Very Fine Birthday

So, this is the end of the longest birthday i've ever had. It was a pretty good one, thanks to the genius who came up with "a kiss for every year".

Armed with a clicker (counter) I went into the fray and mowed down the ladies (and a few gentlemen) with my sweet lips. That's just good fun. Thanks to all who took a bullet for my birthday. And to those who missed out, there's always next year. Or we can start early...

Hipsters??!!

I'd say 90% of the people who say they "hate hipsters/scenesters" or "man, look at all the hipsters", ARE, in fact, hipsters. At least, by the loose definitions I've come across. I admit, I'm not exactly sure who the hipsters are. From what i've noticed, it's a lot like art or irony - most people can't define it, but they know it when they see it.

Does a guy with one of those fifties, James Dean-y, pomaded waves in his hair get to criticize the inordinate number of hipsters milling around. This doesn't make sense. They are the most self-hating group since fat people.

I'm not expressing a sympathy for said hipsters. Just a confusion over who they are. And why people, who seem to fit the description, seem to be the most fanatical critics. Interesting.....

The Best Thing Ever to Happen to Me?

So, my car was stolen. Totally and completely stolen. It's gone and it's not coming back. I must say, I reacted quite well, considering. Within a couple of hours - after the cop with the Dragnet Theme ringtone (wonderful) and the very sympathetic insurance agent - I went the maybe-it's-for-the-best route. I've been meaning to buy a bike. I most definitely need to get more exersize. Gas is so damn expensive. Insurance, maintenance, environment, blah blah blah. Plus, as far as my extensive travels have taught me, Milwaukee is a pretty pedestrian-friendly town.

So, today I've started my new life as a Pedestrian. Now, as optimistic as I am right now - you all should expect L'il Cranky on occasion. Until I get used to my new, healthier persona.

Here's the preview of the stuff I'll be showing on Gallery Night at the ArtBar here in Milwaukee. Wish me luck. If I do well I'm going to buy a bike. A Pink one.

Book Binge

I have been drawing my ass off for this art fair coming up in a couple weeks. It's been good. I've produced a lot of stuff and I feel like I'm improving, etc. But, all other aspects of my life have suffered in the wake of my mad dash for success.

Yesterday, my friend Jeff called and demanded that I go buy books. He said that a friend had given him 4 books and he had started reading all of them at the same time. He decided I also needed to do this. So, he laid out 3 options:

The best option: I go out and get all 4 books and have read a bit of all of them before sleeping that night.

the 2nd to worst option: I get at least THE LOST SCRAPBOOK by Evan Dara and have read a bit of that before sleeping.

the Worst option (which he said would result in 48 days of silence) : Not having any of the books before I went to bed.

It was clear there was no room for failure. So, I decided to do it. It was an interesting challenge. I went to 5 bookshops in Milwaukee. None were near the others. It took a while. Milwaukee just didn't have any of these books. I checked the library database. They had one, which i requested. the others I ordered from Amazon. Though, in Jeff's eyes I failed, he was still proud that I was going to get the books.

While waiting for those REAL books to get to me, I started reading Amnesiascope by Steve Erickson and it's really really good.

Are any of you reading anything good?

So Many Spoilers Ahead

I got a bit of a bad vibe about X-Men III before I went to see it today. There were a few nay-sayers out there, so I went in to the theater cautiously. My hopes not too high.

I don't know what movie these people saw, but the one I saw was phenomenal. So big. Sooo big. And so many mutants. So many. There was an army of them. Someone has been reading my diary. And talk about ballsy. They freakin' killed THREE of the main characters. And not brainlessly. They really made the story. I loved it.

I'm not even going to dip into my at-least-there-was-flying-and-lazerhands ideal. No need. It was a great, epic, bold story with terrific action and flying and lazerhands.

What do you people want?

I have two and a half hours to kill. Usually, since I've started this new position back in February, I've had a lot to do everyday. I even got overtime at the beginning. But, this last week has been so slow. At first I was thankful. It was like the old days when I could whittle out on the porch and sip lemonade, but now I'm going a little nuts. I've organized my desk to near perfection. I've handled a whole selection of "things to do when it slows down". And I've thoroughly checked my email. It is as safe as the White House. I need more ways to kill time. I can't sleep. I can't really go anywhere.

Does anyone have some internet sites that they go to everyday? Something to kill time. Oh! I forgot about addictinggames.com. I'm off -