a pretty good place to stop. My mind was starting to wander those last couple pages and for some reason I would like to get something out of this book. The sentence structure (or total lack of it) is going to take some getting used to but it’s not impossible. So far, I do like a lot of the humor and absurdity in the story. The giant adenoid diversion is a particular favorite. No real sign of a story yet, and only brief mentions of the person I’m assuming is the main character judging by the summaries I have read elsewere.

  Tomorrow, I promise to write about something else.

• Roadmaster - April 30, 2007

  I got a call from the bike shop this morning, right after getting in to work. I had left it there yesterday afternoon to get the front derailleur tuned up and the barrel adjuster on the grip shift replaced. Well, the guy on the phone had some good news and bad news. The good news was that he found a barrel adjuster somewhere in the shop, so I wouldn’t have to spend $20 on a whole new grip shift. The bad news was that my middle chainring was so chewed up from years of wear and damage that it was most likely the cause of my shifting troubles yesterday. I gave him the go-ahead to take my $50 favorite dollars for a new one. Luckily, it doesn’t just include a new crankset but also the crank, shift cable, and derailleur so it doesn’t feel like such a waste.

  I took it for a test ride today to try out the new crankset and tires. Of course, the pedals were jumping when I really mashed on them. It didn’t make me want to ride very long, or to accelerate pretty hard. The internet seems to indicate this is a problem with the chain. There’s one link that looks stuck so it won’t bend properly. I’m betting that’s the problem, sinceI really don’t want to spring for yet another new part this week.