Design!

I've been busy painting the frame so I'm gonna combine these steps. First I applied primer. It was a matte white. But it was a good solid coat. Hopefully it will prevent the rust from coming back. Then I taped off where I want the black to meet the white. I used masking tape to get an exact stencil (although it's hard to see in the pictures) and duct tape to hold the plastic bags in place. It looks tacky but it's a good seal against over spray.

Here is the frame! As good as it's gonna get. Which is pretty good If I DO say so myself. I probably should have done photos like a work in progress. The sanding took a long time and I kinda worked on it when I could. Would it have been cool to see the steps? Maybe. Maybe that would be a cool idea to do. When you have a blog you can document it that way. So Here it is. That last picture is my assistant. She did most of the sanding on the front fork and here she is inspecting me on the rear. (Roommate's cat, Dottie)

Lenny!

Listen, the bike is coming. I haven't forgotten about it and i sand on it constantly. But life goes on and sometimes little things come up. So I decide to document them.

This guitar that I have decided to call Leonard was just calling out to me. I bought this beauty from a pawn shop for $50! It's totally unmarked. From research (ebay and shopgoodwill) it's either a Tiesco, a Kay or a Silvertone all of these made almost identical guitars of this design in the 60s. I think it's so cool to look at and has a neat sound.

I hadn't played it in a while so I'm ready to go. I'm set. But, no output. The guitar doesn't make a sound. Now this is something I have experience with. I had a pretty good idea what had come disconnected so it was just a matter of removing the pickguard and and re-saudering a tiny wire.

It turns out that these wires in question were bare copper strands that were mysteriously tacked to the posts and the bottom of one pot. The ground was exposed...except for a tiny section cased in green rubber.

It turned out fine just a simple job. I just found it funny and interesting i suppose.

OK. Please allow me to interrupt myself to say this.

Ladies when a guy approaches you and compliments your looks don't think he's a loser. That's all he knows. Think about it. How weird would it be if a fella introduced himself and complimented your sense of humor and told you that you drive a really cool vehicle for a girl? So give those guys a chance next time. A compliment is a compliment.

Also dudes, If your server asks you if it's one ticket or two, you blew it. You need to step up your game buddy. I don't think that needs any explaining.

Furthermore, ladies stop talking smack about us guys. "All guys are dogs" "dicks" "jerks""useless". Well get you a girlfriend then! There is no excuse for you insulting all the decent guys. It's not our fault you messed around with too man useless-dog-dick-jerks and now all the good guys want nothing to do with you.

If anyone still cares about the bike I'm sanding on it everyday and making progress. I've ordered a cog and lock ring through the folks at BikeTech. I'll keep the good stuff coming.

Alright, some more. I removed all the unnecessary parts in about 45 minutes. Stopping to take pictures. I mainly did them in case I need to remember how something goes together.

On the brake levers at first I was stumped but after a better look, there's one flat head screw holding them to the handle bars.

Also, once it was off it looked like the head of a triceratops or a rhino. To me anyway. I definitely made it tell me "For this you will pay a terrible price!" Liar Liar. Is. What. that's from... yeah

And there's a great shot of the original color.

Ok. The Bike (yes caps) is coming along! I'm excited, the nice guys at Bike Tech are excited, (I think) and for good reason. So far it's a good project. The first time I built a guitar I knew very little about the mechanics of guitars. But I researched it and honestly messed up several times but eventually I got it and I think that is why I under take undertakings such as this. For that chase. For that....'What the hell is a c? I've heard of cc but not just c. It says 700c?' I think its just that I enjoy the quest for knowledge, as pretensions as that sounds. And I feel like a man when I know what this tool and that tool is used for. Projects/obsessions like this are good for me. I think.
So as promised pictures.

So listen, I'm not big on blogging and I've always seen it as something that pretentious people do. I may drop it. Just sayin. However, I often have a lot of things that I (conceitedly) think others will find interesting on my mind. And being the polite guy that I am I rarely force my opinions on others or into conversation. So you can find them here.

I find that most people don't know how to listen. To absorb what they hear. To make an effort to care about what others' are saying. So this blog was born. I think it's a neat play on words. It addresses the decision to listen, the physical, hearing side and finally, the listening itself.

So it may not always be a one sided, small world rant. Sometimes I'll discuss my undertakings. For example my project for this summer that I am very excited about.

I plan on converting an eighties 10-speed road bike into a fixed gear. I find that every summer needs a project. I'll have photos and everything to document.


Alright, there it is the awkward introductions out of the way. Keep a listen out for more posts.