Project Bike - During

Here are a couple of shots 'during'. 1) "The Stripper" at work. 2) A Happy Boy. 3) In the Paint Shop.

Project Bike - Before

Here's how the "Traveller" folding 5-speed bicycle looked before we started sanding, and re-painting...

Project Bike

For years, I've been looking for a replacement for my favorite bike as a kid - it turns out it was a bicycle built for Sears by Huffy, and only manufactured between 1969 and 1971 - the "Sears Screamer 1". It had 'butterfly handlebars' that curved up, then down, then over - just like in the picture. Today, these bikes are referred to as 'muscle bikes', and are in high demand. I showed my sons this bike, and saw the longing in the eyes of my 10 year old.

The next day (2 weeks ago now), we went to 'BikeWerks' - a local used bike shop - to see if they had an old Spider bike, or something even close to the Screamer. After looking at a couple of bikes, my son chose a 'folding bike' with 5 speeds that had a horrible green paint job. He said "We could paint it", and so $40 later, the project began.

The next day, I went to the downtown Home Depot, walked into the paint department, and stated: "I Need A Stripper".

Once the laughter subsided, I added that it should be environmentally friendly, and not peel the skin off my lap when I pour it on thick. ;?> CitriStripper did great work on the old paint, and Krylon spray primer was quick work as well. My son wants the bike to be painted ORANGE, but the orange at Home Depot seemed too bright to him, so we went with a color at Lowes. But once it was on-the-bike, the Valspar orange paint crinkled, and cracked, so today I'm going back to the Depot to find a can of Rustoleum Orange Gloss.

In the meantime, we replaced the old cracked 20" street tires with "urban camo" tires, and are thrilled with the result. Before putting on the tires, we used steel wool to remove spoke rust, and shine up the rims. A coat of metallic 'chrome' paint, and the wheels now look ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!! I'm planning to spend some time on the bike this weekend, and will post 'before' and 'after' shots to show the work.

Haiti IS US

You may not realize I'm an active Episcopalian - yes... the denomination that's often in the news for having a "big tent". [all are welcome regardless of race, sex, orientation, or sociology-economic background (rich or poor, pink or purple]

This weekend I learned that the Diocese of Haiti is part of the Episcopal Church! There are 80,000 members in Haiti, and only around 20,000 in WA. Last night at our monthly meeting, we identified some outreach funds that have been languishing in a 'cash fund' (making .013% interest) and it took us about three minutes to redirect $4000 of that money to the Episcopal relief fund for Haiti. It was a great feeling, and provided another connection with our brothers and sisters in that devastated island nation.

"The Diocese of Haiti is the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church, so there are strong bonds between Episcopalians in this country and our sisters and brothers in Haiti. For updates on the ministry of the Episcopal Church in Haiti, visit this link: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/haiti.php. All of us are encouraged to support with our prayers and financial resources the work of Episcopal Relief and Development. To learn more and to donate online: http://www.er-d.org/"


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Failure can be very liberating

It’s not something I do often – failure, that is – but when I do… it can be pretty spectacular!!

Now if I could turn the corner on this mid-life dating thing, and actually FAIL to fail!!

Hey, it’s possible… ;?> Yes, I’ve given up on the ‘on-line dating’ oxymoron – the "Now I’ll interview you to see whether I’d like to spend a couple of hours of face-time together doing something "paradigm that passes for modern dating.

While you’re waiting for answers to those questions, however, I’ll be at club Contour, or checking out a film I’ve been dying to see… “Up In The Air”, anyone?!?!

Ass Man...

Ass Man: a distinguished heterosexual gentleman who enjoys the sight, proximity, and touch of a woman's derriere. Not to be confused with the term used for Wal-Mart assistant managers... OR the license plate Kramer received on the series Seinfeld (meant for a proctologist).

A distinction is made between an Ass Man, and a tits and ass man. An Ass Man is a man whose favorite part of the female anatomy, to look at or play with, is the buttocks, in distinction to a tit-man or a tit(s) and ass man.

Similar in temperament to a Legs Man: A male whose primary sexual interest centers on womens' legs, sometimes in distinction to one who is interested in breasts or asses. "He's a leg man; he prefers legs to tits."

From personal observation, tits men seem extremely shallow, and manipulative - often pressuring their girlfriends to receive surgical augmentation. Leg and Ass men on the other hand are more interested in their partner's staying in good shape - often participating in the same athletic or exercise interests to maintain both good health, healthy body shape, and weight.

THAT's why I run, cycle, and kayak - not because I ENJOY avoiding traffic in the rain, but because I like the results... the physical health, and weight moderation. Green Lake, anyone?

Stacy's Ass...

I went to a going-away-party for a young actress/model friend who's moving to L.A. to seriously pursue her acting career in the entertainment industry. She started by having her current employer (Red Robin restaurants) transfer her to a store in L.A. Now she's headed down there.

My observations about her: LOADS of talent, very easy on the eye, truly friendly, sincere, and easy to get along with. Downsides: she's very religious to the point of being potentially off-putting. While this is a positive attribute when it comes to her work ethic, and her 'cleanliness' relative to drugs & alcohol, it makes her a potential victim of those who desire to control and manipulate.

I can totally predict her 'relationship future' in L.A.: meets that smarmy, yet dishonest "some guy" who gives lip service to religion to 'get inside her pants', and quickly becomes a drain on her life - financial, emotional, etc. I see these qualities in my friend's 'roaming-hands-step-father-with-a-bull-shit-opinion-on-everything', [who she's moving to L.A. to get away from - whether or not she'll admit it]. My 1-hour exposure to this step-parent convinced me (have I seen this pattern before? hmmmm...) family history is doomed to repeat itself.

But, of course, having a Mid-Life Bachelor even befriend (much less give advice to) a girl half-his age makes him an instant sexual suspect. In this case, while she indeed has the greatest derriere I've seen in a VERY long time... she's not a romantic interest. I'm probably more religious than she is, but I have other places for my life energy. Something we have in common is wanting to work on our entertainment industry careers. She's got the upper hand on me in this regard - she's taking steps to 'do something about it', while I've kept the tech-career going with the LATENT intent of 'funding my PASSION for filmmaking/acting/sound-work'. She's DOING SOMETHING, while I'm still WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN.

But not for long... ;?>

(more on 'Ass Men' in a future post...)

Writing Projects...

I've been taking time every day to write, or at a minimum outline, on a couple of projects. So far so good, but I've reached a point on one of them where I need to get buy-in from a collaborator, or else shelve the project for good. It's time for a 'pitch session' with that collaborator - the person for whom I'm writing the... 'Holiday Fable'.

Also, after much debate, I think it's time to also pitch the 'zombie nerds' project to my friend at Disney as an episode of his tween animated series. Rumors that his main character is based on *ME* are completely untrue (as far as I know). I may be at times optimistic, and have a 'can do attitude' (which I use to great success at work), but my COMPLETION ratio is not nearly as high as the characters on the animated series. Still... it has a VERY infectious Theme Song.

Speaking of Theme Songs, I removed the music links on the right side of the page - they had stopped being something you could play as you read (i.e. "Every Day I Write The Book"), and become a complete AD for 'buy these songs now'... bummer.

Deleted the oxy-moron accounts...

Well, I finally broke down, and deleted both my "On-line Dating" accounts - PlentyOfFish and OkCupid. A dear friend summed up my feelings on the subject very well, and I'll paraphrase it here (from the 'why are you leaving' message I left on OkCupid...

"Conscientious Mid-life dating is not well served by on-line dating websites, or by the 'dates' they lead to.

The concept of 'modern dating' promoted here (and elsewhere): "Let's spend a few hours together with the express purpose of interviewing each other for possible romantic fulfillment and mating". OMG! Unless it stops at "let's spend a few hours together," it's doomed from the beginning by pressure and judgment. Instead, people need to spend time together doing things they enjoy. Staring at glowing rectangles BY ONE'S SELF does not involve a) other people, or b) something I enjoy doing (thanks to doing it all day 'at the office')."