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Hiatusmyass

From behind the lens

Sept. 2008

Hiatusmyass

Allright already. Here’s a “From Behind the Lens” for the first time in what, 3 months? Maybe 4.

I didn’t think that many people read this little bit of bitching every month because when I said something extra stupid or controversial I would get a couple emails mostly from my friends and occasionally my Mom; but go a few months without saying anything at all and just watch the readers crawl out of the woodwork! Not writing this column has been better for my ego than writing it.

I am now approached by total strangers at rallies and events and they usually have one of two reactions to me. They either say, “You’re Colleen that chick that writes for Cycle Source.” Or they say, “You’re Colleen that chick that used to write for Cycle Source.” And then they give me this pitiful look and ask, “Did Wildman fire you?” in a kind of under their breath way that makes me think they know something that I don’t about the whole situation. Another group says, “I think it is good that you are taking some time off.” Now thinking that Wildman fired me doesn’t seem to bother me, but insinuating that I am lying on the couch eating bon-bon’s, that pisses me off.

The truth is that Wildman didn’t fire me. I don’t think he can since he doesn’t pay me. Oh, I guess he could, but the truth is that every month he asks me what I am sending him, I make some promise I can’t keep and then the poor bastard has to scramble to fill a page that was supposed to be mine.

So, you may ask, what happened to me? Well, I am like nearly 90% of the motorcycle industry right now and I have a day job. I have always had a day job but it is one of those perfect situations where my boyfriend has another business (a couple of them actually) and one of them is this sign business. This business is truly a 2-and-a-half-man shop that consists of JP, myself and a Matt who works with us when he is done with his day-job. It makes pretty good money, way better than motorcycle photography, and when the sun is shining one needs to make hay. We don’t advertise, we can’t be found in the yellow pages, we do really specialized stuff for a small base of clients that we have had forever and normally I can do it and still have my full-time job of writing and photography.

Recently that little business went ape-shit. We have a ton of work, which is good because now we need to pay $4.75 a gallon for the diesel that we put in the bus when we road-trip to some exotic dirt hole rally, so I am thankful for the work.

Another reason for my absence is that in an effort to keep the good money flowing, I had to start working in photography outside of shooting bikes for magazines. No, I’m not shooting weddings and graduation photos (although I do that for my friends for free) but I got in with this corporate photography thing where I make a butt-load of money to show up at a company and shoot head-shots of VP’s and do stock photography for their marketing programs. Pays good but is still lame.

Throw in the fact that I have started an export business and a bike storage facility, we are planning a big party on Aug 31st in Milwaukee, I have bikes being published in Japan and Europe and South America now, and my buddy, Dave Cook, has been kicking ass with his bike building and getting all sorts of attention on his own plus the fact that I need to spend time with my 11-year-old and get laid once in awhile and you can begin to see how my life has become actually 4 full-time-jobs.

This whole situation hasn’t stopped me from wanting to do the column. The economy is pissing me off, the 105th anniversary of H-D is coming, S&S’s 50th was a blast, the reality-based motorcycle show is a whole column in itself and so many more topics are flying around my head but taking the time to sit down and put pen to paper, although it may sound easy, is actually really hard.

Last week JP bought me a 1978 Hondamatic that runs like a charm. Most of you have never seen me on a bike because in 2004 I got my first bike, an ’84 Honda Nighthawk that never ran well enough for me to ride safely (if anyone knows how to fix those quad-carbs so that it doesn’t kill when you hit the throttle, email me) and then I got an ‘80’s era Honda chopper that Dave Cook did the frame on but the rest of the bike is a nightmare in need of repair, replacement and rebuilding. Then I go a ’64 Tohatsu that is in the process of being rebuilt to run so although I now have 4 motorcycles, only one of them that is brand new to me actually can be ridden. Now I have another challenge. I want to ride.

So bear with me. I haven’t taken a hiatus, I am not sick, I am not lazy, I am just living the American dream. I am actually very lucky. I have found not one, but 4 jobs that I love doing and I am kicking ass at all 4 of them. However, I now understand the power of the monthly column. I’m not the kind of girl who sits on the phone and calls her friends, I don’t send little notes for birthdays and I don’t send group emails. I write a column and for all of you who thought I died 4 months ago, rest assured. I am working hard and still taking nourishment. I hope you are doing the same.

Colleen

Questions or comments are always welcome to colleen@digitalmagicbigshots.com and check out my new but still under construction website at www.digitalmagicbigshots.com

(yet another project I don’t have time to finish!)

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