The Hawthorne

folks:

2006-07-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

Please update yer links.

thbonamici.googlepages.com

Wrenching, Riding, Fishing

2006-05-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

So on a whim, I put the original, non-adjustable brakes back on the Univega, and they work with 700c wheels! What?

But it's good news, so I didn't question it. After feverishly wrenching the bike to completion, I took off with Josh to ride him as far as Lyme, NH on his way to the Ravine Lodge.

Josh has a neat bike (I built it for him). It looked good today.

The Univega is comfy, comfy, comfy! Very stable, very mellow handling. A self-restrained bike.
We stopped in a field to grab a bite, then Josh pressed on (with his trailwork axe in tow) and I turned back. On my ride down VT 5, I stopped by the Ompompanoosuc and waved my fly rod around. Didn't catch anything. I'll post more shots of the Univega once the bars are properly shellacked.

And tonight I went to a fantastic concert - a collaboration between a sarod player, a specialist in medieval singing, and an *amazing* tabla player. They examined the relationships between modal musics in medieval Europe and India. Wonderful music.

The first of the timberframe privies will be built on Sunday!

Wheel problems and Timberframing

2006-05-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

As I was putting the finishing touches on the Univega, I noticed that the cantilevers were being difficult. Eventually, I realized that I just wasn't going to be able to use 700c wheels in a frame designed for 27" wheels. Extremely frustrating.

I ordered new Sun CR-18 rims from bikepartsusa, which has some very good prices. I'm having some Phil hubs overhauled, and then I'll embark upon another wheelbuilding adventure. I scored a copy of The Bicycle Wheel from a used book sale the other week, so at least I'll have good guidance.

Josh and I went fishing at Blood Brook last week - no success, although we found some interesting land between Norwich, VT and I-91 - funny little oxbows and private fields.

Finally, the timberframe privy project is moving along nicely, although it isn't leaving me much time to do my schoolwork. We have both privies built at the shop, so the next step is to disassemble them, pack them to the shelters on the AT, and re-build. First stop: Jeffers Brook Shelter, this Sunday!

Background: I'm involved with Cabin and Trail at Dartmouth, and my pet project over the past few months has been the building of two ADA-compliant outhouses. These will go to shelters maintained by C&T on the Appalachian trail, replacing older outhouses that are, well, full of shit. They have to be ADA-compliant because they're going to public land. We finished most of the work over spring break, and we'll hopefully finish installation by the end of spring term.

Change in Direction

2006-04-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

I'd like to change the direction of this blog. From here on out, I'll concentrate on environmental and sustainability issues, bikes, and bike repair. I'm in line for a Google home page, so I'll probably switch to that once I get it going. Please email me with any questions!

Here's a teaser: I bought a Univega Viva Tour from Craigslist. Here are some shots before I started rebuilding it. I'm just waiting for the chain, then I'll be done! Once I finish it and take it for a maiden voyage, I'll post plenty of pictures and a report on the ride.

I plan on using this bike on my Dartmouth to Dartmouth Cycle Tour, which I'm riding at the end of spring term. I'll ride from Dartmouth in Hanover, NH to Dartmouth in Nova Scotia, Canada.

pictures

2005-12-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

pictures from eugene.

I haven't posted in months,

2005-10-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

but this safety movie deserves it.

Still Snowing

2005-03-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

So I took a study break/walk in the park with Jess, and saw lots of folks soaking it up, and the funny gatehouse where the gendarmes go to kick back, and a stone goat, and some good shadows, and the apiculture section, in the middle of the park, right next to the playground. Not what I'd call brilliant location, but it must work out, more or less.

Also went to the Salon International de l'Agriculture. There was a horse arena indoors, and the whole Salon was astoundingly huge. Too big, too commercial, and way too crowded. Luckily Matt and I found a quieter building (there were 8), and cruised from booth to booth, from region to region of France, tasting oils and wines and sausage. Don't know if it was worth 12 euros, but it was fun enough.

(Total anachronism, but here's a shot of the group with our art history professor, on the Pont des Arts)

Snow in Paris

2005-02-27T08:22:00.000-08:00

...it's a funny thing. Us Dartmouth kids were walking around like so many penguins, seeing as how snow is our natural habitat. The Parisians, however, weren't doing so well. Hundreds of car crashes, traffic jams all day long, silly snowsuits - good times.

We had a cocktail party last night; I wore my $10 suit.

Barcelona Rocks My Socks

2005-02-25T03:02:00.000-08:00

Barcelona is a seriously fantastic city. Imagine the age of Paris, the climate of the Mediterranean, and the youth and vibrancy of Portland or the East Village. The food was really good, too.

Sarah flew in to Paris on the 12th, and we took a train the next day to Beauvais, which has a fascinating hulk of a cathedral. There may or may not have been some ice skating done, and my tailbone may or may not have been bruised for a few days. How is it that a girl from Florida can out-skate a boy from Oregon?

We flew down to Barcelona and went to our apartment on Coll del Portell, near the Park Guell. The view from our balcony was hard to beat, overlooking the sea, the city, and the quiet neighborhood. It was a 2 minute walk to the park, up steep stairs and under precarious cacti. We spent some good time in the park, famous for its tiled benches (although the sunset was better).

A quick metro ride took us to the middle of the old Barri Gotic, complete with winding streets and narrow shops. I picked up some Victorian-era bookplates from a letterpress cooperative, Sarah found some tea and smoked paprika in a terrific Art Nouveau herb store. We spent way too much time in the Bocqueria, a renowned market chock-full of food. The crabs were so fresh that they were still wiggling on the ice.

The food in general was great. If you're interested, let me know and I can email you a partial list of our meals, and if you happen across a good Catalan cookbook (in English), send me the title!

The Sagrada Familia was duly visited. It was very nice, 'specially the stonework. I liked the basson player. Frankly, the intensely overwrought, shock-and-awe Modernista business just doesn't inspire the same calm in me as the early Gothic cathedrals, most notably Santa Maria del Pi and del Mar. I find that it works better in the park (Park Guell) and the residences (Casa Batillo, Casa Mila, Palau Guell, &c). And while Gaudi's tree-columns are impressively large, the branching support idea is hardly innovative - this is from a 13th century church... The Sagrada is impressive, and spectacular, and I laud Barcelona for having the gumption to finish the damn thing, but I don't see it as anything particularly visionary or original.

My favorite building might have been the Museu Maritim, which was housed in Barcelona's old shipyards. Gorgeous. Sarah took the pictures that day, I'll get a link to them asap. Other museums - Museu del Parfum (thousands of tiny bottles), and Museu del Xocolat. Oh, yes. A chocolate museum.

It was a really successful trip. We ate well, saw some good sights, brushed up on our Castilian and Catalan, explored plenty, and enjoyed our time together. Barcelona comes highly recommended.

Pictures of Paris in the snow will be posted soon...

This and That

2005-02-10T06:13:00.000-08:00

The limestone used to line the quays is very unique, holey, colorful.

I'm always amazed by how creative people are. This is on the sidewalk, and it's wholly unexpected and delightful when you stumble across it. This is in a park near L'Academie Française.

Reid Hall, where I'm studying, has three courtyards, and this one is my favorite.

We're on vacation now. Sarah is flying in on saturday morning, and we'll spend a day in Paris before going to Barcelona. Needless to say, I'm beside myself. I hereby promise a long post about Barcelona, lots of photos and such.

Pix ahoy!

2005-02-04T07:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, the pictures should work now. They're just linked to Yahoo. Sorry for the hassle.

Sorry about that.

2005-02-02T06:49:00.000-08:00

I hear the pictures aren't working - I'll work on that this weekend.

I hadn't seen a view in a while

2005-02-01T03:28:00.000-08:00

...so it was good to get out on to the balcony of the Institut du Monde Arabe this morning. There was a good view there.

And the south side of the building is covered in mechanical apertures. Amazing, seriously- very cool idea, though it must have cost their eyeteeth to build. I doubt that stuff is available at Home Depot. It's a reference to shade screens used for centuries in Arab nations.

Paris is well-worn

2005-01-31T01:46:00.000-08:00

There are always interesting things to see in Paris. I think it has to do with the age - nearly everything is worn, and that makes for character. You don't see much in the way of faux-age, except in the jeans.



Why are barges so romantic? Makes me want to live on one. Apparently you can rent houseboat barges in Brittany annd float across the peninsula via canals, stopping to chat with lockkeepers and to pick up fresh bread.

 Sounds nice - too bad it's well over a thousand euros for a week's rental.

I liked the kitchens.

2005-01-30T15:15:00.000-08:00

We took the obligatory trip to the Loire Valley over the weekend. Chateaux seen: Langeais, Azay-le-Rideau, Chenonceau, and Blois. The tile floors were amazing at Langeais. I'd like to see some more quality tile on the market (there was a neat tile exhibit at the San Francisco airport - very cool craft, ceramics). Azay-le-Rideau and Chenonceau took the Cook's Choice award, the latter having some of the loveliest kitchens I'd ever seen. My language and culture prof looked more menacing under a row of old cleavers. There were a few bits of curved stonework that floored me: in the bay windows in Chenonceau's gallery, and under the stairs in the 17th century wing at Blois. My art history prof said that the few remaining masons capable of such feats only work on restoration projects. The French stonework in general has been a bit of a surprise. Oregon doesn't have too much in the way of stone buildings, and even the oldest brownstones in New York don't have the same level of craftsmanship and detail as Haussmann-era apartment blocks in Paris or ancient houses in Langeais or Amboise. There were plenty of interesting details at the castles on doors and walls. I wouldn't build anything quite like that today, but it sure is good to see.

And gargoyles are just spiffy.

Tasted some wine, too, on Dartmouth's coin: the cellars were half Poe and half Paris sewers, carved into the porous limestone that's everywhere in France. Some of the houses in the area are carved into cliffsides too: seriously, who wouldn't want to be a troglodyte?

We stopped in Amboise for lunch, and I cruised around solo: scoped the castle (from the outside, it was closed for lunch), meandered through the back alleys, and finally picked up a good pocketknife. On that picture of the castle, check out the groove worn in the stairs by centuries of use. Amboise was a cool town. It's where Da Vinci spent the last few years of his life, helping François I bring the Renaissance to France; as a result, there's a generous helping of Leo-Kitsch. On the other hand, there were plenty of the aformentioned windy streets, plenty of half-timbered houses with swoopy roofs, and a damn fine knife store.

Papyrus is Neat

2005-01-27T10:13:00.000-08:00

So these guys want to do some digging in Italy. Hopefully they'll find some of that lost Sophocles...

We're heading off the the Châteaux of the Loire tomorrow; pictures will be duly blogged.

This fellow has some neat articles about DIY *stuff*, and I think it's a good idea for a site.

Notre-Dame, Sundown

2005-01-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

Notre dame, sundown
Originally uploaded by thbonamici.

near the sorbonne

2005-01-26T10:02:00.000-08:00

near the sorbonne
Originally uploaded by thbonamici.

I just recently got a digital camera. It was a tricky decision, because I'm really fond of film cameras, I actually understand how film works, and I like the process of messing with chemistry in the darkroom.

But I had to realize, sooner or later, that I:

1) Don't have the money to keep buying film and developing it,
2) Don't have the time to develop it myself,
and 3) Like taking pictures.

So I broke my heart and sold my Rollei 35S (gnashing of teeth) and bought a simple little Canon digital, which is fine, and versatile, and a good camera.

At any rate, I've been shooting with black and white film in mind, because that's what I've always used, because it's cheapest to buy and simplest to develop.

Beginnings are Messy

2005-01-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

This will be primarily a photoblog, but I'll volunteer some information every once in a blue moon.

I'm in Paris right now, on a study-abroad program through Dartmouth College. It's going pretty well. It's an experience of the city that's more than that of the tourist, but less than that of the resident. Not half bad. It's my first time in Europe, which is good, because I've been taking French ever since I was wee.