Lance Armstrong: Hey, aren’t you Peter La Fleur?

Peter La Fleur: Lance Armstrong!

Lance Armstrong: Yeah, that’s me. But I’m a big fan of yours.

Peter La Fleur: Really?

Lance Armstrong: Yeah, I’ve been watching the dodgeball tournament on the Ocho, ESPN 8. I just can’t get enough of it. Good luck in the tournament. I’m really pulling for you against those jerks from Globo Gym. I think you better hurry up or you’re gonna be late.

Peter La Fleur: Uh, actually I decided to quit… Lance.

Lance Armstrong: Quit? You know, once I was thinking of quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung and testicular cancer all at the same time. But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and won the Tour de France five times in a row. But I’m sure you have a good reason to quit. So what are you dying of that’s keeping you from the finals?

Peter La Fleur: Right now it feels a little bit like… shame.

Lance Armstrong: Well, I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn’t anything to regret for the rest of their life. Well good luck to you Peter. I’m sure this decision won’t haunt you forever.

congratulations are due to lance on winning seven in a row now, but the world will always be full of guys like me and peter la fleur who want to quit and escape rather than step up to challenges. how do you cultivate a stick-to-it attitude like that?

those of you who knew me back around the turn of the millenium might remember that i am something of a nerd. i’ve been doing this web stuff for a while, but i started most seriously when working for a little company called autoadvisor. it was the dot com boom, and suddenly we were aware of the fact that the internet had potential and we could contribute to it in some way.

the way my friend evilmike decided to contribute to it was by creating a web community for his brilliant friends to write on, the ministry of peace. the ministry eventually evolved to include a house in realspace and finally was officially put to rest last year. but the four years it was around, sporadic posts and updates continued. sadly, the domain has been bought out and we’ll never quite have anything like that again, despite our best efforts

let’s have a look back into the past however..

[ i am a nerd ] – minister lantius in digital, 14 May 2001

#!/usr/bin/perl
$m = 1;
for($d = 1; $d < = 3; $d++)  {
  for($i = $m; $i < = $d*5; $i++)  {
    $c = $i * $d * 50;
    $h = $i + $d*4.5;
    $v = $h*$h / $c;
    print $d;
    print "d8 + $i: $h*$h / $c = $v\n";
  }
  $m += 2;
}

that should settle any debate.

the fact that i immediately ran this script as soon as i found it again four years later and then went to check the math should prove my nerdery for real. (for for those of you who aren’t savvy to the dungeons & dragons, it’s a quick calculation of the healing-to-cost ratio of various levels of cure potions.)

not a real post but a bit of a side note, i saw eternal sunshine of the spotless mind last night and it made me think, naturally. i am glad for memories, but of course the film is also the sort that has a happy ending. i would like a happy ending.

tonight i watched quicksilver, the bike messenger movie starring kevin bacon. it was surprisingly good, though the insane gypsy-driving-detroit-iron vs. kevins-fixie chase scene left a bit lacking.

riding home afterwards made me think of this quote, sangamon taylor from neal stephenson’s zodiac:

I had to ride slow because I was taking my guerilla route, the one I follow when I assume that everyone in a car is out to get me. My nighttime attitude is, anyone can run you down and get away with it. Why give some drunk the chance to plaster me against a car? That’s why I don’t even own a bike light, or one of those godawful reflective suits. Because if you’ve put yourself in a position where someone has to see you in order for you to be safe — to see you, and to give a fuck — you’ve already blown it.

that pretty much summarizes why i don’t ride with lights either, move quickly and alertly and assume they don’t see you, or that if they do they’re going to come right at you. also, if you haven’t read zodiac, you should. it’s short and basically the best novel about crazy eco-warriors you’ll ever find.