Speechless.

So today is the day of the opening, actually, right after this blog I need to start and get ready. But a friend of mine at work isn't going to be able to make it this evening, but it's this very friend who left me speechless today.

One thing you should know, there are very few people in my life to whom I regard as a "good" person. I mean, a genuinely good person, the kind of person if you looked up "good" in the dictionary, yea, you'd see of a woodblock portrait of them in the margin.

So please keep in mind, when I say good, I do mean good.

And this friend, I definitely count on that list.

Anyway, the man pulls me aside today to wish me well this evening. It started with the usual, "good luck" jam. But then he offered some incredible words of friendship and support that left me, well, speechless. I mean, it one thing to say all the right words, but to "mean" them is something entirely. There was a incredible sincerity to his demeanor and tone... I don't think I felt more like a friend to him then that moment, seriously, I thought I was going to cry. Getting a little choked up typing this blog.

Definitely feel very fortunate to have people like him in my life, and I hope you all have at least one person like that in yours.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that moment with you. Because I thought it was important to share that there are good people in the world.

Anyway, I gotta get ready for the show. If you're in KC, I hope you can make it.

Later.

DO THIS, ver 2.0

Okay, seriously, last time I will mention any of this (you gotta promote), cause I'm sure some of you are probably sick of hearing it...

Anyway, some of you already know about this, but for you who don't...

I'm gonna be participating in a group gallery show this Friday, it's through work, and a portion of the proceeds will be given to benefit the annual walk/run event, Head for the Cure, that raises money for the brain cancer research.

Should be a good time, local art, a little charity lovin', free booze from Bombora Vodka (and if you're anything like me, free booze is always awesome).

Yea, this is the first show of any kind for me. The work could potentially blow on my part. Thankfully the framing got done today, whew! You really have no idea how much I was stressing on that.

Either way, be awesome if you guys can make it. Some friendly faces would rock in the potential sea of suits and would-be patrons. But if you can't, that's cool too I guess, I just might have to hate you forever... Just kidding, I love you all. And hey, if something sells, after party is on me (first round anyway)!

Hope to see you guys this Friday!

Just sometimes it would be nice if...

...product based companies would think about their consumer once or twice. What am I getting at you ask? Okay, you know how sometimes you will be a CD or DVD, and they will be a label/sticker on the package like, "As Seen on..." or "Platinum Artist...", stupid shit like that you don't care about, but some marketing guru has data that it's a good idea that they put it on there. But here's the thing, the labels/stickers, yea they are NEVER on the plastic wrap where you'd think it would be. NAY, they put it directly on the package itself. Which normally could be resolved if the companies used the stickers of that vinyl type material, you know the ones that leave NO adhesive when you peel them off. Nope, they always use that cheap ass paper sticker that leaves all sorts of crap on the disc I just bought.

Seriously people, 1) I don't care about any announcement you need to make on a sticker, 2) if you need to make the announcement, put it on the plastic wrap, 3) if you really need to put it on the product itself, use the nice sticker that leaves no adhesive.

I mean seriously, I don't want your crap ass announcement on the disc I just bought. Like buying a car, if I am paying you more then 15K for a car, don't put a fucking vinyl brand of your dealership on my car. I am not a driving advertisement for you. Lame.

Okay, that's my rant for the moment.

Live Smart Eureka...

So there's this really fun show on the Sci-Fi Channel called Eureka. And they recently ran a sweepstakes to make someone's home more energy efficient. Not just to help your pocketbook, but more importantly to help the planet. But why am I mentioning this if the sweepstakes is almost done? Well they have a page with some great tips on conserving energy that you may not be entirely aware of, like if every U.S. household replaced five most-used incandescent light bulbs with ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs, avoided greenhouse gases would be equivalent to the emissions savings from taking 8 million cars off the road for a year! Pretty awesome, no? Well click on the link below to find out more...

$mart House Energy Efficiency Challenge

Also, the Sci-Fi Channel ran some really fun TV Spots geared as off the wall PSAs, well they finally posted them online:

Live Smart Eureka

And lastly, on the last page, you can see episodes for free.

But seriously folks, check out the first link, some really cool information there to live a little more green.

And if you're not doing anything on a Tuesday night, check out Eureka.

My great lament of the moment...

...is that I work too much. So much so it's hindered the enjoyment of my life. How you ask? Well, let me tell you. I have been in the middle of a big pitch at work. One in which that has, as always, an insanely tight turnaround, and a lot of illustration needs on my part. Enough that it demanded my time over the weekend. Which, I was, for the most part, okay with. The guy heading up the pitch is by far one of the few people I can say embodies a "good" person, so I gladly gave my time to help. A lot of canceled plans, late hours, and all nighters.

Come Monday. Feeling pretty good.

Then came the news that additional art needed to be produced. Wasn't stressing about that one, like I said, happy to help the guy in charge. But the frustration came when 5 pm hit and I was certain that I would have to cancel my plans for the evening. One that included volunteer work, but more immediately co-workers were headed to the blessed happy hour after work. Normally not a big thing that I couldn't go with, but a girl I'm crushing a little bit on was going too.

So that kinda sucked.

I have to say it was hard not to get a little salty as work rolled into the evening.

Damn you RFP, take my weekend, take my evening...

..but hey, the pitch book looks good.


*and a disclaimer to any of my co-workers who may come across this. I love my job, I love my co-workers. Just sometimes, as I am sure you can agree, the job gets a little needy, and it can be overwhelming and frustrating. No one's fault, just the nature of the beast, and this is just my moment to vent.

a confession of confidence... or lack thereof...

Yeah, just stressing about this gallery show at this ungodly hour. Wondering if what I have is good, wondering if I should paint the work I have... Second guessing the new work I did... blahblahblah...

I don't know, maybe a lack of confidence, maybe it's just stress. Sure it's a thing through work... still I want my jams to be good right?

Anyway, that's my confession at this ungodly hour. Now I'm just debating if it's worth going to bed.

One thing I hate...

...is going back to square one.

Be there.

and more adventures in cooking...

So what's today's sweet cooking adventure? A little sage chicken deliciousness, served with a side of white rice (Asian rice, none of that Uncle Ben shit. And yes, it's shit.). Hungry? Ready to start? Here we go...




You start with 1 onion, that's it, only 1. Chopped that little guy up and...




...sautee the heck out of it. Do it in a bath of extra virgin olive oil, and add a dash of salt (to being out sweet juices), and sesame seeds (I think it adds little flavor... but who knows). Do this on a low to medium heat. THEN...




...we season the chicken. Why 3 breasts? Well, it comes in packages of three... and I've always been told it's bad to refreeze meat... anyway. Season both sides with salt and pepper (preferably with fresh ground pepper from a mill, not the pre-ground kind). After you hit that guy with the salt and pepper, add the sage. Not ground sage, but sage leaves. It kinda looks like a dime bag of MJ, but whatev. But if you have access to fresh sage, man dice it up and use it! But yea, rub the sage into the chicken, and...




...throw it on the pan. Now leave the burner on the low to medium heat. You don't want to go high, because then you're just cooking the outside, and you don't want pink chicken... that's bad. But yeah, sage side up let it poach for 5 min, then flip em and let it cook for another 4-5, then flip (sage side up) and let it go for another 3-4 min. Probably don't need to flip it so many times, but I like to finish sage side up. But yea, once that's done, have your rice steamed, grab your dish, and it's time to plate...




a little chicken on one side, rice on the other (I like to use the onions we sauteed to dress the rice, and it's real tasty too with the rice), and spoon some sauce down the middle and then...




...break open that bottle of white (I personally like pinot gris with this dish), and enjoy!

pet peeve of the moment

Spritzing people, you know the ones, at the department store with all the fragrances? Yeah, so I go to buy a new bottle of my jam, and the lady at the store, totally disregarding that I am determined and had already made a b-line for what I wanted, makes her sales pitch. All the while is spritzing me with shit without asking. Keeping my temper, I politely listen to her doomed pitch. And after I decline her upsell, and her suggestion, and continue shopping. She hits me up 10 minutes later as if saying "no" wasn't enough, and drags me back to the shit I told her I didn't want in the first place.

But I got what I went there for. Just for the moment I smell all this lame ass shit some "dude" of douchebaggery would probably dig.

Well, that is my rant for the day. Gotta go get ready for a wedding (and no, I'm not performing the ceremony.)

latest bit of artiness...

The Backstory: My client at work is sponsoring some social networking site. And a copywriter on the team is going to moderate the sponsored section however long the sponsorship lasts. Anyway, she asked if I would make her portrait for her profile picture.

So I did.

And I was kinda happy with the way it came out, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Enjoy!

a strange thing, movies.

It's a strange thing movies. The ones that tug at the heart strings, me it's the underdog movies that pull hard and don't want to let go. But yea, strange thing when it grabs hold, the sheer mirade of emotions that fill your heart. Such a fantastic thing. For me, makes me happy, I'm not sure why. Just watched The Greatest Game Ever Played, and it was a really wonderful movie, may not be any benchmark in filmmaking history, but it was really a wonderful picture.

Best I can describe it, you feel the emotion swell up, I think of life, past loves, people and moments lost... but as sad as that maybe, you little heart starts to fill with a little happy. Okay, a lot happy. And I don't know about you, moments like that, I just need to hug somebody.

So if you're reading this, hug the person next to you and pass a little happy along.

Street Art

So there's always a lot of construction around my place. And I never really know what they are doing, but one day coming home, and the workers marked the street with all sorts of crazy arrows and shit. And honestly, I thought it looked kinda cool.

So I'd thought I'd share.

Enjoy!

And now presenting the 3rd annual...

So a buddy of mine throws a "Funny T-Shirt" party every year, and last Friday was the third annual. Good company, libations, all good times. Check out the photos:

Elizabeth 2?

Don't worry it's not going to be called Elizabeth 2, but more, Elizabeth: The Golden Age. And if you're wondering what I'm going on about, well, actress Cate Blanchett, her breakout role was most definitely as Queen Elizabeth in the movie, well, Elizabeth, and recently Universal has released a trailer to it's sequel.

This follow-up tells the tale of Spain's impending invasion of England as they tote the Inquisition with them to bring Catholicism back to the Queen's country. The result is the Queen standing up and fighting for her beliefs, her crown, but most importantly her country.

I have to say I am really excited for this movie. Not crazy about the CG in the trailer, kinda took me out of it for a short bit, but definitely excited about it. But yea, check out the trailer at the film's site:

www.elizabeththegoldenage.net

So I'm not sure how to title this...

...maybe "more pet peeves", I seem to be having a lot of those lately. I thought perhaps "pride", or "seriously?", but I wasn't sure if those were appropriate either. What I do know, the one complaint I have on IMs, Texts, and other messaging of the like, "tone" is one that is so hard to determine. Whether one is being truly mean, or they just have a wicked dry wit. More often then not, it's hard to tell, well for me anyway.

It's a pain to be sure.

What am I getting at with all this? Well there was a incident today. Wasn't even really a "incident", just something really stupid. Just wasn't sure how to take it, and yes it involved messaging of somekind listed above. Safe to say, it has rubbed the wrong way. But whatever, I'll get over it. Just at the moment, there is the need to vent.

Seriously ladies, ouch!

So we're gonna get personal here for a second. Now be warned, this might be a TMI moment, but if you're up for it, read on brotha, read on.

So I am going go ahead and put it out there, there are days that my eye brows get all sorts of crazy. I mean, if my eye brows were gardens, then I have a crazy weed problem to be sure.

So I bought a tweezer today. Adding yet another step in achieving the man pretty that is me. Nevermind the fact that I had to buy said tweezer in the make-up section... but ladies, seriously, plucking, holy shit, a little painful.

That and heels... I will never understand the female beautification process.

But yea, plucking, definitely not a fan.