The Blog of James Jay

today on my ride to work…

i was kinda upset and bummed. for some odd reason the seat messed up, it got oil on it and made it loose on my morning ride i usually take a break half way there to have a little food, i finished then tried to get back on then the seat messed up… i always think i would get a flat tire but no it was a messed up seat.

i usually dont carry tools since i live so close.
but today it kinda sucked.

my bike is at work im kinda sad i hate leaving it there i feel like im neglecting it…

ill have to strap it to the back of the car tommorow…
then hopefully ill be back on thursday.

these are the last of the scans and the last of the film. honestly it feels good to be posting things again after this long hiatus. well on to some photos. hope that you enjoy the images. alot of these were shot all over the place.

i really like some of these shots here…

 

 

i love my saturday morning coffee breaks…sometimes i dont get them and i get grumpy i just love griding my bike and getting coffee there is something about being up early with all the other people.

he looked content with the world around him.

 

 

i never thought i would be one of those fathers that hangs out with other parents and goes out to dinner hauling your babies around… but here i am…

this is rahman, his parents used to live right across the hall from us… they moved to a two bedroom in the complex we still see them alot…

 

 

rahman and his dad thahir… i dont have any photos of rahman and his mom… need to work on that.

 

 

here is one of those frames that i fell in love with i love love this frame for some odd reason.

i was out in the community having to set up signs and it was raining its rare you get rain out here in arizona i was outside alot that day which resulted in a sore throat and a trip to the doctor

 

 

Its almost 1 in the morning i got work tommorow.

and im not able to sleep…

i need to really get to sleep.

its friday so im glad…

im hungry for some odd reason i had a grilled cheese snadwich for dinner but im hungry once again. i dont know what to make of this. chloe finally feel asleep, im glad she is now getting some sleep she needs it, and so does talia.

alright im out…

till this weekend.

i should have more photos to post too…

its valentines day…

and chloe is sick once again…

she seems to get sick on all the cool holidays, i hope she feels better.  i don’t like my baby feeling sick i know it is a part of life but it makes me sad.  Me and talia are really not doing much since she is sick mostly sitting around watching tv, maybe a movie later on tonight… maybe amelie or chocolat.

we were planning on going out to dinner tomorrow night but the outlook doesn’t look to good.Maybe this weekend or something.

i hope your valentines day went well

today at work we had a party it was fun. earlier this week we made valentines boxes and  today we passed out cards to each other.  it was cool. reminded me of elementary school.  and if you didnt hear chloe said her first word yesterday she said Buh Bye!

aint that the coolest thing ever.

my daughter said her first words! all she needs to do is get better now…

well if some of you didnt know i have a obsession with bikes.

yes, really im obsessed with bikes, sure some people choose purses, shoes, computers, beanie babies whatever. i think at one time i told talia i wanted at least a road bike a commuter bike, a hand made bike, and a cruiser bike. she brought the question why are you so in love with bikes? and why do you need so many. it got me thinking about why i like bikes so much and why do i need so many. so i started to think of my bike history and what bikes i had throughout my lifetime. and i honestly can only think of 4 bikes that i have owned in my lifetime. am i the only kid that didn’t have a ton of bikes or what? talia even said she always had a bike around the house. i remember as i was young my brother and sister having bikes to ride but not really riding them. i remember having a skateboard and knowing how to skate since i as at least 7 or 8 maybe even younger. maybe my parents saw it as a cheaper option instead of buying us bikes. i would always ride my brothers and sisters bikes around and end up beating the crap out of them and my parents yelling at me.

but i honestly do not remember me having any other bikes except the one i had. i basically had only one bike but i always count my grandfathers bike as mine since i still have it.

so here is the story of my grandfathers bike from what i gather he bought this bike in a thrift store and when he saw it he had to have it, i did some history on the bike and was able to find out what kind of bike it was, even have a actual ad of the bike. my mom said he used to ride that bike everywhere even got arrested while riding it on one of his crazy weekends. well my memories of that bike dont really end up like that. i remember i was about 5 or 6 we would go bike riding together. he would get a pillow and put me on the center bar and we would go visit family down the road, i always think about those rides as i look at the frame. i have been wanting to rebuild it for the last 2 years and have made some progress on it but still need to really work on it. its funny i forget alot of things but riding on that bike with my grandfather the memories are so vivid like they happened yesterday.

then my other bike was a bmx GT, i dont know if this a actual make or model thats what the top tube said. well this bike has a even funnier story behind it. my grandfather on my dads side of the family, from what i remember is he came over one day out of nowhere and brought me this bike. i later learned that he happened upon a guy in his daughters room, and as the guy was trying to jump out the window he shoved him out the window, knocking him unconscious. well when the guy woke up he took of leaving his bike behind which is how i first got my bmx. i used to ride that bike everywhere jumping ramps trying all kinds of stuff on it. and one day i think it just died. i remember the bike colors it was black and gold i loved that bike. it was fun. i crashed and cried so many time because of that bike.

when i was in art school i didn’t have a car so alot of the time i was either walking or riding my skateboard to school. it became to difficult to ride to school on a skateboard carrying a portfolio strapped to my back so i saw this ad in our laundromat and it was a bike for like a 100 bucks. i remember thinking maybe i should buy me a bike so i can ride it everywhere. i took a tag and never called on it. but maybe a month later it went down to 75, then i knew i had to buy it. so i called the guy looked it over and then bought it it was a schwinn mountain bike, i remember taking it home doing some work on it and it was fine. i rode this thing everywhere, when i needed something i rode my bike. i would ride to the grocery store, kmart, dennys, everywhere. i think this is where i learned to love riding as fast as i could go and dodging traffic. i never got into any accidents, came close but never got hit im glad to say. at the time i lived right down the road from one of the most dangerous roads in phoenix. it took me everywhere with maybe only 1 or 2 flats in the time i owned it, it even used to get me and my friend everywhere. he would jump on the handlebars and we would go. i miss this bike, even to this day i had alot of respect for that thing. he was stolen one night while i was in class. i was so upset about it. i remember calling my brother and telling him my story. my poor schwinn i hope wherever you are they ride you as much as i did. i lost many a pant leg in that chain.

those where my bikes of my life 28 years old and i have only had 4 bikes in my lifetime.

i dont know if that is a bad or good thing.

the current bike i have right now is a beach cruiser. a paul franck scury bike. it gets me everywhere i want to go, i have rode over a couple hundred miles on this thing. honestly no lie i computed the miles yesterday while me and talia were riding bikes. i have had this bike for maybe 2 or 3 years im not to sure. but i love it. it is starting to get scratches on its frame but i love it like that. it is forever dusty i can clock about 14-16 mph on it. which i think is pretty good for a beach cruiser.

i love this bike. all i need is some fenders on it.

this is also the first bike that i have bought myself and the first brand new bike that i have eveer owned in my life. all the other bikes have been given to me or used in one way or another. so this one is special to me. i saved and saved for this bike.

well i am already craving another bike, im looking to buy a new one soon im thinking about maybe a fixed gear surly steamroller. i have been reading about track bikes for awhile and really love the form and simpleness of the bikes, there is something about a bike broken down to the bare components seeing it for what it is, a machine, gears, cranks, wheels and steel.

i love it. its beautiful.

so maybe in a couple of months a new bike. i just know im missing that feeling of riding long and fast. so that explains my obsession of bikes.

hopefully you have one around your home, get on it. ride, its the best feeling in the world.

im going to go get some coffee now. on my bike.

even though my legs are tired.

they will warm up when i start to pedal.

and picture me rolling………

i heard the song im looking for again and didnt catch the name darn it!

i also want to paint my apartment and get a new light for the kitchen. then i think to myself we might move and do i really want to invest money into it.

i drank some water.

i stretched.

i sneezed

thinking about going home and cleaning the house.

want to ride my bike

read about bikes

thought about wanting to buy a surly steamroller

browsing craigslist

thinking 20 minutes and he is done here in west end

listening to bbc radio 1

listening to this annoying custodian, she really is annoying.

is really tired.

is very very bored

shutting down his computer to clean up.

in 6 more days it is valentines day. valentines day for me and talia has never honestly been a big deal usually its only dinner and flowers. tulips to be exact. we are not very fond of valentines day to much mostly because it always someone trying to make up for the rest of the year. the only reason we actually do anything is because of our birthdays. its so close to them.i believe romance should be a daily thing not a one time a year thing. im sure it has some meaning for others, but mostly its just a big pink day for us.im just thinking about all the years me and talia have been together, its been about 10 years. and 5 of those have been married. the other night talia and me were laying around and she looks over and just smiles at me and i happen to look over and see her smiling. and she says to me you still make me feel like im young again. its funny cause she still makes me feel that way too. over the years our relationship has not changed in a negative way but has grown deeper and deeper over the years. and even more now that chloe is here. it is such a deeper love for her. i dont know if this makes any sense. like last night as we layed in bed together going to sleep all i could do was hold her. i held her all night long which in turn made me late for work. but i couldn’t pull myself away from her. i guess im just thinking of her and wishing i was there with her and chloe.im just mising both of them i guess and wanted to write it out.

yep, im ready,

ready for the weekend.

tired of people complaining. they always have something to cry about, i mean is your life so bad, if it is change it. stop complaining and stop telling and taking it out on me. some people have nothing better to do than complain about there babby’s daddy, or how much rent is when you have the money you just choose to use it on cable. people need to really rethink there life plan.

i mean honestly do you think others around you really want to her that crap from you?

not really

i hope that one day your able to realize that.

and i hope one day you actually take responsibility for the things you do in your life. you are honestly a nice person when you are not complaining.

so here is to you…..

i cant wait for the week to be over, im tired and ready to go home.

i have been really getting up early and trying to be on time and have really succeeded. but im ready to relax this weekend. hopefully ill be able to scan the rest of my film. the color ones for some odd reason are like super curly, i don’t think they hung them to dry. on another note i was able to fix my camera, well at least the rangefinder i was pretty proud of myself.

in other news i have been trying to figure this song that i have heard but have no idea who it is. i couldnt explain it to you even if i wanted to. i heard it on bbc radio 1 and have heard it a couple of times but didnt catch the name. i always find these obscure bands they play on radio 1, they are usually local to uk so i never am able to find out really. take for instance kate nash, im sure you have never heard of her but now she is starting to get played more, heard one of her songs even played on grays anatomy. i kept waiting for a cd to come out and finally found it, thought i was going to have to pay 40 bucks for a import but it was on sale for 15 pretty rad, so i always find these obscure bands. from that station.

and now i have a song stuck in my head.

i have been trying to make my way through these negatives. 

i dropped more off saturday. im excited to see those, I haven’t really been adding commentary to the photos trying to let them speak for themselves. i have been missing the street stuff, i miss walking around and just shooting. in a couple of weeks im thinking i might go downtown and shoot for a whole day. i am enjoying going out with talia and shooting when i get the chance but alot of those photos feel really bland not to interesting to me. i don’t know maybe this is just me.

 

these photos are take at the mall during christmas time. it was crowded and crazy im not one to venture out much during christmas time. i honestly hate the malls during that time but i went and took the camera. the end frames are when we went to payson to go hiking. i wrote about it along time ago these are some of my B/W frames from that adventure.  and the last 3 frames are from my brothers birthday dinner. i love the frame of nick’s wife.