SO sew

Hello friends,

Today I realized that I start off all of my blog post with the word SO. If you look at a lot of my posts you will realize that too. I am not sure how I feel about this word "so" anymore. I can just not use that word and begin writing what I want to write about. Or I can use other words in its place like Well, therefore, however.

Sew lately I have started to sew lots of things out of t-shirts. I made a hat, a letter J shaped pillow, a skirt and I am going to start working on something to make for my mom. I have also been developing ideas for multiple zines. I am going to make a personal zine with all of my previous blog post's from my travels through Mexico and Guatemala. If you don't know what a zine is I will inform you.
A zine is a self published and distributed magazine that are usually informative, filled with artwork, and pretty crafty. There are all genres of zines that talk about personal issues, personal stories, travel, sexuality, political issues, arts and media, music and bands, and so on. They are a great way to get what you want to say out on some paper and distribute them to your friends and other folks.

I am trying to mentally prepare myself for the move to providence and hope I don't get depressed not being in Boston anymore. I really need this change in my life and I am hoping to build some emotional and personal bridges from boston to providence and start connecting with folks all over the world.

New turns around this winding road.

Hello all.

So in the summer I was working with the Boston Cyclist Union as a mechanic at various farmers markets. Every Thursday I would go to farmers markets spread out through out Boston and give free bike tuneups. I was also working with Boston Bikes and teaching youth cycling classes to different schools and youth programs. The BCU mechanic job ended in September since the farmers markets ended. I recently just finished my last class with Boston Bikes as a youth cycling instructor since it is too cold to ride bikes outside.

In between all of this, I picked up the accordion and learned how to play it. I have been playing about everyday so far. I have started to transpose all of my songs I have written on guitar onto the accordion. I am getting used to it and enjoy the sounds I can produce out of it. I have also been playing with a band when I first started playing accordion. The band is called Foxglove Forager. You can listen to the music at
http://www.myspace.com/foxgloveforager

In the last week of October I drove down to Atlanta, GA. I helped my former housemate Malika move there. I helped pack up all of her stuff in a rental truck and we drove down together. After I got to ATL, I took a bus to Troy, Alabama where I met my Father for the first time ever. It was an exciting time and I got to explore the south. I only stayed with him for a day and a half and then went back to Atlanta for a couple of days and stayed with my old friend Mel.

I have decided to move out of Boston and move to Providence, Rhode Island. I will be moving out of the fantastic cooperative house I have been living in the past year and 4 months. I will be working with a bike collective called Recycle a Bike. I will help coordinate and teach youth programs as well as bicycle education to adults. I am pretty excited about it.

I have also started to form an idea to make a self published zine called Bike Love: Stories behind the saddle. It will be a compilation of passionate bicycle stories as well as comics and other art. If anyone has any ideas for stories they would like to submit then they can contact me.

Well I am off to play more accordion, Be safe everyone!

New Things in my life.

So lately my life has been surrounded by bikes.. literally. I have been fixing, transporting and riding bikes. The summer heat is getting to me and so isn't my love for bicycles. I have been working with them so much that I kind of want a break from them. Bikes are amazing, life saving, practical and healthy for me and the environment but I would like to live in the woods and travel by foot for a while. I know that won't happen anytime soon so I will continue to love traveling and transporting myself independently by bicycle.

So are you curious as to what I have been doing with my life lately? If so then I can tell you..

I have been working for the city of boston with Boston Bikes and have been working as an instructor for the youth cycling program. I have been having fantastic experiences instructing youth from 3rd to 8th grade on how to properly wear helmets, use hand directional signals while riding and how to ride safely in the city streets and bike paths. The teachers and students have been wonderful to me and I don't have to be authoritative to have them follow the guidelines that I suggest to them.

I have also been working every Saturday for the bicycle exchange building brand new bikes out of a box and making sure they work correctly.

I have also been volunteering with Bikes Not Bombs whenever I can. I lead the 15 mile bike-a-thon course and it was a great time. There were about 40 or 50 cyclists on the ride, or so it seemed. I was invited to partake in a Bikes Not Bombs strategic plan meeting. We discussed the things we love about it and how it can become better. I felt honored to give my opinion about the programs and how I think they can become better.

I have also found a third job that is funded by the city. I will be going to different farmers markets around the Boston area and fixing peoples bikes. I will most likely help people with minor things like repair a flat tire, adjust brakes and also give tunes up.

I have been having lots of ideas about what to do with my future and what I want to get out of life. I have been coming to a conclusion of staying in boston till the end of fall and seeing where life brings me. I enjoy all the jobs I have and I love being as close to Bikes Not Bombs as possible. Maybe next year I will go on another bike tour but for now I like where I am and all the people that I connect with.

Update on my life

Hello yall, So I haven't updated in a really long time! I have been involved with lots of projects and have done a lot since last time I updated.
So I graduated from the Bikes Not Bombs Vocational Bike Mechanic course and am now very confident with bike mechanics. Since then I have helped instruct the Bikes Not Bombs Earn a Bike program as well as the Girls IN Action program. They have been amazing experiences for me and I have been learning a lot by working with you and helping facilitate mechanic lessons.
I have been giving some workshops on bike maintence and also bike safety with different groups. I have found a job with Boston Bikes and have been travelling to different schools and teaching bicyle safety and urban riding. It has been a wonderful time and I really enjoy it. This Sunday I will be giving a workshop on safe city bicycling at the Boston Skillshare. There will be lots of great workshops today! and tomorrow! For more details you can go to http://www.bostonskillshare.org/2010/workshops
I have been working with the Boston Bike Collective and it has been growing each week. We have been hosting open shop night every week at various locations in the greater Boston area. For more details on upcoming events you can check out http://bostonbikecollective.blogspot.com/
I have also found a job at the Bicycle Exchange in Cambridge. I have been building brand new bikes and making sure they work correctly.

Bikes not Bombs, Music not violence,

Hello Everyone!,

I haven't posted in a really long time because I have been really busy living in the Boston area and doing lots of things.

I have been working with the Non-profit organization called Bikes Not Bombs located in JP where I have been taking a vocational bicycle mechanic education class for 3 months! I have learned so much about bikes and how they work and we talked about the physics behind them and why they worked as well. It has been a great experience for me and now brings me closer to the ultimate goal, which is to not depend on motors or nuclear powered energy...

I have also been taking an Adult Instructor training course at BNB. It is a free course that teaches adults very basic bike mechanics and talks a lot about teaching and working with youth. This course is for people to become adult instructors for the Earn A Bike and Girls in Action youth programs. I am very excited to be working with youth and showing them bike mechanics as well as going on bike rides in this crazy city and  showing them how to be safe while on a bicycle. 

I personally have a love/hate relationship while riding my bike in the Greater Boston Area.

 I love the thrill I get while swerving in and out of cars at really fast speeds during rush hour and I love when drivers have silly remarks to say to me while I am following the rules of the road. For ex; "Get On The Sidewalk!!", " Get out of Traffic Faggot", sometimes people will spit at me or throw trash or food at me. The best part is when they do something completely uncalled for and Then, have to STOP at a red Light. That is when I ride right up next to their car and just stare at them or raise my fist in the air. I usually have lots of responses to these kinds of statements, but I usually keep my cool and just ride along while they have to wait at every stop light.

So I have also been working on bikes in our basement in the house in live in. We had a benefit show and raised $200 for bike tools so we can start having it be a public space for people to come and fix their bikes for free. We bought a bike stand and a basic Bike tool set. I found a peg board and hung up all of the tools and also got a bunch of hangers and hung up a bunch of bikes.

I haven't done much outreach to have people come and use our tools in the basement yet because the space isnt so big and I wouldn't know how to handle like 20 people coming at the same time during Open Hours. For now I am letting people know by word of mouth. So if any of yall would like to come and work on your bike and use the stand and tools in the Allston area then you can email me at jshchadwick@yahoo.com

I have recently been talking with people who are interested in starting a Boston Bike Co-op. We have been having meetings and are starting to have events like Bike tube patching night. The idea of the co op is to be a community based bike workshop and have people come and use our tools and give workshops on repairing a bike for free. We have been talking about trying to find a space large enough and publicly accessible. In the future we could develop programs like an earn a bike program or recycle a bike. I am really excited and enthusiastic about the whole idea. It is slowly growing and growing and I am loving it...