Thanks Dave for posting the super-icky pictures of your ankle chicken. I can almost smell it from here. Did you actually think ANYONE wanted to see these? Pass the barbeque sauce please... -----

I got to see my surgery incisions for the first time yesterday. While the bandages were off, I took the opportunity to get some pics of my new skin art. The white stuff is gauze fuzz, not mold…I hope. The bandages left a chicken skin texture on my ankle. Unfortunately, my flexibility isn't quite up to par, so I can't confirm that it tastes like chicken. Until I locate a qualified ankle-licking fetishist to identify the flavor, we'll just assume that it does, indeed, taste like chicken. I'll keep you posted. -----

Kyoto Chie Matsuri Alley Cat Report I recently made about 50 new friends in a single day. I shit you not. Last Sunday I arrived in Kyoto by Shinkansen for the Chie Matsuri Alley Cat. The event was held for the first time this year, in place of the much larger Kyoto Loco event held the past two years. The main reason they had to stop doing Kyoto Loco was that it got too large by its second year and the city planners were not keen on having a third one. In order to keep it a bit smaller it…

Yesterday, my ortho surgeon put my ankle back together with 8 screws and a metal plate. Everything went well, and I hope to be back on a bike in a 8-10 weeks. My struggle will be waiting an appropriate amount of time before I start pushing myself again. I don't want to go out of the gate too fast and have this injury nag me for the rest of my life. -----

Dave mentioned in his last blog post about the possibility of me going to SSWC in his place after he broke his foot skateboarding at 4:30 in the morning. Well, I did not go to Stockholm. This is largely due to a very painful condition from which I suffer called Midwestern Responsibility. Oh, I thought about going --thought real hard, mind you-- and was almost there. Dr. Nick had everything set to transfer the ticket if I gave the word, I warned the lovely and talented Ms. Bloggins of my impending departure (baby, you're the greatest!), and I begged my…