Posts from — January 2009

Yesterday, Noah from skulladay.com, posted a picture of a skull simulacra I sent in a little while ago! (He posts daily submissions of skull awesomeness on his blog, check it out!)

This is what I submitted. Can you see the skull?

In case you can’t see it, this should help.

I love the ornamentation on the bed, it has inspired some sketches in my moleskine. The idea can definetely be improved upon, but I’m still happy with it.

Watch this video to get a better idea about Noah and his skulladay project. Yes, he was on Martha Stewart.

I’m craving some good ol’ so-terrible-they’re-awesome movies. Here are a few of my favorites.

They Live (1988). One of the best movies in existence! I love this movie more than I can say.

No Retreat Not Surrender (1986). So bad it’s good! Seriously. I’m not kidding.

Thrashin’ (1896). Skateboard jousting, need I say more?

Who said staying up all hours of the night doesn’t pay off! :)

I won this little pill artist, called “Drugs and Art Don’t Mix,” from Terry Border of Bent Objects! (Check out his blog to see more of his work and for a better understanding of what he does than I can probably explain at this time of night/morning.)

In his contest post the other day, Terry asked for people to write something about “art,” and I did. Here is what I posted:

I Hate Soap Operas.

I have ever since I was the snotty nosed, pig-tailed, five year-old Grandma baby-sat after school. Our afternoons were filled with her incessant dramas with plots that never moved on. And I still cringe to this day when I flip through the channels and see that blasted hourglass or spinning globe.

But, every day, Grandma would give me a choice. From her favorite chair at the big table she’d point at me and say, “You sit here quietly while we watch my soaps or go in the other room and draw.”

I picked “the other room” every damned day. And that’s where an artist was born.

In a little room off the front porch with a low coffee table, the perfect size for drawing at, and out of ear-shot from the melodramatic soaps, I learned how to create. My pencil found it’s way across the paper to produce friends for me, creatures with wings and horns, girls wearing clothes I wanted to design, or even some butt-kicking Ninja Turtles.

So, art, for me, began as an escape from the anathema of my youth and still exists as an escape. An escape from rules, reality, assumptions, life, yourself, myself, or just really bad TV.

So, I enjoyed writing my little entry in the wee hours the other morning, and I was rather surprised today to see that I won. In Terry’s post today he wrote, “Many fun works were created for the last contest. Only one could win though, and so the winner of the little pill artist is Melissa. I really enjoyed and connected with her story.”

Neat. I’m stoked.

——————————————-

P.S. I think I first came across Bent Objects from Skull-a-day, another blog I subscribe to. They did a joint project, which you can see here.

P.P.S. Here is a video of Terry Border, talking about what he does. It plays automatically, so be ready.

Here are my brothers, mom and I, (standing in birth order), at mom’s, doing Shawn’s signature move. :)

My family and I got together for my mom’s birthday this weekend. She’s 26 this year! It’s so crazy, I’m actually older than her, she should be in the Book of World Records. :)

It is technically morning, but I haven’t caught any Z’s yet. I will soon.

Anyway, I was searching the internets for something a little less melancholy than my mood and reacquainted myself with Regina Spektor. I like her voice and the fact I can hear all the lyrics, a problem I have with a lot of music.

And this song speaks to me a little, emotionally.
Yeah, I just admitted that. Shut up.

Now, this is what I’m talking about! I wish I could play the banjo on a house on the river!

Although, it does strike me as a little bit “Deliverance,” but oh well. :)

For Christmas, my family ended up drawing names to appease the people (like me) who didn’t want to go gung-ho commercialism-satisfying stuff-buying, and to appease the people who couldn’t imagine Christmas without the stuff. Or something like that.  Anyway, it was rather funny because a trio of us bought each other gift cards to book stores. “Hey thanks for the gift card! Here, give this to your girlfriend, I got her name, it’s oddly the same exact size as the gift you gave me. Crazy!” It worked out great because we are all a bunch of book-reading fools!

So, with my gift card I got this sweet book. I’ve been looking for this kind for ages. I’m glad someone finally put one together. Although, I think it should be an annual thing.

And while searching for that video I came across this guy. I’ve seen his stuff around before and it’s pretty funny. Who would think of this stuff? Watching this video made me think of Cartman from Southpark, “Mom! I want more Cheesy Poofs!”

Happy New Years everyone! I hope you all had a good celebration! I hung out with my brother Shane and a bunch of his old-school friends. We hung out and talked, and joked, and Shane and Joe entertained us with some music. Joe has a quick Jack Black type wit and made up some hillarious songs! Fun, fun, fun!

Here is to 2009, a year that looks to be a little daunting with the economic crap going on, but still hopeful (especially with our new president)!