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Bigger in Texas

2009-08-27T06:51:00.008-05:00

They say everything's bigger in Texas - and it's true. In so many ways.

This term I had registered for 4 classes, only to get into 2. I tried all week to straighten that out, to get into ANY other class, but because of the "economy," there's a massive influx of students coming to community college. People who have to go back to school to learn new technology, bigger technology, and people who can't go to a university because it costs too much.

We finally made a deal on a nice house in nearby Allen - it's a beautiful brick number that would, back in Oregon, cost 3 or 4 times as much as it is here. We looked at so many houses, and they all looked the same to me. But this one kinda stood out, or maybe it just had the right "feel" to it inside. Like a new pair of shoes. Or a new girlfriend/boyfriend... OH come on, you sick-o's! You know I'm not being literal here!

I am, however, looking forward to have actual SOIL to work in, to plant a garden, have a compost pile - the whole Oregonian bit. Even if it's full of clay, I'll just use it to sculpt my own garden art :-) Maybe there's a natural way to get rid of fire ants? Doubt it. I'll probably go the Texas way and spray the hell out of them with something that'll make me feel bad about myself for buying (and using).

There is another thing about moving from an apartment to a house that gives me a tinge of excitement in my tummy: Maybe, JUST maybe...I'll finally be able to get a dog. I've missed having a dog, and with a fenced-in backyard, well - what's stopping me? There's an animal shelter just down the street, too. Yes, it's sad to go into those places, because I want to adopt ALL of them. But maybe I'll just walk in and ask the person behind the front counter if they have any Jack Russells in?

To tell you the truth, I can't tell Allen from Plano, where we currently reside. Plano is like a massive suburb of Dallas. But it's not split up by anything. It's just Dallas in the middle, sprawling out into tons of smaller "towns," that are basically part of Dallas yet at the same time their own districts. Kinda like Portland, but without the mountains all around. Living in Texas, it even seems bigger here - I once told someone that the sky seems bigger - I think it's because the horizon seems to go forever in each direction, without being cut off by mountains. This confuses the hell out of me, especially when I'm trying to figure out which direction I'm going - there are no big landmarks like I'm used to.

Cars are bigger here - more expensive. Whereas on the west coast, old VWs are all around, when I see one here, I get all excited, like it's something from home here to see me. There isn't a big bike-riding community here, either, because things are so spread out. In Eugene I could ride my bike from one side of the city to the other in no time. Here it would take me days - literally.

I digress - it's starting to grow on me. I think it has that effect on people - I have bouts of homesickness still every now and then (like when my friends up North talk about going to Burning Man or the Country Fair, or crap, even the Lane County Fair!). Maybe it's just that the extreme part of the summer is almost over, so it's safe to venture outside again. Down here I my Seasonal Affective Disorder actually REVERSED itself - it's so damn hot and bright out during the summer that I am forced to stay inside, in an air-conditioned cube. It's only during the cooler months that I feel better about going out. Actually, the thought of going to burning man gives me a hot flash anyway. But besides the heat of summer festivals, I really just miss the raw, uninhibited creativity and human circus-like debauchery. Where all the "weirdos" like me come out of the woodwork to run around and play.

(To my knowledge, there is nothing like that here - the closest I have come is a renaissance faire that I attended months ago, which was very cool in its own way). I have managed to visit Austin, but only long enough to realize I was too tired to do the tourist thing because I had stayed up late the night before doing a ghost hunt.

As I said, my S.A.D. has reversed itself, but now that fall is slowly approaching, I'm starting to feel like going outside again...

Alas, as soon as I do, I see another sign of why they say everything's bigger in Texas:

A giant moth outside my neighbor's apartment door, about the size of a small bird, had affixed itself to the wall this morning. This thing easily had a 6-inch wingspan, as the wings were about 3 inches long. I was so startled by its size that I grabbed my phone and snapped a pic:

The blurry phone picture taken at 6 am gives it no justice, but I had to document its existence somehow. And yet I know that somewhere around here lurks an even bigger bug that's looking to eat this moth for breakfast (shudder).

Photography FINAL PROJECT - "Life After People"

2009-08-13T08:59:00.010-05:00

For our final project, we had to print 10 nice photos that follow a theme or story. I chose the theme "Life After People"- I found things/places which appeared to have been abandoned by people - as if humans had disappeared due to a plague, a war, a zombie invasion, etc...

Photography Class, Summer 2009

2009-08-13T08:24:00.014-05:00

First Assignment: Go outside and practice with tripod...

First Project:

"Cultural Taboo"

Second Assignment: "Burning and Dodging" in darkroom (making parts of photo darker or lighter) (Razorblade pic below)

Second Assignment: Experimenting with shutter speeds, subject must be ethereal and/or supernatural.

Third Project: "Our Time," must be something recognizable as from current day, 1 must have short depth of field, one must have wide depth of field...

New Assignments, New Rides, Old Drama

2009-07-15T08:30:00.004-05:00

So I've been in my photography class (to anyone pursuing it, it's an expensive class OR hobby). Back in high school, they had cameras we could rent. But our teacher surprised us on the first day saying that by the next day we'd need 35mm, fully manual cameras, and special film for them. Well, in this digital age, only one class member had one. Others had to go out and buy them - and I almost had to go to my nearest pawn shop - but then I recalled that my aunts had always been the photo-takers in the family - surely one of them must have an old 35mm hanging around. And one did! So I got the camera right off the bat. The other supplies, like film and photo paper, etc, was picked up by Tony since he works downtown, and most camera shops are downtown and have stupid hours of 8 or 9 to 5, M -> F. So it worked out for him to pick it up after work one day.

What's cool is, our first assignment involves taking 2 rolls of pictures depicting direct and diffuse light. But the really neat part is, it must involve a subject (or subjects) that are socially taboo - i.e. poverty, sexuality, crime, social status, etc. Anything that makes the viewer uncomfortable when looking at it. I can't wait to get started, but she said we can't start yet because we'll be using film today in our cameras for practice.

As far as the scooter goes, my parents took me yesterday and we got the papers signed, it's been ordered - I went with black. I thought well, black goes with anything, especially helmets and outfits, and also if I want to pinstripe it or find cool decals for it (NOT bumper stickers, but more like chrome decals), they'd look cool on it. Unfortunately the bike won't be here at the latest 6 days from now, at the soonest, I'd say a few days. It's coming from the warehouse in Cali, and then the guy here has to assemble it. Which only takes a couple of hours. Can't wait to be riding that thing all over! Not have to be dependent on anyone for rides...

Which takes me to the next topic - not since high school did I thought I'd find myself involved in drama, crap-talking stuff, but here at nearly 28 it's happened. There's a girl at my clinic who appears to be a bit crazy, always crying, having an issue of some sort, and has taken a liking to spreading dumb made-up stories about me. I don't even know this chick! On the one hand, I could confront her and tell her to knock it off, that I don't have time for that crap, that I'm too old for it - which in turn would accomplish two things. First, she'd lie and say she never said anything. Second, I'd get hit even harder with the crap-talking. On the other hand, I'll do what I usually do and just wait for it to blow over. People who do that usually have their Karma coming to them. Karma...that's a comforting though :)

School, Scooters, and Scribing

2009-07-09T19:54:00.004-05:00

I first started my college life right after high school - and went on a many-year-long haitus...only to find out that, indeed, college needed to be pursued further. So during the past few years, I'd take a class, and then work for a while, back and forth - but in order to get the real job, the job of my dreams, the job doing things that actually interest me - a degree is in order.

So, next Monday, I will be going back to finish my degree. I know, sounds intense - don't worry, summer term is super condensed, it's only a month long, with 4-hour classes 4 days a week. Even the advisor told me that taking any more than one class during this term is, well, not to be "advised." It's lucky that I have virtually all of my "core" classes out of the way, so I'm down to my cool classes - I can jump right into graphic design, my passion. And what better way to start than with Photography I. I was very into photography classes in high school - kind of the photography teacher's "pet," if you will - even had a special study hall where I could just run around and take pictures.

Let me digress to the scooter part of this blog entry - the scooter is coming. My mom put down a few ground rules: It had to be electric (therefor no insurance, no special license, no gas, etc), it should have at least 600 watts, and it has to be under 1000 (including helmet and all). I've already picked out the helmet. This weekend, I'm not sure, but I think we're going to get THE bike.

Now, I've spent the past month or so looking online for a vespa-like, vintage-looking e-bike, and dude, they're just not out there. Not for under a grand. But there is ONE, that meets all my needs. Doesn't have that "Vespa" body frame, but hell, I figure when I'm pullin in the mad cash from my graphic design business, I'll buy an e-Vespa (which they have started to make, and sell for several grand).

And then there's the book I've been writing for a few months now. Ever since I was up in Oregon, going thru my "dark" period (I'll leave that to those who know me), I've always said I'd write a book about my experiences. It took me a long time to feel "ready" to write that book, so I started last winter. Come to find out, writing a book is hard work. So I began to write pieces of it as they came to me. Every once in a while I'll remember something random from that time and think "OH! I'd better write that down," and most of the time I do.

Eventually, the book will be finished - it must be, so the Molly legacy can be complete. People must know the dangers that lurk in the world, the dark, deep Silence-of-the-Lambs-type dungeons that await unsuspecting young students to fall into, and it takes many years to escape them - if those kids ever get out at all. So this is my story, and I promise, blog readers, you will someday read it. Until then...read my random bloggy thoughts.

Quadrophenia

2009-06-20T11:37:00.004-05:00

My parents said that they would buy me a scooter to get to work and whatnot. They both purchased electric scooters, really cool ones (I got to test drive one). They are being delivered in a couple of weeks. They go about 25 to 30 mph, which is okay, but they have to be charged every 20 miles or so. So I have to decide whether I want a gas-powered one or not.

I really want a gas-powered one because of several reasons, all of them of the same level of importance. First, I have always been in love with the Vespa style, the vintage, retro style scooter. Those are hard to find with electric ones. Granted, Vespa just came out with an electric one, but it's far too many bones for my parents to shell out (plus I think they're from the UK).

It doesn't have to be a Vespa brand, obviously, I mean don't want to shell out thousands of bucks, which is understandable. But just something with that classic look to it.

All of the electric models at which I've looked, all have this newer, sporty type of frame, which doesn't really suit me or my style. But as far as the pro's for electric scooters go: In Texas, you don't have to get a special license for an electric scooter. Which means, I wouldn't have to take (and pay for) a special class, or take a behind-the-handlebars test at the DMV and deal with the whole process of that. Also, and this is a BIG pro to go electric: No insurance. That's right - if you drive an electric scooter, you don't have to pay any insurance. You don't have to get it registered, or get it inspected - all of which costs money and takes up much time.

So, back to the gas-powered. The gas-powered scooters go faster, and you don't have to charge them. They're solid - not as light and plastic-y, and, as I had stated above, the frames are more my style. But then again, the prices are going up and up with gas, and will probably never be cheap again. Not to mention my carbon footprint...I'd rather make minimal tip-toe prints on rice paper.

So what's it gonna be?? I'll let y'all know - but I could use your input. Leave me a comment if you like and let me know which kind you think I should go with! Happy Summer and Father's Day to all!

Days of Thunder

2009-06-02T06:36:00.007-05:00

In return for enduring all of the hot, humid days here in the DFW area, every month or so I hear the sweet, distant reverberation of the electric fantasm to come: Thunder. I've encountered some massive t-storms in my life, the bolts of which have burned themselves into memory - like the time, as a kid, lightning struck our neighbor's yard, sending both me and my dog running into the garage crying.

Over the years, however, my fear of those rumbling monstrosities has turned to curiosity - and gradually, I began to fall for them - hard.

Texas has some incredible t-storms - from what I've heard, some of the best in the country. You can not only feel, but smell the electricity in the air, as the storm charges up the ions to an excited state.

One good indication that a nice t-storm is about to start up, is the most obvious - the weatherman (or woman) reports it. I was inspired to write this blog today because there are scattered t-storms forcasted for today and tomorrow, which I first heard about almost a week ago on the news. It's amazing that they can be so accurate (most of the time), while forcasting something that is to happen up to 10 days from now. They were right, too - this morning, when it was still dark out, I actually managed to snap a picture with my phone of the distant, flickering lightning.

Another sign that the T-storm is really getting good: Tornado sirens. Placed strategically around town, they're meant to serve as severe wind warnings, followed by a voice on a loudspeaker repeating "Tornado Warning" a few times. To me, they also act as loud, storm-chasing enthusiasts, letting me know, "Hey! It's getting really intense out here!" They have an ominous, emergency-type cry that evokes grainy images of atomic bomb tests on fake plastic sububs in the desert. My friend and I had a conversation once about how they sound exactly like the sirens in the movie Silent Hill - the ones that start up whenever the dark, evil realm of the underworld is about to take over. When these go off during a storm (or during their 12 pm Wednesday test), I compulsively imagine the ground cracking and falling away, warped little limping ghouls crawling out of the firey depths. I wonder, in the event of such a happening - or better yet, a zombie attack - would these same storm sirens go off? And, if so, would the siren be followed by vocal instructions on how to fight them off? Such are the things I ponder...

In Oregon, I grew up so used to the rain that most of the time I didn't even bother with an umbrella. But now that I've experienced Texan rain, I've grown aware that rain is not the same everywhere. They say it rains constantly in the Northwest, but what they don't realize is that it's more of a fog-like mist. Sometimes it gathers strength and drizzles more heavily, but generally it's not that intrusive. In Texas, however, the term "raining cats and dogs" has new meaning - it's a virtual high-pressure shower. The drops are big, fat, and heavy. It feels as though someone is tossing bucketloads of water directly on your head. The streets flood. People crash their cars on the freeway. It's as if all that heat and dryness has been sucking up all the moisture and storing it somewhere, only to dump it all in one or two days of hardcore t-storming.

But I digress - there is just nothing more romantic than watching or listening to a crazy thunderstorm with your significant other. The soothing sound of the raindrops hitting the roof; the powerful and startling thunder that makes you shiver and want to hold each other tighter; the electrically-charged static in the air that creates goosebumps and stimulates all of the senses; and of course, there's always a good chance the power could go out! Then you're left with candlelight and a natural strobe-light show. And that, ladies and gentleman, is why I love thunderstorms.

Dreaming Big

2009-06-01T09:49:00.005-05:00

Next up on the growing-up list: Buying a house.

I never thought I'd be hunting for a house to buy, but it's actually happening. Technically, my boyfriend is buying it, but who's getting techinical? We're ready to leave the apartment and find a house. At one time it seemed like an idea that might come to reality in the distant future - however, various signs are arising that tell me moving day's coming up soon. The frequency and growing interest in various HGTV and DIY shows; using phrases like "when we have a house..." and "...for our house" (it's a great thing for a girl when her boyfriend can distinguish between cherry and mahogany, wood laminate vs. peel n' stick tile, "just purple" or plum); and, of course, there's the fact that we are actively searching for one.

It's a buyer's market - that's what everyone's been saying for the past year or so. It's true, too. When I first moved to Texas from Oregon, I was shocked at the prices of homes down here. It's not just the economy - it's this part of the country. In Oregon, a nice, 3 brm, 2 bath home in an upper class suburban neighborhood would run about $350,000 or so. However, if you want a brick home, those are usually in the hills and can be up to a million bucks. Seriously.

Down here, you could get the same house that you would get in the ritzy parts of an Oregon city, for $150,000 - made of brick, with a pool and hardwood floors to boot. Of course, other factors come into play - there's sales tax down here (but no state income tax in Oregon).

Enough of that numbers crap. Here's a weird thing about Texas homes - we have to water our houses. You heard me correctly. The soil here is made of clay, and it contracts and expands with the weather. Put a foundation and house on that stuff, and it warps and moves all over the place. Thus, you have to water the foundation so it doesn't up and move the house - creating cracks and stuck doors, warped floors, etc. That being said - ALL the houses we've looked at thus far have foundation problems. It's almsot a given that there's going to be some cracks in the walls.

What we're looking for: A 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. That would be one master bedroom and master bath for us, a guest room, guest bath, and a computer/music/sewing room. It's gotta be up-to-date, meaning no 1960s flowered orange linoleum and peeling paint. Originally we were thinking "no pool," because of the maintenance - but now that summer's here, we've changed our tune. A pool or hot tub would suit me just fine! I'm not opposed to throwing a bit of chlorine in there and sucking out the bugs with a hose or net - if it means I get to float around in luxury.

The neighborhood is the final piece of the home-buying puzzle for us. Recently, we found a wonderful home that would have been absolutely perfect for us - had there not been a total garbage heap of a neighborhood a couple streets over. It's strange how the neighborhoods here fluctuate from street to street like that: One minute you're driving through a beautiful, nicely landscaped suburb, and the very next you're rolling up your windows and locking your doors. I'm all for diversity, but living near a trash-and-car-part-strewn lawn doesn't thrill me.

2009-05-29T11:46:00.006-05:00

It's getting hotter here in Texas, and the best thing to have down here (besides air conditioning) is definitly a blender. My boyfriend and I finally got our own blender, and since we bought it about 2 months ago, not a day goes by that I haven't used it.

Originally I used a site called topsecretrecipes.com to make Orange Juliuses. But after trying many different ingredients and varying amounths of things, I've come to create my own signature smoothies. Here are a couple of easy, standard smoothies that I love - not only because they are delicious, but because they are so darn healthy!

Sweet Relief

1 handful of ice (use both hands)

1 cup water

1 orange

1 half banana

1 TBSP imit. vanilla

1 half cup Splenda

1/4 cup honey

A few blackberries

Throw it all into the blender, ice first, put the lid on (duh) and blend away. This makes either 2 small smoothies or one giant one.

You can experiment (and I have), using peaches, pineapple, apples, mango, watermelon, different berries - whatever you like! I like to add milk sometimes to give it that creamsicle taste, too.

For when you have a chocolate attack:

Get the Fudge Out of Here

(Chocolate Milkshake)

One handful of ice

1 cup milk (I use soy)

1/8 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup Splenda

1 TBSP vanilla

This is where you can add ice cream if you like, keeping in mind that it will increase the calorie/fat content a LOT. You could also add bananas, any kind of sweet candy, and whip cream if you so desire.

Coasting Back to Life Pt. 3 - Customizing is a Gamble

2009-05-28T07:32:00.006-05:00

In researching custom Electra parts online, I found out that the company manufactures many different styles of chrome bells - most of which are found on eBay. Each bell I looked at was even cooler than the last - skulls, stars, flowers, various Electra logos. And then I found it: The perfect bell for my custom bike.

I emailed the eBay link to my mom to show her how cool it was - and recieved an email back which read "It's on it's way :)"

Sweet! Thanks, Mom!

The Electra front metal badge is still missing, and seems to only be available online. As far as I can tell, they only have one style available.

Rather than purchasing the standard metal logo badge online, I'm going to attempt to create my own custom badge for the front of the bike. My materials are limited, so I definitly won't be making it out of any kind of metal. Rather, I think I will sketch something out on some thin cardboard, paint it with paint pens (the same ones used to create the custom valve dice), and then affix it to the bike with a clear, waterproof glue. Whether or not it works is yet to be seen - but that's how it goes when you're creating a custom bicylce on a budget!

I am on a very limited budget, but I've been trying to go for a custom design that encompasses a sort of a retro, punk-rockabilly, "Man's Ruin"-inspired look.

(Man's Ruin is a classic and very popular tattoo design, typically including pin-up style women, alcohol, gambling [dice, cards] and money. These are the paths that can, individually and together, lead to a man’s (or woman's) ruin.) Ah, but what a way to go.

That said, I will be creating my own front badge today, incorporating a skull, dice, and olde English "Molly's Electra." It won't be chrome, but I hope it will look nice anyway.

Coasting Back to Life Pt. 2 - The Finishing Touches

2009-05-27T12:09:00.010-05:00

Just finished the last clear coat. The seat had a few tears in it - after unsuccessfully trying to fix them with gorilla glue (which expands, BIG TIME, when it dries) - I settled for some small strips of electrical tape. Not the nicest repair in the world, but it looks a hell of a lot better than it did!

Scraped some weird yellowish paint off of the back rim - possibly glow-in-the-dark? Used Greased Lightning to scrub off any old grease from the wheels and spokes.

Funny how things come together - my mom just happened to have the front headlight for this bike in a drawer! I guess back in the day I had left it at her house when she still lived in Oregon, and now the bike and its headlight are reunited (and it feels so good)!

The cost of bringing my treasured Electra back to life was far less than buying a new bike, and I have the added benefit of knowing I did it myself. I need to give credit to whom it's due:

Thanks to Tony, for paying for the bike's trip from Eugene to Plano, for buying the paint, the kickstand, and the patch kit (and for giving up a small portion of his garage); Thanks to Mom for all the tools I borrowed and for the tail light; Thanks to Cortney for going to the Campbell Club to investigate the bike's whereabouts; Thanks to Amy for taking the original pictures of the bike and sending them to me; Thanks to Jeff for answering my Craig's List ad and bringing the bike down here to Texas.

Coasting Back to Life - One Cruiser's Journey...

2009-05-26T08:23:00.026-05:00

About 5 years ago, in Eugene, Oregon, I purchased an Electra Cruiser Coaster bicycle for about a hundred bucks from a friend. I loved
that bike, and rode it everywhere in that college town - getting many compiments each time I'd take it out. It was electric blue with grey and white accents, with wide handlebars. For having only one speed, it was fast, too.

Riding that Electra was a huge esteem booster. I felt cool and hip - "Wow, look at Molly on her rad cruiser!"

In September of 2006, I moved to Dallas, Texas, and was forced to leave my beloved bicycle in Eugene as I was unable to take it on the plane with me. I had been living at a campus student co-op house, so I sold it to a friend for$80 - the condition being that someday, I would come back for it.

Years passed, and that friend ended up moving to St. Croix island - I realized that she had left the bike behind at the Co-op in Eugene. I decided to try to track it down.

I emailed the few people I knew for sure still lived at the co-op, and they promised to help me get the bike back - however, none of them would give me an accurate description of what the bike looked like. After all, I didn't want to pay to have it shipped down to Texas if it was completely trashed!

Finally, after nearly two months of trying desperately to get someone to tell me what the bike looked like, one of them came through and sent me two pictures of it:

Good Lord! What in the hell happened to it? Obviously, it had been used as a "house bike" at the co-op. Various people had painted it various colors, including a metallic gold and splotchy, spotted black spraypaint. There were scrapes and scratches everywhere - it looked as if the tires were mismatched. The kickstand was broken off. The front chrome "Electra" badge was missing. It was a nightmare...

But I still wanted it back. It was calling to me, as if it were sick and saying "Help me, Molly! Save me from these mistreating hippies!"

Judging from how long it took to get someone there to write a mere email to me, I figured the chances of getting someone to physically take the bike to a Fed Ex store were slim to none. So, I posted an ad on Craig's List, asking if anyone was travelling from Oregon to the Dallas area. I did not expect to get a reply, and frankly thought the chances of being reunited with my bike were looking bleak.

To my surprise, a couple weeks later I got a reply. A man from Sandy, Oregon was going to be driving to Sherman, Texas (which is only a half hour north of where we live). Since Eugene is a bit out of his way, he said he would do it for $50. Deal.

Before I knew it, we were going to pick up my bike from this man. My boyfriend and I met him at a Sonic restaurant, where we paid him and put the bike in the trunk of the car with the seats folded down. I was so excited! But, at the same time, I knew I had my work cut out for me. Not only was the paint bad - the front tire was flat, and there was a large bike lock around the frame.

Prepping for Paint

The first order of business was to fix the flat tire. Having never fixed one before, I went through a bit of trial and error. One of the nuts wouldn't come off, so I tried to fix the tube without taking the wheel off of the bike - big mistake. There's no way that could work. I got help loosening the nut, took the tube out, aired it up with my boyfriend's bike pump, and took it up to the bathtub in our apartment. I had heard of using this method but never tried it. I filled the bathtub a few inches and submersed the tube - viola! A trail of tiny bubbles rapidly escaped from a practially microscopic hole. After drying the tube, I used a patch kit and easily fixed the tube.

The next thing to do was to get that damn lock off the frame. It was one of those thick wire locks that coils up. After trying a few various small handtools, I went to my mother's house and borrowed two hacksaws. These allowed me to get through the thick rubber coating and through about a quarter of the woven copper wires. Eventually, I was able to tear through the rest of it using a pair of heavy-duty wire cutters.

After unscrewing what was left of the broken kickstand, I installed the new kickstand - an adjustable chrome stand with a rubber foot.

Next came the sanding of the crappy hippie paintjob. Using wet/dry sandpaper, I sanded the entire frame, using up less than a full sheet of the stuff. I sanded until the finish was smooth to the touch - however, the pinstripe decals were still visible. That's okay, though - I planned to use them as guidelines for the new stripes.

I then used some wide masking tape (again, borrowed from my mom) and taped off any chrome parts, including the chrome on the back wheel. I didn't take off the back wheel for two reasons: A. I didn't want to mess with the chain, since I'm not a bicycle expert (I didn't want to take anything apart that I couldn't put back together again!) and B. For some reason, the rubber on the rear wheel had turned a yellowish-white in many places. I don't know if someone rode through some weird crap, or if the rubber is old and fading - either way, I wanted to go ahead and hit it with the black paint.

Paint!

I opted for a shimmery black paint, using a paint pen for the red pinstripes/decals, and lots of clear coat for that candy-paint finish. I figured the black would look good with the red (those are my favorite colors, anyway), and that the black would cover any mistakes I made.

Most of the websites I looked at strongly recommended primer before paint. However, being on a budget (this is a recession, right?) I decided to just sand the frame as best I could, and the fact that I was going black, I figured there wasn't much point to putting primer on. I only hoped thatI wouldn't be proven wrong!

I used an old toothbrush to brush away any debris or oil from around the pedals and chain area, and began to paint, using short, brisk sweeps. At first it seemed as though the paint was extremely light, until I went over it a few times and it began to darken. I flipped the bike upside down and thoroughly painted every angle.

I used a red paint pen while it was very sunny out so that I could make out where all the decals were, and followed them. I have a steady hand when it comes to painting like this, so it wasn't a problem - had I not, I would have taped off the parts where I wanted the red paint to ensure straight lines.

I had to go over the red paint many times in order to hide my brush strokes. This may or may not have been avoided by using a different method of painting, but it did turn out exactly like I had imagined it would.

At the same time that I was working on the rest of the bike, I was also busy creating a special custom feature:

Dice Valve Caps

One rainy day, I went to my mom's house and used her drill in her toolshed to bore holes into 2 regular, 6-sided dice. I secured the dice in a vice and, starting with the smallest drill bit, I carefully drilled about a half-inch into the side with the "one" dot - which worked out great because the dot acted as a guide for the drill.

I graduated up to a bit size that was slightly larger than the diameter of the valve caps. With a drop of gorilla glue in each hole (a little goes a long way!), I tapped the valve caps into the dice with a hammer. I used a black paint pen to paint the dice, and a red one to color in the dots. Now I have a sleek, cool accent on each wheel.