You soddy Mother...

Damn, D, you can't even try anymore?

Did you seriously come unshaven and in sweatpants? Nice to see you're putting some effort into it.

Watch season 1. Take notes.

(Thank you Hugo Boss, Giorgio Armani, and Madonna Mann)

I swear blazers are not poisonous, pinstripes work, and dress shoes are not reserved for the Sundays your mom drags you to church.

Play with color, but save the pastels (unless you actually plan to become a playboy, then all bets are off)

Also, socks are required.

The farthest you should ever walk from your house in sweatpants is to the mailbox. NO EXCUSES!!

Riots.

Greetings & salutations, all.

This has been a very tumultuous week. Finally all my business purchases arrived (Thank God), but I lost some co-workers to the recession and a friend was lost to jail.

I'm not familiar with the detention system, but only people on the visitors log can come, and only at certain times, depending on what cell block the inmate is in. Images of "OZ" flashed through my mind. I wondered if I was gonna get shanked in the hallways. I'm posting now so all is well.

Below is one of my screen print projects. I've had this blank canvas bag forever and finally decided on an image I want to tote around. It's reminiscent of early woodblock prints. At first I thought it was a female puppeteer, and I wanted to make the puppet a man. My freehand skills are lacking (and drawing in permanent marker doesn't leave much room for error) so I left it as is. Once the print is made I'll paint in the features.

I like my men on a string :)

I drew a quick sketch of this while watching "Alice in Acidland" Lately I've been obsessed with Something Weird videos. They make those 60s propaganda films and light snuff stuff. Click the link and watch the trailer. I was surprised that Bettie Page was on their roster. "The Wizard of Gore" scream at the 1:48 mark makes me laugh every time :)

I also watched the season 4 ender for Miami Vice. I didn't see that coming, but I'll know once season 5 comes in if they jumped the shark or not. Say it ain't so, Crockett!

Given that bail money had to be available no new projects were started in the last week, but I had the screen print stuff lying around so I went for it... I HATE being idle.

Finished a book, started another. Began a workout regimen I'll comment on later as it progresses. Learned a very important lesson....

"Love is the pursuit of shadows"

Is it a bad idea to pick someone up while on the clock? Who cares.. hopefully I don't go chickenshit...

Venus.

Promises, Promises.

I'm breaking one of my own rules: I decided to show you all my 1/2 finished works. Website preparation has been a bitch; sometimes I wish I wasn't so scatterbrained. I'm doing this in the hopes that I can choose ONE of these to focus on and finish. My goal is to have a completed work on my site before my trip to Japan, so when I hand out my business card there's something on my site other than a whole bunch of bullshit.

This is my little origami squad. I recently started making these to zone out, yet still keep my mind active. I was surprised at how peaceful the whole process is.

This is my first mask project in at least 4 years. I'm thinking a bit of a Carnivale vibe. Not quite sure where I want to go with it yet. Needs more paint and sealant before I start working on it again.

This is my "Miami Vice" Florida meets Grandma's-Worst-Nightmare tropical shirt. I have to drop by the suite to pick up the rest of the finishings. Not sure if I want to bring it with me and wear it on my trip, or save it for my site. These are the hard decisions I'm forced to make these days.

And last but not least is my wall art.

I did the background yesterday and added everything else today. Took a picture of it as the hot glue was still drying; it's fresh off the presses. I wanted to add a poem by José Martí because this poem really struck me and would've been perfect for the piece, but the notebook it's scrawled in is missing. Kinda bummed about that.

Anyway, just doing a quick check in so that you guys know that I'm still on my grind and I'm not full of shit ;)

M.

Carl's Theme.

I didn't remember beading to be so time consuming.

Since my last entry, I started working on the pink tropical print shirt I posted a pic of. I was planning on letting my needle take me where it did, but decided that if I wanted it to look fantastic a little planning would be required.

Got a Sharpie, a tin full of seed beads, and a sketchpad.

The plotting is almost as consuming as the actual work; I'm glad I just started the 2nd season of Miami Vice.

The season's a little more twisted than the previous one... rape, incest, heroin... and this is just 4 episodes in. It's nice background for when I'm working.

Bought some more champagne, but this time I went for the cheap stuff. I'm pretty sure it's technically considered "sparkling wine", but whatever. I won't tell if you won't.

My site is coming along slowly... I'm using whatever little coding and html skills I have and I'm pretty much tapped out. Made some buttons, a banner heading, and successfully completed the required "About Me" page, but now I need help.

There's only one person I can think of that will have the skills to give me what I want, but I don't know if she'll do it. Meh. I'll see what I can do.

I was kidnapped and partied it up Friday and Saturday night, rested most of Sunday but still got some beading done... I learned how to screen print so I was distracted for a moment...

It's all coming together.. and it feels good :)

It's gotta be a sin.

Just checking in on all my lovely visitors cross the globe... How are you guys doing?

This week has been pretty insane. I spent most of today building my website from the ground up. Rest assured that I'll link you guys over to it when it's done :) It's not published yet so if I give you the link now it'll be nothing but advertisements...

My 2nd hat project has been more of a pain that my first one. Changed the color scheme, but I'm having a problem with the color staying. I would hate for someone to be wearing one of my works and see it fade right before their very eyes... not acceptable.

Let me make one thing known: I hardly ever watch television. I'm not home often, but when I am it's not parked in front of the TV. That said, I've been watching the 1st season of Miami Vice on DVD. I never saw it during its original run. One word: AWESOME. There are cameos in it I never would've guessed... a Thai ninja was one of the bad guys. They even had an original cast member from Scarface! (that first Columbian dealer Tony dealt with; the one that got Angel in that gruesome shower scene) Tubbs and Crockett have stolen my heart.

I guess you can see from the clothes I chose below that the show was an influence...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with tropical prints.

I like loud colors. My clothes and hats are for someone that doesn't mind being a centerpiece. These are just the before pictures.

Wait until you see the afters :)

These are just 2 of the 20 pieces of vintage I picked up today and plan to rework.

That's enough entry for now. I ran out of champagne and I'm kinda bitter about it. I can't believe it!

Here I am in the midst of one of the worst depressions ever, spent a ridiculous amount of money on one bottle of champagne and now it's all gone!

I suppose I can make it through through next few days. Send me your prayers.