The crotch of my jeans just ripped.
I've made my website a little less obscene.
I've also made one, which requires serious updates, for Keanne.
Next up, one for Jess.
That's a bout it for now.
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.
12.28.2007
put put
Today was a good day. Quick wrap up of current events. I didn't get my job back, which stinks. Times are slow, but maybe in the future... Bah. I've moved half of what I own into the shed/studio, from this day forward known as The Clubhouse. Or maybe The Cubhouse? Stubspouse?
There's tarps and tvs and lights and drills and a bench and its perfect. I'm making a theremin for you. Beleive it. I got four IC's left and they're just itching to transfer light into sound. I've worked on a few more pages of the comic, its going. I'm almost positive I'll make the deadline. If not, there's always next year. But seriously, they give grants to stuff with titles like "Pizza Wizard" so, you know. Tomorrow I think I'm going to build a case for my Seagull TLR camera. It's like 5x5x6, so that'll take about ten minutes. Stuff it with foam and it's secure.
Today was good because I woke up at 10, started uploading my music onto Dad's old Ipod, which is now my ipod which is good since I'd never buy one for myself or have one buy one for me. This one came free when my dad ordered a certain microscope for his lab. Just how I would've done. Coincidentally my old mp3 player died yesterday, so the timing is as good as it could possibly be. I then got picked up by JD and we drove around and I rode his bike for a minute and it was very springlike out. We then went to the Gulu cafe and got beers and sandwiches. A girl there had hair wax and I used it on my mustache and gave them perfect points sans mirror. That means its natural. Natural for the mustache that I have to be in points. I played with JD's manager's daughter and helped her spell words with her toy instruments that looked like letters. Then to make more words, we cut letters out of newspaper (she happened to have scissors). We spelled BIO, CAB, BOAT and RIOT. That's when people go crazy, I told her. Then we burned the place down.
After that it was back to JD's for games, music and cleaning. He has to move out in three days. Some people came over then we went back to the Gulu, had more beers and I was pleasantly surprised that a certain Marat Freisis and Clay were there. We hung out and a few bands played and we talked about what's wrong with our friends and what they're doing right and what they could do better. And that O'Mothie, the combination of White Moths and O'Malley (our respective highschool bands), was a thing that should have happened. We went outside and played frisbee in the park next to the cafe, which for some reason some people hated. Others, however, were pleased with our youthful frivolity and joined in for a round or two. More drinking, crises averted, and I took JD's truck and went home, blasting Animal Collective.
I got home and the ipod hadn't uploaded so it's doing that now. I want to go to the studio and test some things out. Its one. But I no longer have plans tomorrow so it doesn't much matter. Ahhhhh... Drawings, news, etc soon.
There's tarps and tvs and lights and drills and a bench and its perfect. I'm making a theremin for you. Beleive it. I got four IC's left and they're just itching to transfer light into sound. I've worked on a few more pages of the comic, its going. I'm almost positive I'll make the deadline. If not, there's always next year. But seriously, they give grants to stuff with titles like "Pizza Wizard" so, you know. Tomorrow I think I'm going to build a case for my Seagull TLR camera. It's like 5x5x6, so that'll take about ten minutes. Stuff it with foam and it's secure.
Today was good because I woke up at 10, started uploading my music onto Dad's old Ipod, which is now my ipod which is good since I'd never buy one for myself or have one buy one for me. This one came free when my dad ordered a certain microscope for his lab. Just how I would've done. Coincidentally my old mp3 player died yesterday, so the timing is as good as it could possibly be. I then got picked up by JD and we drove around and I rode his bike for a minute and it was very springlike out. We then went to the Gulu cafe and got beers and sandwiches. A girl there had hair wax and I used it on my mustache and gave them perfect points sans mirror. That means its natural. Natural for the mustache that I have to be in points. I played with JD's manager's daughter and helped her spell words with her toy instruments that looked like letters. Then to make more words, we cut letters out of newspaper (she happened to have scissors). We spelled BIO, CAB, BOAT and RIOT. That's when people go crazy, I told her. Then we burned the place down.
After that it was back to JD's for games, music and cleaning. He has to move out in three days. Some people came over then we went back to the Gulu, had more beers and I was pleasantly surprised that a certain Marat Freisis and Clay were there. We hung out and a few bands played and we talked about what's wrong with our friends and what they're doing right and what they could do better. And that O'Mothie, the combination of White Moths and O'Malley (our respective highschool bands), was a thing that should have happened. We went outside and played frisbee in the park next to the cafe, which for some reason some people hated. Others, however, were pleased with our youthful frivolity and joined in for a round or two. More drinking, crises averted, and I took JD's truck and went home, blasting Animal Collective.
I got home and the ipod hadn't uploaded so it's doing that now. I want to go to the studio and test some things out. Its one. But I no longer have plans tomorrow so it doesn't much matter. Ahhhhh... Drawings, news, etc soon.
12.16.2007
What a wuss
Anyway. So time goes by and things improve. I'm going to hang out with the dudes from my old job tomorrow and try to get at least a couple hours a week. I'm in the disconcertingly long process of attaining a studio (shed) so I can start sculpting again after six months of inactivity and unfulfilled projects. The ideal situation here would be that I'd work from 9-3 then walk the half mile to the studio and hang there till ten-ish. Go home, shower and repeat until January 15th. Then we drive accross this ugly country. Linda suggested we checkout the South Dakota Badlands. Or was it Montana? Regardless, I'm not sure how inviting they'd be in Januray / Feb but then again I have absolutely no idea. But the comic is coming along and I've been working on regaining my illustration ability. Here's two things. One done, one not.
11.28.2007
Things change
So. There hasn't been an update in a while, maybe you've noticed. I kind of wanted to keep the whole moving home experience under wraps until Thanksgiving since I think 90% of the people who read this are my family and I wanted it to be a pleasant? surprise. My mind has left my body. I'm all over the place right now, incredibly unsure of how to procede. My plans for now are to hang out until the middle of January, then drive to Boulder, CO with JD. Plan is to roll down 95 until South Carolina then take a right. Maybe stop in Austin, maybe make our way to the desert. We have no idea. Its almost good that way. Thing I found out the hard way is if you want to you can drive 1800 miles in a day and a half. So we'll never be too imperiled. I don't know why I thought the deadline for the Xeric grant was January when its actually March and aparently has always been that way. So I've put the brakes on the comic, since I've been forcing it, rather than letting it happen.
I can't lie. I am bummed. We had a few good shows lined up for the Rodney Stewart Gallery. Urban Monsters in december I believe, Mark Mothersbaugh in April. Todd Barry, Eugene Murman and possibly Brad Neely in May. Its difficult when things were going very smoothly, then all of a sudden, not. I've been listening to Reality by David Bowie. I like it a lot. A lot of Neil Young too, mostly Silver and Gold. I just have absolutely no direction right now.
I can't lie. I am bummed. We had a few good shows lined up for the Rodney Stewart Gallery. Urban Monsters in december I believe, Mark Mothersbaugh in April. Todd Barry, Eugene Murman and possibly Brad Neely in May. Its difficult when things were going very smoothly, then all of a sudden, not. I've been listening to Reality by David Bowie. I like it a lot. A lot of Neil Young too, mostly Silver and Gold. I just have absolutely no direction right now.
11.04.2007
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