A month back in California

All of us stereotype people to some extent.  But the absurd number of people who stereotype Californians in North Carolina, and Virginia continued to amaze me when I was back there.  Even funnier was the level of stereotyping there was.  Most of North Carolinians seemed to think this classic movie from the 80's was a documentary, not a dramatic comedy.  So yeah, people back East, this is why I moved back to Cali, so Mr. Hand could steal my pizza.

Random fact, seriously, actual fact, then unknown actor Sean Penn wore his personal black & white checked Van's to the set, and pulled one off and banged it on his head while playing the really stoned scene in the movie.  Van's didn't know their shoes were in the movie, yet, Van's shoes dales doubled that year because of that scene, from about $20 million to $40 million.  If that isn't weird enough, I'm typing at a McDonald's, and some kid just walked up to the drink fountain next to me... wearing checkered Van's.  Seriously.

All shoe synchronicity aside, this past Thursday marked one month that I've been back in Southern California.  I flew out of LAX in November 2008, with the clothes on my back, and a small, bookbag sized backpack.  I had some stuff in a small storage unit, which I lost, including all my BMX stuff and video footage.  A month ago, I rolled into L.A.'s Greyhound bus terminal, with the clothes on my back, and a small backpack. Both times I was leaving several months of straight homelessness.

But I came back this time with my Sharpie "scribble style" are honed to a point that nearly everyone calls "art."  I've sold about 100 major drawings in the last 3 1/2 years.  I've also got a decade of blogging, several of those blogs successful in readership, if not money, though the last blog reallyhelped sell my artwork.  I've also got a pretty good grasp on the underlying principles of internet and social media marketing, but there are plenty of technical aspects I need to work on, but that's an ever-changing world.  Those blogging and marketing chops are what got me back here.

I'm working a fair chunk of my time doing a new blog and social media stuff for Block Bikes new online BMX store... driving traffic, as it's called.  Big thanks to Rich Bartlett for this opportunity.  With my SEO skills, I moved Block Bikes to the #1 spot in a Google search, where another Block Bikes shop had been anchored.  We didn't have to buy links, spam anyone, or advertise, I didn't it with daily blogging and social media work.  I also started the Block Bikes Blog, and it has about 3,600 page views in two months, about six times what this blog had in its first two months.

I've also built a huge Pnterest page for Block, which may seem counter-intuitive to a lot of people in marketing, but I learned the power of Pinterest for SEO and brand awareness while promoting my art.  The month old Block Pinterest page is getting about 30,000 views a month already, so that's off to a good start.  We haven't had a huge sales surge yet on the website, but people don't buy complete bikes all that often, and it will take a little while to build up awareness to really get the online sotre up to full steam.  It's like a big ship, it takes a while to get up to full steam, but then it should cruise well.

I had the good luck to make it to an old school BMX freestyle weekend, and see a whole bunch of pro riders and industry people from BITD.  That trip was thanks to Maurice Meyer, Chris Rothe, and Marc McKee, so big thanks to those guys for letting me tag along.  Thanks also to Dominic Phipps for hosting his signing party, for the 2nd edition of The Birth of the Freestyle Movement," and to Mat Hoffman for putting on the contest that morning, both events were a blast.

Antoher aspect to coming back to Southern California is the food checklist.  There are certain places a former Californian has to eat at upon returning to the state, it's in our contract.  In-N-Out, check.  A family owned Mexican restaurant, check.  A Famous Star a Carl's Jr., check.  Something gut busting at Del Taco, check.  There's a Tommy's Chili Burger a block from me right now, but that will have to wait.  Also on my list is Papa Joe's pizza and Las Barcas Mexican in Huntington Beach, along with about 5 donut shops where I once had "Local" status.  And as a former TV industry guy, I have to hit Jerry's Famous Deli and Carney's at some point.  Then there's Knowlwood's down in Orange County, and...

Shit, I need to walk about 7-10 miles a day to handle all those.  I am walking about 2 1/2 miles nearly every day, though.  My body, beaten to hell by the 9 most intense months of homelessness I ever faces, is slowly healing.  I've lost about 7-9 pounds in the last month, I'm kind of bouncing right now. I've also been riding an old mountain bike they tuned up for me at Block, every now and then.  I'm still trying to get into a steady rhythm on a day to day basis, and start building my life back.  So that's where I'm at right now.  More random ideas and old BMX stories to come...


I'll end this post with one of my favorite Californians, and the only musician I've seen play live more than Social Distortion and The Dickies combined, Kerry Getz.  I'm pretty sure she never ordered a pizza in history class.