2005-09-25-1513Z


Took a break from Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow to re-read part of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, which I had lent to an outspoken libertarian here who for some reason had never read it before and who recently returned it to me -- also last night watched The Shawshank Redemption, a gritty movie (though not as harsh as American Me) about life in a Maine prison and, more importantly, about freedom. Then this morning I read Gibran's The Prophet, amazingly enough, for the first time in my life, and found it fascinating. There's a lot of truth in that little book, at least, the words are very much in agreement with my current way of thinking. I especially liked the Prophet's thoughts on houses.

So this (Monday through Sunday) has been my Freedom Week. I'm celebrating that which I've already found and anticipating the wisdom that will help me break even more of my chains. My passion for riding the wind was stirred greatly by the windsurfing lesson early this month, and I'm tempted to try either the TrailSkate or LandRoller with a sail from Windskate Santa Monica. But neither of the skate companies have the products quite right for the desert; the former has sealed bearings but not puncture-proof wheels, and the latter has puncture-proof wheels but only shielded, not sealed, bearings. And when LandRoller comes out with wider wheels they will not be puncture-proof, and there is no guarantee that the new wheels will fit the current skate. I may still have to work on developing my idea of using a single bicycle tire on each foot, with an angle similar to that of the LandRoller so that the center of gravity is directly above where the rubber meets the road.

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