This happened

http://brianmichaelbendis.tumblr.com/post/93147149142

Been a while

I haven't posted in quite some time. I love my girl. Nelson is great. Bill Stack is moving in. Got a good job at Angie's List.

moving to des moines (officially)

it looks like the des moines move is in full effect.  we're shooting for late april/early may.  i'm taking a vacation in march to talk to the fridays gm there and look for a place with rob.

in the meantime, i'm studying my ass off in this c# book.  i am so damned close to having a pretty decent understanding of programming and software development.  the prospect of this app is really motivating to me to stay up on my skills.  this is really exciting.

as far as the app goes, i've created an EXHAUSTIVE outline that details everything from what will actually happen in the app, aesthetic, branding, legalities, etc.  i've put about 10 hours into this outline so far.  i would post it, but i don't really want to just send our idea out into the world before we've taken the necessary steps to legally own it.

after the outline, the next step is to start scheduling meetings.  this is a pretty exciting concept to me, honestly.

• matt: i need to talk to him for advice on branding and things like that.  this may involve a trip to california.  poor me.
• nick timmons:  i want to hire him to produce a video for the project.  promo video.  he's a seasoned camera operator and actually owns his own red epic.  yeah, good stuff.
• renee straber:  legal advice.  she's a patent lawyer for a large company.  she could point me in the right direction for legal... stuff.

this is a start, at least.  i'm really fortunate to have aligned myself with so many successful and driven people up to this point.  i have this vision for the app, and the people in my life will only serve to help me make this vision even better.  first thing, though, is matt.  he can help me develop a solid gameplan for branding the app.  that's the biggest thing, honestly.  branding.  brand recognition.  in my opinion, it's the software world's version of "location location location".  it's how people discover your app and love it.  they love the look.  the culture.

i guess that culture, at it's core, is the ultimate goal of the app.  we want to create a unified culture of cyclists.  give them something that they can participate in that will unify this growing niche.  create a community.  fuel the hobby and (hopefully) propel it into the mainstream.  this is the key.  when you really think about it, genesis of a culture is where passion really grows and finds cultivation for a product/activity/hobby/life.  was web search a huge part of peoples' lives before google?  people used to socially network, but not the same way they do now thanks to facebook.  online shopping became a culture thanks to amazon.  i may be getting a little ambitious here, but i think we could really be onto something.  i just need to hold up my end and really make sure i'm doing my part.  meeting with matt is utmost.  necessary.  i could actually call it my "first business trip."  oh man.

im going to go at this with a different approach.  whenever i come across something that i don't easily understand, i'm going to google it.  in this case, "class files".  how are these different from classes?

going to meet josh baskerville for lunchy.  peace.

little update

i'm watching "the social network" and, as always, i have this renewed enthusiasm for blogging.  i never write in this thing, but the scene where zuck is coding facemash.com while trashing his girlfriend's tits honestly gets me going a bit.  it's just, exciting.

i'm pretty jazzed about this new venture, too.  i could possibly be moving to des moines to live with rob and get a programming gig.

i read up a little bit about sean parker.  in the process, i learned a new term called "autodidactism".  it's a descriptive term for teaching oneself how to do something.  in my case, i'm learning how to code in c#.  rob and i are going to start a cell phone app business.  in the meantime, i can learn code and get a job with him writing code for financial companies.

i'm not sure about moving.  des moines is pretty far away.  but, i can't really afford to not go.  it's like, a pretty decent promise of a better future.  i may actually be able to do something with the skills i plan to develop in this process.

Good stuff

http://bethanyamandamiller.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/the-56-bestworst-analogies-written-by-high-school-students/

Roomie trouble

I'm about to go apeshit on my roomie. He went from bad to terrible in about a day. Has zero money for rent. Keeping his pot in my tupperware. ATE ALL OF MY GOD DAMNED SPAGHETTI. So, I met with trey and leo today to discuss living arrangements. Looks like he will be moving in on the first of next month.

Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. I was all snuggled in with a bottle of malbec. Ready to hit that spaghetti. Oh well. There is always bazbeaux.

fork, bottom bracket, headset DONE

i’ve been slowly acquiring parts for my leader frame. i bought a crankset and chain off of my friend matt anderson. origin 8. had a headset, bottom bracket, and fork installed yesterday. so, it’s coming along nicely. now, i just need to get some wheels, seatpost, stem, bars, and straps. fun fun.

See more progress on: build a bicycle

bike progress

it's time to make a checklist.  i've started building my frame.  now it's time to get the hard shit done.  the first thing i did was purchase some pedals.  joe is currently installing a headset and bottom bracket onto my frame.  i purchased some crank arms, crank, and front brake from a pretty cool dude named matt.  he lives in josh's building and he's a pretty solid guy.   wiped out on his fixed-gear pretty hard so he's parting it out.

parts so far:

• frame (leader 725tr 2010) 250$
• saddle (selle italia turbo ) freebie
• pedals (crank brothers 5050xx) 75$
• crank set (origin 8 track crankset {used}) 100$
• headset (not sure) 70$
• bottom bracket (not sure) 25$
• total spent: 520$

parts left to buy:

• handlebars (deda pista) 90$
• stem (crank brothers iodine 2) 90$
• carbon fork 160$
• seat post (leader SPCA1 Aero Carbon Seat Post) 150$
• wheelset (not sure) 200$-400$
• left to spend: 690$-890$
• damn.

Bike geometry

http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-728735.html

macnivens, parcel service, and angieslist.com

i went into macniven’s yesterday to learn that the gm is a former fridays gm and thinks very highly of fridays employees. apparently, fridays people with longevity get shuffled to the top of the application pile pretty quickly. so, this gives me hope. i really don’t want to serve any more, but this could be good for me. just a basic change of scenery. also, no more 100$ weeks.

also, i ran into a few of doug’s friends today who have started a parcel service. a bike messenger gig. they offered to let me do a few shifts of that, which i think is pretty rad. i could ride my bike around downtown for money lol. i may pick that up as a part-time gig. we’ll see.

also, i hear that angieslist.com is looking…

See more progress on: Get a new job

accordion folders save me

i picked up some accordion folders last week. this should help me organize my papers (taxes, legal, car, etc.). almost have the dining room ready to vacuum and shampoo.

See more progress on: clean my house

leader 725tr 2010

i went to joe’s cycles today and put a leader 725tr on layaway! this is going to be so goddamned awesome. i can’t wait to get this puppy home and start putting parts on it. i ran the trek on craigslist yesterday and have already had a few people contact me about it.

i’m still on the fence about going fixed. part of me wants to say it’s a fad and to just stick with freewheel and brakes. but the fixed-gear community seems to have an awfully good time with their bikes lol.

See more progress on: build a bicycle

friday's and lakecia

basically, lakecia is a wretched asshole. i don’t really want to comment on the fight we had last week. let’s just say, it was stupid. and it would be completely tolerable, save for the fact that her and craig swapped departments again. so, she is now my direct manager. she sucks. the problem is, she is genuinely unhappy in life. so, she feels the need to bring down everyone else in her life who may have found some shred of happiness. that’s me. i’m happy. so, rather than give me guidance or MANAGEMENT when i may need it, she just tries to call me out and embarrass me. not any more. i’m going to angieslist.com this week to apply. so long fridays.

See more progress on: Get a new job

It's coming...

i know that the time is coming for me to put my thoughts on religion into this blog.  i just don't really want to tackle that at the moment.  i will do a little rambling, however.  i met up with scoop and nick mcnulty today for a little dinner at bw3s.  then nick and i went to a tattoo convention/contest at the vogue.  that was alright, but the mc made me want to gouge my own eyeballs out.  this dude was god awful... 

as a side note, i have analyzed the term "god awful" and have come to the conclusion that it is a term used to describe something as awful as god.  hilariously, the term is used by many christ-heads to describe only the most terrible of things.

anyhow, god awful as it was, it was still a decent time.  it was nice seeing erin.

so now, i'm looking forward to tomorrow.  it's still a little shocking and a LOT flattering that i was actually asked to be in a wedding.  but it's happening.  tomorrow is the rehearsal, and i'm walking with anna knabe.  great girl.  heart broken by charlie whatshisnameformerroomieofdylanmorse.  

nelson is having a dream right now that he's running.  laying right next to me as i watch "the social network".  god damn i love this dog.

friends are immeasurable

about to crash on the couch at mr nick mcnulty's house.  i love that he and i are getting close.  he's a really great guy.  one of the few truly positive influences in my life right now.  i wish we spent more time together, honestly.  but hey, this is a start.

neon: TOTALLED

basically, my car being totalled was the best thing that could’ve happened at that exact moment lol. i was out on the town with the lady when a dude smashed into my car, completely totalling it. don’t get me wront, it COMPLETELY sucked at first. i had to learn the bus system. walked from the bus stop to work in -5 degree weather. no big whoop. but then magic happened. a friend/coworker, wes, overheard me telling the story of my car to another coworker and declared that he had been given a car by a friend of his who no longer needed it. so, being the kind soul that he is, he just gave me this extra car. so i ended up receiving a settlement from the guy’s insurance company, which i used to PAY OFF the uninsured accident. so, that’s all taken care of, finally. just another step. next up, CREDIT CARDS.

See more progress on: get out of debt

Untitled

i started the big shit yesterday. i cleaned out the closet in the entry way. now, there should only be shoes and coats in there. i even mopped that bitch. the next step is to buy a vacuum cleaner. these carpets are damn near wrecked. i need to clean the couch too, but i’m not sure how. i’ll figure that out soon enough though. it’s coming together though.

See more progress on: clean my house

Untitled

i went on a late-night bike ride last night with josh baskerville and dave hoffman. that was a good time. we just pedalled around the city with no real destination. it felt pretty great. i feel like my fitness is improving slowly. i need to buy a scale, because i’m basically shooting in the dark right now.

See more progress on: get in shape

it's a start

eric woods contacted me today via facebook about maybe purchasing my bike. i’m thinking this would be a good move, considering it would be a good size for him. i’m still not sure what to charge him. it’s a great frame. nice wheels/tires. just paid to do a single-speed conversion on it. we’ll see how it goes.

See more progress on: build a bicycle