I had way too much fun today painting live with the TWC gang (Together We Create) at Viva Calle. I was glued to my mural for hours, getting organized, transferring my sketch, coloring and doing the line work. It turned out a bit wonky, especially the bottom half, but I didn’t mind. It was gonna get torn down and reclaimed after the event. It was exercise in painting quickly, and in a way that bystanders can see and understand what’s happening on the wall during the process. It was also my first time in years using spray paint on a mural and only second time live-painting and vending at the same time. Major learning experience!

I just finished inking what Im going to paint at Viva Calle Sunday morning. My car’s already loaded with paints and everything needed to live-paint and my t-shirts, which I’m hoping to sell a few. Now I just gotta get some sleep before my alarm goes off in a few hours. Should be fun!

I and the rest of the TWC (Together We Create) crew will be setup in Japantown on 5th & Jackson from 1- am to 3 pm.

Sunday morning I’ll be live-painting with friends from TWC (Together We Create) at Viva Calle. I believe we’ll be setup in Japantown near 5th & Jackson. My friends posted these stories on Instagram and the pictures they chose cracked me up!

After an eventful week it’s “back to life, back to reality.” That meant cleaning & chores. This weekend I’ll be live-painting again with my friends in TWC (Together We Create) at Viva Calle. That’s where they close down a few miles of city streets to car traffic and open it up to bicyclists, pedestrians & skaters. We’ll be posted on one of those streets painting 8’x8’ mini murals. I need to figure out what I’m going to paint before Sunday.

I had so much fun painting a mural alongside my friends TWC (Together We Create) at Viva Calle this morning and into the afternoon. I was so so focused on my work (being in the zone) the 5 hours just flew by. I painted the EMN sketch I drew last night. I used yellow because it was the paint I had the most of. I wasn't happy with the black paint because it didn't cover well but it looked fine from a distance, and in pictures. I had to rush to get as far as I did before the event ended. I didn't completely finish. The eye with two pupils, at the bottom, didn't get a white fill. I also didn't outline the pink hot-dog shape (with my name) or anything above it. I'm still really happy with the way it turned out. In the end, the panel was taken apart and hauled away. Some day, the folks in TWC, will paint at another event and reuse the panels and paint over them. I knew that going in and was totally ok with it.

A few things I learned:

• Painting the background, drawing the shapes in chalk, and doing the white fill-ins are boring to watch. The sooner I get to outlining, the better. Maybe next time I I wait to fill in the whites at the end.
• I need to step back more often and look at the mural as whole. I was up close most of the time, about a foot and half away from whatever I was painting. It looks different when you step back. You don't see a lot of the details. Up close, the black paint looked like shit but when you stepped back 5 to 10 feet, it looked fine.
• Buy better black paint! I bought a can of Painter's Touch Flat Black and it looked like crap up close. It didn't cover the yellow well. Next time I'm gonna buy some of the good stuff!
• Don't use chalk to draw on the wall/panels. I did the same thing when I painted my brother's logo on the wall of his studio. The chalk made it almost impossible to paint clean lines. The dust also accumulated on the brush which was really annoying.

I recently got invited by my friends in TWC (Together We Create) to join them in live-painting at Viva Calle tomorrow. Viva Calle is where they close down some streets to car traffic and open them up to bicyclists, pedestrians, skaters, etc. I rode my bike at the last one and visited the TWC folks while they painted. Now it's my turn to paint. I just finished a sketch for tomorrow which I'll be painting on an 8 foot square panel. It's my EMN design.

On Sunday, I fucked up my right knee at Viva Calle, and I didn't even crash or fall off my bike! When I got downtown, I rode a couple of blocks, then got off and walked my bike through the crowded activity area on First Street. When I got back on my bike and started pedaling, I felt minor pain in my right leg between my foot and knee. It wasn't that bad, so I kept riding my bike for the rest of the event. Yesterday and today, my right knee was hurting! It's swollen, and it hurts when I walk or try and bend it. I've been limping around for two days now, and it sucks! I came across this sketch yesterday. It's years old but still relevant! 

​My friend Amy was interviewed by NBC Bay Area at Viva Calle yesterday while she was skating around. She was also wearing the custom purple V-neck 1.0 t-shirt that she bought from me last month! She told me about the interview when I ran into her yesterday, and I found the video this morning. Amy is totally rad! On Sunday, she ran the 5K that morning, roller-skated, and biked at "Viva Ca-yay!

Holy shit, Viva Calle was fun as hell! I drove downtown and started biking at First Street, then went to the Mexican Heritage Plaza on the east side, Japan Town, and the Alameda before returning to my car. On my ride, I saw some friends wearing my t-shirts and a couple who bought their San Jose shirts at a recent First Friday event. I didn't do the whole route but made sure to stop at all four locations where my friends, TWC (Together We Create), were live-painting. I had to walk my bike through the crowded areas, but I did over 13 miles today! My legs are crazy sore after biking today and hiking yesterday. I'll see if I have Lieutenant Dan legs tomorrow.

I went on a 7.4-mile hike this afternoon at Alum Rock Park. It's been a week since the last time I hiked, and I wanted to get a workout in before Viva Calle tomorrow. Viva Calle is a public event where they block off city streets from cars and open them up for bicyclists & pedestrians. They also have activities at different locations along the route. Tomorrow will be my first time participating, and Tonight I spent a couple of hours learning how to remove my bike's rear wheel and replace the inner tube. It had been sitting with a flat tire for months and waited until the last day to fix it. Hopefully, my bike doesn't fall apart on me tomorrow!

I took my bike to Good Karma to get it serviced today. The rear wheel became off-centered and the tire rubbed against the frame when I rode it. They took care of it and now it's back to normal. I also bought an extra wide cushioned seat and they installed it. No more uncomfortable tiny seat halfway up my asshole!

After the leaving Good Karma I drove to Campbell to check out local artist Drew Roulette's mural-in-progress on the Los Gatos Creek Trail. I can't wait to see it completed and without the scaffolding.

I made a sale yesterday! A heather gray shirt with the pink SAN JOSE print on the front. I packaged it today. I usually do a hand drawn Thank You card but this is for a friend and repeat customer so I did something a bit different as a surprise. I can't show you what I did till she receives her order and sees it first. 

In other news I found that my bike's rear tire is rubbing against the frame when I ride. I was wondering what the strange sound was and I didn't know where it was coming from till today. I'll be taking it to Good Karma Bikes soon so they can fix it. 

I also made some new buttons. The colors still need a little tweaking on a couple but they're looking pretty cool

I didn't realize when I bought my bike that I was so out of riding shape. When I owned a bike back in high school I would sneak out at night and ride all around the neighborhood. Fast forward to now, many years & lbs later, and I'm having a tough time going just a couple miles.

Today, to get more practice and build stamina, I took my bike to Lake Cunningham. When I got there I found a parking pass inside the ticket machine tray, saving me $6. I rode my bike around the parking before doing two laps. It was hard as hell, especially with my shifters & derailleurs not working properly! I really need to figure out what's wrong and fix it. When I was done, I left the parking pass in the ticket machine tray for the next person to find. I'll probably keep going back to Lake Cunningham till I get more comfortable riding my bike and building my endurance, before going on long rides in the streets.

434.1This afternoon I went and bought a heavy-duty speaker stand for my single QSC K10 speaker and a couple 1/4" to XLR cables. I'd been using my work's DJ equipment all these years and now that I'm buying stuff for myself I'm reminded of how expensive everything is. Later, after practicing some mixing, I started tinkering with my bikes rear brakes and I think I fixed them. They weren't tight enough before. Now I gotta figure out why my front brakes squeak when I slow down or come to a stop. Tonight I finally went back to working on my taxes. I added up all the miles I'd driven in for business purposes in 2020 and it was 434.1.

It was a pretty boring Sunday, cleaning and doing laundry, until I took my bike out for a ride. I went up a hill, stopping twice, and on the way down the chain came off the chain wheel and my rear brakes were barely slowing me down. I was afraid I was gonna eat shit. Luckily I didn’t fall and I managed to slow down by the time I reached the bottom. I got the chain back on then went home. I got my workout and a scare. I’ll try and figure out the brake situation before I take the bike out again.

I took my bike back to Good Karma Bikes to get looked at this afternoon. Yesterday I took it for a ride and I wasn’t able to shift into the third/highest gear in the front. Today, at the shop, the guy tests it by turning the pedals and using the shifter and it starts working fine. He tells me to take it for ride and It worked like normal. So weird. Afterwards the repair guy said if I have any problems with it to bring it back and they’ll swap the shifter. I’m really liking the service at Good Karma Bikes. After returning home then working on the computer for hours I stopped to bake cookie dough that’d been sitting in the fridge all week. My friend made the dough and the cookies came out delicious. Tonight I also pulled out the DJ controller to start practicing again. I’m DJing my friends 40th birthday party next month and need to shake the rust off. And if that wasn’t enough, I also started sketching something weird on a 18”x24” sheet of paper. I was hoping I’d finish inking it tonight but I stated getting too wrapped up in details and didn’t come close.

I took my bike for a test ride down the street today. A rode for few blocks and noticed the front derailleur wasn't letting my shift into the high gear. I watched a couple Youtube videos when I got home to try and troubleshoot and fix it but decided I'll take the bike back to Good Karma Bikes tomorrow so they can do it and/or show me how. I then spent most of the day working on creating a new resume from scratch. My old resumes were never that good so I wanted to do a complete overhaul. I took a break from the resume to enter the mileage I logged for the Casitas US map mural project into my newly updated spreadsheet, made to make next years tax preparation a little easier.