Sunday, October 28, 2007

Marge Gunderson

The Halloween party I went to was awesome. About half the people knew who I was dressed as. Some asked if my pregnant belly was real, although these pics don't do it justice. Everyone was in costume, most people danced, and only a few cheesy French maids. My date is a fat PE teacher. I met a girl (a friend of my dude) who's from Berlin, CT and has family that lives on my street in WeHa. Crazy!

Friday, October 26, 2007

message to love



I'm aglow because I met someone great. We've been hanging two nights a week- Saturday and Thursday 'cause those seem to be the days that work. It's really fun. The Thursdays go by so quickly, but we only have one full day to wait. I'm using restraint here because it's all so new but I'm really happy about it.

I've been working on a mix for Erin's wedding. She asked me to make some dance-party playlists for lack of Awesome Audio. It's still in progress but is shaping up nicely. Got some new music (Nico Vega, Mint Royale) mixed in with old (Whitney, Paul Simon). I might have to make two volumes...it depends on how passionately I edit. I've been cleaning my closet and I keep stopping to dance. I'm so excited to see Erin and my friends from WeHa next week.!

When I see people reading books like the Lovely Bones (bo-ring!), Cavalier and Clay, or Life of Pi I think of the moment in time that the book, being on New York Times Best Sellers list, populated NYC subways. Which makes me not want to read them. But I picked up Life of Pi at the library and I'm devouring it on my bus. It's a combo of Hatchet and Ishmael, two other books I really enjoyed (I read Hatchet in 4th grade and Ishmael in high school Humanities).

Well, kiddies, have you heard 'Brandy Alexander' by Feist? You should.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

dudes, cake.


Yesterday I celebrated my 27th birthday with all the trimmins. There was carrot cake at work (at 10:30 am. Wait, who planned this?), cards, flowers from my friend Dara, packages in the mail, phone calls, emails, then dinner with 10 of my best friends (out here!). Even the weather broke; it was warm and sunny which is rare for this time of year.

I felt really lucky. Last year I spent my day with 3 or 4 friends, and only one of them is still around. It just warmed my heart to look around the table and see all these people that I'm close with and wanted to be there! The food was delicious, as was the wine, which did some damage to our bill. Oops! I felt so bad afterwards. I hate to be that guy (come to my birthday, I'll order all the food- it was family-style with a predetermined menu-, and shell out $50 each)...but it's over now. The quote I got over the phone obviously assumed we'd be drinking apple juice. I will treat my friends in some other way. Later, my friend and I held hands and walked to my neighborhood dive bar.

I feel really good about 27. Oddly I always thought I'd get married when I was 27. That might be a while.

Class tonight! I finished a piece for a friend and also one for myself. I'm really pysched about them both. My peers all gathered 'round and said, "Whoa". My teacher loved it, and I love her (maybe not love-love, just really like and admire), so I gave her a print. She said it'd live a long life. I'll post it up here after I take it to Kinko's for the big ol' flatbed scanner.

Halloween's around the corner. I'm gonna be Marge Gunderson from Fargo. Oh geez, I think I'm gonna barf.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Shawna vs. Kiki


Here's something I did one Saturday afternoon, using a silkscreen and a stencil. It was quick and fun to make. You know about me and Kiki right??

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Entourage, but not the show




There are these awesome files at work in a binder called "Entourage". Entourage is a collection of illustrations of people doing stuff (picnicking, riding bikes, walking dogs, window-shopping). Back in the day urban planners would trace these drawings for their renderings of street scenes, plazas, etc. I'm sure there's an Entourage of today (you know with like, fixed gear bikes and girls in leggins talking on Chocolate cell phones). But we only have files from the 80s, which leaves me with tons of material for my artwork and general merriment. Here's some of the latest.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

my country according to me


My sense of place is shaped by where I've been and if I know people who live there. Middle America? Texas!? Might as well be a big bowl of oatmeal for all I'm concerned! Arkansas? I think of bears and libraries. (Isn't there a library there named after Bill Clinton?)