Artistic Direction

A friend of mine just turned me on to a write up on the LAist, about cartoonist Doug Davis, who is having his first gallery exhibition tonight at the Gary Leonard Studio in Los Angeles.

Now, you may read this, and say "Wtf is Doug Davis and why should I care?". Here is where I wold retort with "It's not about who he is, but what he is". He is definitely an inspirational figure, in my opinion, especially after reading his interview with LAist and his feature in Los Angeles Downtown News, where Doug was previously the art director and is a current contributor to its political strip "Urban Scrawl". Considering my interests in illustration as a hobby and as a potential career, I very much identified with his answer to one of the LAist's questions.

[LADowntownNews]

How did you get started in illustration? I was one of those kids who drew all the time, and I pored over comic books and “Peanuts” collections. In my twenties, I didn’t draw as much, but did other things like travel overseas, play the banjo, major in philosophy in college. From one perspective, it was an eclectic approach to life; from another, unfocused. Either way, it provided a variety of life experiences that are good for cartooning. I did editorial cartooning for my college paper, eventually landing in graphic design and art direction. I worked my way back to drawing again, and find my greatest challenge and reward in cartooning and illustration. [LAist]

It sort of put things a little into perspective and gave some harmony to the chaos that I dwell within. Not everybody has to have a defined contingency plan and I feel ok with where I'm headed and the road I'm choosing to travel to get there.

Some Things Are Meant for HD. Some Some Things Aren't.

[Gridskipper]

So. Um. Well. This is awkward. Uh...Nice weather we're having!

Anthony, when we said we loved you, we were not projecting any kind of actual physical or sexual tension. At least not any that would actually involve taking your clothes off. I guess it's okay this time, since he was totally hungover after a night of heavy drinking and hard drugs. As only our favorite chef is capable of!

Is this enticing? Does this make ANYONE--even longtime convicts--feel compelled to tune in? Some Things May Indeed Be Better in HD. My puffy, drink ravaged face and 51 year old naked torso would NOT be one of them. [Anthony's Blog]

Lucky for you we find self-deprecation charming.

Chopstick Fetish

It's no secret I love chopsticks. It could even be argued that I'll try and eat almost anything with them.

One part cutlery, one part chopstick, and 100% bamboo, Choplery is a fun dining tool that begs the question "Does Pad Thai taste the same with a fork?" Created by Brooklyn-based designGO!, they simultaneously offer options and almost force a choice when eating: knife, fork & spoon, or chopsticks? [Treehugger]

[Treehugger]
Not only are these 100% bamboo, which is a great a sustainable and renewable resource (green!!) They also double up for that hard to reach rice at the end of the meal! So hot!


[Treehugger]

Making Moves

[Consumerist via Penelope Trunk]
The uncertainty of jobs in these days on the brink of recession is nerve-wrecking to say the least. I often ponder on when it would be a good time to change career paths and if staying within my same field is wise. Anyone that knows me knows the basic me. I work business, but long for art. The endless internal debate of what to do and where to go and how to do it.

Penelope Trunk has a phenomenal post on this very topic that, through the blog roll, I discovered.

Here’s how you figure out what to do next in your career: you line up all the stuff you like to do and you figure out which one will pay best. Don’t complain to me that I’m too focused on money. Really. Just do the exercise. The ones who are complaining the most right now, after reading just this far, are the people who are most in denial of what adult life is about.

Look, figuring out what you should do is actually a hard task. Because you have to start eliminating stuff. [PT]

Wow. Have I just been fooling myself all along? No. Definitely not. I know what I like. I know what I want. Entrepreneurship, food, and art are in my future. Paperwork? Not so much.

Emeril Goes Green.

Although I'm not a huge fan of his work, I do have to admit this is a pretty good idea, if anything for the support of greener food enterprises and for the recipes (you are free to shop where you most like). Apparently after the end of Emeril's last season on the Food Network, he went crazy and sold out his Emeril cooking line (or most of it anyhow) to Martha Stewart.

Now he's back as Emeril Green, and this time he will be cooking from inside a Whole Foods store using all organic, free-range products. Sounds interesting and very similar to something I had been talking about earlier today. [Slashfood via Ecorazzi and Treehugger]

Oh noes!

!!!

More on delicious bacon. Out of clean dishes? Out of detergent? Oven's still working? Watching your weight? Your cholesterol? Need to have a salad RIGHT NOW!?!

Make your own bowl!


[Serious Eats via Not Martha]
Also, be sure to top your salad with this.

Yum!

Getting Fit is the Hardest Part

In my never-ending struggle to fend off fatness consistently perpetuated by my lack of activity (office job) and my eating habits (birthday cake!!), I try to stay on top of what it is I need to do to keep the weight off. And it's a challenge. Reading about the right steps to take is the easy part. Putting those steps in motion and incorporating them into my lifestyle is most definitely a difficult task.

Diethack had a great write up today on some people also struggling with this, but nevertheless maintaining their goals. In 2006 I achieved the ultimate. I dropped 60 lbs., that I had been dragging around for quite some time, right off on the curb. By way of being cautious of what I was eating, constantly conscious of my intake, and hard time at the gym. Towards the end of 2007 I started slacking on all this due to several factors. Mostly BS excuses that somewhat justify everything in my head.

There are some steps I had been taking on Diethack's entry, and I plan on getting back on top of them beginning today.

• Eat a good breakfast. [I can't function without it and thankfully I do this every day]

  Eat smaller portions. [This is a tricky one. I'm a big boy]

  Choose the healthier foods. [Since I've fallen back into the bad habits of empty simple carbs, getting back off this train will prove a challenge]

  Drink lots of water. [Another one I need to do better at]

  Enjoy healthy snacks. [I'm not much of a snack person, but those random ice cream OD attacks will have to be stopped]

  Skip dessert. [I don't usually have dessert, so this is almost a non-issue]

  Exercise three times a week. [I'm on it, boss!]

  Get physically active in small ways. [This was a lot easier when I had the second job, I need to find more stuff to keep me off of the couch]

  Join an online support community. [Eh. I think I'll pass on this one]

  Find inspiration. [Trust me. Every time I try something on and it doesn't fit, it inspires me by fear-of-fatness-induction]

Mixtape: Cumbia styla!

[The Fader]
Time for some fresh music, tropicalia style. Now someone get me a pineapple. Or a melon. Bersa Discos presents this Fader Exclusive Cumbia mix. Enjoy the landing from a not-so ordinary Humpday.

Download the sickness: here

Street Art and Culture Night (inadvertently)

As mentioned previously, I set out yesterday to make the lecture by Marc and Sara Schiller from the Wooster Collective on the urban street art movement, its influences in modern day art, and how it's infiltrating galleries.


They did an amazing job at covering all the bases. From its roots, to its key players, to where the movement is headed, and what its all about. They had an awesome slideshow including works from some of my favorites and even some new artists I'd never heard of but defenitely caught my attention. Pieces from Banksy, Swoon (<3), JR, and Elbow-Toe were present on this well-crafted slide program.

They also had set up a hallway downstairs with a series of pieces on exhibit that will go on acution at a time that I am unaware of. I will keep checking and update this (xx/xx/xx) as soon as possible. They had definitely acquired a good set and it was quite the treat to catch a glimpse of some of these guys' works without having to hunt them down in alleys and tunnels in the NYC. Check it out if you get a chance before the works are gone.


After a very fullfiling lecture and walk about the gallery, I headed to meet a friend for coffee, when something unexpected came up and took a detour to meet said friend at Kickballers. According to my "sources" it is their last week (if not day) in business. Be sure to go out and cop some of the stuff they still have on the racks at super cheap prices!

Although it wasn't my regular hang out spot, I did spend some time there buying some awesome gear and toys. I think they were doing a fantastic job at pushing the street scene to the mainstream in DC. There's only a handful of establishments doing so with new ones sprouting up all over the place. It's sad to see an awesome project like this fade out in the ocean that is M Street Georgetown. Best of luck to these guys in the future.


We shared a few drinks, had some awesome Middle Eastern fare (second in choice only to Moby Dick's which was closed at the time), and wasted time browsing the racks and searching for good deals. They had brought back some of the custom Munny's on display from the Say Whatt?! show, of which I tried to scoop one up unwittingly, as they are going for about $600 a piece. (eek!) The owner was also having everyone sign one piece of wall that he wanted to conserve as memorabilia, in which I got a chance to get my grubby fingers on a few sharpies and leave a mark.


Definitely make it out there if you can, they're getting rid of everything for dirt cheap, and I mean everything. Hangers, shelving units, decor, and, of course, merchandise. Get on it, tsun!

Art Imitates Life: Street Art...DC

On of GUE's illicit love affairs continues to be with Wooster Collective, beloved blog site featuring street art photography and video from submitters all around the globe, and they're coming to DC!!

Some of my favorite names I've learned through WC and continue to follow them outside of there. Wooster is also responsible (as far as I can tell) for a similar new photo blog by the name of Streetsy. Which also features some fantastic stencil artwork.

Marc and Sara Schiller, creators of the site, will be making an appearance in DC tonight! Presenting some slides and giving a lecture on the amazingly beautiful art one can find in the streets and how this art has become such an influence in modern and contemporary art that can now be found in galleries and museums throughout the world.

Marc and Sara will be presenting this fun, and sometimes powerful, ephemeral medium and outlining its explosion all around the world. Employing nontraditional techniques such as paste, stencils and spray paint, the artists show off their talents in unlikely places. "They travel to do it and are very considerate of what locations pieces go in," said Sara, "They are doing something illegal every day by putting up art to be consumed by the public, which flies in the face of what the art world is typically about." [DCist]

Street art defenitely influnces a lot of what I do as an "artist" as well as a lot of my lifestyle. So you can probably guess I've already wet my pants over this a few times since finding out. Make sure and come out!


[Wooster Collective]

From the Streets to the Gallery: How Contemporary Art is Being Influenced by the Urban Experience

When: Tonight from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Where: Katzen Arts Center at American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW.

RSVP to info [at] wpadc.com or 202-234-7103.