Just When I Thought I Was Out...

Just When I Thought I Was Out...

Just when I thought I was out...the Wenches (OK, head Wench Andrea) pulled me back in. This is my second round as a Wench, having made sporadic appearances during the last incarnation of this blog.

I'm a laid-off legal secretary, although I don't consider that to be part of my identity. It is, however, important enough at the moment to bear mentioning. Late at night, in my Chicago apartment, right off the highway, I like to listen to the traffic while composing my thoughts--no, let's be honest, worrying--about how to pay the bills once the severance runs out.

And that's the last you'll hear on unemployment or the economic crisis. I become Evil Squirt when I get going about how the U.S. got into this situation. Everyone will be happier if I rein all that in.

So, with Topic One out of bounds, what's left? I have little use for mainstream TV, haven't been to a movie for months and only recently bought an iPod which I still don't know how to use. (Yes, perceptive of you to guess that I'm over 50.) I don't follow the usual American megasports--unless Northwestern happens to be doing well, on which rare occasions I bleed purple and white.

What's left is: comedy. I've been a comedy geek since I parked myself in front of Rocky & Bullwinkle as a tot. The recently-ended Australian satire The Chaser's War On Everything is still a favorite, despite their disastrous Make A Realistic Wish Foundation sketch (more on that in an upcoming post).

What's left is: cycling. Before this summer, my interest in cycling was limited to watching the Tour de France mainly for the scenery. But during this year's Tour, something happened. Pieces of the sport's complexity clicked into place for me, and as a result you'll have to endure all the results of my trawls through fan websites and hours of watching skinny guys pedal down endless roads. Oh, and you'll hear a lot about this cutie.

Christian Vande Velde finished 8th in this year's Tour. As a support rider. Seven weeks after crashing at the Giro d'Italia and breaking five vertebrae. Please take a moment to let that register--seven weeks after breaking his back. That alone makes him my hero, yet there's much more to his story.

But I'll leave that for another time, because now I need to call it a night. Jobs to find, time trial championship to watch.