| Still alive. Some things in my life over the past two years made posting here seem a little... irrelevant, trivial, I don't know... I haunted for a while, and then just exited quietly.
My extended absence has led to my being de-friended by many of you, by the looks of things.
So, whomever is left out there who couldn't bring themselves to cut me out of their online life... and who could blame you, I'm just posting to let you know I've jumped ship over to Blogspot.
For daily (or semi-daily) cartoon-type content:
Sequential Life
And for rantings/musings/reviews of comic book and related genre stuff:
Thought Balloon
Thanks for checking in.
Hope you've been well. | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment   |
| I drove K to her class last night in Santa Monica.
Instead of driving back through crazy traffic, I
sat myself in my car with a coffee and a little
public radio, and forced myself to draw. I was
surprised how fun it was, just doodling out
character ideas.
Maybe drawing in cramped spaces suits me. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Since K is back, and it is summer, this
week we've been catching up on our movie
intake after a particular draught.
Monday we finally saw Farenheit 911. It
turned out to be a tough movie to watch.
Aside from the graphic footage of the war,
the hardest part to watch was actually a
blank screen; Moore covers the 9/11 attacks
by initially showing nothing. You sit in a
darkened theatre listening to the sounds of
the attacks, which is just about the most
horrifying thing. For me, It recalled the
emotional reaction of that day and saddened
me that it was all such a waste. As tragic
as the event was, we had the opportunity to
change the world for the better... and what
have we done?
Tuesday we saw Napoleon Dynamite. I'm on the
fence about the ending... whether or not it's
true to the actual story, but I really enjoyed
it. It's really an 80's film, though it's set
somewhat in the present (The only things that
indicate it's in the present are the presence
of the internet and one character's gansta
conversion). On that level, the movie is the
most acurate portrayal of life in the 80's,
in my opinion. There is an emotional pointless-
ness to the proceedings. The characters seem
stranded between eras, both historical and
personal.
And of course, making good on her promise,
K took me to see Spider-man 2. It was every-
thing the first was and more. It had the strong
emotional stories as well as the action. The
bad guy was even more tragic in this one.
There was even enough for the comic fans to
geek out on, such as the inclusion of Dr.
Connors, the foreshadowing of Harry's decent
into his Goblin heritage and even Jameson's
son, John (though I'm not expecting him to
turn into a werewolf any time soon). There
was even a nice little Evil Dead homage,
complete with a "surgical chainsaw" and the
roving, low-to-the-ground POV shot. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Since we moved out here, I'm at least 30 miles
away from a decent art supply store. The only
alternative in a pinch is Aaron Bros. My problem
stems not from the general lameness that is Aaron
Bros, but from that feeling that they were once
a decent art store.
And it's not just me. Sure my needs and taste in
an art supply store have matured and changed over
time, but they have seriously dumbed down their
prodcuts over the years. At some point in the mid-
to late nineties, they decided to streamline their
operation, to make it more public-friendly. They've
emphasised their framing business over their art
supplies. I always feel like the art supply portion
of their store is there only to add credibilty with
their framing customers, as if they set aside this
space to preserve the natural habitat of the artist.
"Look, there's an artist now. Watch as he carefully
selects a brush. Please, no flash photography."
Keeping in line with this new business model, I
think they've started to attract a lower quality
employee as well. I went into the local one here
today, to get some cheap brushes and nibs. The
brushes I picked out seemes like a deal, until I
got to the register to find out that they had been
diplayed under the wrong price tag. All of the
brushes in that section were. So was the paper.
Canson watercolor shoved into where the
Strathmore bristol should be. In fact, the
Canson was taking up the entire stack of where
there should have been Strathmore.
Crab crab. Yeah, I know it sounds picky. I shouldn't
be surprised. It's just that disassociative memory
of when they were better than this. I practically
lived at the one in Colma years ago. It's the same
feeling that you get running into a person you had
a crush on when you were younger, but now as an
adult, you wonder why. Add to that the fact that
she doesn't carry Black Magic ink or ColErase non-
photo blue pencils anymore. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| First real weekend to relax came and
went. We spent Saturday tooling around
old town Pasadena. I showed K where I
lived for a short time with a high
school friend and the spot where Steve
Rude gave me a pep talk. K found a
great paper store, and later a book
store that sold Barry Moser prints. I
was all geeked out, wishing I had a
couple of thousand dollars to buy one
of them.
We saw Super Size Me, which was quite
disturbing. Overall a good film, but
hard to pin down the filmakers purpose.
He never really solidifies a position on
personal versus corporate responsibilty,
and some segments have absolutely no point.
As an experience, it's good. As a narrative,
it falls apart.
Sunday was man day. I swore during the movie
on Saturday that I would assemble the eliptical
machine we bought a week and a half ago. After
that, I tackled the broken garbage disposal.
K was unsure I should be messing with it,
but I refused to wait another four weeks
for our landlord to get to it.
We shut off the breaker and I got to work.
K watched over my shoulder, periodically
urging me to retreat. I found a piece of
a cup handle wedged in the disposal disk.
I used a tiny eyeglass screwdriver as a
chisel, tapping it until the porcelin broke.
We hooked everything back up and now the
thing works like brand new. Even the leak
and the rattle it had before has stopped.
K said There's going to be no living with
you now refering to my exercise of man's
natural instinct to fix things, or hurt
himself trying.
I said Yes. My boy, Hutch, looked on
approvingly, before attacking Sadie. For a
brief moment in my home, the men were masters. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I thought I'd try to post work from
the last semester. This is a combo
stone litho (2 layers) and a lino.
It's 11x15 and on gray BFK.
It's called: Thanks, Descartes! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I'm up for air.
Last week was spent in a sleep-deprived haze. I pulled
an all-nighter Tuesday to complete a design notebook
due Wednesday. I also took an art history final, which
I got back today... I was a bit horrified that I couldn't
actually remember taking the test, but I got an A anyway.
My body doesn't do all-nighters like it used to.
I got some great prints done over the course of last week
also. I'll post them as soon as I can find my camera. They
are proof of the benefit of being able to get into the print
lab at any hour of the day. Thursday night I was in there
from 5pm to about 3am, then had to be back for a 9am final
crit... I have to turn in my keys Friday, so I've been
sneaking in after work this week for a couple of just-for-fun
prints. I'll miss those keys, goddamn, I'll miss them.
Family's going to be in town for the big ceremony next week.
I am looking forward to/dreading the time together.
K leaves about the week after that to go to some big-shot
writer's retreat in the midwest. I'm so proud of her. She's
actually writing again, and liking it. She's brilliant and
lovely. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I was going to go ahead and start feeling
sorry for myself when I opened mt desk
drawer and found a chocolate bunny left
over from Easter...
I'm not sure that's helpful.
Despite the good the good news about
Sadie, I'm feeling a bit crappy today.
I'm down to my last week in school,
got a bunch of work to do still, print
lab is just punishing me, constant feeling
of taking two steps forward and one step
back.
Ah... I'm just belly-achin'. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| The operation went well. Sadie was up and
eating as soon as she got home. She was
even feeling a little spicy... playing
and ripping up newspapers. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Sadie's at the vet now. She's having
laser surgery on her lymph glands to
remove some diseased tissue. Our vet's
a good guy and seems very confident
this is the way to go. When Sadie was
first diagnosed in Louisiana, the vets
offered no treatment for her condition.
The differences in vet technology from
region to region interest me. They
always seem to reflect the priorities
of the people. The vet hospital in
Louisiana was state-of-the-art, but
for horses and dogs. Cats are regarded
as an unusual pet, hence a lack of
advancement or promotion of more
current treatments.
I'm rambling because I'm nervous...
Your good thoughts are appreciated. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| ...contrary to what you might have thought.
Just a little clobbered by my last semester
at school, work and internship... plus some
freelance work. I check in to LJ when I can,
but couldn't bring myself to write anything. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| The advertisements for Jersey Girl are
suddenly JLo-free. I know she has a relatively
short role in the film, but now there's no
reference to her at all, just Liv Tyler. They
must be trying to distance association from
Gigli. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| ...that this guy they have surrounded
in Pakistan seems to be the real
mastermind behind the 911 attacks
all of a sudden. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Tom!
He's still out there somewhere.
K and I were always big fans of
his talk shows. Being on so late
at night at that time let him
have a lot of leeway with the
kind of guests he had on. Always
interesting... Unlike his replace-
ment.
We always thought we would have
known for sure if we made the
"Big Time" if we were asked to
be on his program. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Working on a silkscreen...
Also prepping two stones for
litho. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| K and I took in Hidalgo over the
in Friday. She has a weakness for Viggo.
I was a great adventure yarn. Since it's
based on a true story, there's criticism
out there that Frank Hopkins may have
embellished things. Sites like this
strongly let their feelings known on the
subject.
Frankly, none of these objections have
any basis on my enjoyment of the film.
Long ago I learned that movies are lies.
They are an illusion. They are entertain-
ment. Whenever I see "Based on a true
story" in the credits, I immediately take
into account that this is a work from one
person's POV. By that very nature, it's
flawed as a "true" account. So, objections
to Hopkins' claims really have no weight
with me.
In one telling scene, a sheikh played by
Omar Sharif is revealed to be a fan of
dime novel westerns. He's infatuated with
the myth of the American cowboy, which he
believes Frank to be. It's a post-modern
acknowledgement of the film's own veracity.
Those novels were also entertainments, and
also greatly exaggerated. The film should
be seen as a modern day equivalent to those
dime novels.
It's a great adventure, as I've said. Even
though it may be mostly fantasy, I find I
can still believe in its possibility. It may
have been believable at one time to think
that one man could have such an odyssey.
Contrasted to contemporary times, it gives
me hope that one day we could believe in
such freedom again. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I've got to write ten pages of
fiction today before 3:00. I
also have to write three one
page critiques for workshop and
do it all while at work...
Why do I procrastinate? | | comments: Leave a comment |
| UCLA Body Parts Scandal
I especially liked this part:
"He added that he collected the body parts
by simply walking into the UCLA Medical
Center twice a week with a saw and taking
them. Over the past six years, he said, he
cut up approximately 800 cadavers and took
knees, hands, torsos, heads and other parts,
which he sold to as many as 100 clients." | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Found cable for camera...
Our newest addition, Hutch. He's a
little terror, lately. He won't go
near my cat, but he's merciless to
Sadie.
He frequently sticks his tongue out
like that. I think it's cause one of
his front teeth is a bit off. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Every year, K and I compete to see who can pick the most winners. I did a quick visual checklist to see how prepared we are this year to judge...
( The Checklist ) | | comments: Leave a comment |
| |
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