When I was in college, I lived off-campus with a small army of roommates. I had a great time, and I don’t have any major complaints about my roomies. However, young people often become obsessive with music and play the same albums and songs over and over and over again. For example, I had one roommate (we’ll call him Tim because that was his name) who constantly played Kansas. It seemed like torture to be forced to listen to “Dust in the Wind” all day long only to be woken after a full evening of entertaining by the shrill Kansan vocals again in the morning. I had another roommate, Pat, (his real name) who played Queen albums 24/7. I moved. That’s how I handled that situation. Although years later I would suggest that the Geneva Conventions be updated to include a mention of the damage that can be done by repeated listenings to Kansas, I have come around to Queen.
Today is Ride Your Bike to Work Day and in honor of this occasion I would suggest two things:
1. Ride your bike to work. On your way to the office, stop by one of 44 Commute Stations in the Puget Sound region and pick up a free water bottle, snacks, maps and more!
2. Check out Queen’s Greatest Hits I & II album and listen to the fantastic song “Bicycle Race.” Here is a sample of the insightful and succinct lyrics:
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like.
Not a Queen fan? Check out some other materials on the subject of bicycles from The Seattle Public Library, including:
- The 2004 Tour De France where Lance what’s-his-name wins his sixth title.
- Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham, in which the author rides from San Francisco to Vietnam by bike. I loved this book but I’m still not sure how he did this without a submarine.
- Breaking Away – This 1979 movie about a young man obsessed with bicycle racing will give your spokes nightmares!
Carry on Wayward Son,
~Tom the Librarian, Queen Anne Branch
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