The Lions ^^^

This was scrubbed the very next day. I got up early for the foggy lunar eclipse. On the way home from coffee, long before cars took up their sentinel, i snapped this. Thank you, Tink, for early mornings.

Giving Thanks

Giving thanks...missing my bestie Rheannon and her Jim this holiday season.  Needlepoint Turkeys are Jim's Specialty.  The monsoon in Seattle this November is recalling many memories with Rheannon when we rode together as bike messengers in Seattle.  I began my illustrious courier career the week before Thanksgiving in 2004.  We had record wet from the very first day.  I quickly realized that gear is paramount in persistent rain.  The infamous Corndog was the one to talk to about a bag that can keep 2 1/2 ft. of legal documents dry day in and day out.

Dank Bags.  Seattle.  A match made in heaven.  When mobius was no more than building bikes for my messenger friends in my living room, Cory constructed my first real messenger bag with mobius cycle embroidered on the flap, lovingly recreating my logo.  Now don't go asking for this favor of favors.  My bag was a one off.  These aren't laser age graphics, no.  Cory simply makes the best waterproof bag out of the finest materials 'cause he needs his bag to stay dry.  He was his first customer and his first messenger bag, over 10 years ago, was the first Dank Bag.  Now Cory builds in his studio at mobius.  So if you're out there getting wet, remember there's help in here for staying dry.

Cloudy Skies

This Friday we send plutonium to Mars. Lately, I've been asking myself why we aren't accomplishing more in space. We have an international space station in orbit but haven't really made much progress since the Apollo missions (which used the most powerful rocket yet, Saturn V). Part of the reason is fuel. Liquid fuel can be turned on and off. It can be used in more precise maneuvers. Solid fuel burns continuously, all at once, yet allows for lighter, less complicated rockets to be built. But, one of the most recent concerns is space junk:

Why so wasteful? Because we can. Because our abundance allows us the luxury of waste. Flight paths have to be carefully corrected in order to avoid crashing into this junk which is rocketing around the earth at 20 times the speed of sound. In order to protect the space craft from the debris, they must be made more impact resistant which makes them heavier. This extra weight in turn requires more fuel. We instead squander our last 50 years of liquid fuel miserably commuting individually. We spend even more fuel to create Genetically Modified Organisms for human consumption to replace the biodiverse plant life which was once abundantly available on our planet. The fruit of our abundance:

Earth now wears a trash halo.

Perspective Shift

Which comes first thought or matter?

Up until recently, our culture has tended to believe that since matter is perceivable, it makes sense to believe in the solidity of objects. Quantum Mechanics has thrown a wrench into this idea due to the insubstantial nature of photons. Where is the photon? How fast is it going? Where is the electron in it's orbit around the nucleus? In order to answer this question we have to pin the proverbial photon down to one space in time or speed. Turns out, when we aren't looking, it's off being infinite and wavelike, existing instead in probability.

These are Quantum Conundrums.

How can a photon be a wave and a particle? Where the heck is that electron? A perspective shift may be in order. I recently watched The Quantum Activist movie. Dr. Goswami shows that if we see consciousness, or the act of looking, as the reason the photon wave "chooses" to be a particle when measured by us, these conundrums instantly clear up. Consciousness begets reality. If we allowed our way of seeing the world to shift to consciousness begets matter, our responsibility would be to what kind of world we want to create.

Thinking as creation. Stew on that one...

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
Carl Sagan

or maybe:

Consciousness is the ground of all being.
Dr. Amit Goswami

Phase Change

Sinewy veins of red. Phase change. The beauty of decomposition. The earth tilts away from the sun a little more each day. The slow dance of fall is quickened here. Our winter is upon us. Tea time. Books and cozy blankets. I love fall.

Freshly Dessicated

Leica CL + Leitz Summicron-C 40mm f:2

Soft petals.  Hard contrast.
Petals like tongues.
Blurred to beauty.
Freshly dessicated.

Beauty can be found by looking | grain. | mobius | infinite resolution
Photos by Taylor Hurley aka 

Diaphanous Clouds

Why is this blog called grain? Why do I tumble as Infinite Resolution? The subtlety of these diaphanous clouds, the emotive force of their fluff can only be captured on film. Thanks to those little silver specks dancing and clumping toward light we have a type of definition that seems as real as the clouds themselves. Silver interpreting light. grain.  Somehow, as digital approaches infinite resolution, the crispness and clarity of the images lack a certain nostalgic emotion film captures.  I see it reflected in the eyes.  Yet here we have a digital representation of a film photo.  What's more real?  What's more beautiful?  I like both.  Soft like kitten or crisp like apple?  Both.

Harbor of Dreams

When I was a kid, assuming I did grow up, basketball was my burning passion. Basketball and books. I ate cheerios for breakfast, read books, went swimming, ate Mac n' Cheese then went out to play Basketball. I spent every summer dreaming of being old enough to play on the team. I used to run circles around the senior varsity boys at the playground. 21 was my game. I had point guard written all over me. Then, I got old enough. During 7th grade tryouts I made the first cut. None of my pals did though...because the coach was prejudiced. My buds were black and I wasn't. I blew up at the coach in the hallway at school defending my friends. As I figured would happen, I got cut next. Thing was, I didn't want to be on a team that didn't want my friends. I tried to play ball for school later in High School, but that episode was truly the end of my Basketball Dreams.

Autumn Melee

I love the fall colors. Light white fluffy clouds are not everyday in Seattle. Gotta catch 'em while they're around. This is my favorite fall image I've ever captured or seen because it captures both sky and leaves at my favorite point in foliage departure. I waited for weeks for this shot. Seeing an old friend brought me to this corner at this moment. It was like finishing a story and finding yourself where you began, nothing different yet all had changed. Old lessons don't go away, they simply lie in wait, cycling around like the seasons.

Re: ality

Skool sucks 'cause it indoctrinates us.  Drive cars, make money, waste time.  Why not spend time on what you really love, on what gets you going.  Forget about the cars, the money and the time.  Be who you really are, not one of the possible avatar personalities we are given to consume at the job fair.  Let go.

Blue + Diablo | A Balanced World

Blue Diablo should be a new cocktail. One of those incredibly well mixed mixologist type drinks. Maybe with smoke coming off the top. This build is that hot, smokin' hot. I am a big fan of balance in a photo or on a bike, in my personal life and in my work. There really is no such thing as perfect balance in the literal way our minds label and store. But, in reality, often what our minds mix up, our body and spirit knows is perfect and balanced. Our living selves are in a state of balance. As we hone our desire for a world that reflects our best qualities, we must remember that what we envision does come to be. All we have to do is continue to evolve our desired reality to reflect our highest vibration and balance can be achieved. We brought global connection into being so that we could reconnect with our oneness and share our insights with the world. All our voices are shaping tomorrow, what are you manifesting? It shall be.

Connection Correction

Minolta Hi-Matic 7s + 100 ISO Fuji Acros B/W Film
Capitol Hill Seattle

The stream.  Subconscious.  The Iceberg principle.  Connections.  One.  Are we separate as we believe?  Where do you end and I begin?  Where does the impact of a way of life end?  At borders?  Across oceans?  When are we going to realize our actions and choices (whether we choose or not) impact every system in contact with us.  Other humans, animals, plants, water, the earth, our solar system, bacteria, plankton.  It doesn't matter how tenuous the connection may seem, it is there.  Like the line between light and shadow, it simply is.  Follow it back to the source.  When trying to decide what to choose, follow it to the source.  Decide if you can live with the consequences of the cost to create what you choose.  Choose differently.  Now.  It may already be too late.

Beauty can be found by looking | grain. | mobius
Photo by Taylor Hurley 

Patterns in Chaos

Minolta Hi-Matic 7s + 100 ISO Fuji Acros B/W Film
Capitol Hill Seattle

Contrast. Eddies of light playing through the branches of a tree. Wave or particle? Light or shadow? Without the shadow nothing would have form. The line where light meets shadow, where light is and is not, builds the belief of seeing. Do not shy from shadow, simply realize it's necessity to give form and seeming substance to an otherwise overbright existence.

Beauty can be found by looking | grain. | mobius
Photo by Taylor Hurley 

Silence is Violence

iPhone 4 + Aperture 2

A Consensus. Occupy Wall Street is fighting for the person who made this sign.


"Silence is violence...This is my Job!" m10:10

Brian Fairchild | A Community in Mourning

Photo and quote from Seattle Gay News
Among the Haida Indians of the Pacific Northwest, the verb for "making poetry" is the same as the verb "to breathe." -Amanda John Paul Ziller -via Holly Johnson

'I am a child of bright morning,' he often said, both for the poetry, but also stating his full intent to begin every day, even the difficult ones, with an open, uncluttered conscience.

Brian lost his life on his bike. Too many folks have been losing lives, sustaining injuries and bruising bikes lately. We need a bigger change than the band-aid of bike lanes. We need a real consciousness shift in all the motor vehicle users and planners. Infrastructure let Brian down. An unmarked set of stairs was seemingly a continuation of the bike path at a particularly bad section near Lake Union. One sign would have saved his life. We need Drivers and city planners to be taught to be aware and care about us on the road. Why not add a section to our driver's education courses on handling cars near bikes? Why isn't it on the driver's license test? Why is road rage permitted? Encouraged by bad design? Make it safe for our innumerable, wonderful citizens to safely take their transportation into their own hands (or feet). Please, take the time to think about how our infrastructure can be changed to accommodate all users and tell someone, anyone. The more we talk the more things change.

Colour with a u.

When I was younger, not as much younger as you'd think, I didn't like cut flowers because it seemed a shame to clip beauty off just to take it with you. That was before I knew how short the life cycle is to a flower. Still, I love the fact that this flower is surrounded by it's peers of various ages. The perfect browns and reds of the bricks accentuate it's beauty so well. Nice in a vase but even nicer here. Beauty is found by looking.

P.s. Maybe this is why we invented a small box that captures light [camera], you can take the beauty with you and leave the flower for the next soul to see.

Beachfront Property

Beauty can be found by looking | grain. | mobius

I like to blend in while traveling...run into some locals and ask them where to hang out. This year's NAHBS in Austin Tx was no exception. I met some best friends I didn't even know I had...connected with old friends and even got to be impressive to some folks who impress me. We all have our wonderful bits to bring to the table, it's all in remembering to share what makes us unique and beautiful!

Core Whore Champ | Queen Ayda

Core Whore Champ | Queen Ayda, originally uploaded by mobius cycle.

The lady to beat at the Core Whore Alley Cat 9.9.11 hosted by mobius this fall. Start riding those hills now she's faster than light!

Two-Zero

Beauty can be found by looking | grain. | mobius

A dream come true, this last Core Whore race at mobius fulfilled my yearning to host a race so rad that all the fast kids showed up and a lady took the overall prize. Ayda killed it taking home the Queen's belt but the men were in a four way tie for 2nd and 3rd not to mention the King's belt...so Jon Denver chimed in with "Let's take it back to the O.G. days and do sprints in the alley!" This scene says it all. If you want to know what happened you'll have to show up and test your mettle on 9.9.11 at the mobius Core Whore 2011!

Color

Color, originally uploaded by Taylor Hurley | Grain Studios.

Color is vibrant, color lives. We feel depending on color. We try to deny the hold color has over us. Eat for color. Show your colors. Dive deep into color, don't hold your breath.

Church of the Bicycle Jesus

Texture is beautiful. Old is beautiful. Worn in, worn out. Worn. This church door has seen some worship. It's been worn to beauty by the passing of sunny spring days spent on the porch. Family that are friends are the most priceless.

Love to my Dead Babies,
niki

Noone Knows Why

Seattle is a place where the graffiti removal folks feel like cowboys. They are backed by the city in attitude. Lately, more graff has stayed up longer than ever before. Tubs still surprises me. A defunct bath house on a busy street corner, Tubs has turned into a beautiful cacophony of graffiti. This is one of the few progressed pieces. Even so, I love the melee of color everywhere. Ah, Seattle, you can't hold back the graffiti tide forever. Furlough days are a good day to tag ;)

NOTICE Despair

They are artists of torture,
They are artists of pain and fatigue,
They are artists of insults and humiliation.

Where is the world to save us from torture?
Where is the world to save us from the fire and sadness?
Where is the world to save the hunger strikers?

-Adnan Latif (Guantanamo Bay Prisoner of the US)

Notice despair, work toward REAL CHANGE.

Time Dime

Ten years is a long time, a dime. As a messenger it's a really long time. Ten frames as a messenger frame builder is a long time. Refitting a carbon rear into your perfectly good steel frame is anarchy. Do it all. There are things you've done and things you haven't. Check 'em off and call it experience. Pay attention and call it knowledge. Learn to do it better next time and call it craft. Hone it slowly over time and you are a master.

Ciclismo Unica

The unique cycle created here is for Margaret. The Peugeot she has been riding for about four years shows all the signs of wear only a Peugeot can amass. This bike, crafted over two years, is like new life to Margaret. We are dialing it in to her specifications exactly. One bike for one tough lady.

Check out Margaret and her Peugeot racing the mobius Core Whore in Cog Mag Issue 07

A Nerd Is Born

When my Gampa let me play Parsec on his 1983 computer, I always wanted a mechanical pencil like he wore in his shirt pocket. One day, he gave me one. This small gesture started a love affair with all things relating including lead. Here it is in all its glory, Pentel.

Elizabeth Taylor, a lady of Passion

Every year I got my Gamma the same thing for Christmas. The scent she wore was Elizabeth Taylor's Passion. I'd get her a bottle and some new golf balls, even though it cost me most of the money I had saved over the year. She was such a generous person to me in my life, regularly reminding me of my own special gifts. I wanted her to feel as special on her birthday. I felt she appreciated that gift from me most of all, knowing what it cost me, always accepting it gratefully with her specific, genuine smile. I know that my Gamma was as wildly powerful and beautiful as the scent she wore.

These two women were quantum twins, burning brighter than life. Thank you for paving the way for our generation of women. We are humbled by your poise and grace, but most importantly, your power.

Saturated Candy Clouds

Cotton Candy has such a texture to it. I feel the artist really captured the cotton candy color and texture on this wood. A little contrast to make it pop. I like the natural saturation. In my dreams, I swim through the air when I'm feeling light like these colors. When things have this warm, intense light anything seems possible!

Perspective

When unsure, I like to check my perspective. It may be where I'm coming from but it's still limited. I want to travel to increase my "fishbowl" and gain perspective. What's happening in Japan has changed my perspective on how much energy we need to sustain this lifestyle. What is to come?

Wreck'd

Beautiful disintegrations. Is urban growth ugly, or has it long been beautiful to watch objects slowly lapse back to disorder? Have you ever seen a really old pane of glass? Glass is liquid sand, over time it slowly runs thicker at the bottom. It's a beautiful refraction through that pane. The shadows are gorgeous too. Imagine owning one of something for the rest of your life. Now buy accordingly.

St. Patty's Day Tractor

Happy amateur night! Ride safe out there and enjoy a green beer for me. This is at Sarah's childhood home in Upstate New York. While visiting, we walked through snow covered woods and played Parcheesi by the wood burning stove. It was a magical winter over three years ago. Time flies when you're having this much fun! I love you and your whole clan Sarah!

Texture...of textiles...in Texas

There have been so many confluences this 2011th year. Today, I stepped out for coffee and a magical pull lured me to the Seattle Art Museum, a mere two blocks from mobius. I stumbled into the nearest door to escape some inclement weather, so excited, my heart pounded as I ascended the escalator. I entered the open area (with the cars) and had just missed something cataclysmic. I was chasing ghosts. Nick Cave, the artist not the musician, usually has a few of his Suits on display at the SAM. They are my favorite part of the permanent collection. Tonight just happened to be opening night for his very own show including his new twig sound suits. As the SAM tells it, the twig suits were inspired by the Rodney King beating. Nick was sitting on a park bench contemplating the effect of the King scene with reference to his own life as a black man when he looked down, found a twig and wham! inspiration struck. Within the suit, the wearer achieves an anonymity and freedom disguised allowing the artist to explore new avenues without identity...it's an interesting bit about identity. We wear so much of how we define ourselves. I tend to be a cartoon character and wear the same things day after day, feeling uncomfortable at any change in costume. Today I wore a new, to me, shirt that was light blue instead of Seattle black. It changed my day, literally. Fabric, Textiles, weaving wheels at mobius for a good buddy whose hubby cracked in half. That was my baby blue shirt day today.

Anywhere

Sans developed film, this is my favorite photo I took in Austin. I loved the grit of Austin, and this house had it in spades. Some artistic eye saw its potential and perfectly placed their scene. Along I come to capture the wheat paste in the wind, animated and alive, reminding me that there is art and beauty to behold anywhere.

Tuesday Music is Always for Ali

Tuesday Nite Music at mobius always leaves me missing Ali Gator. He always had a minute when you needed him. A smile and a shot of Scotch. This is a payday moment, cigar end in his favorite pipe. Here's to you in the French Quarter!

True Love | A tale of two cities

Before mobius, I worked with my best friend Rheannon at ABC Legal Couriers. We hung out at every coffee/lunch break. Occasionally, Lady Jake would join us at our favorite spot, 1215 4th. I still go to the bank at 1215. Every time I cruise by, I remember our afternoon vigils over coffee. Amazing conversations and observations about our world. On her path to school, fueled by an inordinately intense love of lichen, Rua moved to Portland. I spent one weekend a month visiting my bestest friend. It is easy to fall in love with Portland, especially if you are an Art and Bike freak. Well, I easily fall into those categories. For a good year or two I kept up these visits as mobius grew. The flavor of Portland I did ingest, only to integrate some into my idea of what mobius could be. I love our Seattle, the greenery and energy of this thriving Metropolis. My dream, our little art collective, is equally crafted from these two cities thanks to my best friend following her path to Corvalis. She picked up an amazing gent along the way, Jim. This was their porch the year we started our Thanksgiving retreat cycle. I remember that Jim needlepoint'd our name cards! Last year, he made me an invitation made of paper cutouts which he assembled into a truing stand with the words "You are a true friend". This year my bff gets hitched to this wondermous gent!

Congratulations to Rheannon and Jim! May all your days be blanketed by your True Love!

Whew...

I am found in love. The drearies and worries just melt away. Sharing space and lives in harmony. Thank the universe for humans like you.

Koi Reverie

I am lost in a reverie of Japan. I dream of my Nagasawa repaired by the hands of the master in front of my very eyes. Exploring the districts by bicycle with Yohei Morita and our other friends Ryota Kemmochi and 84 Kick. The nightlife and overpasses fall prey to my camera lens...it's a beautiful blur I can almost taste.

Man-Dan-olin

I can't wait til Dan comes home. He's been at home taking care of his mom. His other home misses him terribly. Watch out for big things when you start to see more of Dan, we've got some plans in the works...

On the Mandolin side of things, Sarah finally found hers. She's been on the hunt for over a year since her old Kentucky finally went caput. We finally made it to the Folkstore in the UD, and boy was Stu ready for us! He had no less than six turn of the century Mandolins for Sarah to wade through. I could hear the voice of the winner by it's liveliness, aliveness and fullness of sound. Just wait 'til you hear it tonight at music night!

Gaga for Gan Well Pro

Dearest GanWell Pro,
You had me at hello. Your frame has so much subtle beauty. I have slathered my camera all over you for over a month. I built an entirely new studio just to capture your illusive, elusive, pot o' gold holding rainbow. Too bad a Leprechaun (Glazer's) ran off with all the gold! Good thing I have a sweet studio and you to show for it.
Love and kisses, Niki

And that is what it's all about, having something to show for it. As I go along, I learn more and more about priorities. Money is about priorities. If your goal is to build a dependable, beautiful steed, budget will rarely get in your way, if it's truly a priority. Gary finally built himself his dream bike. After seven years of not quite so dreamy bikes, the Gan Well is his coup d'etat...the end all be all of bikes. I am more proud of this build than the ones that came before. I have put more out and on the line to build this gorgeous creature to her utmost desire. She begged for pink rims with that tiny tease...wish you could see the bottom bracket shell. Everywhere they could do a cutout, they did. That pink filled them all, and by hand I might add. The color changing clear coat, with the finest silver metal flake I've ever seen, finished an impeccable build. Thanks Euro-Asia for being bold and building a show bike most worthy of the best show on earth.

So close, no matter how far

So close, no matter how far, originally uploaded by sylverdevil.

by sylverdevil on flickr!

Sometimes the greatest triumph is finding something beautiful in someone else's work. Let me explain, sometimes folks leave me comments on my mobiuscycle flickr! Usually, it has to do with bike love (lust). Occasionally, however, it is another artist saying hi. The best part about the internet is this, the veil between this artist in Hungary and I in the US can be lifted so easily, simply because we saw a common thread between our work. Thankfully, we had this opportunity to say hi from across the globe.

Thanks for sharing sylverdevil, I love your work.

Christmas Past

Christmas was pretty magical at my Grandparents house. My Grandpa had a Christmas tree base that was a train set with all the cheer you could imagine. He also had a few walking (and talking) Santa robots. Mind you this was 1985 or so, they were Radio Shack specials. One had a bell he would ring while he walked. The tree in this photo reminds me more of what the tree my Gamma might've had as a little girl. Maybe I could pretend this is her tree, knowing some echo of her feels the thought. If the living keep the dead alive by remembering, doesn't that make it real?

Ginger Bread Hangover

Ever feel like January's sole purpose in life is recovery from the Holiday Hangover? Everyone's broke (except Christmas money) and returning a bunch of white elephant gifts, not to mention the family hangover. Don't get me wrong, I've had a few nice holidays in general. But, even when I don't participate (this year) I feel like I did anyway, *sigh*. By next year though, I'm ready to give it the old Hollerday try. I'm going to bake a large bird, maybe some fancy side dishes. It's gonna be GREAT! Probably because I took a year off!

Happy Holidays and may the stress wear off quickly.

The Vibrancy of Blue

The vibrancy of blue strikes a deep chord in me. Always my favorite color, blue evokes depth of emotion, intensity of feeling. When I look at this blue capture it stirs that place in my chest known as the heart string. During fetal development, our hearts and our brains are right next to one another. As we grow, the heart moves into it's permanent home in our breast. This may be why that pulling feeling happens between them known as heartstrings. They may be more real than we realize. Thank you blue for reuniting, for a moment, my heart and mind.