motorcycle update

so it's been a few months now-the summer is in the winter of its days, so to speak, and peak motorcycle riding time is quickly coming to an end. "well, surely you've spent most of the summer riding your newly rebuilt project-bike, right davy?" NO. making a 26 year old motorcycle ride again is hard. i spent many hours and late nights painting, torquing, bleeding, lubing, revving, planning, crying etc. and still i have a motorcycle that is not quite road ready. i write this blog largely as a reaction to another blog. kevin wrote a blog about his friends' lack of blogging. you know, i would really like to blog pretty regularly, but i just don't find that i have enough blog-worthy material to blog a decent blog regularly. but i digest. motorcycle. so i have made progress. it is now painted a metallic black. clearly not flawless, but considering i've never painted anything automotive before it came out pretty decent. after revisiting the youtube video from my last post of the girl riding my exact bike in the factory paint i've decided that my bike looks way more badass now, in metallic black and without the honda stripes/"nighthawk" decals (apparently pronounced "deckles" if you're canadian). i got the fork seals done at heyser. i finally got the rear sprocket that it seems NO One had in stock and i put that on the rear wheel, as well as replacing the front sprocket; the installation of which is still somewhat confusing to me. i also repacked the muffler, which had absolutely no packing in it. i don't know if it had just gotten blown out over the years or what, but anyway, re-packing the silencer was cheap and easy-refreshing. my current problem is installing the new chain. with the chain tool that Anders lent me, i can't seem to figure out which one of the attachments accepts my ZJ type master link. i plan on getting up early tomorrow morning and taking another run at this problem. hopefully i didn't ruin the chain by torquing the pins in too hard. luckily, you can purchase master links separately. i think dan is going to bring the trailer by saturday morning so we can go get her inspected. i imagine then, it will start ruling.

motorcycle boy lives

i bought a motorcycle. it's something i wanted to do many years ago, but at the time i hadn't neither time, nor money to invest in this dream. a few months ago i was in baltimore driving to my band's practice space when i saw a few motorcycles parked on the sidewalk. a switch went off in my brain...one of the bikes was perfect for me, i thought. a late 70s, or early 80s japanese standard that wasn't too big. so that set the little wheels turning-i have the time and the money these days, so why not?

after leaving the dreaming phase of this quest and entering the reality leg, i began searching craigslist for my bike. a few looked good but by the time i made a move they were sold. one seemed perfect but alas-no title. finally after a few fruitless weeks i found an intriguing ad. i think the headline was like "honda 450-$500" and all that was written in the body was "good starter".. i frantically replied to this ad twice before getting a response saying that it was the owner's wife who put up the ad and she had forgotten it was posted. it was an 82 honda nighthawk 450 with 22000 miles, but it looked like it was in pretty good shape. anyway, long story short, i went out to see it, talked the guy down to $400 (dude was really cool, by the way-always nice to deal with decent folk on craigslist), had my buddy dan tow it back home and there you have it. she doesn't quite "run" yet, but i might cry the first time i hear that motor roar and like not cut out. here are things that i have done/need to do to get the bike running.

done:
-rebuilt/cleaned the carbs. this task seemed surprisingly easy. i hope i did it right.
-de-rusted/coated the fuel tank. it's got a little pinhole in it that after coating seems to still exist. i plan to get some more KREEM and try to puddle it up on the spot that has the leak. if this doesn't work, it might be time to shell out $240 and buy a new tank.

need to do:
-during the whole de-rusting process i seriously fucked up the paint on the tank. i wanted to at least wait till i had some riding time under my belt and felt confident about not dropping the bike before i did any respraying, but i think the bubbling, bare metal paint job isn't really that cool, so the respraying will have to take place before i put the tank back on for the first time. i'm thinking war-bonnet yellow as per a suggestion by my dude brodie. but you know, i'm limited by what auto zone has in shitty spray cans, so we'll see.
-fork seals...the right fork has oil up and down the upper shaft so i'm assuming the seal is fucked
-chain/sprockets-according to the indicator on the swing-arm it's time to replace the chain. sucky, but i have friends with knowledge/power tools

anyway, so me and my pal topher took the msf ridercourse and got our licenses, so it's pretty much going to be sweet. i just need to get her running before the summer is over. here's a video of my exact bike in its original factory paint. i'll post pics of the progress on mine soon...

fast food

i really like food. this is kind of a problem when you're trying to eat sensibly, but still-it's hard to cook a healthy meal for yourself every day when you have a busy life. thus, i, like many others, tend to eat out alot more than i should/want to. that being said, i will now discuss a few trends in the fast food world that have recently piqued my interest.



The BACONATOR



according to reliable internet sources, almost a third of people living in the U.S. are obese. in response to this alarming statistic, Wendy's decided to unleash upon the public, the leviathon known as "The Baconator". among the weapons in its arsenal are two 1/4 pound patties, two slices of american cheese, mayo(of course), and 6(SIX) slices of bacon. as if simply hearing the list of ingredients alone weren't enough to make you cry, this arterial terror delivers a punishing 840 calories with 23g saturated fat and 2.5 g of trans fat. holy shit. i actually had one of these a few months back. we were in a bar in arlington, and after last call we drunkenly decided to go to wendy's. from the back seat of brigitte's car i craned my neck in an attempt to locate my reliable number 2, big bacon classic value meal, but lo and behold it was not there. in its place, was the mighty Baconator; its massive, backlit form looming above. probably saying something like "fuck it, you only live once!" and with alcohol clouding my judgement, i ordered. i'll admit, it was tasty, but several bites in i was like "dude, i can't finish this motherfucker". not in the sense that it was impossible to do so, but more in the sense that i shouldn't finish it, given my innate sense of self-preservation. i don't recall who won that epic battle that night(probably Baconator), i can't remember a whole lot after my blood stopped moving and i started seeing things.


burger king's genius marketing team





the photograph above is a screenshot depicting a man being awaken by the burger king "king" who hands him a breakfast sandwich on a silver platter. this is just one sample of burger king's recent trend of having awesome commercials. i could post man, many pictures and videos, but for the sake of being concise, i will only put up a few videos, and try to explain why they're so good.





the king is such a giant ass. the fact that he has that perpetual smile makes it much better than if he were making any other facial expression. apparently, his assiness transcends time, for in the future, he is also a gigantic ass.

i have actually eaten the sandwich in this ad, and it's good. it does get old quickly though. the first time i ate it i thought it was delicious. the second time i made a quick stop in for a coffee and a little something before my 10a.m. class. it was tasty going down, but by 10:40, the honeymoon was over, and it had run through my system like Patton through north Africa.





the latest creations to be birthed from those amazing minds at burger king feature a new menu item, and someone really wanting it. this concept is really funny to me.


taco bell is awesome

i have nothing specific, or any recent memories that would be impetus to me writing about taco bell, but since fast food is the theme of this post, i have to say, taco bell is indeed awesome. it's cheap, quick, mexican and delicious. they also offer one of my favorite go-to purchases. the consistently delicious spicy chicken burrito.




somehow, tb managed to take something that costs like 35 cents to make, sell it to me for $1.29, and have me think that it tastes like it should cost 5 dollars. i am never let down by the flavor or value of this item, and it always reminds me of why i decided to make a run for the border. ¡que rico!, taco bell. me gusta.

winter break update

as i stated in my last blog, (which was, by the way, posted a ridiculously long time ago. my bad, kevin.) i had a few goals for my then-upcoming winter break. at this juncture, late in february, i think i've done a decent job of keeping up with most of my shit. since like three people read this, i will have no problem with going on about how awesome i am at accomplishing things.

i have no idea in what order these goals originally appeared (despite the fact that there were only three), but to save me the arduous task of clicking the "view blog" button once, i'll start here...

1. get in shape/exercise

so ok, i've been wanting to shed a few pounds. sometimes i think it's vanity. other times i realize that my jeans won't go on anymore, and that certain shirts no longer button. i made a lateral move at my job this past september that put me in a position where i'm performing alot less manual labor. as a result, i've been alot less stressed out, but i now get significantly less daily exercise and thus the extra pounds-hence the nature of goal #1. it got off to a rocky start, but in the last few weeks i've been doing bicycle sprints semi-regularly at the gym at school, and my bag is all packed up for a session of pick-up hockey tomorrow morning.

prognosis: positive


2. sign up for drum lessons

"it takes but a phone call to accomplish this task, david." indeed. indeed. but, as some of you may know, i am very very lazy. so, at times, a task as simple as "making a call" can be indomitable when the thought of it enters my brain. alas, i've overcome these weird odds and have now had 5(?) drum lessons, which have actually proved very useful in increasing my hand speed and control, and learning basic, foundation-building rudimentary exercises. you can check out my progress in this video:



prognosis: positive


3. record folk/whatever album

hmmm. this one never seems to get done when i mean to; i usually just end up feeling like recording something one day and then i do it...or i just think up awesome ideas that sometimes become realized.

prognosis: negative

well, i set out to master ableton live 6 a few days ago and i already know more than i used to, so it can't be considered a total failure.

so in summary, i feel like my new year's resolution/winter break goals have been successful up to this point in the year. here's a picture of our developmentally disabled dog Mongo.

winter brlog

so, completely stealing kevin's blogging idea, i've decided to write a winter break blog. it seems that kevin and i have similar goals for our respective winter breaks. my break is longer, however, and i mentioned from the beginning my three main goals to accomplish before spring semester starts in late jauary.

1. drum lessons

this is something that's been on my mind for a while. i am an OK drummer right now. i didn't start playing drums until i was around 21 or 22 years old, and i pretty much taught myself with a little help from people around me. i wanted to get some lessons in january to maybe learn some basics that were never burned into my brain from a young age as is the case with like, real drummers. i do this with the hopes of drastically improving my speed/tightness ala mitch mitchell, or at least get some solid technique down.
i have extra motivation to do this, since my friend steve's girlfriend amanda coordinates lessons at the place i'm thinking of going to.

2. get into shape

this past semester of school sort of fucked me up. i worked like 25 hours a week on top of a 12 credit schedule. i also happened to be taking a history class (latin american history-awesome) and a literature class, so this spelled tons of reading for me. this being said, i often found myself eating quick, shitty foods instead of cooking something healthier for lack of time. this also sapped my motivation to exercise. for a while i was banging out 3-4 mile runs a few times a week, but the one-two combo of louis moving out plus my lack of time has caused me to do more sitting around than running. it's okay though, this week i've gone running a couple of times and have been cranking out some serious pushups. i rule.

3. write/record my folk album

i find that when i do record something on my own, it tends to be not bad. i always seem to find an excuse to not do it, but this past semester i actually had legitimate barriers to productivity. no excuses now, however. i want to work on my Fell Winter project, but i sort of want to just write a bunch of little folk songs and make an album. both will be possible, perchance?

so yeah, those are the three main goals i have for winter break. this friday i leave for san diego to visit my sister for a few days. it will be cool to get away for a while, hang out with sister and eat some good food.

roommate battle

Vs



















so this past september, my roommate louis (depicted above on the left) of over two years moved out of our house and the room adjacent to mine to pursue employment up north. i found this very lame considering the enjoyment i derived from having him right next door. the pain of this loss, however, was dulled a few weeks ago when my friend nikki (right) moved in. though nikki hasn't been moved in for all that long, i thought it would be interesting to do a little side-by-side comparison of my former and current roommates, judging nikki's progress against louis's past performance in several different categories. here we go.


Cheapness

ok, so to anyone that knows louis this category is kind of obvious. or is it?

louis: louis is really, really, really cheap. case in point: about six months ago louis's girlfriend was visiting for a few days. louis decided to cook some spaghetti sauce and asked me if he could use the red pepper that i had in the crisper, saying that he would "replace" it. "sure", i said, assuming that a few days later an equivalent piece of fruit would be back in the fridge. a few days later i was digging around, looking for something to cook when i see this tiny little red pepper chillin in the fridge. it's funny because my first reaction was shock. i didn't think about it at all, my brain just instantaneously processed the absurdity of louis's cheapness in replacing my actual red pepper with one that more closely resembled a red jalapeño than a bell pepper.

nikki: nikki is not cheap at all. i remember going to a bar with her and ringing up a $100+ tab within like an hour and a half or something silly like that. she quickly scooped up and paid the bill before i had the chance to put anything in. ridiculous. this is the kind of person she is-she gives and gives. you have to stop her sometimes.

while this comparison seems to lead to an obvious winner in this category, let's not be so hasty. the upside to louis's cheapness is the comic value that it brings. kevin and louise will remember countless evenings of me singing the tune to popular songs with the lyrics altered to express how cheap louis is. example: "i'm just mad about coupons, i like saving money..." and so on and so forth("mellow yellow"). while this holds considerable value for myself and others lucky enough to experience it, it's not enough to take the category.

advantage: nikki

hangin'

this category refers to the frequency, quality and diversity of hangs with the respective roommate.

louis: i had some seriously quality hangs with louis. there would be the occasional night out at a party or in some bar which was always a good time, as louis is a fun, interesting dude, and a particularly humorous drunk. there were also countless nights of me procrastinating on doing schoolwork by making a visit to louis's room only to find him buried deep in public health literature, writing out a potential journal article or grant proposal. i would annoy him, ask him inane questions, play the guitar better than him. still, he always entertained my queries/comments and never seemed at an imposition. my favorite times with louis, however, were our runs. he was someone to talk to and he kept me motivated. that these runs no longer take place makes me sad.

nikki: nikki is automatically at a disadvantage n this category, not because of a lack of quality in our hang-sessions, but simply because she works allll the time and is scarcely around to hang out. this is unfortunate, because we often have a good, long bro-down about like you know, life and shit. also, she's always game for going out to lunch/dinner and few other girls can put away bourbon like she can.

despite nikki's many assets, the fact remains that she is simply not around enough. i wish she was, but...

advantage:brown


looks

this one is tough. both roommates are very attractive.

louis: tall, thin, in good shape, and possessing lincolnian features. louis drives the ladies wild with his looks, not to mention his boyish charm.



nikki is also thin, pretty and in good shape. her excellent bar service isn't the only reason she pulls in the big tips.

her height is deceptive. seriously, she'll be like 4 inches shorter than me, then 20 minutes later we're the same height. i don't know what this means.



look at those dimples. come on!

advantage:nikki

in summary:

it looks like new roommate nikki comes in 2-1 over old roommate louis. not to worry, louis. i still have much love for you, and will never forget the times we shared.

happy thanksgiving!

so today i went over to my mom's place for dinner and the usual thanksgiving family hang sesh. seeing as my sister now lives in san diego and decided not to come around for the holiday, it was just her and me. usually, i would grumble and assume this to be a stressful event, because of the absence of my sister, who is usually a good buffer between me and my mom who tend to annoy each other. this wasn't the case however, and things went down pretty well. we decided to fry up some turkey cutlets in lieu of the traditional 12 hour affair that usually takes place and results in 23lbs of cooked turkey which would be excessive for the two of us. so anyway, i made some delicious garlic mashed potatoes, fried up some green beans with a little garlic, olive oil and sliced, roasted almonds. the almonds definitely boost this dish up from like a 4 to a 6 or 7. we cooked up biscuits then made a simple salad with arugala, a little basil, lemon juice and olive oil. it was light, fresh, and delicious.






so yeah, my mom and i got along well;worked strong as a team even, made/ate some scrumtralescent dishes and chilled. i even remembered to call my aunt in south carolina. pretty good thanksgiving, i'd say.