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| July 2006 | |
| Little Bird July 31, 2006 Monday 9:58 PM sketch date 12/6/89  I bought a new bike over the weekend. Well, new to me anyway. I picked it up at a garage sale for $20! It's a great mountain bike (for this stage of my fitness or lack thereof, anyway), and I've been riding it around like crazy. Over the weekend I probably put on 40 miles, with a few trips to my parents' house as well as just riding around town, making a few trips to the grocery store, etc. When I was a kid, I rode my bike everywhere. I worked on my grandpa's farm every summer until I left for college -- I rode it over to there every day; I would make the almost seven mile round trip twice a day, morning and night, seven days a week. I would ride my bike to school in the spring months if Mom let me. Back then, I had to cross the busy highway and it was about five miles one way. I couldn't even imagine letting a young child make that trek nowadays. But I just loved it. I remember hanging my tape recorder off of the handlebars and speeding home to the Footloose soundtrack! As I was zooming down that same country road on Saturday, I noticed a yellow finch flying to my right. The little bird was following me, or at least going in the same direction. He rode into the current of the wind and followed the air waves up and down, just like a roller coaster. For a split second, I kept up with that little bird, and understood just why I loved my bike so much as a kid. I loved the freedom it represented to me: being out in nature, being in complete control. And truth be told, I'm sure that back then, it made me feel more like Spider-Man zooming around New York than it did one with nature. I love driving my car as an adult, don't me wrong, but there's something far more natural to me about riding a bike. It's nearly impossible to not look at the birds and nature, hear the sounds, and smell all of the fragrance the country roadsides have to offer, as I always felt that sense of flight and oneness with nature. Anyway, that's all for now. Another hot day here. When I left work this afternoon, it was 98. But that didn't stop my bike ride before supper! More later! Monday's playlist: 1. Johnny Cash - My Mother's Hymn Book 2. John Williams - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 3 Madonna - American Life |
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| The Heat Is On July 28, 2006 Friday 4:47 PM On my drive home tonight at around 4:00, it was 94 degrees. I live in north-eastern Wisconsin, people. Honestly, how much farther north do I have to live to escape this heat? Canada? Alaska? The North Pole (which reminds me: at the country fair I was at last weekend, I saw a 12 year old wearing a shirt that said "All The Strippers Like My Pole." Do you think his mom got him that from work?)? The heat wave continues. They're predicting 100 by Sunday. And there's people out there who honestly think that there's no such thing as global warming? Yikes. Anyway... I'm off to either a Green Bay Blizzards arena football game or to see "Clerks II" depending on how things pan out. How a great weekend! Stay cool.... |
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| Excuses, Excuses, Excuses.... July 26, 2006 Wednesday 9:53 PM I had a long post planned for tonight to let all of my peeps know about my thrash metal weekend. Yes, Virginia, I survived and had a great time. But unfortunately, we've been out of power here for over two hours tonight. The messed up thing is that the house on one side of me still had power (unless he had his TV on a generator which I wouldn't put past that guy), while all the houses including me and on the other side of me for a mile or so north were all out of commission. With that said, I'm calling it a night. I'm beat, the humidity from this heat wave is killing me (I actually found myself thinking the other day, "Where can one move to in the summer to get away from this heat?" and then I realized that people move here to Wisconsin to escape the heat!), and I want get up early tomorrow morning. So it's veg time for a few minutes before I hit the sack. Thanks for sticking with me this summer with these posts that are a bit more infrequent. With my social life really cranked up this summer (and that's certainly not a bad thing), my writing and drawing have been getting slightly cast aside. By not turning it into a chore, though, and being a little less frequent with it, I find that it's easier for me to approach these pages when my muses hit me and really sink my teeth into it. Anyway...more later. I promise! Wednesday's playlist: Michael Jackson - The Ultimate Collection, Discs 1, 2, and 3 |
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| I'm The Man July 20, 2006 Thursday 5:10 PM In just a bit, I'll be leaving for the Anthrax/Rob Zombie concert. My friend Joel's friend backed out on him and for some reason, he thinks I'll enjoy the show and be fun to go with. This music tonight is way out of my league. I've never been a thrasher/mosher/heavy metal kind of guy. If anything, I'm a just a mellow guy, a hippie at heart. As a matter of fact, I'm even bringing some earplugs along. On my drive home tonight, I was listening to a mix of U2, Johnny Cash, The Dixie Chicks, and Madonna -- that should show you where I fit on the heaviness scale of rock and/or roll, if you'd even call any of it rock (although I would argue that Johnny Cash was more "rock and roll" in attitude back in his heyday than any of these poser thrashers are combined). Even calling this music heavy metal is downplaying it's innate hardcore heaviness: these bands would make Guns N' Roses sound like elevator music. So why am I going? Why the hell not? It's something to do that will be fun if I'm open to it. I love concerts -- the feeling of music pumping through my chest and a stage show dazzling my senses. Plus, I know this will be an entirely new experience for me, if not just for the people watching alone (which I could people do all night). This is the first concert I've been to where I basically have zero knowledge of the artists, their music, or the genre. But as I write this, I'm slowly getting excited for what should be a really fun night. And, oh yeah...this is prepping me for tomorrow night's Alice Cooper concert at the Fondu Lac county fair. WTF am I doing?! I hope the blood dripping from my ears doesn't stain my iPod earbuds! Wish me luck! :) |
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| The Chosen Ones: Bringing Balance to my Force July 17, 2006 Monday 10:08 PM photo date 11/05  I spent this past weekend a few hours away in the great northern woods of Wisconsin on the amazing Lake Emily at my aunt and uncle's cottage. My parents made the trek up north as did my sister, her husband, and both of my nephews. Sometimes I question if spending a full weekend with a 4- and a 6-year old is too much for this single guy who's so used to his own come- and-go schedule, but the kids really made the weekend for me. As the boys get older, they never fail to amaze me. As they have changed from toddlers to young boys, my bond with them continues to grow. It seems like they constantly become a bigger part of my life as our relationship evolves. Now I'm the uncle who they come to for explanation on things. My brother-in-law introduced them to my Star Wars movies a few months ago and that's been a whole new bonding point for us, to my complete and utter happiness. A few weeks ago I took them to see the movie Cars. On their afternoon with Uncle Punkin, they returned home with plastic light sabers: a green one for Derick and a purple one for Brett. A day hasn't gone by without them playing with those things. They even sleep with them! It was so cute up at the cabin. Both mornings, they came out of their rooms with the sleep in their eyes, both clutching onto their laser swords. At the drop of a hat, they started to re-enact some epic battle between the two strongest jedi around. My brother-in-law looked at me and laughed, "You must be so proud." He has no idea. The weather on the lake this weekend was just short of 100 degrees F. I can only handle so much time in the sun. So every once in awhile, between fishing, swimming, pontoon rides, and eating and drinking, we'd go in the cabin just to get out of the ridiculous heat. Usually one or both of the boys would follow me in and ask if we could watch my Episode III movie which I brought along for them to watch with me if the weather got bad. Over the course of the entire weekend, we watched the entire movie in bits and pieces. One of the kids was always on my lap. The questions never stopped as I realized some of the challenging concepts I had to explain. "Who is Anakin's wife?" "What is a wife?" "Are the storm troopers bad yet?" "Why do they turn bad?" "Is the Emperor bad yet?" "Where is the dark side?" "Why did Obi Wan try to kill Anakin?" Etc., etc., etc. You don't realize the movie devices you take for granted as an adult until you watch them with kids. I did my best to explain things to them, but how do you explain deception, betrayal, manipulation, political power-plays, clones, droids, and good vs. evil to kids that age? I did the best I could as the questions never stopped. Tonight at Derick's soccer game, they both were quick to remember that I promised them that I'd show them Episodes I and II real soon, back when "Anakin was a little boy" or when "Anakin was teenager." For some reason, they seem to be able to understand these concepts and the chronology of all six movies, even though they saw them completely out of order. SO: As the Star Wars geek uncle they've come to depend on, I have a few tasks for myself for the rest of 2006. I need to get them all six movies, somehow or another, between both of their birthdays and Christmas. I need to bulk up their action figure colleciton. I need to get them to dress up like Star Wars characters in costumes I will design for them for Halloween. I need to paint a huge-ass Star Wars mural in either Derick's room or their toy room so the other one doesn't get jealous. And yes, somehow or another, I'd like to watch all six movies with them in a row...maybe over the course of a few weekends or something. It's amazing what a cool uncle I've become to them as they allow me to fall even deeper into my geekdom! Have a great week and try to stay cool! Monday's playlist: 1 Madonna - Confessions on a Dance Floor 2. John Barry - Dances with Wolves, Extended Edition 3. Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways 4. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand (special edition) |
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July 12, 2006 Wednesday 10:33 PM photo date 7/1/06 If they made a movie about my life, gave me the Citizen Cane treatment, I wonder what it would look like. There's a Johnny Cash song called "I've Been Everywhere" that sometimes reminds me of my social life. Now granted, I'm not an experienced world traveler (I've only out of the country once not counting Tijuana), I don't travel a lot for work, and there are many states I haven't been to yet. But when I break down my life into a list of where I've been and what I've done, merely on a social level, it seems chock full of ironies and conflicts. And yet somehow, this is my life -- the ironies and conflicts work together and create an interesting mosaic of who I am, choose to be, and want to be. For example, just in the past three weeks or so: I've seen the Go-Go's at a casino. I've been in the middle of nowhere filming and acting in a zombie movie. I've done the "cool uncle" thing and been to numerous soccer games with teams filled with six-year-olds. I've been at Miller Park in Milwaukee and then downtown for a Brewer game, drinking and partying with friends for over 12 hours straight. I've been at a secluded farm house way up north drawing pictures of my friend as show posed for me under the pine trees. And like every Wednesday night this summer, I've been out on a boat sailing away. In between all of this, I do computer graphics, digital photography, websites, create marketing pieces and campaigns, and develop online training pieces at my job all day. Did I mention the upcoming Rob Zombie/Anthrax and Alice Cooper concerts? Or what about the upcoming Beatlefest in Chicago? And yes, there are more zombies to film.... I know it's an odd social life. On the surface, things don't add up. But yet, as a group, collectively, these things are somehow who I am. I always say the meaning of life is the meaning you give it. Mine is an odd collective of disjointed parts that somehow compliment each other. I wouldn't have it any other way. I often see people who feel completely tied down by their life and the normalcy they somehow feel is necessary. I can't imagine not wanting to try new things or constantly having a safety zone holding me back. I mean, who wouldn't want to be a zombie for a day (LOL!)? Oh well, for each his own.... (More zombie pix to come, btw....) Rosebud..... Wednesday's playlist: 1. Keane - Under the Iron Sky 2. Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways 3. Madonna - Confessions on a Dancefloor 4. U2 - The Achtung Baby Working Tapes |
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| Sunday Bloody Sunday rx2800 July 10, 2006 Monday 8:16 PM I hope you all had a nice weekend. There's much I want to write about and images I want to post from my past few weekends, but I'm afriad this past weekend has kicked my ass. I have a hot date on the couch with season 1 of Robot Chicken lined up as soon as I'm done with this post. So instead I'm going to direct you to this video (thanks Brandon!!) that just blows me away. It certainly makes the folks on Capitol Hill look like evil bastards, doesn't it? Mixing it up with a little U2 doesn't hurt either. Gosh do I hate George Bush.... Have a good one and I promise a real post tomorrow night! |
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July 6, 2006 Wednesday 10:31 PM photo date 7/3/06 There's much I want to write about and many photos I want to post (of me in full zombie makeup) from my few days of shooting our movie as well as some stuff from my trip to my friends' cabin. I had an odd-but-awesome extended 4th of July holiday. But tonight I want to do a quick post as it's already late. I just got back from sailing. Tonight we took two 5th places and a 1st. It felt great to take that 1st, to come in ahead of the entire fleet, and to feel like I'm actually adding something to my team as my competitive edge kicks in. It's always great to be on the lake, out in the sun, bathed by the wind, and just immersed by Mother Nature. The few days I was at my friends' place up north, I had a great time riding one their ATVs. They have many acres of land (around 40?) with many trails going around and through the entire property. I got lost for hours on those trails on that 4-wheeler. For awhile, I was just driving along with my camera, stopping every few feet, grabbing whatever shots of nature I could absorb. For the most part, though, I just drove around, enjoying the wind in my hair, dust in my eyes, and the hot sun on my face. It was awesome. There was one point where I came across a beautiful doe, probably 10 feet away from me. I let the 4-wheeler idle as she starred at me and I her before she gallopped her way along the edge of a field and into the forrest. I came across abandoned old fences, huge luscious yellow and orange mushrooms, and just countless nature on top of nature. It was breathtaking. On one of the days, I followed my friend Nate out into the woods as he headed off the trails. I followed him up and down hills and sandlots, on top of dead tree trunks, old branches, and even an old mud pit that we zoomed through. It was incredible. I could have driven those ATVs all day long. I don't consider myself an outdoorsman. I'm not a sportsman of any sort. I'm not a hunter or any type of athlete. I'm the art guy who's into computers, iPods, wireless internet, chat rooms, blogs, MySpace, iTunes, Palm Pilots, and coffee shops. But it's pretty apparent that all of those years growing up on the farm have left their imprint on me. I have a deep fondness for all of nature's beauty around me, so much of the beauty that this wonderful state of Wisconsin has to offer. Before my trip to my friends' cabin, I'd been feeling pretty stressed with life. I'm becoming VERY plugged in but I'm not sure if that's necessarily a good thing. I've been letting the problems I've been having with my laptop (still haven't gotten it back after 20 days) and my dead iPod really get to me. I'd been letting my trail of bad luck with electronics effect my mood and my self-worth. But a few days out in the middle of nowhere on those 4-wheelers and a nice sailing experience this evening have helped ground me just a bit once again. But that's all for tonight. I'm totally into a new Stephen King book, The Cell, (thanks Phil!) and want to sink my teeth into it for a few hours tonight before sleep does me in. Later! Wednesday's playlist: 1. Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway 2. U2 - How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 3. Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways P.S. Be sure to check out the June archives. When one door opens..... |
