Rhode Island

Went to Rhode Island today with Todd and his crew to catch Explosions In The Sky. We killed a bunch of hours by hanging around in the mall. It's pretty large. 3 stories. Malls aren't really my thing, but there were some cool stores there. People watching was great too. Had a HUGE lunch from an Indian place in their food court. I was kinda sketched out by it at first, but everything they cooked was fresh and tasted amazing! A definite surprise as mall fair goes I guess. We left the mall for a bit and walked around downtown Providence. Went to a couple sneaker shops and bookstores. Snapped some random photos. We met up with some more folks (in the mall), some ate dinner, and we left to downtown yet again. By this time, I was jonesing for some caffeine pretty badly, so I set out on my own. With the help of some of the crew from Lisa Lampinelli [sp?] (i guess she was in town doing comedy at another theater), I found a Starbucks a little ways up the street. Headed back with caffeine and waited for the rest of the crew outside Lupos.

The show was sold out...good thing we had tix already. Watched the show. The band was pretty good. Not the type of show I'm used to going to. Was hoping for more of a show, but they played well. They turned down an encore, I'm still not sure what to make of that...what kind of fucking band turns down an encore?!?! Maybe they're all a bunch of nancy-boys? I thought everything was bigger in Texas (they're pretty proud of their Texan heritage but.....that shit might get revoked!) Here's some random shots I took. Enjoy.


-Todd at dinner.


-Me. Coffee deprived.


-Bad. Ass.


-Used cassette tapes in a used bookstore.


-Quick, 5min drawing during dinner. Have I mentioned how much I hate my digital camera. Shit said it was in focus....piece of garbage.

Easter.

Easter saw me drive to NY to see family. A quick 1.5hr trip to Ma Dukes to have dinner, play with (read:torture) the cats and spend the night. The next day, a 2.5 hr trip to my sister's in LI. Dinner, see my nieces, hang-out. Was planning on hanging out with a friend and taking the ferry home, but the ferry was booked. So make another 3hr drive back home. Too much driving for one day for sure! But good to see family and take the day off from worrying about what project is due next. Check out some photos I took here.

Favorite Things

Here're a couple of my favorite things.

Well Worn...

I love old tools. There's something about their soul that speaks to me. Just looking at how well-loved they are makes me think about who's had them prior, what kind of projects they've used them for, a great history I guess. This is a pneumatic chisel that belongs to our service manager, Spencer. He told me a quick story about how he launched the chisel end once, about 20' at full blast. Luckily, there was no one on the receiving end....yikes!


-Well worn. Well loved.


-Check out the great engraving! They don't engrave anything like this anymore! So much soul!

Winter Cross Ride

Took the cross bike into the woods today to blow off some steam, get some exercise and get refocused. Changed the spring in my Singlator to push down. I've had so many issues with it pushing up I figured I try something different. Put the rear tire back on, scrounged up an extra tube, co2 & cartridges, and tools (everything I usually use is somewhere in the mid-west with my track bike, according to FedEx). Changed and went out. Rode up to Wadsworth trails and found the trailhead I was going to use was a swamped out mess. Went a different route and found a mixture of trails too mucky to ride (although it appears a few have...shame, shame!) and some that were dry and fun. Walked around the really mucky stuff and ripped around for about an hour. I'm about ready for the nicer weather.


-mucky, nasty trails.


-how do I really feel about the mucky trails?


-the Falls were movin'...


-dead leaves and a fast trail.

So Over It...

I'm sick of it. All the bullshit. The mixed messages, the un-straight-forward-ness, unreturned calls, non-communication. It's tiring. I don't understand what's so difficult about expressing feelings. Just tell people how you feel. Be straight up. I feel like there's a lot more that I want to say, but it's all just convoluted garbage that's difficult for me to form into coherent expression and it has no real bearing on the important aspects of life. So I'm refocusing. Turning my frustration towards something productive. Getting more focused on art. Making music. Taking photos. Screen-printing. Being creative. Focus on the important stuff and fuck the bullshit. Ok....I'll step down off my soapbox now.

Day 4/5

Kind of wrote about Day 4 yesterday...after riding over the Golden Gate and into the Headlands, went to the beach, braved the cold winds. Ate a life saving burrito, went back to the hostel, showered and napped for about 2 hours. Got up, was going to eat dinner at "the best Chinese place in SF" but didn't want to wait 30 mins for a table. Went to a little Thai place on the corner instead. Pretty good food, big portions. Packed up what I didn't finish, rode on down to meet up with Craig at the bar he works at. Gave him my leftovers (def enough for a second meal!), hung out, had a couple beers. Meet his roommates, the bartenders, lots of cool folks. Great music in that bar as well.

Today, got up relatively early (starting to get more in tune with Cali time....jet lags gonna suck!!!) ate breakfast and met some cool folks from around the world. Ate with a few girls from Italy, South Africa and Seattle. Finished breakfast, talked bikes with a guy from Italy who races downhill while I packed my whip up. Showered, packed, checked out. Scheduled a shuttle back to SFO tonight, walked my bike case about 8 blocks down to FedEx to ship back home to avoid the exorbant charges associated with flying your bike.

Walking about a bit, stretching the legs. Taking things in a more relaxed manner instead of having to pay attention to traffic on the bike. Walked through Chinatown section, up into Little Italy. Had a sandwich, coffee and Italian pastry. Over-priced but not too bad. Walked back down here to the library. Trying to figure out what I want to do now. Might go walk around downtown and check things out. I feel kind of limited without having my bike to rip around on. That's about it. I've got lots of photos to upload when I get home so check back to see what I saw....Talk with you all soon.

Day 3...

Only have a few mintues so we'll keep this quick. Day 3 was cool. Checked out a few more shops that I had been meaning to get to. Double-toe straps from Freewheel (one of the best bike investments I've made in a while!)...Caught up with Craig and a couple of his buddys in the evening for some drinks. Saw some rad graffiti (Barry McGee on a store front gate. Couldn't take a photo cause it was 1am in a sketch part of town), the rad folks @ Chrome fixed my bag and gave me a loaner while they were working on mine. New strap is rad! Rode over Golden Gate Bridge and up into the Marin Headlands today. Absolutely beautiful!!! Got some amazing photos. Went to the beach, stood in the Pacific! Cold-ass-hell water! Smells fresher than the Atlantic...hmmmm. I'm cashed so heading back to the hostel for a shower and nap before I go meet with Craig again tonight. I'll try to get one more post up here before I leave tomorrow. Late!

Day 2

Got an early start this morning. Early enough that nothing was open! Went to the SFMOMA first, but found they didn't open til 11AM. Stopped by a bike shop that Craig referred me to and found that they were closed for rennovations til Thur. Stumbled upon Chrome on the way back to the museum. Dropped my bag off for a new shoulder-strap (they perform repairs on the spot) and got a loaner bag til mine is done tomorrow. Went to the library to check email, etc and went back to MOMA in time for the opening. The first Tues of every month is free gallery day. So I got to check out some rad modern art on the cheap! After that, went back to the Haight area to get some stuff I had checked out yesterday. Stopped off at a few bike shops that were closed on Monday. Went to Freewheel bike shop on Hayes, picked up some Toshi double toe-straps and some random odds and ends. Stopped at another shop to alcohol my bars/stem to stop the creaking (been there since I put them together the other day). Pretty much solved the problem. Went to a Whole Foods for a snack and beverage. Checked out Goorin Bros for some rad headwear (but couldn't carry anything back cause the loaner bag is smaller than mine...have to go back tomorrow). Back to the hostel for a shower, some rest and planning for tomorrow. Went down to a bar (can't remember the name) run by a cyclist (story has is that he broke up with a girl and opened a bar...hmmmmm). Pretty rad. Then went to Zeitgeist. Another rad divey place. Talked with the infamous Tamale Lady. Got pretty lit. Can't believe I made it back in one piece...ha! Oh yeah! Both bars had racks INSIDE for bikes!!! How fucking cool! Take note CT! They're gett'n it done here in the SF! Also got some photos of some AMAZING graffiti work!Gonna go drink some more water, head to sleep and get up, do it again tomorrow! Meeting up with Craig and the crew tomorrow night. Word!

Sf Day 2

Spent pretty much all day yesterday riding around and taking things in. Tried to check out Freewheel bike shop but found out they are closed on Mondays. Found San Francisco Cyclery and picked up some CO2 cartridges, blinky lights as well as a SF bike map. If you're ever here, get one of those maps. They are amazing! Went to Haight St and checked out the small boutiques, Ameoba music (about the size of a large bowling alley), ate an amazing burrito...some highlights were happening upon the Fatlace shop and meeting the 2 cats working there, super nice. Hit up Upper Playground and saw some amazing art. Met up with Craig at the Island last night, rode around a bit and ate dinner. More stuff to cross off the list today. Oh yeah, got carded when buying beer last night "Are you old enough to buy this?" -Yep- "Oh, ok". Didn't even ask to see my id. Rad.

SF Day 1

Well, itś day 2 actually. Day one was supposed to see me land in SFO @ noon, and enjoy the day exploring the city relatively traffic free by bike. Instead, we had mechanical failure on my second plane and I spent 6am-12am on planes and in airports. But at least you had all your stuff...yeah, thanks for losing my shit Delta. You guys rock. Then had the scariest shuttle ride to the hostel, ever. Can belive we got there without getting into a serious accident. Got up this morning, had breakfast, found that my stuff had arrived. Ate a bagel, put my bike together. Now I can relax and actually have fun. Updates to follow.

Update.

Haven't really posted anything in a great while. So here's what's been going on. Been working on a lot of art lately. Painting a mural at work is the biggest thing on my plate right now. It's coming along and I'm fairly happy with the way most of it is turning out. The small portion I don't like is just the perfectionist thinking that I use to temper myself with to try to get better. A couple flicks are enclosed at the bottom. Designing the new shop jersey as well. It's coming along kind of slowly. I need to upload all of my design work from the shop to my comp here @ home so I can work on it on one of my day's off. I have a few Ghostship designs swirling around in my head but haven't had any time to really get anything down on paper because of another secret project I've been working on in my home studio. I can't tell anyone what it is yet, but when they're done, I'll post 'em all up here for sure! (they're rad and I love 'em all!!)

Trying to get back on the bike after about a month of inactivity. Yeah...I usually fall prey to it for about 2 weeks every year. This year 2 weeks turned into about a month. I was lazy, got sick, it was stupid cold and then I hurt my back snowboarding. Instead of making excuses, I'm putting an end to it. Rode the trainer tonight for about an hour and a half. Felt really good! Considering having no life this coming season and hiring a cycling coach so I can tear things up come cross season. We'll see what happens. Haven't made any decisions yet. Missing the unseasonably warm weather we were so lucky to have last Jan/Feb (although tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, 50-some-odd degrees).

Been listening to lots of music as always. Some recent things in heavy rotation: Amy Winehouse, Norah Jones, The Pharcyde, The Roots, Every Time I Die, Killswitch Engage...etc, etc. Lucero has a great way of dredging up horribly depressing feelings too. I can be in the best mood, iTunes randomly puts them on, and I turn into a pile of melancholic garbage. Pretty amazing for music to be able to do that. Hope everyone's new year has been rad so far!

Mural Photos: One of my customers dropped some knowledge on me today. Exploded isometrics are what these are called. Dig? These are fairly large. The cranks on the wall are probably 8-9 feet tall by about 8 feet wide? The hub is about 6-7 feet tall and easily 8-9 feet long. Pretty simple, bold and graphic. Iridescent gold paint on the red under-paint.









More to come as I make progress. Enjoy!

30th Photos...

Here are the photos from my 30th about a week ago. The older slideshow generator that I've been using for a while now apparently no longer works, so just click here instead. Enjoy!

Highlights of the evening include, getting cut off...I've never been cut off before! Back-to-back Jack and Torrado[sp?] shots, having all of my close friends show up to hang out, sharpie marker tattoos. Good times!

30th!

A HUGE thank you to all of my friends who showed up for my 30th bday on Sat night! I love you all and you really made my night special! Thank you so much! drunk as fuck but can still type....,knid of....thank you!!!!!

Saturday Night!

Pretty Excited...

So I'm pretty excited about this...functional, aesthetically pleasing, light, strong, made in the US. What more could you want? Available soon I hope. Lots of projects going on right now. Some freelance, some for work, lots of ideas too. 2008 is looking to be super-dope. Stick around.

"It hasn't been my day for a couple years..."

Hell of a Day...

So it started with a phone call from work. Apparently there was some sort of miscommunication and I had a client for a fit at the shop at 10am. It's my day off, so I get up, shower, eat, grab my bike and ride in. But it wasn't that smooth...about halfway to work, I got hit. I was traveling down a one-way street behind a car. They had their left signal on and started pulling to the left. I moved to pass them on the right when they cut the wheel to turn right into a parking lot (with the LEFT SIGNAL on). Instinct took over, and I steered with the car to avoid hitting them. Then my tires slipped out on the wet leaves. I slid towards the car, stopping myself with a well placed foot to the door. Front wheel went under the car, rear car wheel went over mine, toasted bike! Bent handlebars. I'm fine. Minor scrapes and stiff joints. I won't go into the gory details of what ensued, but in the end, I got paid to repair my bike and the authorities didn't have to get involved. Still got to work, did the fit and got home in one piece. I'm slowly getting stiffness here and there (as to be expected). Gonna build a new wheel and get some new bars up on the bike and we'll be good to go. PLEASE be careful out there this time of year. With a toasted wheel, bars and minor scrapes, I'm VERY lucky! Things could have been much worse and I thank my lucky stars! Hope you're all getting out to ride even with the cold weather!

Putney Race Report

Yeah...so I arrived in Putney around 8AM-ish. It was cold and windy, but the sun was out. I knew that it would warm up as the morning progressed and was looking forward to losing some layers so I wouldn't sweat so bad. Saw Tony and Tina pull in shortly after I arrived. Took my time getting my stuff together, marveled at how the port-a-john had frozen from the evening prior (was the lucky one to christen it, I believe) and went in to register. It was a nice change to be able to register inside somewhere warm! Got my pins, and number, went back to the car, grabbed the bike and started to learn the course.

The first grass section had 2 barriers and I noticed that everything was frozen and slippery upon first dismount. The course wound around a bit, then had a short, steep down-hill to 90 degree turn to steep, log run up. Take a straightaway around the bike shop, through the dirt jumps, down a wicked steep, slippery downhill, to a path, to and around some corn fields (iced and chunky now), then back onto some pavement, up a SUPER steep run-up (probably about 30' long) and back onto the course. Good, fast, FUN course. Got in a few more runs. Retried a few technical spots that gave me trouble. Got more comfortable with the steeps with every lap. Made mental notes of where my lines should be. Had a few issues with the chain throwing itself again, fixed it. Went back to the car and ran the heat to warm my feet up. Was pretty sweaty and decided to loose the tights, instead opted for knee warmers, and pinned up my Ignite jacket.

At about 9:45 decided I'd take one last run, at about half speed through most of it, full speed on a few sections. Lost my arm warmers before leaving the car because it had warmed up so much. The light jacket was more than enough. Opted for a cycling cap instead of a beanie as well. Started getting the blood flowing, and wanted to be ready to go right to the start line. When I made it to the run up, everyone was already lined up. Saw Tony and cut the line to post up right next to him.

Got the 'gun', started my '45mins of Pain' mix on the iPod, and we were off! Spun like a bastard and stayed with the front of the group. Going into the barrier section, one guy bumped arms with me (purposely as far as I could tell). Noted it as we went over the barrier section. Winding around to the first run-up, he tried it again and I went aggro, pushing him back off of me. He tried it again, and I gave him the "watch your line!". He backed off and gave me some lame excuse. As we were going up the first techy run-up, some guy cased it right into the first log. He went straight down, his bike went up, another guy crashed into the brush next to the run-up. Bikes and bodies flying everywhere! I pushed through, and kept pace with who I was with til the cornfields. That's where the chain blew off. Fixed it cursing all the way, and noticed how all the frozen stuff was now a greasy mess! The corn field wound up being a crash fest for a ton of guys every time I went though.

The rest of the race I spent trying to pick off guys ahead of me. I noticed that the only place I really got dropped was on the flat paved section because of my gearing. The rest of the race (in most of the technical sections, especially the mud) I was catching and passing guys. I knew that I wasn't in contention, but I wanted to finish and see how many I could catch. Went hard. By the time I got to the finish, I was choking back vomit. Couldn't really talk. Just coughed a bunch. Tony got worried and actually had Tina check on me to make sure I was alright! Tony did great, finishing 5th!

Got changed, ate a burrito, drank the rest of my water, checked out the shop, watched some other racers, waited for the results FOREVER!, saw that I somehow didn't make DFL, and took off. Stopped in Northampton for a coffee, some used CD's, a new shirt and belt. Then went home. A great day with some super fun riding and good friends. Always a great time!


-Pushing HARD up the last few steps of the brutal run-up. photo by Tina McCurdy


-rep'n Ghostship and Ignite (Orange County Hard Core!) photo by Tina McCurdy



-the mini dirt jump in the middle of the course. super fun! photo by Tina McCurdy

VT Cyclocross.

Raced Putney today. I'm SUPER tired and am heading to bed right now! (9:30pm). Here's the quick run-down...more detailed report to follow:
Got up super early, cold, frozen slick ground, thawed greasy mud, lots of crashing, jumping over bodies, bike failure AGAIN!, Tony kicked ass! (5th place), drove to Northampton, coffee, used cd's, new shirt, drove home, Eli's w/ the Sunday crew, here, bed. Photos to arrive as well (hopefully).