In real life, I’m just a nice guy. Your standard middle-aged, overweight, un-cool, Joe average. But inside, my self-image is different. My mental picture doesn’t match reality.

Inside I *am* cool… I *am* dark and edgy… I’m this guy right here. The darkly handsome, slightly geeky, sport-bike riding dude. The inside me and the outside me will never reach synchronicity, but I’m ok with that. I know about the me inside… and now you do too!

So… who is inside you? Go play here and show us all the you inside!

The kids spent Friday and Saturday with me, a fairly normal occurance. We went out to dinner on Saturday to a favored spot and while they were cornered with no where to run I amused myself playing with the camera on my phone. Heh heh… evil dad!

Lindsey is my daughter, she’ll be ten in two weeks. Matt is my fifteen year old son… going on thirty-two I think. He wasn’t really upset that I took his picture, it’s just not cool to smile at his age. I did like the “moodiness” of the shadows though.

In my opinion, the video for Nickelback’s new song “Savin’ Me” is pretty powerful stuff. Simple, but thought provoking. Maybe just because it’s a topic that’s been on my mind recently. In any case, I like it… go watch it!

Seven years ago today, a motorcyclist gave his life. I didn’t know him, didn’t know anything about him until someone on a motorcycle discussion site posted a link to an article about him. He was a perfectly ordinary guy. He worked security in the Mont Blanc tunnel that connects France and Italy. He patrolled the tunnel on a BMW K75. And on March 24, 1999 he rode his motorcycle into a raging inferno inside the tunnel to rescue other motorists trapped inside. He went in and out four times bringing victims out each time, and on the fifth attempt he lost his life.

So today, I choose to thank Lucio “Spadino” Tinazzi for reminding me once again that perfectly ordinary people are capable of doing the extraordinary.

As is the fashion in the blogging community, I have taken the liberty of assembling 101 things about me that I am sure will thrill and amaze you. Or perhaps, they will help you sleep if you are having trouble dozing off. 

In other news, my new tires are in and I’m off to the shop soon to have them installed.

If the world as we know it is ever invaded by an army of neon colored dots, I am ready. Like Ash with his “boomstick” I shall face down the forces of evil with a wrath that knows no bounds. So tremble in fear foul dots, tremble and know that the number of your days grows short.

“Hail to the King, baby…”

I left the house yesterday to do two things… put gas in the car and buy an assortment of round brightly colored ‘dots’ at an office supply store. I use the 3/4″ dots as an aiming point when I shoot on Thursdays as the bright color shows up well even in the gray murk of a Seattle Spring day.  That was it, two things… no problem right?

Wrong… I shouldn’t be allowed out to shop without adult oversight. I passed GI Joe’s.  GI Joe’s does not sell gas and/or stick-on dots. I stopped anyway.  I left with a new soft case for one of my rifles and a couple of new bore brushes. I continue to the office supply place.

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Ok, maybe not.  But I am in the midst of producing a line of shirts for the fine folks over at sport-touring.net based on a concept put forward by Vivid1. This is the ZZR-1200 version pictured here but I’ve done a bunch of other bikes already and have more in the queue I’m working on. I’ve got the production workflow down pat now so I can do the illustration for each bike fairly quickly.

If you’re a motorcyclist, you might be interested!  I’ll probably add some other designs in the future, since I went to the trouble of setting up a Cafe Press shop for this project. Please note that the Ride! line of shirts is selling at cost, only Cafe Press is making any profit off of this initial design.

Check out ‘em out in the online store!

I stumbled over this site that let’s you find out what the #1 song in the US was for a given day. Your birthday perhaps? Or some other significant day? I looked up a bunch of dates but those that stood out… the day I was born, “I’m A Believer” by The Monkees… seems fitting. The day I got married, “Shout” by Tears for Fears… hmmm, how did they KNOW?! This could have been the theme song for my marriage! *snicker*

Yeesss… today I rejoined the two-wheeled community. I have to confess, I wasn’t sure how it would go. I didn’t *think* I’d have any problems but I just wasn’t positive that I’d be comfortable riding. That turned out to be no issue at all.

Today dawned cold but sunny and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. I got all the gear ready and warmed the bike up.  Gearing up is something of a ritual for me.  I wear it all, boots, armored pants, jacket, gloves, helmet and often a reflective vest. It’s kind of like the knights of old preparing to ride their chargers into battle.

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