Someday in Cooperstown, we can say, "I was there. I watched him through the minors, watched his first start, watched his entire career."

I'm happy again.

I've made no secret that office life is misery to me. I've looked for new jobs, found some leads that went nowhere, whined, took some sick days on brilliantly blue skied days, whined, and whined some more, but even as I sit here temporarily fighting the swarm of papers which are fluttering around my desk in this darkened office, I feel a sort of contentment.

Yeah, my Reds are basement dwellers. Worse than basement dwellers, actually, more like sewer-under-the-house dwellers, because they lie rotting at the bottom of the National League, barely treading water above the horrendous Texass Rangers for worst in the Majors. Thing is, the team is not that bad. Something is rotten in the state of the bullpen, but the rest of the team, including the offense, which ranks number 4 in the NL in runs scored, is not bad - it's actually pretty good. The starting pitching has been inconsistent and Bronson Arroyo has yet to show up to pitch this year, but Harang and Belisle have been good, and Lohse, well, you never know which Lohse you're going to get. But now, a spark has come to the rotation, someone who has made me put down my new content-making hobby for a few hours every five days and turn my full attention to the Reds again. Since 2004, we've waited for this guy to do exactly what he did last night: pitch a brilliant baseball game.

So what's with the photo of the bikes, you might ask? Well, it's a long story how this came about, but the short of it is that I wanted to ride my bike, but the bike was in horrible shape. The saddle and seat post had been stolen two summers ago, and I had stored it outside for awhile after that, so everything rusted. I decided to try and fix it up, go on Craig's List to look for parts, end up buying a new bike but still want to fix up the old, and voila! A basement full of bikes to fix. I like doing it. It's like Legos for adults. I fixed up one bike I bought for $25 and sold it for $100, so I went on Craig's List and asked for donations of old bikes and bike parts, and now I am the owner of 10 bikes, some more whole than others.

What I am more excited about, however, is not the mechanics of deraillers and cranks, but the paint jobs I have planned for some of the old frames I have. My old bike, for example, is currently undergoing a paint job resembling something from an aboriginal art show. As Homer was throwing his gem last night, I was throwing some green acrylic paint on top of a fluorescent yellow frame, swirls and lines and shapes randomly flowing from my brain onto the blazing metal.

And what do bicycles have to do with baseball, you think, as you swell with impatience because I am as slow to the point as Vicente Padilla is to deliver a pitch? Be prepared for a bad analogy! You see, using my eye for photography, basic internet technology, a car with a bike rack, some paint, some tools, and my newly grease-stained hands, I think I can start a mobile used bike store which caters to the plethora of university students in the District and beyond. There's potential there to end this misery of office life, this spiritual losing streak, just like Homer has the potential to lead this team out of its six-year misery, probably not this year, but for next year and many years to come. (I told you it was a bad analogy, but I did have to explain my pseudo-absence from quality blogging!)

There is something cool about working on machines which were the source of inspiration for the invention of the airplane. Here's to Homer taking off and having a long, special career, one about which we can say we watched from Draft Day 2004.

Bike and bike part donations are welcome! Have an old bike you want fixed up to ride? Perhaps an interesting and unique paint job? Let me know.