It's been a busy, busy week with two concerts (Amos Lee and Kaki King/The Mountain Goats), some meetings, a badminton tournament, birthday pie-making, and work, but I have survived. Even though the events were fun, I'm not quite cut out for the non-stop action.

I'm very much a person that needs her quota of "nothing" time and when that quota is not met, I buy things. Usually I buy things that I need. "Need" is obviously subjective. Last time I bought Season 2 of 30 Rock and a digital voice recorder.

This time I snagged a pair of hot pink ODI Ruffian Lock-On Grips. I know what you're thinking... Why hot pink? I respond to you, why not hot pink? These suckers will hopefully remedy the treacherous grip rotation that I experience when biking up cobbly O and P Streets. More importantly, I'm contributing to the American Cancer Society, and the grips will add quirkiness to my otherwise boring (but highly functional) $70 mountain bike.

Perhaps I've also overlooked another fundamental question. Why am I excited about bike grips? I love , love, love gear, and I blame/thank my dad for it. He advocated "researching" my purchases, subscribed to Consumer Reports, and created the monster I am today. I'll let you know how my purchase turns out but until then, farewell. My "nothing" time has expired.