The other day i was rummaging through a box of miscellaneous papers- the usual accumulation of pictures, old greeting cards, unsent postcards, and then this:
A simple 3 X 5 index card, a practice piece from my high school days' art class. i was trying to master chisel-tipped steel pens and india ink.
My calligraphy never progressed much beyond this example.
Whence the name? Back in those days there was a local sound system/band by the name of Euphoria Blimp Works (aka Yama & the Karma Dusters.) Somewhere about that time, i decided that "Euphoria Bicycle Works, ltd." sounded like kind of a good name for a business i might run one day.
i think the name stuck in my mind after a concert-gone-bad on a hot July day in 1970; one rumour that seeped out was that Euphoria Blimp Work's equipment was looted and wrecked in the mayhem. Various accounts of the event were covered in local underground papers such as the Chicago Seed.
i wasn't downtown that day, although i was supposed to be there with some friends. Kinda glad i missed it.
Anyway, sometime during my senior year, Euphoria Bicycle Works, ltd., my notional bike shop, was born. That index card once graced the door of my college dorm room and made appearances over my workbench from time to time. How that card has survived all these years i'll never know.
i never did open that bike shop - probably a good career non-choice- but it did lend its name to this occasional blog.
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