from milwaukee ave. to milwaukee, wisconsin. how do you like milwaukee? i am asked this question at some point in nearly conversation over the last two months. i am going to start referring people to my blog. drumroll please...so far here, i am really happy.
originally a fur traders' destination, the town was established in 1846 as milwaukee, which i think is native american for new germany. it refined itself into a industrial blue collar haven for much of the past century. since the new millenium, brew city has redefined its urban landscape, bringing residences back downtown, reviving the riverfront, and introducing art and culture into the warehouses of the wards.
it is a very diverse city, comfortable in scale, with a great park system. milwaukee deserves some spotlight, and apparently i am not the first to say so. the city took this literally: at night passing throught the city is an array of colors, whether its the illuminated marcus center, a highway underpass, or a riverside dock. the city's bright lights are beautiful to cycle through, and especially photogenic at night. milwaukee is a cyclist's town, home to several great shops, miles of dedicated paths, and last but not least, the pabst mansion.
i remember when i decided to move here, my roommate suggested i re-dub myself milwaukeith. i briefly considered the potential for a new logo, expanding on the supercool lightning logo of the power tool manufacturer, but thought better of it. i liked the idea, and the novelty of the whole thing. it made me think though, what a coincidence to have been named keith. it's in the eye of the beholder, you might say?
my mother told me if it was up to her, she would have named me kyle. bikyle? it just doesn't have that regalness that the "-ith" carries. being a recyclery, it is nice to contrast the meek efforts of rehabbing old bicycles with the persnicketiness of a name like bikeith. it turns out there is already a bikyle anyhow. apparently, my father convinced my mother that the name keith seemed more masculine. good choice pops. 'behold my son, who will one day lose his day job, obsess over bikes, and find his bi-dentity. i shall call him keith, and he will grown up to brand himself a hero to forlorn bicycles!'
as long as you're here for the q & a, here's another question i often get: how do you pronounce bikeith? some people really stress the "bi-" prefix, which negates the masculinity thing my father was going for. oh well. whether you stress the "bike" or the "keith," it doesn't matter. are there anymore questions? you in the back? no? ok, well that wraps it up then, thank you for your time.
enough musing, here's a shot of my new hometown at night; my brakeless idiocy there in the foreground, my girlfriend's all purpose rack-tastic commuter in the middle, and of course, another of calatrava's brain children, the backdrop.
originally a fur traders' destination, the town was established in 1846 as milwaukee, which i think is native american for new germany. it refined itself into a industrial blue collar haven for much of the past century. since the new millenium, brew city has redefined its urban landscape, bringing residences back downtown, reviving the riverfront, and introducing art and culture into the warehouses of the wards.
it is a very diverse city, comfortable in scale, with a great park system. milwaukee deserves some spotlight, and apparently i am not the first to say so. the city took this literally: at night passing throught the city is an array of colors, whether its the illuminated marcus center, a highway underpass, or a riverside dock. the city's bright lights are beautiful to cycle through, and especially photogenic at night. milwaukee is a cyclist's town, home to several great shops, miles of dedicated paths, and last but not least, the pabst mansion.
i remember when i decided to move here, my roommate suggested i re-dub myself milwaukeith. i briefly considered the potential for a new logo, expanding on the supercool lightning logo of the power tool manufacturer, but thought better of it. i liked the idea, and the novelty of the whole thing. it made me think though, what a coincidence to have been named keith. it's in the eye of the beholder, you might say?
my mother told me if it was up to her, she would have named me kyle. bikyle? it just doesn't have that regalness that the "-ith" carries. being a recyclery, it is nice to contrast the meek efforts of rehabbing old bicycles with the persnicketiness of a name like bikeith. it turns out there is already a bikyle anyhow. apparently, my father convinced my mother that the name keith seemed more masculine. good choice pops. 'behold my son, who will one day lose his day job, obsess over bikes, and find his bi-dentity. i shall call him keith, and he will grown up to brand himself a hero to forlorn bicycles!'
as long as you're here for the q & a, here's another question i often get: how do you pronounce bikeith? some people really stress the "bi-" prefix, which negates the masculinity thing my father was going for. oh well. whether you stress the "bike" or the "keith," it doesn't matter. are there anymore questions? you in the back? no? ok, well that wraps it up then, thank you for your time.
enough musing, here's a shot of my new hometown at night; my brakeless idiocy there in the foreground, my girlfriend's all purpose rack-tastic commuter in the middle, and of course, another of calatrava's brain children, the backdrop.
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