I usually am sure to describe myself as a biker, not a cyclist. "What's the difference?" some people ask me. I frown, thinking about it for a moment, and respond, "Lycra."

Though I'll probably get some before too long.

Anyway, I am a biker and a musician. These two conflict sometimes, like on those lazy Saturdays when I do some bike-tinkering and then want to play guitar. I can't get grease on my guitar strings, so I must scrub my hands clean, but that leaves my fingertips so soft. What to do?

In other fingertip and bike/music conflict news, I almost severed the tip of my left index finger. There is a danger (warning, injury pictures) to not paying attention when working on a fixed gear drive train, but we all think, meh, that won't happen to me.

Well, it happened to me. Fortunately, I didn't lose any bits of finger, though I came uncomfortably close. My fingertip is healing back together, though it feels rough and thickly calloused - almost as though I have lost some feeling in the very tip of my finger. I can't fret with it yet, but I hope that I won't have lost anything when I'm able to play with it.

Especially important because I've gotten my low-level (high quality low fidelity!) home recording setup up and running, and I have all these new ideas, and would like to spend some of the winter making records.

In other news, the holiday season has clutched us, which means it's time for another edition of How Can I Put A Long Weekend's Worth Of Clothing Into A Midsized Shoulderbag And Make It To Another Region of the Tri State Area Safely, Soundly, and Well-(enough)-Dressed?

Maybe it's time to not take the bike to New Jersey...

...UGH!