It’s on days like these that I’m reminded of a conversation that Ben, a fellow Web Developer, and I had. We fantasized about living on a mountain and making furniture for a living. For the scenery, sure, and yes for the Zen of it all; but, there was more. It had to do with using your hands on a daily basis to create something physical, something real, something you can touch, and most important, something you can destroy with a sledgehammer, douse with gasoline, set on fire and shove off the mountain.
1978 Honda CB750
Custom bobber-influenced hard-tail chopper.
A work in progress.
This started life as a 1978 Honda CB750. A couple of friends got the idea to chop it up in 2007, I think. I loved it and I bought it in the summer of 2008 as soon as the owner said he was interested in selling it. The frame and other elements were cut and custom welded by Brad Rearden. I’m pretty sure Dean Beattie did some engine work on it too.
Since then I’ve removed and replaced the original disk-equipped front wheel and added a drum brake from a CB350/450 (I think). Rick Keen helped me do this. He and I also replaced the fork seals, refilled them with new fork oil, and added some fork covers. Pictures coming soon.
I haven’t read it in full in this form, and I didn’t do the conversion to HTML, so please feel free to let me know if it’s incomplete.
I recommend this book whenever possible to fellow riders. It’s likely the only “Zen and the Art of…” books that’s worth a the paper it’s printed on. I used to hand them out in the Spring, one or two of you may have one of those floating around.
Phyllis Dillon nee Payne Born March 11, 1932 Died December 18, 1998
An Irish Blessing May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of His hand. Amen.
Man, it was a thousand years ago and yesterday at the same time. Cigarettes and chain link fences, and later R.E.M. Flailing around in our minds and bodies trying to make sense of it all. Knowing everything and nothing at the same time.
It’s Fall that brings it back. The light shines right, the air is crisp and the leaves make crunching noises that work like keys to unlock memories. Happy-sad memories of lost relationships and interests. Embarrassing memories we were grateful that we’d thought we’d forgotten. And mundane memories of walking to school, or riding in cars unsupervised.
It’s Fall and time to harvest these thoughts and emotions. Time to reap what insight these unlocked currents can provide. Time to take them and store them. For in the solitude of Winter that approaches, these things will sustain you until Spring.
Well since I’m not being remotely creative or productive in this space…unless you count thinking about it. I’ll direct you toward someone who is — well not in this space, in his own.
The show with zefrank is a vlog. Which is short for “video blog.” Which is like a blog but more so. Now bloggers have a notion that people may want to actually read what they write. See a little part of the world through their special lens. Show the world they are indeed a unique snowflake. How exactly? It’s up to the individual. However one thing is clear, a vlogger does it more so.
You can be sure though that in the end, it has something to do with an affinity for technology, vast untapped internal creative reservoirs and deep-seated, unresolved childhood issues. Not me, of course. I was talking about zefrank. All kidding aside you should go and at least watch the episode of on hiring a web developer , which as Ben (a fellow web developer) put it “this will hit too close to home.”
In the end you will want to hear and see what zefrank is doing and saying, I do. Who knows he may indeed be a unique snowflake. It’s genuine , a good time, and worst of all he makes it look easy.
So when you have a lot to do — either separate small tasks, or even project oriented ones — do you procrastinate? Not wishing to do this because that isn’t done, and that would take a while and you’re not ready to do that right now.
Logically you know that if you do just a little it will help, but for some reason this logic doesn’t overpower the inertia of your bad habits, hang-ups, fears, anxieties or just plain sloth. It’s easier to idle, inert, inactive, insecure. You can make lists though, lists like a mother fucker. Color-coded, indexed, categorized, prioritized, sanitized lists. Clean, clear, tangible lists. Safe lists.
Doing though, that’s different and difficult. Isn’t it? Do you know what I mean? You do, don’t you? Well this was “doing just a little” instead of not. It’s your turn. It’s not so bad once you get started.
Twitch. Even the inanimate objects seem on edge. Twitch. The second hand at the bar seems jumpy, nervous even. Twitch. Anxious too. Tracking our movement through space and time. Twitch. At first it’s still, like the air that’s beginning to fill with cigarette smoke. It waits. Twitch. Building pressure until it can no longer shirk its duty and then lunges forward. Twitch. With so much excess kinetic energy that it shoots past the target forcing it to…twitch before it comes to rest again Twitch.
Meet me in the Church of Lost Souls at midnight and we’ll dance.
Pounding out a rhythm with the thrust of our hips;
we’ll find the pulse that drives creation.
Taken in the arms of the Universe
we’ll lose ourselves in holy reverie—
this feast of breadandwine.
