The randomness of the weekend...

Another busy weekend! They seem to be more hectic than any week day, and usually tire me out twice as much. Saturday took me to an Earthday party, to display art, in da hood. There were Mayan musicians; Project Blowdians(Rifleman); hairless Chihuahuas; & Beautiful (I mean Super Beautiful!!!) Indian dancers.

After the Earthday party, it was off the the beach for libations, at "Shutters", with my good friend Marissa. ...Got there just in time to watch the sun set.

A drastic change of surroundings, to end a wonderful day. ...Keepin' it interesting! Sunday was another work day. This time I worked for one of the catering companies I am on call with. Party in the park, and I was on Jumper duty getting sunburnt.

After work, it was a a rush to Burbank. Sick, and sunburnt, I hurried to my daughter's Great Grandpa's(On her mom's side) 75th birthday party. My Ex's family knows how to have a good time, and they proved it to me (...once again) on Sunday. And, at 75, Great Grand Pa can still dance like a 15yr old! He was an inspiration to everyone that was watching him do the "Jerk" & the "Reject"!! Great Grandpa is hella hip yo!

Finally FInished!

So tomorrow turned into today, on me, twice, before I could get back to write this. The Weekend was busy, but profitable. Made some money, spent most of it, and had a good time with friends and family doing it. The highlight, though, was finishing the longest project ever! The mural that I thought would never be finished is finally finished! It was a great feeling to put the last highlight in the lettering, and finishing it off. The walk to the car was as enjoyable as could be, knowing I didn't have to try and schedule another trip to try and finish. I have my next mural project on stand by, right now. Once again, I will be working at another local junior high school. Jr. High kids are funny. They always like to watch me paint and ask a lot of questions. They usually try and talk me into giving them some spray paint, or tips(the kind that go in the cans, not pointers), too. Even the girls! They are building a wall, just so I can paint a mural on it, at this Jr. high! How fresh am I? ...well, actually they are rebuilding a wall that already had a mural on it, and they want me to restore the old mural that was there before. I don't even get to be creative this time. Or, at least that's what they want. But, I will be trying to sell them on the idea of letting me do something new. That might be a while though, since the contractor that was fixing the wall disappeared. Now the whole thing is on hold and no one knows what happened to the contractor. The school is looking for a new builder to finish Houdini's wall. But, until then, they can't even use the building I'll be painting. I can't tell you what happened to the contractor, because I don't know. But I can tell you that I will be extra careful on that job, to make sure I don't disappear too.

Murals...

After a few months of trying to finish a mural at a Jr. High in North Hollywood, I am finally going to do it tomorrow! It's taken a while because I can only work on it on weekends, and they aren't always open on weekends. When they are open, it's just for a few hours in the morning. That, and me working a few other jobs, has made this mural turn into a 6 month long project! l am extremely excited to knock this thing out, tomorrow, and finally get it finished! Pictures of the finished mural will be tomorrow's post, but for now I'm posting a picture of a mural I did, for a friend, a while back. It's the letter "M", for Marissa, in front of a picture of Butterflies. This was a a real fun project, because I got creative control and was able to paint whatever I felt would look good. Fortunately, tomorrow's mural is the same.

My Warrior Princess

Today was the first time my daughter got in the ring and fought! It was a pretty emotional moment for both of us. For me, it was pride, joy, and happiness, to see my little "Amazon" face her fears and overcome them. For her, though, it was just that... Fear! I could see it in her eyes when she asked me to re-tie her belt, before she went in. But regardless, she went in and face her fears and opponent ( an older, higher ranking, girl) like a seasoned warrior. It took her a minute to get over the fear and remember her training. She started by throwing wild punches, with no direction, and taking a lot of punches, all over. But once she got over the fear, and remembered what to do, she started putting the hurt on the green belt she was facing. Her Sensei ended the fight as soon as she started connecting to her opponents face too much. She came back with tears welling up in her eyes, from all the emotion and adrenaline. I asked her why she was crying, and she replied," I got something in my eye". I smiled, wiped the tear from her eye and told her that she had done a great job and that I was proud of her. She flashed a quick smile and went back to watching the rest of the class take turns getting in the ring. After class we talked about it. She admitted she was crying because she was afraid. I then explained to her that that was what made me so proud of her getting in there and fighting, not the fact that she whooped on the green belt, and reassured her that she had done a great job for her first time getting in the ring. She is excited to get back in the ring now, and went straight to practicing her technique after class. I got a badass on my hands! Lol. So I leave you with this... Fear is natural, it's what we do with that fear that determines the depth and integrity of our character. Don't ever let it hold you back!

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
--- Frank Herbert, Dune - Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear

Mashin' Mix

So far we flying pigs... Now it's time for some audio! Well, that is, if you feel like downloading this mix I made. It's a, bass heavy, mix made to make you dance. I put a few different types of music into this, House; Dub Step; and other Electronica, and it will get you through 39 minutes of your day. Just enough time for a good workout/run or maybe the drive home from work Friday! The track list is below, incase you're wondering, "What's that song/record?" I hope you enjoy the fruits of my labor by going to the link, downloading the mix, and gettin' your groove on! Just click on "Mashin' Mix", above, or the link below. Some feedback would be nice, too, if you do decide to listen to it.

Mashin' 1.5.m4a


TRACK LISTING:

1. DJ Zinc Feat. Ms. Dynamite - "Wile Out"- [Bingo Bass]
2. Zombie Disco Squad - "Vie!" - [Made To Play]
3. Simian Mobile Disco - "Audacity of Huge" - [Wichita]
4. Crookers - "Il Buono" [Mad Decent]
5. Diplo - "Must Be A Devil" - [Mad Decent]
6. Crookers Feat. Miike Snow - "Remedy" (Crookers Cassius Remix) - [Studio Brussel]
7. Major Lazer -"Pon De Floor" (Drop The Lime Remix) - [Mad Decent]
8. The Party Squad - "Rage" - [Mad Decent]
9. Buruka Som Sistema - "IC19" - [Mad Decent]
10. Dave Nada - "Apocalypse" (12th Planet & Flinch Remix) - [T&A]
11. Simian Mobile Disco - "Cruel Intentions" (Joker Remix) - [Wichita]
12. Sub Focus - "Could This Be Real" (Joker Remix) - [Ram Records]
13. Breakage Feat. Erin- "Justified" - [Digital Sound Boy]
14. Turboweekend - "Trouble Is" (Joker Remix) - [Turboweekend]

The Ghettobird

I am an artist, who is passionate about my work, so you can expect a lot of art and creativity here. The topic for today is a painting I did, back in Feb., "The Ghettobird". ...it's one of my favorite paintings, out of all the canvases I've painted, because of the subject matter and the fact that it was the first canvas I wrote a poem for. It's a little hard to read in the picture. So, to make it easier to read, here it is ...

Living in a time
When pigs fly because
Kids die at
One another's hands,
Eye in the sky incase
Criminals try and
Fail at their plans,
Seeing all...
From grown men,
With bloody hands,
To juveniles, with
Aerosol paint cans,
It surveys the chaos from
Above the wastelands
It's the...
...GHETTOBIRD!!!