In the book, The Creative Habit, written by Twyla Tharp, there is an entire chapter on Where’s Your “Pencil”? The question refers to our American Express, Don’t Leave Home Without It, tools that fuel our creativity. In our everyday lives, there exists a metaphorical pencil, which is the necessary puzzle piece that drives our creative hustles.
Every time I visit OPEN, Joshua’s hands are perpetually covered in bike grease. When I see him, we dance through our customary social greeting which habitually begins with him saying, “Sorry man, my hands are dirty…” — followed by a hand slap that tightens into a tug-of-war style embrace, which leads into a shoulder-to-shoulder connect for the finish.
The fact that Joshua’s hands are always grimy is comforting to me. His greasy hands are symbolic of Joshua’s creative passion for what he and Zack, both, hope to bring to the familial and collaborative space they have created with OPEN.
For Joshua’s hands, gloved in filth, hardened and sometimes scarred from a day spent repairing and building bikes, the grease represents his pencil and is the one tool that feeds [your] creativity and is so essential that without it [you] feel naked and unprepared (Tharp, The Creative Habit).
What is the pencil for your creative habit? For me, quite literally, it is a pencil. True to my hustle, it is called the perfect pencil. As a writer, my pencil helps capture the world around me through finished narratives, or by sharing the fractured elements of stories without a voice.
Where’s your pencil? What creative spark to your habit will it bring to keep your fire burning? I suspect that once you discover the tool, the only thing left to pursue is your passion. Like Joshua, with his hands perpetually covered in bike grease, this is one habit you will never have a need to apologize.
We open the doors every day knowing that a diverse collection of folks will descend the nine steps into our shop. We’ve come to expect weekly visits from our pal David, a fine barber in Harvard Square, our quirky neighbor Weimar, a Brazilian beauty-supply repair technician or the bargain-hunting Joe, who is possibly one of the most enthusiastic guys in Union. David brings us stories of his weekend adventures, maybe a bite to eat and always a pile of encouragement. It is common that Weimar pokes his head in around 10pm as he leaves, offering some witty comment about never leaving the shop – his choppy English and happy-go-lucky style always leave us grinning and shaking our heads. Joe, who we’ve come to know over the past two weeks, tends to dart through the door and share his junk-yard, Craigslist, yard sale or on-the-corner finds, all of which seem to leave us impressed. Joe has also officially become our unofficial used bicycle hunter – you should see some of the stuff he’s pointed us to. In between the visits from our friends, we fix flats and do tune-ups for the neighborhood folk, hustle cool product from all over the globe, and occasionally venture out to grab a quick bite at Machuu Pichuu (best chicken in the city) or flirt with the baristas at Bloc 11.
I have no real point, except to say that we’re thrilled with the energy the shop is attracting, both to us and to the surrounding community. I was sent this image earlier, found on the Wooster Collective, I enjoy when the simplest of creative concepts bring the most perspective to my day and in this case it happens to be cycling related. Every Turn of The Wheel is a Revolution, found on a side-street in Belfast:
Over the past few months we exposed Marty to more process edits of the It Ain’t That Serious video than anyone else, so naturally we saw this coming. Three weeks ago, Stebs loaded the basket on his WTP BMX with a Sony Z7U and tore up the 4 blocks between his house and the Geekhouse shop. After nearly 12 hours behind the camera and a few more editing Marty’s mitering, welding and ’stash twisting, Stebs formatted this:
We premiered this video during our Grand Opening party, simply because we love Party Marty, his work and ll of the great projects we’re doing together. Marty has been working his tail off this winter, getting the shop fully stocked with every machine a frame builder may or may not need – so he deserves a congrats. The Geekhouse website has also gotten a refresh, showcasing a few new frames and some brighter-than-life colors! Check the new Geekhouse site and then go say hello to Stebs through his site, ILoveQP.
That is correct, the Times is changing. Two or three years ago the New York Times was publishing articles about hybrid vehicles and improved public transportation, now it’s Dutch Bicycles, three-piece suits and wool cycling jerseys.
With all of this fresh press has come fresh criticism – some of which I am a bit a bothered by. So, my response: Anyone stating that these articles are nothing but an attempt to turn cycling into a fashion show and a promotion to the well-to-do is absolutely close-minded. Anything that promotes riding a bicycle is good in my book, whether its riding a Traitor in cut-off Dickies and Vans or a Dutch bicycle in tailored trousers and Sidi’s. To each his own; convert a basement find or call Independent Fabrications – at the end of the day, it all takes self-motivation and two wheels. I have come to accept the fact that as the popularity of a subject increases, so does the criticism – its an unfortunate habit of pop culture. However, this isn’t a heavily charged topic, we are talking about bicycles, just bicycles! It should be considered one of America’s pasttimes, after all, for most, it is a nostalgia of childhood.
If you didn’t catch yesterdays article in the NYT, Riding the IT Factor, I suggest should read it. The article is focused around the WWII-era Dutch Bicycle, something that we and the rest of Somerville are quite fond of. My only real gripe with the article is a statement that attorney James Vicente made, “I never ride with a helmet either, even when people are telling me I’m an idiot. Riding a bike should be normal, and you shouldn’t have to wear a funny Styrofoam hat.” I don’t really know what to say about his comment, except that anyone who thinks wearing a helmet alienates you from the cycling norm has probably hit the pavement one too many times. The ostensibly well-educated attorney was also discredited after the article noted he rides a fixed-conversion, and then quoting him saying, “Juxtapose that (the dutch bicycle) with the most fashionable bikes in New York now, the fixed-gear bikes, which are really impractical.” I completely disagree with the statement that the fixed-gear bicycle is impractical, but we’ll save that conversation for another time.
If you missed the April 2, 2009 article, In These Clothes, You Can Go Far, it provides a good look into Rapha. With all of this said, it is great to see publications such as the NYT investing resources and time into cycling, anything that promotes riding a bicycle is good in my book. Now Go Ride Your Bike!
Having attended some of the Paint Pens in Purses events over the past year, I think its time to share this awesome artistic concept with the cycling community. A little over a year ago I met Shayna at a gallery opening, not knowing that she doubled as illustrator/artist Shayna Shenanigans and was the driving brain behind P/P/P. Shayna’s illustrations cover subjects such as fuzzy animals, clowns, scary flowers and household appliances – you know, the normal stuff.
Across the globe, the “urban arts” circuit has been predominantly male driven, however in Boston things are run a bit different. The Paint Pens in Purses series plays by a no-nonsense, no-boys-allowed rule – meaning all females, all the time. For the last few events, artist & LAB co-owner Kim Harris has been working alongside Shayna to help grow the P/P/P movement, which is growing strong. Kim helped shine some national-light on the series by hooking up a sponsorship with our favorite marker company, Sharpie!
I was inspired to write this little article because the ladies have an upcoming show (flyer above) at the recently closed Marty’s Liquors in Allston – thats right kids, no more beer runs to Marty’s. They will be hanging work in the windows along Harvard Avenue next Tuesday, April 21 sometime around 5pm, so be sure to check it out. Shayna is curating the event and Kim will be showing work alongside locals such as tofusquirrel, Silver Oris, Nineta, and another pal of ours, Morgan Thomas. For you cyclists, rumor has it that the female half of octoPIST-n-SKquID will be hanging a piece or two.
If you want to get involved with the Paint Pens in Purses crew, email Shayna or Kim and tell them we sent you!
I think I need someone to explain this one to me. According to Urban Velo, there are 9 major cycling cities worth creating a skyline cap for. Guess what? Boston is NOT one of them. Leave your comments HERE and left Jeff know how serious Boston cycling really is!
New York? Check. San Fran? Check. Philly? Check. LA, Chicago, Denver (really, Denver?), Minneapolis, Toronto, London. Check, Check, Check…and no Boston…
This past weekend was full of visitors, tons of friends, blog readers and neighborhood folk who had no clue what “us young kids” were up to these past few months…
Our pal Alexi stopped by with a flat on his freshly built, insanely light, Hot Tubes hand-crafted brevet bike. After he fixed his flat, we ate some fresh french bread and chatted Campy, which was interupted by his wheel bursting again due to a cut in the sidewall – the second time he’s had such a problem with the Panaracer Grand Bois. Josh whipped up one of his a-la-carte duct tape boots, Alexi handed over his $8 for tubes and then went on his way to work, only a mere 45-minutes late:
As the weekend went on, James was in the shop, learning his “life lessons,” what we at Open prefer over “internship.” James has been a huge help; swinging hammers, making calls, running errands and occasionally riding the shop Scuut. He also spends some of his time here filling the pages of his blog, OctoPIST-n-SkquID.
The creative half of O&S, Grace, has been hanging out when she’s free from class, dance practice and looking at Perez Hilton.com – yes Grace, we all saw you! This weekend she started work on James’ Chrome Ivan roll-top and it’s looking awesome:
Happy Monday, stop by the shop and say hello if you’re in the area, we always love company…
