shameless plug...ATTN: CYCLING ENTHUSIASTS

My brother-in-law is a cycler.   That's bike rider for those of us who drive on four wheels, sitting in the comfort of a reclined cushioned seat, blastin' tunes and sipping our soy latte.  He has an online business selling "the highest quality competition-level carbon bicycle components at prices you wouldn't expect."  I'll let him convince you...please link up here and spread the word about  http://www.j2-velo.com/index.html.  Thank you.  

We now return you to your already in progress blogging journey...

and btw:  30 day challenge, day 22=website

PEACE

jb/gd/u2

...30 day challenge, day 16: song that makes you cry (or nearly)

~Jackson Browne, "Never Stop", acoustic version...listen here...lyrics here

~Grateful Dead, "Box of Rain"...listen here....lyrics here

~U2, "In a Little While" (listen here)

In a little while
Surely you'll be mine
In a little while... I'll be there
In a little while
This hurt will hurt no more
I'll be home, love

When the night takes a deep breath
And the daylight has no air
If I crawl, if I come crawling home
Will you be there?

In a little while
I won't be blown by every breeze
Friday night running to Sunday on my knees
That girl, that girl she's mine
Well I've known her since,
Since she was

A little girl with Spanish eyes
When I saw her first in a pram they pushed her by
Oh my, my how you've grown
Well it's been, it's been... a little while

ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

Slow down my beating heart
A man dreams one day to fly
A man takes a rocket ship into the skies
He lives on a star that's dying in the night
And follows in the trail, the scatter of light
Turn it on, turn it on, you turn me on

Slow down my beating heart
Slowly, slowly love
Slow down my beating heart
Slowly, slowly love
Slow down my beating heart
Slowly, slowly love

'I see YOU'

my friend @ Mainland Streel has a 30 day challenge of blog prompts...

here's one of my offerings for day 11

a photo of myself, taken recently

(you may have seen this one already)

Chicago
my kinda town
city life
man's making
God's coast
God's people
with and without homes
or names
or numbers on plastic cards
people I talk to
smile with

one man sings to me
makes me laugh
outside the art house
under the lions
on route 66
just up the street
the famous street
named after my favorite
Michigan
my home
he has none

up the street
down the avenue
under the L tracks
above the clouds
inside the window
around the corner
bakery

hidden gems
city sanctuary
shiny sparks
dull dust on the thrift store shelves
black and white framed precisely
 sun stoked brick
bursting freckles
swift steps stalking the shot
one posed, one not
Linclon Park
Paulina
saturday swoon
walked way past noon
 
my home here
and there
and wherever I roam
city or country
I am the mouse
muse
meant for

 music and beauty and sweet smells and sounds
visions of grace and greed and grime
arousing suspicions
reflecting red white and blue
for you
with or without a job
flying high and expecting higher
on the seventh day
scraping the clear sky
 waving at the little people
 below
 with or without homes
the silence of history surrounds
Sunday

alas, the artists speak
in the bulls eye of business
Chagall, Calder, Picasso
mosaic of millions
great orange bird bending
face the music
on public property

see the sights
touch the steel

assess each angle

wonder what he was thinking
feeling and saying
about the people passing
 staring
 loving and learning
 ignoring and inspiring
 taking for granted
 and granting permission
providing purpose
 of puzzle pieces fitting
 where they weren't allowed before
 of childrens' eyes affected
 by their internal light
 never lost
 always found and flourishing
 art

 raindrops and river
rushing to meet the train station
 last minute focus
 last looks
someone else's photography
inside someone's former library
on the famously named street
where I met the man
with no home

full circle
three days
one person
hundreds of views
thousands of thoughts
memories amassed
purpose
point
direction
intention
meaning
of life
in
God's city