Everything I Got For Christmas...

...all in one photo set on Flickr:

Merry Christmas, Y'all!

I currently have this here playlist on repeat. The soundtrack for the gift opening (which will happen as soon as lil' man gets up) will be provided by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, of course.
All the best to you and yours.

Merry Christmas!

My son is unaware of Christmas, but he does deserve a little slack.
He's only been around for six weeks. All the best to you and yours!

The Worst Kept Secret

"Honestly, you without an iPhone I found funny. Now I can safely say that almost everything is right with the world."
– Nestor Wynrush, from an e-mail conversation

So yeah, I have one, as does my wife. We got 'em for each other for Christmas, hence the title of this entry. I guess this ends my long-standing anti-cellphone stance. Come to think of it, was more of an anti-asshole cellphone user stance all along. For the longest time, I shunned them, thinking they were fostering a legion of jerks, when all the cellphone was doing was amplifying the ugly traits of a handful of crude beings.

Allow me to deflate my cranium and get off of this here high horse: if you see me having an inappropriate and loud conversation on the bus, or if I interrupt our dialogue for an incoming text (highly unlikely, but I do have the technology to make this happen) – bring it to my attention. I will be suitably ashamed, as there will be no excuse for my behaviour.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have apps to download.

P.S.: Don't talk to me about cellphone plans, or the one I've got. That shit makes my head hurt. Let's talk about the weather instead.

Hey...Merry Christmas!

Polo Park: December 20th, 2009

Whether you're down with Jesus, celebrating solstice, chillin' with the fam on Kwanzaa, or just trying to make sense of it all, I hope you're havin' a great time. I hope you get tons of cool useful/useless stuff, and that the culinary delights are plentiful.

Happy holidays, y'all. Be easy.

Merry Christmas, y'all.

Be safe, be sexy.

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.