1.28.2008
Seagull photos
My first real roll of film shot with the illustrious seagull. A sweet little machine she is.
1.13.2008
1.01.2008
2008 you say
Year in review, I guess.
The year started pretty well. I had a girl and moved home, though I didn't really have to. My moving allowed a friend to exit a hazardous situation to take my place at Meatland, our third floor monstrosity above the butcher shop in Jackson Square so that much is beneficial. Your Parents had devolved into a trio, but we played an excellent show with The One AM Radio in Providence where I was too broke to buy coffee and almost threw up from anxiety before playing. It was our first set where we didn't even play all our songs, we left one or two out, but there was good response, despite the knitting art school girls who always have to be doing something. I still stayed at Meatland on weekends and worked two days as a graphic design assistant for a manipulative and absent-minded boss. He wasn't so bad. He liked jazz and actually used the word Cat to describe people. I had tried to convince him to give me more hours, but that was passed. I wrote the script for my constantly evolving comic tentatively titled "Dad Man and Mum Lady" which is nearing a close. I'm pages away from the intermission, and resolve follows quickly after. I've been glorifying and rethinking it so frequently I just need to stick to what I have and finish it. I need to talk to comic guys other than Jack and see is this is how it usually goes. Nothing against Jack, its just nice to have more than one input on things you dedicate your life to.
Not much happened in the winter and spring. Lots of Your Parents practice, a few house parties. I moved back to Meatland in February, realizing my absence made no sense. Caitlin and I shared a room and split rent. I fought a guy who was starting trouble and wouldn't leave the apartment on Chinese New Year, and I got a black eye and eternal silence from Kristin's boyfriend and eventually Kristin. I don't know what the guy got. Maybe I broke his glasses. Lets hope so. My mind left my body and I forgot how to draw for a while. I was so out of practice. It literally took months until I remembered how I drew. I was trying this bogus, simplistic Henry Darger / Chris Fogues style, which isn't me. I started watercoloring. Landscapes, comics, illustrations. I started illustrating again. It was one of those things where I felt I was good at something, then studied something else and realised I liked this more. I'm better at this. I'm not giving up on sculpture, drawing's just easier.
Late spring held a few of my happiest days. My ideal setting is to be surrounded by people creating while I do. I was busy cutting foam and making molds and my friends were always around me, making films or making noise or shooting photos or painting. Its perfect. The weather was healing and we were able to do this on the porch, with a tarp blocking the other houses. We'd blast Black Sabbath and wave to the senors grilling next door. Your Parents hosted one miserable show at MassArt with our friends Jack Turnbull and Tall Ships, who were brilliant. I had borrowed equipment for no reason and it broke and I drank too much though no one noticed and I finished the set sitting on the bass drum, operating the pedal backwards. We had another raw set at a roller derby benefit show, where in front of I'd like to say 3-400 people our blessed chopped organ that I salvaged from the basement of MassArt died. I wanted to go with it. After that we decided to take a break.
Alice started doing solo work and by then I'd ran out of money, quit my job and moved back home again. I had a show at school which I was far from proud of, but had a few good pieces. My video-powered theremin particularly. I filmed trees go by from my car, then take photosensors to the monitor and it made little bleeps and beats. I'm building more right now.
I graduated and my car died. I got a lovely job working for a woodworking shop run by Berklee alumni. I started illustrating the comic and setting goals that would be constantly set back as I realised it was unnecessary to print a 30-50 page comic in full color. Not yet. So I redid a few watercolors in black and white, hated how it turned out and stopped until the fall. I turned 23, rode the bike Jess built for me to and from work every day and it was a month before I realised I should blow the sawdust off myself before leaving. This was when we made plans for moving. All of Meatland in one beautiful mass exodus out of the northeast. Our original destination was Philly for no reason. I think Caitlin wanted to hang out or collaborate with Man Man. None of us shared any interest in the city. We wanted someplace warm. We decided on Austin, since California's vapid and no place else makes sense. Two weeks later Casey and Alice decided to move to New York. We couldn't change their minds.
At some point I had to return Sean's drum equipment and was left with no cymbals, something I've yet to rectify. I moved the kit to Matt's basement. It's been there despite a month-long stay at Steph's house so she could practice before moving to North Carolina to teach at Penlan. The summer was nice. Lots of bike rides, meeting Caitlin at Oak Grove, then just scooting around. I had the greatest birthday I can remember. A surprise with 80% of my friends from far and wide making appearances. Certain people put their differences aside to come and miracles happened that night. My room was on the porch and was perfect, the best living space I've ever had or will ever have. I read a lot. Bi-weekly trips to the surprisingly well-stocked Wakefield Library. I lived like the psycho I was and saved up a good amount of money so I could leave for a while. Our heads were directed south and we were going. Somewhere along the way Caitlin got a car, a thing I'd simultaneously love and hate more than any other. My old car, The Hatred, was good and an heirloom, but we hadn't been through as much. I had an excellent graduation party in which almost all the Important People showed up.
At the end I moved to Texas and that's all too recent to recount. If you know me you know the story. I'm home now. Sad, but generally satisfied with nothing but time. I'm working on the things I'd planned too but my brain was too scattered to devote time to. The comic's almost done. I will make the deadline. I'm understanding the guitar and the piano. I have a studio and am about to go on a final micro trip before blank and undecided future is present. This year was insane. Parts I'd like to change, but its too soon for judgement. Tomorrow I help JD move and get photos I'm very excited about developed. You're probably in them.
The year started pretty well. I had a girl and moved home, though I didn't really have to. My moving allowed a friend to exit a hazardous situation to take my place at Meatland, our third floor monstrosity above the butcher shop in Jackson Square so that much is beneficial. Your Parents had devolved into a trio, but we played an excellent show with The One AM Radio in Providence where I was too broke to buy coffee and almost threw up from anxiety before playing. It was our first set where we didn't even play all our songs, we left one or two out, but there was good response, despite the knitting art school girls who always have to be doing something. I still stayed at Meatland on weekends and worked two days as a graphic design assistant for a manipulative and absent-minded boss. He wasn't so bad. He liked jazz and actually used the word Cat to describe people. I had tried to convince him to give me more hours, but that was passed. I wrote the script for my constantly evolving comic tentatively titled "Dad Man and Mum Lady" which is nearing a close. I'm pages away from the intermission, and resolve follows quickly after. I've been glorifying and rethinking it so frequently I just need to stick to what I have and finish it. I need to talk to comic guys other than Jack and see is this is how it usually goes. Nothing against Jack, its just nice to have more than one input on things you dedicate your life to.
Not much happened in the winter and spring. Lots of Your Parents practice, a few house parties. I moved back to Meatland in February, realizing my absence made no sense. Caitlin and I shared a room and split rent. I fought a guy who was starting trouble and wouldn't leave the apartment on Chinese New Year, and I got a black eye and eternal silence from Kristin's boyfriend and eventually Kristin. I don't know what the guy got. Maybe I broke his glasses. Lets hope so. My mind left my body and I forgot how to draw for a while. I was so out of practice. It literally took months until I remembered how I drew. I was trying this bogus, simplistic Henry Darger / Chris Fogues style, which isn't me. I started watercoloring. Landscapes, comics, illustrations. I started illustrating again. It was one of those things where I felt I was good at something, then studied something else and realised I liked this more. I'm better at this. I'm not giving up on sculpture, drawing's just easier.
Late spring held a few of my happiest days. My ideal setting is to be surrounded by people creating while I do. I was busy cutting foam and making molds and my friends were always around me, making films or making noise or shooting photos or painting. Its perfect. The weather was healing and we were able to do this on the porch, with a tarp blocking the other houses. We'd blast Black Sabbath and wave to the senors grilling next door. Your Parents hosted one miserable show at MassArt with our friends Jack Turnbull and Tall Ships, who were brilliant. I had borrowed equipment for no reason and it broke and I drank too much though no one noticed and I finished the set sitting on the bass drum, operating the pedal backwards. We had another raw set at a roller derby benefit show, where in front of I'd like to say 3-400 people our blessed chopped organ that I salvaged from the basement of MassArt died. I wanted to go with it. After that we decided to take a break.
Alice started doing solo work and by then I'd ran out of money, quit my job and moved back home again. I had a show at school which I was far from proud of, but had a few good pieces. My video-powered theremin particularly. I filmed trees go by from my car, then take photosensors to the monitor and it made little bleeps and beats. I'm building more right now.
I graduated and my car died. I got a lovely job working for a woodworking shop run by Berklee alumni. I started illustrating the comic and setting goals that would be constantly set back as I realised it was unnecessary to print a 30-50 page comic in full color. Not yet. So I redid a few watercolors in black and white, hated how it turned out and stopped until the fall. I turned 23, rode the bike Jess built for me to and from work every day and it was a month before I realised I should blow the sawdust off myself before leaving. This was when we made plans for moving. All of Meatland in one beautiful mass exodus out of the northeast. Our original destination was Philly for no reason. I think Caitlin wanted to hang out or collaborate with Man Man. None of us shared any interest in the city. We wanted someplace warm. We decided on Austin, since California's vapid and no place else makes sense. Two weeks later Casey and Alice decided to move to New York. We couldn't change their minds.
At some point I had to return Sean's drum equipment and was left with no cymbals, something I've yet to rectify. I moved the kit to Matt's basement. It's been there despite a month-long stay at Steph's house so she could practice before moving to North Carolina to teach at Penlan. The summer was nice. Lots of bike rides, meeting Caitlin at Oak Grove, then just scooting around. I had the greatest birthday I can remember. A surprise with 80% of my friends from far and wide making appearances. Certain people put their differences aside to come and miracles happened that night. My room was on the porch and was perfect, the best living space I've ever had or will ever have. I read a lot. Bi-weekly trips to the surprisingly well-stocked Wakefield Library. I lived like the psycho I was and saved up a good amount of money so I could leave for a while. Our heads were directed south and we were going. Somewhere along the way Caitlin got a car, a thing I'd simultaneously love and hate more than any other. My old car, The Hatred, was good and an heirloom, but we hadn't been through as much. I had an excellent graduation party in which almost all the Important People showed up.
At the end I moved to Texas and that's all too recent to recount. If you know me you know the story. I'm home now. Sad, but generally satisfied with nothing but time. I'm working on the things I'd planned too but my brain was too scattered to devote time to. The comic's almost done. I will make the deadline. I'm understanding the guitar and the piano. I have a studio and am about to go on a final micro trip before blank and undecided future is present. This year was insane. Parts I'd like to change, but its too soon for judgement. Tomorrow I help JD move and get photos I'm very excited about developed. You're probably in them.
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