I've been able to fight off the superflu everyone got until now. I fucking hate being sick, no gym, no drawing, nothing productive. Just laying around. Of course i catch it right before my vacation and my travelling. Ugh enough complaining, Im gonna watch more batman: the animated series
Ive watched a few movies lately that are vastly different yet they share a common theme - lying, cheating, and stepping on other peoples toes is the only way to get ahead in this world. They got me thinking about what we are bred as Americans to believe and wheither or not there is an underlying culture of fuck the guy next to you over. "Bigger , Stronger, Faster" is a rad documentary on steroids in American culture and the social network is well, the social network. Both great films for sure. I do think as a culture we are all trying to set ourselves ahead of the competition. This is what makes us have that drive needed to make astonishing things happen but i think what we define as the "competition" has become anyone and everyone. Especially in the creative world, there's so much shit and attitude floating around that it can become the focus instead of focusing on the creating. Check this film out if you can.
The last year has been humbling for me in the sense that Ive spent a lot of time thinking about why Ive put so much stock into what other people think about me and where other people think my life should be. As a result Ive pulled myself in various directions to please various people in my life. That's not a bad thing, I love where I am, I love my life, and I love the growth path I'm on. Particularly this year, Ive taken the time to sort out what things I truly want to do and Ive made the focus on me, my growth, what pleases me. Sounds selfish right? It is. Im ok with that, to be any good to anyone else i need to be good to myself too. Lets be real, we all want to be appreciated by the people we look up to and appreciate, we all want that positive attention from others but it cant be at the cost of what you truly want. I became interested in so many different things in the last few years and went in so many paths that there's no way i could fit them all in. A very smart women asked me once if i wanted to be "kinda good at a bunch of things or AMAZING at the one thing". The American in me wants to think i could do it all amazing but those people that are amazing at what they do dedicate themselves entirely to what they love and that's what Im going to focus on. What I love, what I want, and I'm gonna leave all that other noise behind.
Oh yeah, I'm starting on a new portrait of my favorite crazy actors. Heres a layout
Its been at least six years since I've painted anything on canvas. I generally like to paint on heavy watercolor paper with acrylic washes (mostly because its cheaper and if I fuck up I'm just tossing out paper). For some reason there is a collection of small canvases in my closet, probably gifts or whatever, so i decided to go back to my roots(high-school) and give canvas another go around. It was more of a forced decision as I'm doing a project with Dave C that requires me to work on a large-ish canvas. He works on canvas almost exclusively and I'm down for the challenge. Long story long, i needed to do a warm up piece to reacquaint me with bumpy old canvas. What better subject than a small "Patrick Bateman" 5"x7" Acrylic on Canvas. 
Check out that project with dave here.
Good times were had creating and conceptualizing this piece. Enjoy.
The Big Bang Theory is one of the funniest shows on TV right now, if you haven't seen it be sure to check it out. I painted this munny a little while back as a present for kristin and it was super fun. Ive only messed around with munnys twice and both times i had no idea what i was going to turn the blank money into. This cat sat on my desk for 8 months before i spent a few hours making him. Heres another shot
Going to Los Angeles tomorrow for the wifeys eye check up. That wont take too long so ill bet we end up at Amoeba, Canvas LA, and other Hollywood joints. Very excited to head up that way and have some time to hit the city. Next month we are heading to San Diego for Alkaline Trio and Cursive in downtown SD (one of the best places to explore). Haven't seen the Trio in years and that new album is A-mazing. Its been even longer since i saw Cursive. Needless to say I'm amped!
The week after we are in Las Vegas for Muse and Silversun Pick-ups at Mandalay Bay! First time seeing both bands and first time staying at that beautiful hotel. Effing stoked.
Then in May I'm riding the Tour de Cure in Long Beach and hitting up a Tucson Visit the last weekend in May. That's right.......McCords Back in Tucson, better stretch those hanging out muscles!
Been a rough and tumble kind of year so far but when the smoke and haze clears im still positive this is going to be an amazing year. Im 27 days in and have read two books already( "Abarat" by Clive Barker and "On Writing" by Stephen King) Both of them were fantastic reads and the King book is one of the better reads on the craft of writing. One of my goals is to get back to reading as much as i used to and to write as much as i once did. Hence Blog.
Ive also been lucky to have a recovering wife whose 1st surgery on her rt eye turned out very well. Stoked to get her through all of this and do what i can to help. Shes a strong lady.
Im a bit of a tired recluse and my lack of sleep is probably the culprit of this haphazard blog entry about everything going on with no real direction. Just wanted to spill some words into the black empty internetverse......goodnight internet
