28.12.10......clock ticking

Only five more days on the remaining paintings. Two have sold in the first 48 hours. You may want to hit the wrap-it-up box on your decision making.
Thanks to all those that have inquired!

26.12.10.....paintings up for auction

The rest of the Trap Them series of paintings are up for auction. Starting price is well below normal asking price, so if you've been thinking about purchasing one, this may be the best time to do so.

To take a look, search username : failgivers
or you can click on the username above, where the auction page is linked.

Please let any interested parties know about the listings. These are it until I have enough free time to work on some new ones, folks.

25.12.10.......oh, come all ye unfaithful

It's probably pretty obvious at this point, but I haven't been updating this blog much because I've been putting a lot of effort into the wecraftindarkness blog. Plus, talking on here feels like going to confession....not that I know what that feels like, but one can only assume.

I think 2010 worked out pretty well in my little household. I had a large amount of time off from touring and was able to really enjoy the city I live in. Though a large portion of my days and nights were spent in a kitchen, the rest of the time was filled with family adventures (wife and son/dog) to the (dog)park and all around happiness.

But, unquestionably, the best thing to happen in 2010 to me is my wife quitting her job. She didn't want to be there. It wasn't her future and, thankfully, I was able to assist in her coming to terms with that.

It was in April, following our tag team defeat of strep throat. She didn't want to go back. I told her not to. She told me to shut up (jokingly). I told her I meant it. We took it from there.

So, it's not so much that she quit her job as much as what she was able to do after.

She's always wanted to be a vet. Now that she flushed the 9 to 5 away, it was time. When she enrolled, I couldn't have been happier. She was finally doing what she felt she should be doing. The initial fear of hers involved household things (rent, bills, etc.), to which I quickly put a squash to. I may make nothing working at a bar, but I can damn well keep us afloat. She still did part time work, which was more than enough to eliminate concern.

Not that I'm ever going to be considered a sugar daddy (or even close....), but the hope of someday being somewhat of a provider has always been something I've wanted for myself. I think this is the closest I'll ever get to being one, and it's enough to make me feel pretty damn good.

More importantly than all of that, however, is the feeling of watching someone having an ultimate goal start to become fully realized. There are people that want something and there are people that WANT something. Smashley Jean McKenney falls into the latter. I have never, ever in my life seen someone so dedicated to advanced education. From weeks before the first semester began, her nose was already in books, literally surrounding her on the couch. Maybe it was because I disliked schooling so much, but studying and homework never worked for me. It could have been the ADD, also, but whatever. Being an onlooker at her process was mindblowing. Monday through Friday, she'd wake up at 7am, drive to school, and then be home around 1pm. There was a time frame after she walked in the door which was about 45 minutes. In those 45 minutes, I'd make her lunch and she'd hang out with the dog. Once that time was up, it was right back to school mode. Books open, head down, glasses on, pen in hair or ear or hand. It was like my own personal hot librarian, and if I was too loud, I'd even get a "Shhh!!!".

Those books stayed open until bed time. No fucking joke. Most nights she fell asleep on the couch with her face stuck to the pages. What I'm getting at is that I have an unparalleled respect and admiration for, both, what she's doing and how she's doing it. There has never been a second of half-assing her way through any of it. I helped when I could, quizzing her on the spelling and vocab tests. But, besides that, the best I could do was make her breakfast, lunch and dinner and take the dog for his walks so she could focus.

Every time she came home with good news about a test or being chosen to sit in on surgeries (ahem....first in her class....ahem), I felt this overwhelming feeling of pride and excitement for her. Every little part of what she's doing gives me that pride and excitement. I'm watching someone's aspirations become a reality and I get to be the husband / cheerleader.

We're both doing what we've wanted to do and that's rare. The chances of those two people being in a marriage together makes it even more special.

She started her externship this week......right across the street from where we live. The vet hospital was her first choice and they scooped her up with open arms. Within days, she had already proven her worth.

....and that's the best thing to happen to me this year. A great marriage, the chance to be a provider / family man, and the privilege of watching my wife be absolutely amazing at something I could never do.

Eat shit, daily grind and pipe dreams. Smashley Jean is fucking your shit all up....I'll be the one in the background laughing and pointing.

That's about it. It's five in the morning on Christmas and I can't sleep. I figured that this time was about as good as any to update this little confession booth.

Things as of late:

Audio:

Slave - Demo 2010

Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic

Massive Attack - Mezzanine, 100th Window, Heligoland

Adele - 19

GDP - Magic Bullet EP

Motown Christmas 2xCD

Tear It Up - Taking You Down With Me

The Explosion - Flash, Flash, Flash

Cast Iron Hike - Watch it Burn

Adem - Love and Other Planets

Funkdoobiest - Brothas Doobie

The Black Hand - Pulling Your Strings EP

Defeater - Lost Ground

Video:

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Elf

The Town

The A-Team

The Office seasons 1-4

Kick-Ass

X-Files: I Want to Believe

Gremlins

Cinderella Man

Currently reading: Tracy Morgan's "I Am the New Black"......and it's horrible. I'm so bummed.

I'm going to go bake muffins and drink coffee while I watch stupid parades.

20.12.10....decorationihilist

In the next week or two, I will be putting a handful of paintings up for auction. They'll have very low listing prices to begin with. It's time to clean house and make room for new art.
Once they go up, I will post a link on here.

29.09.10.....hardcover hearts

I took a detour on my reading route before diving into Jeff Long's "The Descent".

Knowing the third installation of Chelsea Cain's series involving Archie Sheridan and serial killer Gretchen Lowell existed, I kind of obsessed over it after finishing the second book, "Sweetheart".

"Exit to Evil" is utterly insane. It's the first book I've read in a while that literally grossed me out. I sat here twitching. It is so messed up, I couldn't believe it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, you sick little author, you.....you made the last five hours of my life very entertaining.
Go out and get these books....knowing they will continue next year with "Night Season" makes me extremely happy and impatient.

28.09.10......details by the mouthful

I was thinking of writing this long, epic post on all kinds of trivial matters, but the part of my brain residing in the "better judgement" county took a vote, and "nay" won. I think they made the right decision.

Instead, you get this:
I didn't listen to too much new music while recording, for obvious reasons.
This was what I can remember:

Massive Attack - Mezanine
New Bomb Turks - Destroy! Oh Boy!
Adele - 19
Scanners - Violence is Golden
The first four Public Enemy albums
Swans - My Father...
The Sounds - Crossing the Rubicon
Milemarker - Satanic Versus
Gehenna - all
GDP - Realistic Expectations

Reading:

The thrift store next to Godcity had books for two bucks....I scored big with a few novels I'd wanted to read. A first printing of Lehaine's "Mystic River" for two dollars? Yes, please.

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain - The 2nd book in her series about one of the most unorthodox serial killers in a fictional world. The first book, "Heartsick", was a good, quick read. This one upped the ante and was very smartly done. Highly recommended.

No Trace by Barry Maitland - Child abduction, murder and modern art all rolled up into one little package set in London's Northcote Square. It gets a little confusing at times, but the end result is worth it, especially if you find it for a buck, like I did. That equals out to about thirteen cents per hour of entertainment.

33&1/3 series: Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique by Dan LeRoy - I'll dive into this deeper on the other blog, but I'll just say it's a fantastic and quick read. A little over 100 pages dedicated to a criminally underrated album.

And it Don't Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years by Raquel Cepeda - same with this one.....more info when I get around to it. I will say, the article on Afrika Bambaataa alone made this worth reading.

Currently: almost finished with Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. It is so goddamn good. This guy needs to hurry up and write another novel. His storytelling is incredible.

Next: The Descent by Jeff Long (courtesy of Tim's generous hand-me-downings)

Wish list:
Walking Dead graphic novels, volume 6-whatever they're up to now.
Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain
Horns by Joe Hill
Free time to read everything,

....and for fuck's sake, Mr. King....finish Doctor Sleep. I'm dying over here....

22.09.10.......walk the lawn like a lion, hon

This is how I spent the last few weeks.

Top three moments in my adult life:
1-Flying to Pittsburgh on August 5th, 2006 to meet up with a girl named Ashley. Two years later, she became Smashley Coffins McKenney. Best decision I've ever made.

2-Flying home from Boston to Seattle after nine weeks of US and European touring on April 28th or 29th (My memory is hazy....), 2008. When I got to the baggage claim area, I was greeted by Ashley. In her arms was a rat terrier puppy. I'd wanted a dog for my entire life.....thirty years later, I finally had my first little boy, and the closest thing I'll ever come to having children. I named him Panic, and he is mentally unstable....like his dad.

3- September 21st, 2010, I was given the first rough mix of the new record I was a part of. I put on my shitty headphones, kicked back on a recliner, closed my eyes and pressed play. Thirty some odd minutes later, I opened my eyes back up and took a walk outside onto the porch of the place we were staying. I took a deep breath of bitter fall air, the way only a place like New England can produce. I let it out and said to myself, "This is the one, motherfucker.....this is the one."