Still running behind

Boy, I am delinquent in my blogging!

Sorry. Life has been busy with Tulip Time, dance recital, piano recital, birthday, anniversaries, school. ... May is a busy time but after this weekend, life should slow down a bit.

I have been bicycling some, though not as much as I'd like. Above is a shot from last weekend. There was a strong northwest wind that I had to fight and those open corn fields -- much of my landscape -- don't stop a whisper. I thought the sky reminded me of fall, really. The wind was so chilling that I felt like I was riding in October.

A few weeks back I hooked up with a group ride out of Holland after work. About 20-25 riders headed into a strong south wind, so I was glad to have folks to draft behind. I was reminded that I am the slowest rider on the roads, but enjoyed the company on the 20-plus mile route.

Other stuff

If you're at all interested, gas here is $4.20 a gallon.

I still haven't picked up a book to read. I've been skimming Shakespeare's Sonnets and reading some takes on different Beatles songs. See the connection?

I've been in a funk at work and am trying to figure out why. I think I have identified the problem but not the cure.

Thought: All things must pass.

Reading recap

I finished off H.G. Wells' "The Invisible Man" last week or so. I was not impressed.

The topic was fascinating and I enjoyed that Wells focused on the realistic problems of being invisible -- like not having clothes to wear and how food would assimilate into the body. I just didn't like the character development -- it was a bit thin.

Also, his narration style was bothersome, how it flipped from viewpoint to viewpoint. A bit condescending at times, too, how Wells made fun of the local folk in England.

A coworker agreed when I shared my dismay with the story. He summed it well when he said Wells doesn't translate well into the 21st century.

So, I again find myself between books. I stopped to read some more Browning and was drawn into "Bifurcation." I'm still pondering the poem, and the last lines say it best:

"Inscribe each tomb thus: then, some sage acquaint

The simple -- which holds the sinner, which holds saint!"

Also, I yanked out some old college anthologies because I felt a draw to T.S. Eliot.

I reread "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." I can get my thoughts around that, especially the refrain:

"In the room the women come and go

Talking of Michelangelo."

Then I tried again with "The Waste Land." I still don't dig this one, though I've tried to fathom it for years. I think I'll put this one in with Ezra Pound.

Thought: April is the cruellest month, but February's a bitch.