Random Thoughts: December 31st, 2007...The All-Encompassing Year-End Holiday Extravaganza!

Top: Grant Park, December 22nd, Middle: Polo Park, December 23rd, Bottom: Me in Memorial Park, November 25th.

Let's get the important stuff out of the way...

What I Got For Christmas 2007:

• Mark's Work Warehouse gift card
• Sam Flores Queen of Spades shirt
• Tire gauge
• Fleece neck pillow
• Wind River fleece pullover
• Grip Twist industrial strength twist tie
• In The Studio by Todd Hignite
• Starbucks gift card
• Tim Hortons hot chocolate
• A candy cane
• A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex by Chris Jericho
• A Coghlan's LED Headlight (a headlamp. Now I can draw and read in the dark!)
• Scott Pilgrim Vol. 3
• Nexxtech Cube Speaker
• Banana Creme Hot Chocolate
• An orange peeler(!)
• Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Lip Balm (!!)
• A Canadian Museum for Human Rights pin
• chocolate coins and other misc. Christmas chocolate
• C.O. Bigelow Peppermint Body Lotion (shut up...it's nice)
• Four pairs of socks
• Rocky Mountain Soap Co. Hand Butter (shut up!)
• An issue of Giant Robot
• iTunes Gift Card
• Money from Mom!

What I Bought on Boxing Day:

• A Galaxy Hurricane hard drive (a 5 AM adventure at Best Buy!)
  
• Little Brother's Get Back
• Scott Pilgrim Vol. 2 and 4
• Gunsmith Cats Vol. 4
• My Inner Bimbo #2
• The Spirit #11
• Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis
• The Acme Novelty Date Book Vol. 2 by Chris Ware
• Illustration #20
• The Vadeboncoeur Colletion of Images #3

And now, the self-improvement part of our program...

Al'z List of Resolutions:

1. General improvement of health/loss of weight.
   A long sought-after goal. One I know I can achieve with an ounce of discipline. I wanna look better and feel better. Part of me also wants to shove my success down the throat of a certain gigposters.com member, but that isn't my impetus.
   
2. Draw more. Like, every day.
   I'll never be satisfied with what I do creatively unless I work out all of my bad habits. That what drawing every day is: working out. An addendum to this...I will use my collection porn images as reference, just like I planned to ages ago. Seriously. Don't look at me like that! Glass houses!
   
3. Refine outlook. Things ain't that bad.
   My wife-to-be is the ultimate optimist. I'm trying to let some of her attitude brush off on me. This, however, goes against my very nature. I gotta be pissy before I can be cheery.
   
4. Go to more shows.
   I think I can do this. Work extra hours to get the time off. Yes. Steve Earle is coming.
   
5. Start illustration portfolio site/get promo hustle on.
   Self-explanatory. Time to take advantage of the little creative inroads I've been making over the past couple of years. I wanna be able to eat/travel off of this someday.
   
6. Comics.
   Gonna buy more and read more. Minis, pamphlets, graphic novels...whatever. It's all comics. Hell, I might even make one. Scott Pilgrim has been an inspiration, and I got a huge fucking stapler at the company Christmas party. Look out, world!
   
7. Improvement of personal appearance/apartment upkeep.
   It really got out of fucking control this year. Steam coming out of the crawlspace didn't help things. At least I didn't leave food lying around. That's my limit.
   
8. Curb use of internet/consumption of pornography/foul language.
   I really don't know how long this one'll hold up. I'm a creature of habit. I had nice chat with Michael Michael Motorcycle via Facebook about the internet thing, and I know he's doing really good because of it. You don't do awesome shit like he does by hanging out on gigposters.com all day. It only comes from DOING STUFF.
   
9. Try not to get worked up over someone's opinions...as much as usual.
   'Cuz like, in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter. You do you, homie, and I'll do me.
   
10. Procrastination. Stop it.
    Right now, I should be getting dressed, in addition to working on something that I've been picking at sporadically. Old habits die hard.

I've got more shit to say, but that'll have to wait for later. All the best in 2008 to everyone I love, admire, secretly lust after, am "chummy" with, sorta like, and all points in between. Peace.

R.I.P Oscar Peterson

Photo courtesy of the Monterey Jazz Festival.

I'm truly saddened by the passing of the great Oscar Peterson.
At some point in the late 80's, I somehow got my hands on a free government magazine-sized booklet of great Canadians. The bio blurb and illustration of Oscar was my intro to him. At that time, I wasn't aware of any great Canadians, let alone any great black Canadians, so I was transfixed. I signed out the Verve Walkman® Jazz (known as Compact Jazz on CD) comp from Cornish Library, and from there, my love for Oscar's flying fingers and jazz in general started.
I know it's Christmas time, but if you've got it, put Canadiana Suite on. That album is so sublime, especially "Wheatland".

Dream Recollection 1: December 23rd, 2007

I'm gonna see if I can make this a habit. Truly, this one was too real for me to not right about.

So, I'm at a party...so far, so good. Against my nature, I'm chilling in this side bedroom at the party, being all anti-social. I'm on the bed in this room, reading a magazine (I do believe it was Wax Poetics) and listening to the muffled music. On this bed, is someone else's laundry. Whether it's clean or dirty, I'm not sure. I know this part is rooted in reality, because I'm currently sleeping with my laundry. Yes, it has been established that I'm a slob, so shutthefuckup.
Two sistas suddenly appear at the head of the bed (where I'm trying to read), just chillin', discussing whom they've been fucking. I'm doing my best to avoid them...and the laundry.
Then comes one of those grand leaps of time that only makes sense in dream. I'm still in the room, but there are more people in there with me. The room has become the party's hangout spot. I'm still dedicated to my magazine. Wow, I'm such a fucking nerd.
Anyway, the sistas were replaced by two ladies I've known for a while (but don't know of each other), and they're both fine. They're talking, I'm reading.
Suddenly, one of them starts coming on to me, trying to remove my pants. It seems they're both bored, so logically, I can help them out (hey, my eyes are rolling at that...). As much as I'm digging this (big time), I start to protest, saying that "I'm practically married", and I go back to reading my magazine, even though I'm aroused and flustered. In my discombobulated state, I'm back at the head of the bed, no longer avoiding the laundry strewn about...reading. In my peripheral vision, the instigator of the aborted ménage à trois is getting dressed (she disrobed?!? ), telling the other participant that they should break out from this boring scene. I figure she should be cursing me out, but she's not. I'm probably taking control of the dream at this point. This is followed by a montage of voices and faces telling me that I should've "gone for it". I leave the party, which seems to be in some set of cookie cutter townhouses, and my dream suddenly switches to watching Howard Stern perform a set of reckless stunts on playground equipment. Yeah, I don't get that either.

I guess I'm finding the fact that I said "no" to the fucking interesting. It's somewhat out of character, I guess. Otherwise, y'all would've never heard this...I don't dream kiss and tell.