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...

Living in Allston, MA

So I have been living in a pretty rad collective house called Eliconia in Allston, Ma with a lot of really cool and diverse people.

 I have also found a job in Cambridge, MA at a really cool clothing/ costume store called The Garment District. I have been working a lot lately and I really like the job. It is only a temporary job because during Halloween it gets super busy, BUT I have been working really hard and showing the upper management people that I can do a fantastic job and am hoping to keep the job after Halloween even though they told everyone that they will be letting go of all of the temporary work on Nov. 1. 

 I have been playing a lot of music and I have been practicing singing a lot lately. I have actually been giving guitar lessons in return for some spanish singing lessons from our neighbor Miguel from Columbia. He is a really nice guy and helps me out a lot with my pronunciation. 

I have also been helping out the radical non profit organization Food Not Bombs pick up their food donations every week from Whole Foods with my xtracycle bike trailer. They get a lot of food so I get to bring some of it home to our home in Allston. 

I have also been thinking about making huge puppets like the kind I saw at bread in puppet in Vermont so I can attach them to my bike trailer and ride around with them during critical mass and during events and things like that.

Well I hope you all are enjoying life and I love you all! 

P.S- I don't have any plans on traveling any time soon but I am saving money for my next epic adventure!!

Puppets, bicycles and much more

So I am moving in to Allston, MA on Sept 1st!!! I have been spending a lot of time at this really cool collective house called Eliconia. There are about 10 people living in a 7 bedroom house and there is a huge common space and big kitchen and 2 bathrooms and a really large basement! I have been creating so much things. Like a couple of puppets as well as some clothes. I dont have any pictures of my clothes yet but I will soon enough.

I also played a show in the basement of Eliconia a couple of weeks ago. It was the monday after my grandfather past away and it made me feel so much more happier to express myself through music. I also met so many fantastic people.

I have also been starting a zine about my travels!! I will have hand drawn pictures, typing from a type writer, cut and paste pictures and ransom note style letters. It will be awesome!!

A new chapter in my book of life.

I found out that one of the most important Father figures in my life has passed away last night. It wasn't my actual Father because I don't even really know my actual Father because he left my family when I was 2 and I have only spoken to him about 4 times ever.
It was my Grandfather who we called "Pa". He was my Mom's Father and was always there for us ever since we were born. He use to see us every Wednesday and Sunday until we were in High school. He taught my how to fish, tried to teach us how to play catch and other sports, He would always be there for us during events like when I played soccer or when I played my guitar and sang at open mics or cafe's. We would always have family gatherings with him, my aunt, my grandmother(his ex wife) and my great grandmother. They all happened to pass away within 3 years. We would go to Vermont every April vacation and South Carolina every summer. He would bring us sledding, bike riding, help us clean are yard, He Taught me how to drive! He was amazing and always will be. Even though I may never see him again physically, I will always see him in my thoughts and dreams. He taught me how to be a good person and he loved me with all of his heart which makes me want to pass on the love and love everyone with all of my heart. He has given me support in everything I have always been interested in. I would tell him everything that was going on in my life, I would tell him my thoughts, my dreams, my goals, I even told him stories about my sex life hoping to gain wisdom and knowledge for my future. He would step on my toes sometimes but I would never pull it out from under, I would just wait until he walked away. I don't know why but I always have.
I could go on forever about Pa but I won't. I am glad he lived the life he did and I am thankful for that. For now a part of him will be with me forever and I will help spread the love until it is my time to depart.

What I have been doing lately.

So I spent about 1 week and a half in Allston, MA where I hung out at the collective house called Eliconia. I rode with about 100 other bicyclist in Boston for the monthly critical mass which made me very happy. I would like to move in to Eliconia and get more involved in Boston and earn and save money for the summer. I have applied to multiple places but I haven't gotten any responses yet.
My xtracycle is functional and back on the road after being in a box ever since I came home. I have been riding my Giant bicycle which Gray from Earn A Bike gave me since I gave away my Specialized bike to Hector in Guatemala. My knees have been aching a little from riding every day, which isn't a good sign. During my trip my knees started to ache sometimes after climbing up some brutal hills.
I have been working on writing 2 new songs as well as creating a new zine about my traveling expeirences,tips on dumpster diving and bicycle mechanics.

Update on my life.

So lately I have been fixing lots of bicycles for Earn a Bike so we can sell them to get some money for the shop. Gray from Earn A Bike let me have a pretty sweet Giant mountain bike so I can put my xtracycle on it and start using it again for all my needs like carrying my Guitar(s) and synthesizer and camping gear,etc.
I want to leave Worcester earlier than I planned. I would like to leave in July or maybe even Earlier. I have been playing guitar for about 2-6 hours a day. I have been working on writing new songs and learning some cover songs that I would like to play.
I still want to start an Earn a bike program or help at least organize one in Guadalajara, Mexico. I am going to start playing music on the streets and maybe bars and shows for money soon as well. I am going to contact some awesome bike programs in Texas and surrounding states that already do over the boarder work.
I want to play music more with other musicians which I have not been doing at all. I want to start performing puppet plays but I would like a partner or multiple partners to start performing plays.