Give us this day, our daily grind...

Classic sign. Waimea, Big Island, Hawai'i



Wooden signage. Waimea, Big Island, Hawai'i

Hard grinding today (work, not eating). I was in the zone trying to tame a 16-page layout for a magazine insert. Felt pretty stoked at the end of the day. Took an extremely satisfying nap at 6pm. The best 30 min. snooze I had in a long time. Tomorrow should be the same, but most of the heavy road work is done. Just need to get through the edits.



Wooden signage. Waimea, Big Island, Hawai'i


Patterns in nature. Waimea, Big Island, Hawai'i

My body was still sore from Sunday's kendo practice. I got dinged on my left shoulder, didn't even know how it happened. My right Achilles was killing me too. It feels better now, but I'm getting a little concerned about it cause it hasn't hurt this bad before. I might need to see my doctor if it keeps this way.

Here are some pics i found of the last trip to the Big Island. I love old, hand-painted signs. There's so much beauty in imperfection. It humanizes it, especially in this mechanized world. Just needed a change of scenerey. Enjoy. Nice to post stuff not related to anything I wrote. Or does it relate?.........



Nap on a bench (me). Waimea, Big Island, Hawai'i


Weathervane. Waimea, Big Island, Hawai'i


Wooden signage. Waimea, Big Island, Hawai'i

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Waimea General Store signage. Waimea, Big Island, Hawai'i

Keep It Playin'

Album I picked up at a rummage sale. It so happens this was my friend's
uncle's first album he recorded on. I just got it for the funky graphics.

on the Pod:
Matisyahu: Live at Stubb's

A bright day. Gentle breezes run through the front door and turns the ceiling fans. A day to be inspired.

I've spent the day with my earphones on and working. My wife gave me a $25 iTunes card she somehow got from work. She doesn't have an iPod so I lucked out. I picked up :

Matisyahu, Live at Stubb's
Steel Pulse, Earth Crisis + True Democracy
John Mayer, Inside wants out
Planet Patrol, "play at your own risk" single 12"
James Blunt, Back to bedlam (w/ explicit lyrics!)

As you can see I was feelin' the reggae vibe(ish) thing. Can't really say its straight ahead reggae, but I've always loved the Steel Pulse sound. When I was playing with Dread Ashanti, we opened for them like three times. Those were great shows, awesome performers. I guess I like the ideas of fighting oppression and finding the "happy" place inside yourself. Interesting subjects.

Speaking of interesting stuff, Matisyahu is a trip. It's this Jewish guy singing about his Judaism in the reggae style. I first heard about this guy on NPR a few months back. My initial thought was "WTF! no way, so cheesy" They played a track and I soon changed my tune. Then I caught him on Conan O'Brien. Great performance, so had to check it out.

I'm a John Mayer fan. Love his writing and sound he has to his songs. Had to pick up the 12" Planet Patrol - that was my ideal breakdance battle song. "P-L-A-Y if you play with me, Its at your risk, then I'll set you free.." Do I hear shiai song?

Okay, Yeah I picked up the James Blunt album. Yeah, I like his stuff... creepy voice sometimes. You can tell he's experienced some heavy stuff in his past. The Explicit version makes it heavier. Damn, this guy had some issues. Great stuff. I'm diggin' it.

I've been contemplating my next acquisition of music. Maybe some jazz stuff? I don't know. I got tons of it, do need more?

With all this music, I've realized I haven't been listening enough and maybe it'll help my creative process.


with music in mind,
RIP Rory Flores
We love you and will miss you. Thank you for stickin' up for me always.

Hoppy Days are here again....

the egg line up


A belated Easter to all.

Easter was very relaxing this year. Went to Sunday Kendo practice (was pretty gruelling). We hung out the rest of the day with my wife's family. Decorating some eggs. Got there a little late so only got to decorate 5 eggs. I was feelin' it and got into it.

I realized that i really enjoy this time of year. You know when its easter when the "10 Commandments" is on TV. I think ABC made a new version of the movie and made it into a mini-series earlier in the week. I saw some of it, it was OK, but I'm partial to the original one. Effects were nice though. The original is a little over the top. Charleton Heston is just classic and Yul Brenner as Rameses just kills me.

TBS went one better and had the whole "Lord of The Rings" trilogy. I watched some of "the Twin Towers" and ended up napping. Too much excitement.

Enjoy the egg gallery.

Gotta get back to the work thing.

Finding the right stride

Its nice and cool tonight. The wind is almost chilly. Hold on, gonna make some hot chocolate.

Okay back to the blog...

I've been in deep thought about many things today. I've been thinking about work and what my future is - or what I want it to be. I vehemently HATE the idea of work. That whole notion of just showing up and collecting a paycheck is a tough one for me to swallow. Remember, I'm just talking about ME. I know we all need to make a living.

I "create" everyday or work in a creative way. I do this every single day. Using creativity is a very big part of my soul. Sometimes I don't feel like designing for clients as I know its just for commercial use, but since they're willing to buy it, becomes work. I get paid. After so many years of doing it for someone else, it really wears on you. I often ask myself what is the higher level of what I'm doing. Is it actually possible? I guess this is where the lines of art and design get blurry. Nowadays, my design work is a little more cerebral and withheld. I don't need to scream my head off - its really easy to shout. I'm feeling a strong need to go off the beaten path or else my soul will be totally sucked out.


Been thinking deeply about Kendo. I've been more focused in class than before, but haven't been training much outside of my home dojo. Mostly because I've had my hands full with work and my weekends are spent working on our house. The Ikkyu gradings are coming up in June. I don't even know if I'll even be here ( SugahDaddy road trip). Hopefully, the timing works out. With this all happening, its hard to keep things in control. I feel I'm improving but always take everything with a grain of salt. I'm not worried too much about conditioning right now, just concentrating on the small basic things I need to fix and own it. It doesn't seem like much, but I know my Kendo will grow by leaps and bounds if I take some time to get the basics polished up.


On a less heavier note:

We finished our "Phase 1" of our kitchen shelves. Finished the low cabinet on Sunday. One project down, one more in he kitchen. Enjoy the pics...

painting

after painting + shelves




In the kitchen.

Finally!!!

The rainy weather has finally subsided. We're left with nice cool breezes and a bit of sunshine. Got my Mac Book Pro today, pretty stoked. Still getting used to the speed and the upgraded industrial design. I've been rockin' on a 400mhz Titanium powerbook at home (I use a duo 1.25Ghz at work. This new one just blazes at 2Ghz. I try to visualize designs in my head so i don't get too dependent on the compter. Nothing wrong with a faster machine. Can't hate at all.

nice to have the sunshine again.