I've been busy. Well, let me start from the beginning - sort of. I was laid off from my previous job during Christmas 2012. Too bad, I kinda' liked it. Nonetheless things change and my time for change had arrived

Dad's health was in decline and I was spending more and more time caring for him. I figured the best thing to do was to try and find some meaningful work from home. As I started thinking about the situation I realized that designing stuff was what I wanted to do. So I decided to try making my own fountain parts - who knows somebody might actually want to buy some. I also felt I had something to add to the conversation.

The plan was simple: put together a few fountain spouts, put them on a website and the world would flock to my doorstep to buy all my wonderful stuff. I figured I'd put something together and in 6 months I'd be rolling in the cash.

A year and a half later I had four spouts a web site, a workshop, and some basic business infrastructure to move me forward. I've also learned that it takes quite a bit longer to get things done that I plan on - sigh. Nonetheless, the quality of my work is good and I'm happy with the results.

This year I'm working on some new spouts and learning to use a new piece of machinery: a VMC ( vertical machining center). Glacern Machine tools made a nice video about what a mill is. Take a gander if you're interested.

Needless to say if you know or anybody who needs some spouts for their pool or fountain please refer them to my company: Waterbearing designs

In the fall of 2005 I decided that I was tired of a sedentary lifestyle. I worked for a landscape architectural firm and spent all of my time sitting in front of a computer. The inactivity exerted a physical and mental toll. I decided to try riding my bike to work. Since then I've used the bike and the train as my major mode of transportation to work. I feel good that it minimizes my environmental impact but to be perfectly honest, that doesn't make me feel as good as riding the bike does. I just plain like it!

In time I rode further distances and started riding with a club. I started looking around for harder rides. The earlier recreational centuries like the Ride around the Bear, Breathless Agony, and Mulholland Challenge were fun challenges. My skills improved. So did my equipment. In 2008 I bought a "serious road bike": a Calfee bamboo pro. The bike is gorgeous. It is a rideable work of art.

The bicycle riding has become more and more interesting. I've taken to riding brevets. You can read about my experiences or check up on my progess at the RUSA web site ( my RUSA# is 6262). I rode more than 7000 mile in 2010. In 2011 I rode a 1200km randonne through Alaska. I still find it hard to believe that I rode 750 miles in 3-1/2 days. A year later I rode another 1200k in Colorado. This year I'm taking it easy. No Brevets, no Paris-Brest-Paris and few organized centuries. I'm planning a bike tour from Anaheim to San Francisco via Lake Tahoe. I'll see how it goes.

I approach my drawing and painting with an odd tension. I love looking at things. I love making marks on paper. There is a sensual quality to this process that attracts me: it is the sound a pencil makes on a crisp piece of vellum and the wild swirls watercolor creates in a puddle of water that attract me. But living just to satisfy these desires is empty and hollow. So the historical continuation of this is to create stuff. I'm attracted to drawing and watercolor.

But there is a tension in making my marks match the outside world. Slowly, very slowly I've gained the eye - hand coordination to execute my lines with more precision. I take Marshall Vandruff's teachings to heart and try to learn from past masters by executing master copies. John Singer Sargent's watercolors are fantastic. I particularly adore his watercolors of the First World War. Winslow Homer and John Sell Cotman are favorites as well. I love the pen drawings of Joseph Clement Coll and Franklin Booth. Benie Wrightson's drawings for Frankenstein are fantastic! And then there is Rembrandt, and his etchings. So much to learn....

Nothing like being silly and living to tell the tale. There are times when I have a hard week and feel like a neanderthal. At that point it's necesary to down a couple pterodactyls.

Riding around on outrageously long rides with like minded individuals. Bribing my dad with ice cream. Squeezing orange juice. Baking pīrāgus. Making peach preserves. Sketching. Photographing sunrises on the way to work. Caring for Natasha. Making furniture.

I have had the good fortune to be raised by avid readers. Consequently I have taken the time to read. I tend not to hang onto books I have already read. After all, what good is a library of books one has already read? Aside from a reference collection of art and craft books, I do have a small bookshelf of old friends that I just can't seem to part with. Some were atalward companions on a particular journey and I save for sentimental reasons. Others brought plain joy. A later category introduced resonances that I cannot ignore.

After working for a restaurant chain for ten years I felt really burned out. It was time for a change. I just didn't know which direction to go, so I enrolled in some exploratory courses at the local junior college and started working for a Jazz Club: Steamer's Cafe. What an experience! Seeing the likes of Jeff Hamilton, Joey DeFrancesco, Ramon Banda and countless others just having fun during the third set when nobody else was around and they only had to play for their own enjoyment was ecstasy - a unique experience that's not commonly accessible. I appreciate the spirit of Jazz and make it part of my life.

The easiest way to contact me is by sending email to ofni.sgrebinz@itram If you need more urgent response, you can try my mobile phone (1 714 222 2051) or home phone (1 714 533 6968). Personal paper mail can be sent to:
Martins Zinbergs
807 N. Lenz Dr.
Anaheim, CA 92805