Bye, Blogger

The end of Google Reader seems like the right time to quit this bitch and just Tumbl. 
I don't sit trapped and miserable at a desk all day anymore with ideas churning in my head for lengthy blog posts and how-tos. I would actually write most of my NYC blogs from work. I would also need to share or vent about NYC bike commuter stuff.

I never ever think about blogging when I'm being a tour guide or studying materials to be a better tour guide. This is bliss. I'm also working within a pretty tight dress code which is also super liberating- Black and bits of White.

If you don't know about the Google Reader Crisis of the Spring of 2013, I think you are a lucky soul. If I still spent hours at a desk each day, I would be flipping the fuck out right now because I lived by Google Reader. When that screened flashed at me that Google Reader was ending in July, I only panicked for like, 2 seconds and then I smiled because I don't need that shit anymore anyway.

I also heard that Bloglovin' stinks, so I think Tumblr is the interface for me.

I barely read any blogs these days. I can just see flashes of things to inspire me on Pinterest.

I don't care too much about many people's outfits. Oh, wait- I'm following those people's outfits on Instagram.

I also enjoy Twitter thoroughly.

Blogger, I think you're just too freaking wordy. I just don't spend that kind of time on the internet anymore and I think I'm going to just roll with the succinct forms of social networking. I won't delete this blog. I'll just let it chill.

Ain't nobody got time for that anyway. 

The New Bike Shoes

First:  A statement on my state of blogging:  I just never feel the same motivations for blogging as I used to. I also feel pretty private lately.
I used to sit at a desk for most of the day at a full-time job, and I think that gave me anxious fuel to write blog posts. Maybe I'll do better. But don't count on it. 

Here's the bike trainer my husband got us. We love it!
It's so nice to ride in your home and watch TV and pull a small table up near you with your phone and a tall glass of water. And the TV remote.

I love all the bike stuff we have going on in our apartment. People coming over to visit think they can spot our apartment from seeing the bikes in the window. It's funny, but my bike runs much quieter than Matt's on the trainer.

Spring is here in Arkansas! So outdoor biking should commence.

I even got clip-in shoes for my bike and started using them. It's a new, powerful world.

I wish I had some better jokes about how expensive these were and how I can't wear them anywhere fancy... With the exception of some of my knee-high boots, I think they are the most expensive shoes I own. They're the kind with clips and you can walk around on the ground like a normal person.

I am still totally in blind trust with my bike salesman from Chainwheel. That's the shop that nobody thought would be the shop for me. I can't believe how in-deep I am with a shop like this, and I can't believe how much crap/gear/stuff you need for road biking. Jumbo handbags and grocery totes aren't a part of this picture.

I think the road bike community and the commuters are two different communities, but I think one can participate in both, and I think doing this is going to give me better perspectives for both. 
Polite biking will carry on, and I will prove that you can do it in spandex. 

I can not get used to the ginormous maxi pads in bike shorts but you need them! They are so disgusting but necessary. Even riding the trainer in my apartment I have to wear them because my road bike's seat is like a woodpecker's beak. 

Stuff I bought that I love: Hillary Clinton Tee

Thank you for this gem, Print Liberation. This t-shirt is perfect for my low-key, domestic life. The perfect shirt to cover my fiery little Hillary-loving heart.


I heard Al Gore speak the other night at the Clinton Library. He started out super-boring but got riled up and took us to what I'm describing as Climate Change Church. I loved one of his ideas for how we can help the environment is by educating girls all over the world. Education equals empowerment and if they had access and knowledge about their fertility control, the world's population could level off. (and individual female's economic opportunities expand and contribute to the global economy, but that's a bigger story.)

Educating girls all around the world is the same thing Hillary has been championing since she was First Lady speaking about Women's rights are human rights and working with Madeline Albright to bring womens issues to the forefront of US Foreign Policy.

When I hear about Hillary running in 2016 I see her flying through the air like Michael Jordan in a 180 dunk. I am a fan of celebrations and anticipation and I'm thankful I'm going to get years out of this biggie.

My review of selling stuff on eBay

My Bottom Line:  Selling stuff on eBay is a lot of work, but it's also nice to get things out of your house. 

I think to really be profitable, you could make selling on eBay your full time job. I have other interests in my life, like my volunteer career and my science class, so I'll just put a batch of items on My eBay from time-to-time.

I did recently buy a new cheap camera tripod and I really love my choice. It was about $40 from B&H. I used to dread trips to the real B&H in NYC and if you've been there you know why, but now I kind of miss it and I was happy to order from them. Because even though I don't want to be in their over-crowded nutso store, I know they are fucking fierce over there. There is a method to their madness.


Here I am holding the wonderfully compact Canon tripod in it's carrying case. I love the carrying case. It's nicer for storing the tripod. A tripod w/out a case is kind of a snaggly monster in your closet.

I am my own model and photographer so that helped. I just picked a sunny day and mostly used natural light and ran around the apartment changing wildly fast in and out of the items I sold.

It's best that I was home alone. Thank goodness.

Putting stuff up is way smoother than it used to be. Even back a few months ago eBay would peck you to death with all these tedious questions, but somehow they really got their shit together and the listing process is much more streamlined and looks better too.

I just sat at my desk with my items in a stack near-by and used a tape measure as I went to enter them into eBay online.

I didn't get too many dumb questions about my items. That was a relief. I do have an extremely solid eCommerce background on my resume, so I think I am good at predicting the questions the item-viewer  will have.

I set-up my auctions to all end on Sunday evening THINKING everyone would pay and I could have this big trip to the post office on Monday morning, but that was not the case at all. I received rolling payments and took several trips to the PO and LUCKILY I live within walking distance of a post office so it was pretty convenient. I just had to remember to bring my own packing tape over there.

Most of my buyers bought USPS Priority Mail Shipping service so I got to use the free packing stuff supplied by the post office. My post office here in Little Rock is SO MUCH NICER than the ones in NYC. Here in LR the supplies are stocked and the works are so eerily nice.

I had a surprising amount of international buyers.

I didn't pay too much attention to how much money I actually made. I also started almost all of my items at .99. I had rescued several of my items from thrift stores and some of my items were things I no longer wanted to use/wear, so it was really a mission of sending things off to new homes.

I would relate the prices I got to those of yard sale prices. Except for in the case of a Marc Jacobs handbag.