stairwells and hallways

i'm not vain by any means but it's taken me a good five years to get a decent picture of myself, plus i bought myself a pretty kick ass scarf for my birthday.

i have several months worth of posts building up that i've neglected due to my lameness with this template, so if you're on a feed to this blog for some reason you're about to get a ton of posts... sorry.

a long day at the office called for a long run at the gym. by the time i got home and made dinner it was pouring rain for the first time this year which made for a good reason to get some work done. worked on some side project stuff and finally set up a bike only blog for myself so no more random bicycle posts here. it'll be a nice place for the people who i'm building for to check in and see the progress of their bikes and i can also put up cool bike stuff i find via the internet or the outside world. it's all here... geektastic!

skipped the gym today to run home and open my box of goodies. met up with a german couple who want bikes built, they were super nice, i hope i can make them something that they love. john called to tell me he had an extra ticket to turbonegro at slim's so i said i was down. gay, norwegian punk/metal, of course. the show was insane, people were getting thrown out left and right one guy as being shove out and fell down the stairs so the bouncers grabbed him by his feet and drug him the rest of the way. given the crowd issues the band actually walked off stage for a bit so they could get it under control but that was short lived and they eventually came back and finished up. for the encore jello biafra and blag dahlia came out on stage for one song. i think it was a weirdo's cover. jello's looking his age a bit and blag was looking a little drunk, he jumped out into the crowd at one point and ended things by jumping onto the drum kit. he also was ushered out by security. one of those nights. ran into an old friend pete on my way out, then hopped on my bike and pedaled home. had some funny dreams but luckily none of them involved turbonegro...

i remember as a kid i was allowed to occasionally place an order through mail order catalogs for a variety of items usually something that either transformed or came with kung fu grip. i also remember the excitement that i had when i new their arrival was imminent, i'd jump off the bus, run up the driveway as fast as i could, turn the corner at the porch and hope to the heavens that when i entered the kitchen that little brown box would be sitting on the table.

many years later (ie: today) the boxes (and the toys) are bigger but i had that same feeling, knowing that my recent spree on ebay had come to fruition i headed out of the office in hopes of seeing a large box waiting for me in front of my apartment door and no doubt about it, it was there.

this is the beginning of a my first true build for myself, by myself and i can't help feeling like a kid...

i've posted about this before but it was just repbulished with the help of a copy editor on the DWR blog.

In a recent Design Notes newsletter, Ray Brunner discussed various forms of alternative, environmentally sound transportation. We’ve been asked: “So, where is that white bicycle in the picture from?” In response, I was asked to provide a little background about it.

Several years ago I asked one of my bicycle geek friends to build me a bike. What resulted was my pride and joy – an all black hybrid of old-school track bike and new-school fixed gear. Since then I have been very content with it. Given my love for my bicycle and all things cycling related, about a year ago a friend asked if it was possible for me to build her a bicycle. I had already been tinkering with the idea of taking up bicycle building as a hobby to get myself out from behind the computer, and I had experience in restoring vintage motorcycles so I thought, “How difficult could it be?”

I began pulling the pieces together, both new and vintage, and got the build under way. Having worked as a graphic designer for the last 10 years, I know the value of designing for my client – not for myself – so my goal was to design the prototypical bike for her, both in function and form. The finished product turned out exactly as I imagined it from the start (see the above Design Notes pic) and when I handed it over to her I saw her face light up (this must be why parents give their children bicycles for Christmas). Once everything was tightened down, we took a ride through the park together and her excitement grew the further she rode. She was hooked on riding her new, Jeremy-designed bike and I was hooked on building them.

Since then I’ve had more requests for work and it has actually grown into a fun little side project. While most designers love to see their work preserved for all to see, I much prefer seeing mine locked up to a post and worn from use – that means the owner is out enjoying themselves.