Disclaimer: This diary isn't for experienced gearheads, racers or veteran bicycle commuters (but your advice and experiences are appreciated!)  Inspired by this excellent post on Firedoglake.

This is for those who are just now considering making the bicycle a primary mode of transportation. Times are changing. Our way of life is changing, as it must. A buddy of mine takes Cal-train to work every day and he tells me that the commuter train was practically empty a few months ago. Now it's full, with many, many bicyclists taking their bikes on the train with them. I expect this trend will continue. It looks like we're moving toward a more European way of  getting around. I'm all for it.

I was a bike messenger in San Francisco for 4 years (and lived!) I continue to use a bicycle as my primary mode of transportation. Below are a few basic survival tips.

I stand accused. As an Obama supporter I "drank the Kool Aid". Well, dammit, it was refreshing.

As evidenced below, this nomination was sewn up before it started. Despite all the Kool Aid hate in the media and on the blogs.

HEY KOOL AID!!

Hello All:

I aint lookin' for no trouble here, and I don't aim to say nothin' bad about Hillary Clinton, or any other member of team Clinton. I was just spending a lazy saturday afternoon lurking away on the internets, getting my political fix: you know, bouncing back and forth between Kos and MyDD etc, after waking up early (for me) to watch Hillary's remarkable, commendable speech today.

What followed was a journey into darkness.  

Some of Hillary's ardent supporters include Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter. If Barack Obama must face intense media scrutiny about Rev. Wright and his inflammatory comments, why is it that Hillary's campaign is silent about Rush Limbaugh's open support for Hillary Clinton?

Some context on the following rant: I'm a musician in San Francisco and play in a few bands (one of which is on Jello Biafra's label). This is the area where I have some sway with people: the underground music scene in my city.

I figured the best thing for me to do was an off-the-grid GOTV; appealing to my own sub–sub demographic.  Most of these folks have the "I don't vote. Who cares? No matter who you vote for, the system always wins" attitude. There's so much cynicism, fatalism and apathy in my scene, and in myself, that I found it unsettling when Obama started, uhhh, inspiring me. A politician? How could this be? Below is an attempt to figure this all out…

This is my first diary on this (or any) blog. I'm an inexperienced writer.  I'm much more interested in music than politics, but I feel like I've learned so much here on Kos that I should try to contribute something. So far I think I've won over about 16 voters, including my family and all my band mates. Yes we can!!