STILL WALKIN

Hi all. Been a while. Still walkin! Fall is the perfect weather to get out there and travel across the crust of the earth with your own two feet. This is my usual walk route (sometimes I bike). 5.8 miles, about 2 hours, great with some iced coffee.

Brooklyn Pier at 5am

image credit: a2roland

un beso

I have moved to a new neighborhood, which also rates an 85 on the Walk Scale. However, I have a scary story in which I do something really dumb. I was walking from a friends house on a saturday night at 3am. It was gorgeous and warm, the moon was almost full and the streets were quiet. First of all, I live in the damn ghetto, I should not be walking home alone at 3am with no pepper spray/knife. But I was drunk and happy and it felt nice to walk. I went past all the projects and there was nobody around. I passed the post office and police station and all the quiet closed shops. I got to my block, and was literally 3 doors from my building when I heard someone JUMPING off a stoop and RUNNING up behind me. It scared me out of my damn mind. A 20 yr old Mexican dude started walking beside me and asking me for a kiss. I said NO, GOOD NIGHT. But he wouldn't leave me alone. He followed me up to my door and stood there, asking me for a kiss. I didn't want to open my door because I was afraid he'd follow me inside, so I just stood there shaking my head and saying everything I could think of in spanish (vamanos, lo ciento, etc).

Then he kisses his hand and reached out and touches me on the mouth. I was like OH HELL NO, and I pushed him off my stoop. He looked back at me and shrugged, smiled and walked away. He was probably hammered. Anyway, that's the only strange thing that's happened in my neighborhood and it was my own damn fault for walking home alone at 3am.

Walk safe!

a game of numbers

After having a party at my office (4 vodka shots and 4 beers in 2 hours), I decided to walk home.

Here was my route:

It was 6.4 miles according to google, and it took me 2.5 hours. I was already drunk but I brownbagged an OE and chainsmoked the whole way. It took me approximately 6 p-funks before I felt like I was going to die. The bridge was beautiful, albeit a little chilly. A few skinny gutterpunks made fun of my backpack.

Check out your Walk Score!

This is a great site that utilizes google maps to analyze your neighborhood and tell you just how walkable it is. My neighborhood got a 78, which is sweet. It also shows me where the closest bars are around my house! Check out your neighborhood and promote walking, because walking fuckin rules, kid.

Music for Walking

Happy New Year. I had been ipod-less for a few months, but I received a new one as a holiday gift this year. I had forgotten how wonderful it is to have music playing, propelling you onward. Depending on the mood, my tastes vary; but I think in general I'm a fan of the melancholy/droning sludgy metal while I walk. Here's a current list of my favorite walking bands:

Jesu
Killswitch Engage
Explosions in the Sky
Katatonia

I thrive on abject depression. What does that mean? (other than the fact that I'm the life of the party).

Williamsburg Bridge

From S 5th st, Brooklyn
photo credit: Nico Huve