Can I Leave Yet?

Last night, for the second time since I moved here in August of 2007, my car got damaged while doing nothing more than being parked on the street.

I cannot WAIT to leave this trash heap of a city. It truly truly TRULY sucks. For whatever Milwaukee lovers there are that might read this, I'm sorry. I just can't do this anymore. You and your enthusiasm for this place is just about the only thing keeping it on life support. Other than that, it has nothing. Nothing.

7 months and counting, folks...

Deep Thought Part Deux

Saying "shout out" in the course of a national debate should be grounds for immediate disqualification because, let's be real, folks. The vice presidency (despite popular belief) is not, in fact, TRL.

Just sayin.

Deep Thought

Joe Biden is doing well with the women in CNN's focus group because their line is orange, and God knows orange loves Syracuse people (and vice versa).

Let's go Joe!

The Invasion Ends

This weekend, Harley-Davidson Motorcycles celebrated its 105th anniversary. This meant motorcycles. Lots of them. Around 150,000 to be exact. The riders were from all over the country and the world (I saw a group of Brazilians down the street), and there was a seemingly endless number of different types of bikes and customizations.

But after a parade of 7,500 bikes through downtown and concerts by The Foo Fighters and Bruce Springsteen, the festivities have officially come to an end. Now to be one of those Milwaukeeans who ever so slowly and timidly emerge from their residence, able to finally move around (and park, etc.) their city again.

So, happy 105th to Harley, safe travels to the visitors, and welcome back to the outdoors, Milwaukee. You have two days left of the holiday weekend!

Now, lucky me, I get to do schoolwork as classes are poised to get underway this Tuesday. Only one more year of education left!

New Transportation

Well folks, I must admit that I think Vancouver got under my skin a little more than I initially thought. After seeing and experiencing one of the world's most sustainable cities for five days, the carchitect within me had to shuffle and make room for some other characters.

First, I managed to gain the title of "Mr. Transit" over the course of a single day. Of course, it was a very grueling nearly ten hour day, but a single day nonetheless. I managed to travel by bus, boat, and train all by myself, emerging something of an expert among our group (or so I like to believe). Good times. Needless to say, Vancouver's transit system was amazing, especially when compared to our own here in Milwaukee County. We need light rail desperately, but God knows if it will ever actually happen.

Secondly, I got intensely excited about the prospect of owning a bike and using it up here in Milwaukee. So, when I went home this past weekend, I took the plunge. I got myself a brand new silver and black Trek Pure, with fenders added and a little bell I have yet to be bold enough to use. But it's spiffy! And I'm figuring out a path to campus that keeps me almost entirely off of busy streets because let's be real: a painted line does not a bike lane make, folks.

So I have used my bike twice in the past two days, eliminating what would have otherwise been two overly short car trips. And the best part is that bike parking is FREE. Just another small step in my personal quest so somewhat stunt my carbon footprint and become a better big city resident.

So that makes:

• Reusable shopping bags, which are way bigger and much easier to carry than a zillion little plastic ones from the 2nd floor garage to the 7th floor. Most grocery stores are getting them now, and they are well worth the investment.
• Bike riding. Not only is my fat ass getting some exercise, but I can reduce the amount of fuel Rose consumes, which is good in an era of $4/gallon gas. Not to mention it's just generally better for the environment, right? Right.
• Reducing electricity usage. I know, it's so basic and Jimmy-Carter-in-a-Sweater of me, but really! You know that all of you at some point kind of inadvertently leave a light or a piece of electronic equipment on that doesn't really need to be. While we may be getting more efficient with these things, the best thing is to still just flip that switch!

What else should I try? Thus far I'm finding it really is true that you can live greener and yet have zero effect on your day-to-day life. Leave suggestions in the comments! Thanks!

Another Quality Milwaukee Moment

Today one of my classes was doing a site visit to the King Drive area of Milwaukee. At one point, we were standing a couple blocks west of King Drive on North Avenue. As we stand there, a car came through the intersection, loudly honking at another vehicle waiting to make a left hand turn. At this moment, the woman waiting to turn left leans out her window and screams "YO MAMA A HO!"

My professor paused. We all tried to contain our laughter. And he smoothly continued with "Well, road rage, huh?"

Quality.

Spreading the Word

Having recently (accidentally) killed my external hard drive and losing photos from the better part of about 5 years of my life, I know that it sucks hard to lose photos. So I was intrigued when I went to Post Secret today and found a video at the bottom for another blog called I Found Your Camera. Basically, the concept is that if memory stick, thumb drive, camera, what have you, is found, you can get in touch with this site and they will post some photos to help reunite them with their owners. The best part? It's actually worked! So, I figured I would use good ol' What Made Milwaukee Famous to help spread the word. I know it's a tiny outlet, but every little bit helps, right? You may not have lost a camera, but who knows? One day you might find a roll of film or a flash drive. Life is random like that.

So once again, here's the link: http://ifoundyourcamera.blogspot.com/. Now go forth and do some good!

Oh, and sorry about not posting since...ohhhh November. Yeah. I'll try to suck less.