Woke up in the 20s
There were flappers and fruits in white suits
It was right before the crash
We got thrashed throughout the 30s
Queuing up for soup in scabby sores
And they sent us off to war
We came back in the 40s
There were wheelchairs, guns and tickertape
We poured it on the floor, we made love to the interstates
We got shiftless in the 50s
Holding hands and going steady
Twisting into dark parts of large Midwestern cities
Tripped right through the 60s with some blissful little hippie
Some Kennedys got shot while you were screwing San Francisco
The 70s got heavy we woke up on bloody carpets
Got tangled up in gas lines
I guess that’s where it started
The 80s almost killed me
Let’s not recall them quite so fondly
Some Kennedy od’d while we watched on MTV
In the 90s we were wired and well connected
Put it all down on technology and lost everything we invested

We got to start it off with a positive jam.

-Positive Jam, The Hold Steady

This is why I go out of my way to avoid the gauntlet of touts and activists on the quad. And now that the weather is turning mild, they are out in full force.

After a conversation I had earlier today, I realize that I really do miss drawing. I haven’t done anything in a long time, as evidenced by the self-portrait to the right of this post. That was me ca. 2003 during high school. My hair is lot shorter now, those glasses are broken, and I’m a different person. So I set to work on a new self-portrait.

One major difference that you’ll notice is the use of color. In the past, I stuck with simple black and white sketches. I like the line to dominate the image and sometimes color just seemed overwhelming. Plus, I wasn’t too great at using color effectively. I could choose a good palette, but I would either get carried away with blending or over-saturation. After looking through some of Daniel Clowes’s work, however, I saw that even with color, the line can still be the foremost element of a drawing. I think the key is in your color choices. Clowes sticks to muted shades, which provide a subtle compliment to the line. No Crayola colors here, unless you’re doing an Archie comic.

So, without further ado, I present my latest self-portrait. Self-portraits are the easiest for me to do because I’ve been looking at this face for over two decades. I also don’t run the risk of offending anyone but myself.

1.  People who have big, expensive 4-wheel drive vehicles yet still drive 20mph on the highway when it starts to rain or snow a little.  You bought that Range Rover for a reason.  However, I’m guessing that reason has everything to do with ego and nothing to do with being able to handle slippery road conditions.  Why invest in all that power/engineering if you’re not going to utilize it to its full potential?

2.  Girls who twist and twirl and flip their hair around in their fingers during a lecture.  Not only is it distracting, but it makes you look even more dumb.

3.  These and the people who wear them.

1. People who travel with too much crap. Are you really going to need a laptop, personal DVD player, full size pillow, neck pillow and 20 varieties of snacks? You are slowing everyone down at the security checkpoint.

They should limit people to 2 bins of crap. All of the people ahead of me had 3 or more bins. Of course everyone waits until the last of their stuff goes into the tunnel. This causes a backup at the metal detector because the ratio of bins to people was off balance. 2:1 is ideal. 3:1 and things stop running smoothly. And don’t get me started on the young parents who bring the entire toy chest with them…

2. People who let their toddlers or young children pull the suitcase or push the stroller (which, in this case, is holding all the pillows and toys instead
of the child). It’s great that you want your kid to feel some independence or whatever, but they don’t know what they are doing. How many innocent shins and heels must be bashed into before parents get the hint?

3. People who wear a Bluetooth earpiece all the time.

It’s hard to take a bad picture of this building.

1.  Fake nails.

2.  People who use photos of their offspring as their Facebook profile picture.

3.  Snow amnesia.

…it’s coming for us

A freshly baked loaf of bread is one of the best smells in the world.  I haven’t put up a food related post in quite awhile, so I thought I’d update with a picture of some bread I just made.  I’ll be giving this loaf away as a gift this Christmas.  You can’t go wrong with homemade crusty bread.