Round and Square: bicycle

From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Showing posts with label bicycle. Show all posts

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Zweirad Szenen (7)—Disturbing Ende

Click here for the "Zweirad Szenen" Resource Center (all posts available)
Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Zweirad Szenen"
This is a "small" (小) post—click here for an explanation of Round and Square post lengths.

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On this date on Round and Square's History

15 August 2014—China's Lunar Calendar 2014 08-15
15 August 2013—China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-15
15 August 2013—From the Geil Archive: Introduction
15 August 2012—Rural Religion in China(11)
15 August 2011—Middles: By A Nose

[a] Ende RL

O.k., yes, I stopped to take a picture. Is it only moi, or is there something vaguely disturbing about this image (as the corner turns)?

Maybe it is just the "geography," but I am sensing Heideggerian strains here.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Zweirad Szenen (5)—A Thousand Years

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On this date on Round and Square's History

4 August 2014—China's Lunar Calendar 2014 08-04
4 August 2013—China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-04
4 August 2012—Rural Religion in China (Introduction)
4 August 2011—Longevity Mountain: Mid-Mountain Temple Road

[a] Thousand RF

So if you're from the United States, this is stunning (if you're from China...not so much). Every day, I pass through the little village of Hausen (it sort of rhymes in German with the pronunciation of "thousand"...sort of). And every day I remember that Northfield, Minnesota and Beloit, Wisconsin just can't compete in terms of communal longevity (infrastructure, bureaucracy, and summer events).

Cows, Colleges, and Contentment...to be sure, but not a thousand years old.

A thousand years (now 1,008). For an American, that's hard not to notice.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Zweirad Szenen (4)—Auf Wiedersehen

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On this date on Round and Square's History

3 August 2014—China's Lunar Calendar 2014 08-03
3 August 2013—China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-03
3 August 2012—Reviews: Introduction
3 August 2011—Seinfeld Ethnography: Code-Cracking

And when I leave (just about every town in Germany) on my two-wheeled vehicle, my beating heart (at about 80% effort, I hope) is warmed by a little "bye-bye" before I head onto open roads.

I mean, think of US roads. Maybe some states tell us that we are leaving, but things are pretty much focused on welcomes. How about the care and kindness that goes into a very nice little goodbye? It's a beautiful thing, and I always note the warm embrace of communitas from the, um...community.

Americans: Let's think about this. I know it exists here and there, but what about a nice "We'll Miss You" for our towns?

Tschüß!

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Owned (1)—Slow Couple

Click here for the "Zweirad Szenen" Resource Center (all posts available)
Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Owned"
This is a "small" (小) post—click here for an explanation of Round and Square post lengths.

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On this date on Round and Square's History

2 August 2014—China's Lunar Calendar 2014 08-04
2 August 2013—China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-04
2 August 2012—The Accidental Ethnographer: Mammoth, Masterful, Immortal China
2 August 2011—Longevity Mountain: Stone Cold Poetic

[a] Fat Tire RF

So I was riding along the canal path the other day—it was the second half of my ride, after a very leisurely first half. I was moving along at a formidable clip (this is distinctly how I remember it), and feeling rather good about myself, my fitness, and my form as July began its last turn toward August.

Good stuff.

As always, I slowed down on the path when I saw an "elderly" couple resting on a bench. I always try to be polite when I pass walkers, resters, dogs, and other people who are not flying along at my impressive pace.

It's the least I can do—a kind of cycling benevolence (仁), to my mind.

As I passed the couple, noting not inconsequential girth (I know a thing or two about that), I smiled with communal affection and empathy...

[b] Canal RF

...and now, I fear...a wee bit of condescension...

And then I powered off, churning along for the intense (to my mind) final thirty minutes of my workout.

No let-ups. Just "flying."

And what happened just about ten minutes from home?

Well that "elderly" couple flew by me with nary a word—moving at least ten miles per hour (I have converted this) faster than moi. It was like I was standing still...with at least a five-minute, and probably more, head start.

Owned.

Tonight, I drink a toast to the couple, and vow to smile with greater respect and understanding in the future.

[c] Owned RF

Owned.