everydaydude

Oh hi:

2009-12-03T23:49:00.000-08:00

I imagine some of you came here after reading the article in Inc. Magazine featuring myself and my Mother. What a wonderful article John Brant wrote for us. It's become a bit of a fairytale of late, best described by Mr. Brant as a setting for a Frank Capra film. If you'd like to read the original plea I spread across the interwebs you can do so right... here.

I love the photograph they used of us. If only you all knew how awkward we both felt having our pictures taken.

Best,

AD

One Man's Opinion:

2009-11-23T20:17:00.000-08:00

Hello again.

Recently my old man asked if I could point him in the direction of a source that could explain, perhaps, the difference between 'street art,' 'graffiti,' and 'tagging.' While I follow a few street art blogs and keep up with a few photographers who like taking snappers of colorful walls I'm not certain I know of such a source. And, while said source undoubtedly exists I thought I'd use this opportunity to provide my brief opinion on the subject.

Street art, as I see it, is art in a public place that adds color and/or value to the space it's in. While most street art is done illegally, I wouldn't hesitate to call commissioned work street art so long as it isn't a blatant advert for the side of the business it's probably on. Street art is meant to be looked at, speculated, discussed and enjoyed. Perhaps not enjoyed. Illegal street art often carries with it connotations, political or otherwise. (note: I'm fighting off the urge to hyperlink every word in this post with different examples but that'd take forever and this was supposed to be brief and goddamn I'm the king of the run-on sentence so take a look at the end of the post for a few links to some of my favorite street artists and photographers) It can be meant to incite fear, or anger. That it has meaning is what makes it street art. The most prolific street artists have taken their craft worldwide, some managing to make a living doing what they love. Shepard Fairey/OBEY GIANT and Banksy are probably the two most notable street artists. Banksy, to this day, remains anonymous to the public while Shepard Fairey has built an empire and branded his message on clothing and marketed it as design work.

Shepard Fairey

While I feel there's a stark difference between street art, graffiti, and tagging I will admit that the term 'graffiti' can most commonly be used to describe all three. The differences between graffiti and street art are not that many but are immediately noticeable. Graffiti, I feel, is always illegal. It is meant to 'deface' property though as a fan of some graffiti I have a hard time perennially attaching a negative stigma to it. While it is illegal it can still provide the same color and/or value to a space that street art does. And while there are many different methods to an artist's product I think graffiti is generally done with more haste than street art. Street art also often takes into account and uses the aesthetics of the space it's in where graffiti is generally the artist's decorative mark added onto the space. Therefore street art is with the space where graffiti is on a space. Below are two of my favorite local graffiti artists, Girafa and Musk, who are often found near one another though not exclusively.

Girafa

Musk

Finally, tagging is also graffiti, which is to say that it's illegally defacing a public space. Tagging, however, usually incorporates little or no artistic value other than the difference in the textual shapes of written words. It's mostly characterized only by a written word or series of words, the artist's mark or message. Below is a tag from a local graffiti artist ORFN.

ORFN

There are really so many different kinds of public art and so many grey area's but, hey, I wrote this for a man of sixty f... ahem, 50-something year-old. A man with no prior knowledge. Chew on that, Dad. Lemme know if it makes sense.

Street art resource:
Wooster Collective

Favorite Artists:
WK Interact
OBEY
The London Police
Blek Le Rat
Swoon
Know Hope

Photographers:
Troy Holden
Habit Forming

And finally, you can take a look at a set I've put together of my own photographs on flickr of street art, graffiti, and tagging.

Best,

ad

Fruition:

2009-09-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

Man, that was a long nap! Pardon me while I stretch the fingers here for a minute. Unfortunately, I do this all too often, this disappearing act before a short lived triumphant return to this blog. You see, it's usually because I'm so caught up in the plethora (<--- Three Amigos!) of 'things' I find myself interested in. The same holds true for the last few months.

Months ago, late last year, during the midst of the Great Broadway Books Burrito Caper, I was doing some pro-bono marketing work for Upper Playground. As apparel companies do, they were working on a few projects to be released later in 2009 and since this year marks their 10-year anniversary the projects were of the coolest nature. When I moved to San Francisco I made a handful of connections in the apparel/footwear industry during my job search. One such connection happened to be the CEO at a bag company I've always been quite fond of, Chrome.

During my three month stint with Upper Playground I was lucky enough to introduce UP and Chrome to one another. They then agreed to work with one another on two co-branded messenger bags. As these things take time, the bags were just released in late August. Local contemporary artists Jeremy Fish and Sam Flores provided the artwork for Upper Playground and Chrome manufactured the bags and had them fully embroidered. While I wasn't behind the scenes during the latter stages of the planning on these bags I will take credit for making this happen. The bags are beautiful, have a look:

Luckily I was able to get my hands on one of the two bags without having to pay for it. While I'm sure you think it was due to me I can assure you that, due to the price of these things, I almost felt bad taking one. Almost. In fact, it was only because I've made friends with Jeremy Fish that I was able to have one.

I've been a fan of Jeremy's for a few years. Hell, if you go back a couple years here on the blog you can see where I met Jeremy in Portland and traded him a beer to draw Yogi a 'birthday' card (that was actually meant for Christmas but whatever). As it were, I met Jeremy again last winter while I was working with Upper Playground. Over time, Jeremy and I have become great acquaintances, friends even. I put Birkenstock footwear on his feet, he put artwork in my house. We're cut from the same cloth when it comes to our reliance on the barter system.

Recently, Jeremy asked if I'd be willing to assist him with his next art show, both physically hanging the show and helping him to promote it. While I've always paid attention to the art scene here and surrounding many of the artists that associate themselves with Upper Playground I knew that Jeremy's previous assistants had been close friends of his. People he respects and trusts. You can imagine how honored I was to be asked and of course I accepted immediately.

His show is at the Laguna Beach Art Museum the weekend of November 7-8th. I've been lucky enough to sit in his studio shooting the shit while he's working on this thing and... damn. We're all in for a treat. He's got some tricks up his tattooed sleves and I'm looking forward to being there for the opening to watch people go bonkers. Please, have a look at a couple gratuitous stray shots Jeremy's art as seen by me recently before you leave. And if you have a few extra bucks, buy his art before Robin Williams buys it all, he's been known to collect Jeremy's stuff before.

best,
a

Vanity:

2009-07-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

Who are these assholes!?! That's what I ask myself every time I see a ridiculous vanity license plate. I've started to notice how prevalent they really are here in California and, since I've usually got my camera within an arms-length, I've started snapping pictures of them. Here are just a few, the real dandy is all the way at the bottom, so you'll have to scroll down to read that one. Peep the rest of the vanity plates I've come across in the flickr set I've made for them here.

This one's for Yogi.

Unfortunately, Heidi Klum wasn't driving this Jag.

He's afraid of snakes.

Wow.

cheers,
a

Art Wall @ Grove and Central:

2009-06-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back Mary called me to tell me that she'd just spoken with a gentleman across the street from her house who was working on a graffiti-style mural on a wooden wall there which had been erected to mask the reconstruction on the restaurant in the building. Because I hadn't much going on at the time I made my way down to check it out. I also met and spoke with the fellow who'd organized the mural project. He informed me that they had the permission of both the building owner and the neighborhood association, NOPNA. After a few minutes of talking to him he'd invited me to come down with a stencil and he gave me a small plot on the wall he said they'd save for me.

I'd been working on a piece of another friend for a few weeks. Or rather, I'd started working on it a few weeks prior and just hadn't got to printing it, cutting it, and spraying it. This was the needed motivation. I'd chosen a picture of another friend, Simon, to work on because I loved the smile he wore in the picture. Wanting to focus some of the stencil projects I assume on smiles, I thought this to be the perfect jumping off photo. Well, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Seen here with his special lady friend and business partner, Ainsley.

The photoshopped image.

In process, the cutting.

Finished product, on the wall.

The rest of the wall and a couple from a day later.

The San Francisco Police did come in the middle of my stencil application, I was interrupted by a "Hey buddy." As I placed one of the layers on the wall. Upon hearing that we didn't have a permit but did have the permission of the building owner and the neighborhood association the police woman simply said, "Well, it looks great," and then drove off. Killer.

I'm hoping to mail Simon a home-version soon. The best part about stencils is you can use them over and over and over.......

a

Just Sayin:

2009-06-22T13:03:00.001-07:00

Owls:

2009-06-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

I keep meaning to write this down so's it goes on record.

Been seeing owls everywhere of late. EVERYWHERE. Yes, I got one tattooed on my leg. However, I don't think I'd really noticed the pervasiveness with which they infiltrated my world until sometime after I'd received said tattoo. That's a lie. I know exactly when I'd noticed it. Upon returning from my trip to Portland last month I received a wedding invitation from the wonderful gentleman who'd just tattooed my owl on me. The wedding invitation also had an owl on it that I imagine he designed.

It was at this time, this brow-scrunching, head-cocked, eyes-to-the-ceiling moment when I realized that I'd seen a SHIT TON OF OWLS in recent months. Other places I recall owls:
- undisclosed art project created by someone else
- in discussion at the disc golf tournament in Oregon
- on a t-shirt at the bus stop the day after I made this realization
- on a couple Jeremy Fish stickers I'd recently applied to my computer and bicycle
- salt and pepper shakers
- Upper Playground shirts
- a stenciled wheat-paste on Haight St. (see below)

I'm sure there are many more. Feel free to add some if you can remember them better than I can.

What I'm not sure about is the meaning behind all of this. Maybe I'm just more aware when I see them. Maybe this is my chance to go out on a Native American vision quest, though it's a little late in life for that. Owls are nocturnal, maybe that has something to do with it. Mayyyyyybbeeee it doesn't mean a thing and just happens to be a pretty cool coincidence of circumstances. Either way, I'm amused.

a

Life Is Good Today:

2009-06-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

I haven't missed being in Portland yet quite like I do today. I share the above tattoo (minus the star) with close to 20 people who have love in their hearts for a dear friend whose life we celebrate each June 1st.

The tattoo reminds us all that despite any hardships we may face we all have our health and, best of all, each other.

Life is good today because I have my friends, my health and my family. One could not exist without the other. I wish for everyone the quality relationships I've built with my closest friends in Portland. Today, I miss them so much. Tomorrow, I hope I get to see them. I love them all.

Notorious BBC forever.

<3
A

Rediscovering Portland:

2009-05-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

I spent this last weekend in Portland, having flown up to compete in a disc golf tournament and to visit friends and family. I played poorly, as has been the case this year. Not so sure what that's all about but my intention is to keep on keepin' on with the understanding that I'll practice often and work through the slump. I saw as many people as I was able to see with the limited time I had away from the golf course. I spent most of my nights at home with the folks which was awesome, really think they appreciated it.

Throughout the course of the weekend I found myself feeling a little nostalgic about things there. Everytime I see an Oregon license plate on the road here in California I feel A) like smiling and B) like I need to speed up cause there's a good chance I'll know the people in the car (haven't known one yet). All weekend long I had that feeling, driving to and from the tournament and being out and about.

My time there this weekend also made me familiar with a few aspects about life in Portland that I'd either lost sight of or had taken for granted. Things I appreciate. For instance, everyone my age in Portland in the neighborhood I lived in and love: covered in tattoos. Everyone. For some reason that brings me a sense of comfort and normalcy. Does it cheapen the experience of being a young tattooed lad? I don't think so. Especially not when you're not around these people all the time. I suppose that's how I had lost sight of my appreciation for my fellow tatted 20-somethings, I was around them too much.

Things happen slower in Portland. People take their time, and rarely is anyone in a huge rush to get anywhere. The fast lane on the freeways moves at a whopping 65MPH. You stay in your car to have your gas pumped for you. Sure it takes a couple minutes longer but WHO GIVES A SHIT. It's convenient. It helps to perpetuate the easy-going attitude there by which Portlanders operate. Even when there's nothing to do in Portland it seems like there's less to do than when there's nothing to do in other cities. Sure it can be boring yet sometimes I wish I had boring minutes in my life.

The people in Portland are generally outgoing and very nice to one another regardless of societal differences.

It felt good to have those feelings while I was there. Portland, that was rad. I owe you a burrito. Also, I drove to work in the slow lane today.
-a

Future ---> Bright:

2009-05-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

Romito is in town. I've got two awesome disc golf tournaments ahead of me in the next two weeks, one of which allows me to see my family and friends at home in PDX. Stoked on music like whoa right now. Job is awesome. Creativity flows. Holla.

Weekend In Pictures:

2009-04-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

This kid was maybe 10, tops. His t-shirt reads: "Got Weed?" Spotted at Hippy Hill in GG Park, he was with his mom.

Got to break out some fresh kicks on the 80+ degree day at Baker Beach. Also ended up at Dolores Park and rode my bike nearly 15 miles on Sunday.

Heart-shaped Salami at a Russian deli. I'm coming back here.

Sweet.

Finished off Sunday on my roof, reading a book and drinking a beer. Life Is Good Today.

Don't Call It A Comeback:

2009-04-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

Ayo! Thought I was lost somewhere in the fog, huh? Not at all. My apologies but a lot has been happening here in the City by the Bay.
Initially let me touch on the Broadway Books thing one (second to) last time. I've intentionally been letting the three posts below sit for a while so that people who are directed to this blog can have their look-see. Too late suckers, no burrito for you! Kidding aside, this story continues to stun me. I've recently been interviewed by a freelance writer who has the go-ahead to write what sounds like it may be a lengthy article about this story for Inc. Magazine. While I was all set to put this behind me, happy that Broadway Books continues to do well (fingers are still crossed), I'm also happy to perpetuate its' existence as it will undoubtedly lead to further sales for Mom. Win-Win.
Onward we go! Last year I jotted down all of the live music shows I'd seen throughout the year, over there ----> on the right. I had hoped to write some kind of review on them all but time had its way and some more important things were happening at year's end, see above. This year I've chosen to do the same. A personal goal I've set for myself this year is to read as many books as the number of shows I see. I'm known for setting lofty goals for myself, we'll see how this pans out. I'm 3 for 3 thus far. Suppose I should add the reading list as well, huh?
I've recently become acquaintances with an artist I've been fond of for a few years who lives here in North Beach. Jeremy Fish and I met in Lower Haight during the holiday's and, well, long story short... We've been trading shoes for artwork and there might be a super secret plan in the works to combine those two loves we share soon. Peep some of the artwork I've been given here as well as one example below.

Mr. Fish has recently been kind enough to offer to sponsor me with his clothing line for my career as a professional disc golfer! Holla! While I'll still be wearing the huk lab gear as well I'm looking into some unique ways to combine the two on my gear.
There's so much to share and I know that these things are supposed to be kept short so I'll do my best to condense.
Please have a look at a couple of the new links I've added over there on the right as well. I have dear friends who own and operate a copy writing business called Ministry of Imagery that recently moved to Oklahoma. They're two of the wittiest, energetic, encouraging, and awesome people I've ever met. Employ them please if you have the means, they won't let you down. Hell, I'll even buy you a burrito if you give them work.
I'm excited about new music, going to more shows. I'm excited about playing tournament golf though thus far this season I've not been playing to my potential. I'm excited to get out and around this city some more and explore new areas. I'm excited to have more friends come visit and, in turn, go home to Portland a couple times over the summer for visits there.
It's late, I'm a bit scatter brained right now. I'll leave less time between posting to this thing in the future so that it's all a bit more cohesive. When that Inc. Magazine article airs I'll be sure to let you all know. If I come up with anything else I'll be back shortly.
Cheers,
a

Broadway Books Burrito Feed:

2009-01-29T18:34:00.000-08:00

Hey there!
So the Broadway Books story seems to have finally come to an end, a happy ending worthy of story-telling for years to come.
I found myself in Portland two weeks ago. Initially the visit was scheduled as a means for me to visit friends, throw some frisbees around various State Parks, and hang with the fam. Because this whole Broadway Books thing caught so much steam, however, I spent many of the preceding days looking forward to the possibility of wrapping this whole thing up with a full belly and a smile on MY face as a result of the positives that came from my initial plea to get the Portland public to shop at Mom's store.
I was contacted by KGW News Channel 8 on the day of the eventual burrito cash-in to see about meeting them for an interview, which I did happily. I met them at Broadway Books and Mom and I provided brief interviews before we headed to Cha Cha Cha! KGW then came to the burrito spot to cover what amounted to be only a few people coming (I'll get to that in a minute). Here's the link to the video of the spot they did on the evening news that night (THANK YOU Nick Bradshaw and crew at KGW!): http://www.kgw.com/video/index.html?nvid=322702&shu=1
Mom had these sweet tickets printed up to commemorate the occasion:

Some very close friends came and a handful of friends of the bookstore. Some old high school friends' parents also arrived. We'd ordered and paid for 80 burritos in advance, not really knowing what to expect. Cha Cha Cha made 40 initially and I ended up doling out only around 25. The remainder of those 40 burritos I had the pleaseure to donate to gentlemen at the Portland Rescue mission with dear friends. Failure? Not a damn chance. As it turns out, no one went shopping for the burrito at the end of the economy's siesta! It was all about getting out to support a great, small, independent business. In fact, a few people who came for the event denied the free burrito and ordered their own, paying Cha Cha Cha instead. They came just for fun, to meet Mom and I, and of course, for a tasty burrito. I'll have you know that even a few people forced money on me to help cover the burrito debt!! Thank you all.

At the event I even met a freelance author from The Oregonian whom I'd been contacted by on Twitter. Michael Bales wrote a fantastic piece covering the entirety of the scenario for The Oregonian which is available to read on-line here. Thank you Mr. Bales!
Yesterday I called home to see how the store was doing, post holiday burrito craze, and was delighted to learn that the store was still doing fantastic and that business was up over last year by a considerable margin. Mom reports that nary a day goes by without someone mentioning my plea, I love that.
I sincerely hope that the trend continues and that Broadway Books has garnered some new interest by the Portland faithful who will continue to shop there as long as they have the option. I learned via text message from Mom -I think this whole technology-trend has caught up with her, she's texting all of a sudden- that there was yet another blog post and a couple new reviews on Yelp! that reflected the recent up-swing in business for Broadway Books. Have a look at those here!
The rest of my vacation to Portland was phenomenal. I was able to accomplish everything I had intended to, from playing golf, to hanging with friends, to coming home with some new kicks ;) I even managed to meet some new great people while I was there, thanks for the breakfast hang-out! Mom hasn't stopped smiling since December 11th and neither have I.
Again, thank everyone involved so much. Long live independent businesses! My part in all of this may now be at and end, I'll go back to blogging about shoes and art and disc golf, but I'm politely requesting that my message live on. Please continue to locate your local bookstore, record store, restaurant et al for all of your shopping needs. I know I will.
Love,
Aaron

Broadway Books Update!:

2009-01-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

Nearly one month ago I wrote a little post here- read below if you're not already in the know on this one- about the financial crisis in our economy and how it had crept its ugly face into my world with regards to Broadway Books. I was saddened to learn that Broadway Books, my dear mother's (other) baby, was struggling to stay alive. I did my absolute best to offer some incentive to the general public to do some of their holiday shopping at her store. The deal on the table was that I'd buy people who spent $50 or more, between the day I wrote it and Christmas day, a burrito from one of my favorite burrito shops in Portland. I should let it be known now that I'd expected a few close friends to read it, maybe pass it along to their close friends, and then we'd get together for a small, mellow gathering on my next visit to Portland. The reality of the response Broadway Books received felt like nothing short of a miracle...

After I'd finished writing I thought I'd head back to Twitter.com and post a link there, hoping that the people who follow me would perhaps read it and I'd lure a few more peeps into the store for some shopping. If you're unfamiliar with Twitter it's what has been dubbed a "micro-blogging" website where each person is limited to 140 characters or less to write a "tweet" about what they're up to at the moment. You follow people whose tweets show up on your twitter page and, in turn, people will follow you. Often times when people read tweets they deem important they may copy and paste the tweet as their own, sometimes giving credit to the original tweeter. I was happy to see that a friend, Ryan Eastabrook, had re-tweeted my plea just a few minutes after I'd written it. Throughout the day I noticed that the post had been getting more attention than the blog had previously garnered. I ran a simple search in twitter in the afternoon and found that because of the generosity of Ryan and other followers, the plea on twitter had been re-tweeted as many as 30 times. Naturally this lead to the blog receiving a few more hits than usual.

The few days that followed saw three times as many hits on my blog as had happened in the previous two months! Friends started to send me e-mails and messages on Facebook.com where I'd also posted a link to the Broadway Books post. A few friends even wrote to say that they'd gotten the link from someone unrelated to us entirely. Friends of friends were passing it along, department-wide e-mails were apparently being sent out at the likes of Adidas and Nike to name a couple. I also became privy to people in Portland re-writing my post on their personal and business blogs. I was even contacted by my favorite weekly newspaper in Portland, The Portland Mercury, who wrote a great article about it on their blog. They'd even ventured to Broadway Books to interview Mom and to snap a couple pictures. My simple holiday wish to see Mom smiling because business at her store had improved was spreading and had become viral.

Then, it started snowing. Here I was ecstatic that people were taking notice and glad to assume that I'd soon be diving into the happiest $1000 debt ever and the gods had turned on me in an attempt to foil my plan. SOMEHOW, in a town that usually shuts itself down entirely at the sight of a single snowflake, it seemed that the general public didn't seem to mind it all-of-a-sudden. Mom staffed the store and people showed up to support her tiny, incredible, independent business. Some mentioned my post, some didn't. Despite what amounted to almost 2-feet of snow Broadway Books had their biggest day ever during that span! I even heard that additional staff were being called in to support the shopping en masse.

Those two weeks between my post and Christmas day, thanks to those who value independent business and in spite of both the weather and the failing economy, Broadway Books pulled ahead. They triumphed. They should survive. They deserve it.

I can't take credit for this. I may have lit the match but the wonderful people of Portland supplied both the kindling and the air to feed the fire that ensued. Thank you. Thanks Ryan Eastabrook, thanks twitter and facebook, thanks Molly Elliot, thanks Matt Davis @ The Portland Mercury, thanks Nick Bradshaw, thanks to all my new followers and re-tweeters on twitter, thanks to friends and family who spread the word however you did, thanks to the deserving staff at Broadway Books who also braved the weather to come to work even when they weren't scheduled to be there, thanks Mr. P for the offer and the kind words, thanks Jessica Ayre for the sweet pic atop this post and for diverting business to BB, thank you Jay Harbour, thank you to the people who commented on my blog and on others', and of course the most important, Thanks Portland, you rule.

Mom and Dad came to visit me on Christmas day. They were both smiling. I got my wish, somehow I think they probably got theirs too. They were here for a week and we didn't take one picture together. A photo wasn't necessary, I'll remember those smiles forever.

I'll be in Portland next Thursday evening. I look forward to meeting a few new faces at Cha Cha Cha! on Hawthorne on Friday evening. Sounds like there may even be a news camera there(!). Either way, come and cash in on that burrito if you've spent the dough, I owe you one. Even if you're not a burrito fan come and let Broadway Books and I say thank you for your support.

Here's a list of all the places I'd found people talking/blogging about the story. Thank you all so much, it's meant the world.

http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2008/12/17/of_blogs_books_and_burritos

http://activerain.com/blogsview/832565/Can-Twitter-Help-Save-A-Local-Family-Owned-Business-on-Main-Street

http://ourpdx.net/2008/12/buy-lots-of-books-get-a-burrito-from-one-loving-son/

http://pdanielson.livejournal.com/227096.html

http://theeverchanging.blogspot.com/2008/12/support-local-economy.html

http://theeverchanging.blogspot.com/2008/12/about-those-books-and-burritos.html

http://www.adpulp.com/archives/2008/12/books_in_mind_b.php

http://bartkings.blogspot.com/2008/12/its-been-snowy-and-icy-in-pacific.html

http://www.yelp.com/topic/san-francisco-a-son-helping-his-mom---pbx-style

http://sarahwjones.wordpress.com/2008/12/18/save-broadway-books/

http://jonsquared.wordpress.com/2008/12/18/help-a-son-save-his-mothers-bookstore/

Cheers,
a

Broadway Books:

2008-12-11T08:48:00.001-08:00

The madness that is the current state of affairs in our economy honestly hasn't bothered me much. I consider myself lucky to have a job in the face of all of the layoffs that are happening around me and my CEO has promised openly that our company will not be letting go of anyone. Thus, I've just managed to go about my business as usual. I'm not afraid to spend my money on things I want or on people I love. I even take pride in not paying much attention to the woes of the financial world. I own no stocks, don't even know how to buy em. I generally live check to check and I like it that way, it's simple.
Sometimes it takes a slap in the face to wake someone up. You hate to be the one getting the rude wake-up but eventually the initial sting fades into nothingness when you realize that there's either work to be done or attention to be focused elsewhere. Yesterday I was on the receiving end of that wake-up call.
My mother has owned and operated an independent bookstore for the better part of 20 years. Broadway Books has been a staple in NE Portland and has developed a wonderful, loyal clientele. This store is my mother's passion and she's been an outstanding success in her endeavors. She makes me unbelievably proud.
Broadway Books outlasted the neighborhood move-in of perpetual small-business-ruiner, Boarder's, even turning a profit every year after Boarder's was in the hood. The wonderful people of Portland love her store. Search "Broadway Books" in google and notice the glowing reviews the store receives on the internet... yelp, citysearch, insiderpages... people have gone out of their way to explain to the world how great an independent business Broadway Books is and has always been. There's even this gem I found on youtube:
Well, it seems this economical fiasco has made it's way into my peripheral. The aforementioned slap in the face came in the form of a brief e-mail from my equally amazing father. In this e-mail, my father told me that business this winter season at my mom's store had been incredibly bleak. So much so that the future of the store could possibly be in jeopardy. Because I know how much this store means to her, I just sat at my desk in near tears for hours. Then I got angry. Then I thought I'd do everything I can to help from my remote location here in San Francisco. I wrote famous people on twitter.com asking for them to please mention her store to get more people there. I mentioned it through my own twitter account and on facebook.com. Now I'm digging into my own pockets and offering you some incentive.
There are two weeks left before Christmas. My parents are coming to visit me on Christmas day and I want to see my mother smiling.
One of the "tweets" I wrote on twitter the other day said "if you're in Portland do me a favor??? Buy a book at Broadway Books. No wait, buy 3 of em. I'll buy you a burrito the next time I'm in town." The later it got yesterday the more I felt like making (most of) that a reality. So, here's the deal... I wanted this to be a surprise to a number of my friends and I haven't told many of them this yet but I'll be in Portland to visit January 15-19, 2009. Now, about that burrito. Meet me at Cha Cha Cha on SE Hawthorne in Portland on Friday January 16th at 6PM with a receipt from Broadway Books for over $50 and between today's date and Christmas and I'm buying your kind ass a burrito. I've got about a grand left on my one credit card -told you I was a simpleton- which equates to roughly 166 of you spending at least 50 bucks a pop. That means an additional $8,333 of revenue for a deserving staff at Broadway Books. I'd never feel better about diving into a thousand-dollar hole, all-the-while supporting another local independent business. I suppose I'd have to cap it there, at 166 peeps but here's to hoping I reach that cap.
I hope to see at least one of you there, please help me. Pass this along. Getcha a free burrito! Support local independent business! Get off of the internet/your ass!
If it's not books you're after then please spend your money at another independent business, they're all struggling right now.
Don't be slapped in the face, shit hurts. Understand that the economic sting will subside, will also fade into nothingness. If that seems a long shot, consider it optimism, a virtue I learned from growing up the son of my mother.
Best,
a

My Three Jobs:

2008-12-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

One thing I've come to know about myself in the last few years is that I've got an amazing ability to spread myself thin. When I left Portland I was working two jobs, playing golf, and doing my best to manage spending a little time with the different friend groups I'd come to know over the years.
Well, I seem to have done it again. Somehow I managed to land myself three jobs! I'm starting to feel like the Jamaican's from In Living Color.
One month ago today I began an unpaid marketing internship with Upper Playground, a creative lifestyle clothing brand with a handful of stores spread across the country and in London. I've been a big fan of the Upper Playground artists for a few years. Getting the opportunity to work with them is a chance I couldn't pass up. Additionally, their 10-Year anniversary is next year and they're looking to get together with other apparel/footwear/accessory brands to co-brand product to celebrate it. Having made some connections in the industry when I moved I thought I'd reach out to a few to spark some interest. I'll stop there, but know that interest was indeed sparked and that there may be some pretty sweet product to hit the shelves come next year thanks to yours truly.
More recently even than the gig with Upper Playground I agreed to become huk lab's first ever tech rep! For those who don't know, huk lab is a disc golf clothing/accessory company based in Portland, OR. Easily the best looking gear on the course, huk lab is synonymous with disc golf in Oregon. Anyone who plays disc golf with any regularity in Oregon and Washington has the tri-fly design adorned on a disc, a shirt, a towel, an umbrella, a stool or any other number of disc-related apparel or accessory items. When I arrived in San Francisco I found that huk lab wasn't as ubiquitous in the disc scene here as it is in Portland. At that time I dubbed myself a brand ambassador and made every attempt I could to spread the huk love on the course. I've done some volunteer work for huk lab before as the owner of this great brand is a dear friend of mine. Plans are in the works now to get some gear down here for the masses to wear. Here I am with Avery Jenkins last week, both of us rocking the huk from head to throw:

I'm quite excited by both of these opportunities, in addition to my full-time gig with Birkenstock which has been slow but enjoyable. I'm liking the people I work with there and my boss has been very accommodating.
Wish me luck!

Yogi:

2008-11-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

Snapped a few pics during Yogi's visit to SF. Had a blast the entire time, Friday ended up being the touristy day when we knocked out a few destinations. Lindy had been laid off the day prior and we convinced her to join us for some fun to forget about the stresses of unemployment, work search etc. She needed it.

Dirty arrives next Friday. Justin the following Tuesday, then Avery and Val on Thanksgiving weekend. Hopefully Mo-town won't have kicked me out by the time all these visits are complete.
Looking forward to them all, lets pray the weather holds out for em.
-a

More Friendly Advice:

2008-10-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

Vote, Fuckers!

Click here for more videos from Vote For Change

Click here for more videos from Vote For Change

Click here for more videos from Vote For Change

The Revival Tour:

2008-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm getting purty excited about seeing this show on Thursday night. Here's a video I found of a song and footage from the first half of the tour, enjoy it. Chuck Yeah.

REVIVAL ROAD revival tour 08

cheers,
a

Some Friendly Advice:

2008-10-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

Click here for more videos from Vote For Change

Click here for more videos from Vote For Change

Click here for more videos from Vote For Change

Per Your Request:

2008-10-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

Got a disc in the mail last week from a dear friend and a note asking if I'd resurrect the Obama hope logo, sans Obey image in the center. Broke off this little dandy late last night and it's in the mail already en route to PDX.

Enjoy,
a

The Gallery (902):

2008-10-16T13:14:00.001-07:00

Ayo! I've been putting this off for a bit for a couple reasons: 1) I had a need to make sure everything was ship-shape for the general public's viewing pleasure and 2) I've been so caught up in being caught up in stuff! Busy, Busy, Busy and loving it all.

Morgan and I moved into our place almost two weeks ago. Hesitant to love it at first, we're both digging on it in a big way now. We had things set up relatively quickly and were eager to get over the Martha Stewart phase of entering a new living situation. We both spent an extraordinary amount of money getting things in order but, again, we're stoked on the result.

I've been stockpiling artwork over the last two years and Morgan has been travelling throughout that time and has some phenomenal pictures to prove it. After trips to the frame shop we were able to cover nearly every blank wall space in our apartment. Soon enough that "nearly" will become "every," but I'll get to that in one hot minute. Given the mass amount of display material we'd determined that our place should be aptly named "The Gallery."

I suppose all that's left to do now is share a few pictures, yeah? You can peep the entirety of the photo's I took here if you like. Otherwise, enjoy a few below:

We had a fun and successful housewarming party last Saturday night, thanks to those who came.

The day before, Friday, I'd gotten a little impulsive and bought a print or two to fill those blank walls. Soon we'll have "every" blank space covered. The first one arrived today, the second one will be coming shortly and the third one I'd bought a few weeks back and tried to frame but the I broke the glass so it's halfway to the wall... enjoy.

I'm loving my place. I hope you enjoyed taking a sneek peak. Additionally, I'm pumped on visitors coming! Yogi and Dirty are en route in November... won't you come as well? There's plenty of room. Also, you'll have to ask Morgan about "The Panther"...

Until then, cheeers.
a

The Move, Part 2:

2008-10-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago I flew to Portland to surprise Mom for her birthday, something I'd planned to do since I knew what date I'd be moving down to The City. It just so happened that Mo-town and I found our place and were able to arrange a move in date that lined up with my flight. As all of his possessions were in a storage unit in Portland we were able to book a moving truck large enough to dump our lives into. The evening before we left I came down with a wicked head cold which promised to make the physical act of packing/loading/moving a tedious chore. We moved slowly, not hitting the road until almost 3pm on Sunday, arriving at our destination (Concord, CA) at almost 2am the next day.
We were forced to rely on broken static radio for the duration of the drive, only ever catching 2 songs in a row on the same station before it faded or meshed itself with either a Jesus, Country, or Mexican radio station. Miraculously we found a station as we drove through the Shasta Lake/Redding area that was crystal clear AND played some great obscure rock. The DJ was obviously stoned yet talkative and entertaining.
Enjoy a few pictures, take a look at the 24-foot monster we drove from Portland to San Francisco and then through the streets of San Francisco for another 3 days.

Gettin Back at it:

2008-10-09T05:36:00.000-07:00

Busted this little doozy out last night. It's an Innova Champion glow Teebird. The design was lifted from Shepard Fairey's "Progress" version of his iconic image of Barack Obama. It took me a few hours but it was time well spent! Enjoy.

Updates on the state of my affairs soon. Damn living room is proving to be a pain in the ass. Mo-town and I have chosen a name for the place, however...
a

Last Thursday Supper V2.0

2008-09-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

I found this picture on Brian Lee's myspace page the other day. He's the photographer who snapped pics all night of the event, I wish I could see the rest of em! Cheers,
a

Home Sweet Home:

2008-09-17T16:51:00.001-07:00

Quickly, I've an appointment later this week to sign a lease on an apartment in San Francisco! The spot we found is on the corner of Central and Golden Gate Aves. Below are a couple pictures that were in the craigslist post advertising the flat. Come visit!

Bedroom

Living Room

Dining Room

Yes!
a

Warm Welcome:

2008-09-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

My first two weeks here have been pretty unbelievable.

The Friday after the Hot Water Music show Jes and I drove to Lake Tahoe to meet Mary, Duanne, my great friend from most of my youth, Adam, and his lady friend Cailin. Between the 6 of us we went hiking, mountain biking, disc golfing, swimming, and road biking. The house we stayed at was gorgeous and I managed the family discount so the accommodations were inexpensive. We made breakfast each morning and spent the evenings letting the hot tub jets soothe achy muscles from the days many activities.

All involved had a great time enjoying good company on a long Labor Day Weekend. Most over-used term from the weekend: "It's the altitude," which we threw out as an excuse for just about anything. Be-it feeling winded from our 20-mile bike ride or acquiring chapped lips, "it's the altitude" was our plea.

The next week I had free of responsibility aside from apartment hunting. Because I wanted to meet a few people at work before my first day I chose to drive up to Novato for a meet-and-greet. Additionally, there's a long, challenging disc golf course in Novato which may have fueled the motivation to make the drive a bit more so than inevitable work introductions.

I started work the following week. It's proven a difficult task to remain in on weekday evenings, even during the work week. There's so much to do here! On the evening of the first day of work I went to a show at The Fillmore. On Wednesday evening Mary and I went to The Purple Onion to see Tyler Boeh compete in the San Francisco International Comedy Competition. Adam came as well as another old friend from high school I hadn't seen in 10 years, Josi Henderson. Thursday after work I opted for a bike ride through the city and happened upon White Walls Gallery. I'd heard that the gallery had an opening on Saturday for one of my all-time favorite artists, Shepard Fairey. I spoke with a gent outside for a few minutes as I peered through the glass at the show which had already been hung. As I turned to leave Mr. Fairey was standing on the pavement and was followed by the owner of the gallery. Not being too shy, I introduced myself as a fan and was subsequently invited in to look at the entirety of the show, days in advance!

Saturday found me riddled with apartment appointments in the morning. There might have been a winner in the bunch, wish me luck. That afternoon I went to a spot called R Bar where University of Oregon grads and fans gather to watch football games. The game was a thriller and I think I left my voice somewhere in the back right corner near the TV.
I opted not to go to the art opening at White Walls as I'd already seen the show. Instead I attended a BBQ I'd been invited to, taking an opportunity to meet some new people. After the BBQ I went to the after-party for Shepard Fairey's which also happened to be an Obama fundraiser event. Z-Trip played after a bit, when I arrived Shepard a.k.a. DJ Diabetic was on the wheels of steel. When Z-trip took the stage Shepard Fairey took to a broom and did some live wheat pasting.

This week my friend and eventual roommate arrives. Together we shall fight the housing market and hopefully leave it bruised before we tap out and succumb to paying more than $2,400 a month in rent for a two-bedroom apartment. Again, wish me luck. Also, I should have a few more pair of kicks showing up at my desk sometime this week and I've been tempted to finally get some new Vans so there may be another TSWC update in the near future. Until then, cheers.
a

The Move, Part 1:

2008-08-29T00:41:00.000-07:00

Hey all. So I left Portland this morning bright and early at 5AM en route to San Francisco. I got together last night with a few peeps for a last minute beer right after having my final dinner with the folks for a bit. The dinner went well, mom was quick with her goodbye which I assume was better for the both of us. Pops just said to give his love to The City and offered a handshake.
During beers with some friends I got a last minute phone call from a frisbee friend who brought me this going away gift:

So thoughtful! And rad. It was delivered by one gent. Though, given the nature of the gift and the time I know it took to create such a beauty I'm certain that it took the craftsmanship of another. Thank you Hagerty AND G-Willy! Straight into the bag it goes.
The drive was rather uneventful. I made good time, arriving into San Francisco in 9 hours and 7 minutes for an average of just over 70mph. I captured the "leaving Oregon" sign:

And I just missed the "Welcome to California" sign:

One quick shot of a barren Mt. Shasta:

And then it was off to the city. Once I arrived I met up with Jes and we headed out for dinner at an Ethopian restaurant and caught the latter half of Mr. Obama's democratic nomination acceptance speech.
Then it was a quick bike ride to The Grand Ballroom to see Hot Water Music! It was great to see some Portland friends there and to run into some old school friends who make their home here. Hot Water, well, they killed it and it was great to see them after a 2-year hiatus. Enjoy a few pics:

Tomorrow its off to Lake Tahoe! I seem to have arranged what promises to be a phenomenal welcome week. Chances are good that I might be able to squeeze a Giant's game in there next week sometime and a few rounds of disc golf at courses I've yet to play. Looking forward to it all.
ciao,
a

The Shoe Whore Chronicles Volume 6:

2008-08-26T21:50:00.001-07:00

Okay, as promised, here go a few new sneaks I've been stashing away for the move. This may be about it for the up-hookage on The Three Stripes, my last day there is tomorrow. Saddened a bit that I'm leaving such a unique and fun place to be I remain optimistic about my new opportunity at Birk. I should have a few pair of those waiting for me upon my first day there so fret not, there shall be more of TSWC!
I've yet to wear any of these but they're making the voyage with me. Hopefully I can rock some Adi's at the new job.
Look closely, there's a rogue pair in here that snuck in sometime in the last few months somehow. Enjoy,

I liked these so much...

And now for some disc golf course wear:

I imagine you may start to see a bit of variety from here on out. Though I'm partial to free kicks I may spend a couple bucks on some golden oldies I haven't been able to justify wearing in a few years.
Cheers,
a

Out:

2008-08-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

Started the social transition out of Portland last week with a dinner at the folks house with a cast of characters from a few different aspects of my life. Wanting to create a fun environment for the rents to meet many of my different friends I invited people who didn't necessarily know one another either. Here's the scene from the backyard:

And Skittles doing what he does best:

If you're interested in coming to say bye, there'll be a few heads at Rontoms this Friday, August 22nd at around 7pm. Hope to see you there! Last day in PDX is Wednesday the 27th. I'll be back soon with some kicks for you.
Cheers,
a

Yesterday:

2008-08-10T16:12:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Dan Portrait took a few of us to a friend's land on Sauvie's Island to shoot paintball guns at one another. Dan had us set up for a full day's worth of combat.
We started the morning a little on the slow side and decided we'd all meet at a little family cafe in Linnton, OR on the way. The place was deserted and it featured a half-American-half-Chinese menu. It was dead silent so someone whipped out the iphone so's we could have a little background music and to make the ambiance a little less creepy. The food was sub par, go figure, and the silverware may have been used last sometime in the 1800's.
We left shortly and headed to the spot. Arriving to the land on the island we were greeted by the friend who lived in a double-wide trailer on 200+ acres tat his family owns. Apparently the rest of the family occupies space on another part of the land we didn't see. Oh, and Gus Van Zandt lives next door. And Penny Lane lives just on the other side of Mr. Van Zandt.
We were given a few hundred yards on the beach to go all commando on each other.

We played for a few hours, took our lunch break and then headed back out for another round. After changing the games and teams up a few I found myself on a team with Opie. Opie's awesome and he attacks everything he does with all of the voraciousness he can muster. Mid game I'm ducked behind a tree, pretty much completely out of the way of any real "action" and I see Opie crawling on his stomach to hid behind a log and he begins the classic "peek-over-shoot-hide again" move. Seconds later Opie calls for the game to stop, loudly, and I see him sit up, take off his mask, and just sit there with his head down. Apparently he'd just taken one to the noggin where his mask hadn't been covering.

He sat there for a while, I scrounged up some beer cooler ice and, miraculously, he wanted to keep playing for a bit, which we did.
Later that evening, after returning home to shower, we ventured back to the land on Sauvie's Island to attend a movie "wrap party" for a film they'd been shooting in Portland called "The River Why." I'm not sure if any of the actors were actually there as they'd finished shooting almost a week prior but the party was fun, bonfire-style and the vibe was fairly mellow. Free food and an open bar didn't hurt either. We didn't stay too long as we had a bit of a drive back into town but I took an opportunity to play with the new camera a bit while sitting on the beach of the river.

I used a chair to steady the camera which explains why the pics may appear a tad on the crooked side but oh well, the shots look great and it was gorgeous out last night. Hope you enjoyed my tale of yore.
Cheers,
a

Last Thursday Supper:

2008-08-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

Last week I was asked to participate in a live installation recreation of The Last Supper during Portland's First Thursday art walk in the Pearl District. Jake Portrait, musical recording maestro, rent's a studio/gallery space near the Pearl on Broadway and Everett. Apparently part of his rental agreement includes participating in First Thursday events.
Jake teamed up with Valentina Gallup to set the scene, as it were. Valentina painted a huge backdrop, behind which was Jake's living space and loft. She also went to great lengths to make sure the costumes were accurate and the seating was just-so. None of us knew exactly what to expect and it turned out to be one of the most entertaining and fun evenings I've ever experienced. We roped off the doorway so passersby could only watch from the street through the storefront-like windows or through the doorway. The scene looked great from the street and people gathered in throngs to watch us pose/throw meat/drink/be merry. It was voyeurism at it's best.
We had a professional photographer come out to document the event and his pictures, though I haven't seen them yet, are sure to be mind-blowing. Brian Lee has become a friend in the last few years and he's got the knack for taking amazing pictures. Take a few minutes to peruse his photoblogs, dude's got talent. Thank you to all of the friends that came out. Benji as Jesus was phenomenal. Big ups to Valentina and Jake for the production. If you're in the area for September's First Thursday event you can expect another show of similar proportions from the doorway.
I snapped a couple pictures throughout the evening, enjoy:

Cheers,
a

It Begins:

2008-08-03T19:09:00.001-07:00

I started packing stuff up today and moving it into storage/parents basement. In doing so I came to realize that I'd accrued entirely too many possessions over the years. Having lived in this building for nearly 5 years all these things haven't seemed too many in numbers only because they've been spread throughout the apartment. Apparently I'm no simpleton which is unfortunate as that's something I aspire to me more of. (Perhaps this is my opportunity!) Thus, I filled the better part of the dumpster outside with old belongings, I even threw away 10-15 pair of shoes.
I've been asked on a number of occasions of late if I'm feeling excited, nervous, sad etc. I honestly haven't felt any different. Maybe it's all just not yet set in? I felt a little bit today like the move was becoming more real. I thought for a brief moment as though it was sadness but I've determined that I was mostly just annoyed as I think that the physical act of moving residences is the most tedious chore ever. That passed quickly though and I'm looking forward so much to getting to The City and settling in.
Somehow I've managed to string together what promises to be an incredible first 4 days in California. The day I make the drive I'm going to see one of my all-time favorite bands, Hot Water Music, and it sounds like a few friends from Portland are also making the trip to see the show. Killer. The following day I've planned a trip with a handful or two of friends to Lake Tahoe for Labor Day weekend. We managed to score my aunt and uncle's Tahoe house for the weekend which takes the costs down a bit as well. How's that for a first few days in CA!?
Once back in San Francisco I'll still have a week to chill out before I start work on Sep 8th. I'd like to think that I'll just have it as free time to play any and all disc golf courses in the area but, more likely, I'll be looking at apartments that cost entirely too much money to live in. That's next on the agenda, thanks to the peeps that offered to go look at them for me while I'm still here.
All that aside I remember being stoked about having this new camera so here go a couple pictures I've snapped the the last two days:
A new dye on a frisbee.

Jake and I stopped on the Burnside Bridge while the bridge was up, me driving his car, and the Made In Oregon. We made friends with the people in the car next to us who also enjoyed listening to The Talking Heads from Jake's vehicle.

Logan, Party Boy and Jason:

I suppose I'll have to share some new kicks as well pretty soon. I intend for the stash to double in the next few weeks, after all, I gotta make up for the pair I threw away today;)
Til then,
a

Help Along the Way:

2008-07-29T22:38:00.000-07:00

My new/replacement camera arrived today! Haven't yet had the time to sort through the menu or many options but I snapped a couple pics today. Hanuman, Daniel & Yog, Chrome buckle (from 10 feet away!), secret stash:

More on that later,
a

Ahead:

2008-07-27T18:10:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to the week ahead of me though I imagine I'm going to start feeling pretty busy here in a bit. My new camera should arrive on Tuesday or so, finally I'll be able to snap some pics to share (there may be a few pair of kicks stored away somewhere). Additionally I'm headed out tonight to see The Hold Steady at the Crystal Ballroom. I remember seeing them there just over a year ago and, unbelievably, they made the Crystal sound great. In my attempt to maximize my music connects and score a few more guestlist spots while I can I'm going to try to make it to see GZA tomorrow and the Alkaline Trio on Tuesday. Wish me luck.

Quickly, last night I attended the wedding of a good friend from college and then went straight to my 10-year high school reunion at the Wonder Ballroom. The wedding was great, a lot of fun to see some old college peeps I hadn't seen in a bit. The reunion was much more fun than I'd anticipated... I was only handed 2 business cards throughout the evening. Mostly the people that had been lame probably still are but were nice enough last night and I don't have to deal with them daily anymore. Only one or two people had ballooned and thank god for nametags! I got back in touch with one of my two best friends from that era and he's living in the mission district in SF so it sounds like we'll be hanging tough again, if only we could get the third there, Los Tres Jugadores could ride again! All-in-all it was a night I wasn't entirely looking forward to but it turned out to be not so bad.

Lots to do now. Checklists to make (and subsequently complete), packing, moving, storing, working, riding, golfing...

cheers,
a

A Quick and Nimble Update:

2008-07-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

There shouldn't be any of you who don't already know this, most of it anyhow. In any case I just thought I'd try to be a bit more active on updating this thing so I'll start with what's relevant and recent that I have yet to share on the interwebs.

I'm moving to San Francisco after 28 years in the Pacific Northwest. I love Portland to death, chances are I may end up here again but, for the time being, I need a change of scenery. My friends are the best in the world and I love them even more than I love where I'm from. What pains me most about my decision to leave is fretting about finding people in a new city of equal quality and sincerity as the people I associate myself with here. I've some amazing friends already in San Francisco that I very much look forward to furthering my relationships with which should alleviate some of the worry.

I've accepted a job already for a different footwear company (go figure). Had you told me 10 years ago that I'd be working for Birkenstock I may have taken a swing at your junk. As it stands I'm very much looking forward to getting there and taking on this challenge, working for a new company though I was admittedly a little bummed that there are no adidas jobs in the bay area.

My last time in San Francisco I had my bag stolen which contained my passport, checkbook, ipod, and camera. Thus far I've replaced the bag and reported the passport and checkbook as stolen. Today I purchased a new camera which I'm stoked on and which will help to keep me up to date on keeping you all up to date. I also recently bought my first laptop, a macbook, which should also do the trick.

I entertained creating a new blog to document my move, perhaps pdxtosf.blogspot.com isn't already taken? Good idea, bad idea? Should I just keep it all here? Either way I'd like to change a bit about the layout. Not too sure why I'm sharing this but hey, whatevs.

Hope this doesn't come as news to too many. I'll be in touch more often in the coming weeks. Tell your friends, buy me going away presents, finally tell me all the shit you've wanted to tell me off about for years! Thank you to everyone who's been supportive in helping me make this decision. Thanks especially to my friends in SF who have lent me advice, encouragement, leads, and places to stay. Anyone else with suggestions or advice, please shoot me an e-mail or a comment.
cheers,
a

The Shoe Whore Chronicles Volume 5:

2008-05-05T22:27:00.001-07:00

It's been a while, whoops. Really I've had quite a bit going on as of late, more on that later, 'I promise'. I've got some shoe pics to share, which I know you're probably stoked to see. "Finally," you say, "I've been waiting for these for two months!" Well, lets get to it. Here are a few new pair of kicks I've been sporting lately. Eventually, I imagine, there'll be fewer of "The Three Stripes" in these photos, more on that later too. Until then:

And there shall be more! Enjoy
a-

Speaking of Stylish Shoes...:

2008-02-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

My horoscope in the Oregonian today read:
"Sense and sensibility are not always the answer. Put your sensible shoes away and try wearing the stylish ones that make you feel like a king."

Been a while since the last shoe-whore update hasn't it? Alright, it'll be here soon.
a

Down for a Chuckle?:

2008-01-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

Tyler Boeh was a great friend of mine growing up. Elementary School through College. I kissed my first girl at a dance party at his house that he and his twin sister Katie hosted. Those parties were good times. Tyler is the busiest person I've ever known. He's an accomplished break dancer, he was solely responsible for our high school wrestling teams' accomplishments, he's involved in his church leading youth groups and the like, he did theatre and improv comedy in college, and we spent many-a-day together on the in-line skates, the trampoline, and on the mountain. I'm sure I'm missing some of his other ventures in here, sorry Ty. Anyhow, he's since taken on a role as a stand-up comedian and I managed to find a few clips of his that I'd like to share. Enjoy:

There are 3 clips at this site:

And here's a longer clip to watch right here:

a-

Because remembering is hard:

2008-01-10T14:26:00.001-08:00

A dear friend recently had me read one of her friend's web postings about their favorite shows and albums of the last calendar year. Dude wrote very well and I felt almost inspired to write something similar until I remembered that I can't write that well, chit. I also found that I had trouble placing shows to the date on which I'd seen them. I DO remember seeing The Arcade Fire and The Hold Steady on back-to-back nights in May... that was incredible. Either way, I've decided to add an on-going list to the right over there -----> of the shows I see throughout 2008 so that, come year end, if my writing has progressed any I may be able to reflect a bit and come to some conclusions. I'll start with the 12/31/07-01/01/08 Wu-Tang show, adding as I see more. Cheers,
a

P.S. Found these gems from my NYE on-line yesterday. I guess I'll share:

A Very Wu-Tang New Years Eve:

2008-01-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I noticed that the infamous Wu-Tang Clan was scheduled to play at the Roseland Theatre on new years eve. Unbelievable, in Portland, OR? I made attempts to generate some interest amongst friends throughout the previous 8 weeks or so. A few expressed a desire to go but all were non-committal. At $40 a head, most said that they'd ring in the new year elsewhere.
For me, this was almost a no-brainer. I'd been dying to see the Wu for nearly 10 years. The last time I was in town and Wu-Tang was scheduled to play was in 1997 when they had been on tour with Rage Against The Machine. However, by the time the tour made it's way to Portland the Wu had been dismissed from their opening duties after they'd beaten the piss out of their road manager. The Roots ended up opening that show which I was none too upset about as I was a bigger Roots fan than I was a Wu-Tang fan at the time.
Soon after I found out about the show I ran into Mike Thrasher at The Nightlight while catching a few beers with some friends. I had to thank him in advance for what promised to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He regaled the table with a story about the first time he promoted a Wu-Tang show. The gist of the story was that he'd flown to Utah to meet them at the show and he paid them in cash to the tune of 10k in a van in an alleyway in Salt Lake City. Not-altogether surprising but entertaining nonetheless.
This year I'd missed my opportunity to purchase a ticket before they sold out. Yea, I totally blew it. Thank god I grew up here, having made a few connects in the music biz. Hutch saved my night, thanks for the hook, I owe you some kicks. I arrived at the show with the impression that I was to meet up with Hutch and he'd walk me in. There were kids in line circling most of the downtown city block on which The Roseland sits. Cops everywhere, the energy in the crowd was less than calm. I ran into Crystal who was patiently waiting in line with no ticket. Somehow, she said, she was going to make it in. I left her to wait in line a few minutes while I took a peek out back to see if I could find Hutch who was rumored to have been there already. By the time the doors opened and the line dissipated into nothing I found myself still outside, freezing. I waited for close to half-an-hour before I nutted up and sent Hutch a text telling him that I was out back and that it was cool if it was too late. Immediately I received word from him that I'd been on the list the entire time.
***Side note: on my way into the show I saw Mike Thrasher exit the venue with a metal briefcase. "Not quite like settling-up in an alleyway in Utah, huh?" I said. He stopped and we bs'd for a few minutes during which time he told me that he'd heard from Hutch that the Wu settled up with him in a bathroom in Seattle the night before, this time to the tune of 40k. Unreal, Hutch later told me that he had to count out $100 bills on a toilet!***
Once I'd made my way through security I went into the bar on the main floor, apart from the venue, where I found Crystal, still with no ticket. I went to see if I was allowed any guests with my name on the list, which I was not. The nice woman with the list cheerily added Crystal as my +1. Somehow, Crystal's prophecy had come true.
After a drink in the bar and waiting out 3 of the 4 opening acts, we made our way upstairs to check out Portland's own Cool Nutz! The energy in both the bar and the venue was... on edge? uncomfortable? Not quite sure how to put it. Hip-hop show, new years eve, booze, plain-clothed police. and neither Crystal or I were drinking. The creeps were out en masse. Drunk dudes taking up-skirt photos, fights, you get the idea.
Then the Wu-Tang Clan hit the stage amidst a crowd chanting "Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothin' to fuck wit!" All negativity in the room disappeared in this instant. Now, I'd been told by a few friends not to expect much out of the performance, that it's just too many people (8) with mics. ALL FALSE! ODB and Bobby Digital (RZA) were not in attendance, though I'm not sure what the hell RZA's excuse was. ODB's absence is excusable, considering...
Method Man was incredible, leading the pack. Ghostface Killah, whom I was anticipating seeing the most, was "on-point" when he had a mic in his hand. Otherwise he regrettably faded into an afterthought. I was most impressed with Inspectah Deck, whom I recognized from photos of the group but was unaware that he'd been responsible for many of my favorite rhymes.
Somehow the cops ignored incessant blunt-smoking on the part of the Wu-Tang and the show went off so well. Absolutely incredible. By far my favorite show of 2007/2008. Enjoy a few bad photo's:

Art:

2007-12-31T00:04:00.000-08:00

My collection has been growing lately:
Cheyenne Sawyer:

Scott Sinclair:

Shepard Fairey:

Dave Kinsey:

Mike King:

David Choe:

Chinese propaganda replicas:

Band screen prints:

That's a Wrap:

2007-10-29T11:04:00.001-07:00

I was supposed to have done this almost two months ago, my apologies to those who'd been looking forward to it. It all started here. From there it went here. I'm happy to complete the tri-fecta, finally with this little ditty I put together this morning whilst at home sick as a dog. Hope you enjoy.

Returning:

2007-10-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

For the last month or so I've been without a working monitor. Without the scratch or desire to search for a new one I'd been waiting in the wings for someone to come through. Leave it to the one person I know who thrives on pressure situations to locate the replacement monitor. Ole Long Noodle hooked me up, thanks man.
I've been a few places since the last post. I've been to California, played some golf, saw some artists paint, went to see a play (twice), all-the-while working two jobs as I've taken on a part-time position at the Portland Rock Gym. Rather than write separate posts about each of these, I thought I'd share some photos of them all... (p.s... still working on a shoe video as well.)
Middle September took me to Southern California to a cousin's wedding. While in the area I managed to play golf at Lake Casitas again and to hang with a good friend from work in the heart of Los Angeles. Oh, and I saw an 80 foot Blue Whale on the beach in Ventura. See below:

Once back in Portland I took a half-day at work and went to see David Choe and Saber paint at Upper Playground. Their contribution to the shop is this gun shooting a spider. On the way there and on the way home I snapped a couple of pics of pieces done by Herbert Baglione who was supposed to be painting with Choe and Sabre but he'd been deported back to Brazil. Enjoy:

I've been to see Aesop Rock again, just a few nights ago. The show was killer, better than the Music Fest Northwest performance. Black Moth Super Rainbow was very entertaining, their set was synced with video of Richard Simmons dancing with a troupe. I don't have any pictures of that experience though I thought I'd share regardless.
Two weeks ago I became the proud parent of a Shepard Fairey print. I'd been wanting a numbered and signed print of his for years. Somehow I managed to score this one from a generous fellow from work who had something to do with the collaboration Shepard did with adidas for this piece. Dilema: this guy has hooked me up in the past and I'd love to repay the favor somehow but he's that guy that apparently already has everything. How do you thank someone in that position? I dropped the print off at the frame shop today to be picked up in a month. Here it is:

Isn't it radical?
I enjoyed this, perhaps I'll try to keep up on it a bit more often. Thanks again to Justin for making it possible. Big plans for some art and travel soon. Check back every so often...
cheers,
a

Kicks Rule Everything Around Me:

2007-09-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

Bend, Boone, Graffitti:

2007-09-04T23:46:00.000-07:00

Yo. All hail Yogi for taking some free time to revive my computer from the download demons. Fuck yea Richard!

I went to Mt. Bachelor a few weeks back to play in a disc golf tournament. I only took a few pictures because, as it were, I spent more time playing disc golf than many of my competitors. That is to say... I threw more frisbees than many of them during tournament play. I hate to bitch about courses that seem to me unfair because I think people just don't want to hear it, but damn. I managed to remain positive despite the solo drive to and fro and the poor play by yours truly.
The Bowdski was nice enough to share his camper trailer with Skittles and I. Aside from a wicked burrito fart by the Pop-Tart-pillow-toting friend the three of us had a blast and that trailer is killer, I'm envious.
Anyhow, enjoy the few pictures I took from the weekend.

Last Saturday I played Milo McIver State Park's Riverbend Disc Golf Course with Justin, Munk, Keith, Hagerty, Jay, Boojum, and Boone. Boojum and Boone being the K9's in the group. Boone provided the only photo-op of the trip when he appeared from off the fairway in the trees with this deer leg in his mouth.

And, although a bit out of turn chronologically, I spotted some art near my home before I left for Bend.

New Jam:

2007-08-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

Been away for a while. Computer is down currently... bummed. Had a cat die via car tire recently while I was out throwin' discs. Working on trying to find a second job. Otherwise I'm eagerly anticipating the new Aesop Rock record out next Tuesday, thinking I'll be purchasing this one on wax and cd. Until then, peep the title track video. Artwork compliments of Mr. Fish.

Sorry Mom:

2007-07-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

Note it's THE SHOE that wants to be in focus. These things have a mind of their own. Yes, that's wood grain.

Open Up and Wail:

2007-07-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night I went to see Chuck Ragan play a set at the Hawthorne Theatre. I'd made friends with Chuck a few years ago when he was the driving force behind Hot Water Music . We've stayed in touch and occasionally we've sent each other treats in the mail. Since Hot Water Music broke up Chuck has been pursuing a solo acoustic/bluegrass/folk project. He's released a live record Los Feliz and he's put out a series of 7" records on No Idea . Chuck hooked me up that night with an armfull of stuff to take home including an additional 7" record, a ticket to the show and an advance copy of his new full-length record "Feast or Famine" due out 08/07/07. Here's a video someone put together of a track off of the live record.

Once Youtube pulls their head outta their ass I'll post one I made with a new track on it. Until then... check out a song or two from that new record here .
Cheers,
a

Gonzo:

2007-07-18T14:47:00.001-07:00

Tired of looking at much of the boring crap up at my desk at work, I asked a nice dude in marketing to send me a couple head shots of Mark Gonzalez . I thought I'd paint something I liked a little better. Not too sure why I went with the American flag, I think initially I wanted to paint it upside down. Either way, after learning a few lessons about spray paint and cup-o-noodles I was able to piece this thing together. I was also able to use the first stencil I'd ever cut (the Jay Adams kid from Lords of Dogtown). Enjoy a shot of the painting and a shot of it at my desk.

The Shoe Whore Chronicles Volume 4.1:

2007-07-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

I had to. Really.

And these were a "thank you" gift from a co-worker. Shit yes!

The Shoe Whore Chronicles Volume 4:

2007-07-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

I've tried with relative success to shy away from purchasing new kicks in recent weeks. Somehow I can't shake the feeling that I NEED a new pair every once in a while. Two of the three pair I'll share with you today were not purchased, one of them was. Had I a better camera the close-up of the high-top would be a little more in focus, oh well, you get the idea.
Pair one I bought at the employee store just the other day (like I said I felt like I needed them). I took Yogi, Kever-dog (World Wide), and Party Boy with me. Actually Skittles came too but only bought some sox.
The second pair are cream colored patent leather with baby blue stripes. They're brand new but about 3 years old.
The last pair, the high-tops, are a tribute to the Chinese "Year of the Boar." They feature a squinty-eyed pig playing ping-pong... I've had a hard time deciding if that's in poor taste or not. The grey on these shoes is sweatshirt material and the white stripes are also patent leather. We'll see how well I keep away from buying kicks for the rest of the summer...

Temporary Housing:

2007-06-29T15:35:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I went to Jace Gace to get a birthday waffle for a friend. Cheyenne was there taking down his show. Somehow I went home with "Forgiveness" and "Disease," the deer and skull paintings, respectively. I can't say that I'm the proud owner but I'm certainly the proud surrogate parent for an indefinite time period. Nice.
a

Unresolved:

2007-06-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I ventured to the Twilight Room (T-Room) on N. Lombard with a few co-workers for some chicken wraps and lunchtime Pabst. Whilst there I received a text message from a phone number I didn't recognize, that is to say a number I don't have stored in the phone. Normally one would be quick to reply to say something along the lines of "Sorry, wrong number." Given the content of the message, however, I played along for what turned out to be a two-day message fest that has yet to play itself out. Perhaps it will, perhaps it won't. Either way I thought I'd share the messages and my subsequent responses. Enjoy:
Thursday, Noon.

Message sender: "The treasure is buried in the NW section, just under Grandma's roses. Keep it a secret."

Me: "NW section of what?"

Message sender: "Backyard, silly."

Me: "What backyard?"

Message sender: "In the sellwood house."

Me: "Oh, right."

Message sender: "Where Umatilla and 8th converge is NW."
Message sender: "Ooops... SW, sorry."

Me: "I'm sorry, I don't know who the hell you are."

At this point the co-workers I had been eating with were privy to the situation. One of them thought they'd call the number from their phone. The sender failed to answer but what we heard on the message machine was a woman's voice that said, "Hi, leave a message." Damn it, no name. I then returned to work, finished my day and headed home. Sharing the story with a few peers made for a fun story. All of them convinced me to try to call again, which I did, to no avail. At this point I wrote it off as pure coincidence.
The next day, Friday, while out to lunch again I received another message from the same phone number.
Friday, noon.

Message sender: "Find the treasure?"

Me: "No, no time to look." (Returning their message as I drive to Albany after work, I try to call again... nothing).

Message sender: "You musn't call until we have the treasure. Jasper will get suspicious. You know how pirates are."
Message sender: "Please do your best not to disturb the roses."

Me: "Haven't we been over the fact that I still have no clue who you are?"

Message sender: "Give me something to chew on, here. Have you the dubloons ?"

Me: "No."

Message sender: "U REALLY don't know me? Not being funny?"

Me: "No I don't."

Message sender: "UR a boy, yes?"

Me: "I have those parts, yes."

Message sender: "Me girlie, rmembr?"

Me: "Sorry, no.?
Me: "Painter? Banker?" (Both of which were guesses of different women I'd met at Cheyenne's art opening, the only time I recall also meeting a kid named Jasper).

That seems to be where it's stopped. I've received no more messages. Yogi had me convinced that it was a buddy pulling a prank (I can welcome that, very creative). I'm not sure what to make of it but it certainly has been entertaining. I'll keep you all posted should this come to develop any further.
-a

Are You Down?:

2007-06-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

I believe I mentioned in my initial post here how fond of all my friends' artwork I am. One of the most talented painters I know who in the last few years has become a very dear friend, I also trust to tattoo me when I can get squeezed in. Cheyenne Sawyer works primarily as a tattoo artist at Oddball Studios . He's been featured in magazines across the country and last summer he tattooed for a bit at the Sturgis Bike Ralley .
On Thursday night he had an opening at Jace Gace, a new restaurant specializing in Art, Waffles, and Beer. I believe it was the opening of the restaurant as well. Please, if you have a few minutes to spare and are fixing for some good waffles, go check it out. 2045 SE Belmont. The art is being displayed for three weeks and Cheyenne will be continually working on a large instillation. The instillation, and much of the art is done on cardboard. Each piece of the instillation (each piece of cardboard) will be sold individually. Inquire about prices at Jace Gace. Here are a few sneak peaks... enjoy.

Remember these photos do no justice to the quality of work, I know they're too dark. That's why you gotta go check it out for yourself, please.
a

The Shoe Whore Chronicles Volume 3:

2007-06-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

I bailed out of the myspace craze a couple of weeks ago. It'd become more of an e-mail account for me and for some reason everytime I heard someone say "myspace" I cringed a little bit. If you have an event you want me at, call me. If you have no other way of getting ahold of me then it sounds like you're out of luck and we probably weren't that great of friends to begin with. So, let's hope this means I've more time to keep this spot a bit more up-to-date.

On to the shoes...

Found those Vans at The Office skate shop on E Burnside and 22nd. They always seem to have a fresh selection of bitchin shoes there. It's hard to top a classic such as some old school Vans.
Pair numero 2 are super skates I picked up at the employee store.
The third ones are Stan Smith Skates that dropped sometime last year. These were given to me by a dear friend who understood my longing for them. Each shoe has a different city-scape of San Francisco on them.
Adidas has been making some slip-ons I like lately. Those green ones are a slip-on version of the super skates above them. There are some Mark Gonzalez slip-ons coming soon that I'll probably rock all summer.
And I bought these running shoes thinking I might start using them... who knows.
And, finally, ZXZ+LEA. These last ones are incredible, a great ice breaker if you're looking to meet new people. I've had people tell me it looks like I've puked on my feet, and like I've been playing with Crayola's. There's another colorway in these available at the Adidas Heritage Store in the Pearl. I'm debating.
More soon.
a

p.s. Oh yeah, though I don't have my own photo of them yet I managed to pick up yet another colorway of these...

I'll let you determine whether or not you want to believe me.

Uno Mas:

2007-05-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

The same folk that pieced together the first video seem to have been at it again.
Worry not, more shoes on the way soon... very soon. Sorry for the absence.

Graffiti Hunting:

2007-04-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

No more than three weeks ago while walking to Rotture, Yogi and I noticed some work by The London Police near the entrance of the club. Knowing that Chaz from The London Police had been here in December with a few other artists for the "geezers" show at The Wonder Ballroom with the Dandy Warhols, I was curious to know if anyone else had thrown up anything else in the area. Today after work I set out to hunt some graffiti near the Burnside skatepark. Below is a little of what I found:

Here's the London Police piece in its entirety.

Here are three wheat-pastes I found on a door of the old building that used to house Diesel Fuel Prints. You can't really tell since his arm has been painted over bit the dude in the mask is holding an exacto knife in one hand and a spray paint can in the other hand. Wheat pasting materials are strung on his back.

Saw this little guy again:

A couple of one-color stencils:

A nerd next to a... well, you tell me. Maybe Skittles pal, Oregarus will know, he's always looking for these guys, wonder if he's seen this one by the (operational) train tracks near SE Stark.

And, finally, I found a simple tag that I thought Skittles himself would enjoy.

Though I didn't find any more work by the London Police or any of the other geezers that were here (Sam Flores, David Choe, Galo, or Jeremy Fish) I was fairly stoked on my walk. Now you get to see it from the comfort of your bedroom, office, or from work.
Cheers,
a

Peep This

2007-04-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back a couple of friends opened a new bar on SE 56th and Foster, The Slingshot Lounge. You can check out a quick review of it here . When my friend Eric mentioned that he was going to be opening a new spot it happened to immediately follow a conversation that he'd overheard me having with another friend about my new interest in street art. He approached me and said something to the effect of "make me a stencil of a slingshot, I'll buy it from you." I guess I had just been comissioned though the interaction was rather informal. I've pictured this particular painting here before but on the opening night of the bar I got to see it proudly displayed on someone else's wall. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me to document the mass amounts of people that turned up for the evening. The painting hangs on the wall above the pinball machines and jukebox and is one of the first few things you'll see should you ever venture to have a few at this great establishment. Perhaps its the kind of arrogance or conceit that can only arise from being raised as a *mostly* only child, but seeing the art on the wall and hearing people talk about liking it was fucking awesome. I had friends and acquaintances approach me to say hello that evening, mentioning to me how cool the bar is and how radical they thought the painting to be (for the time being it's one of only two pieces of art that adorn the walls). "Thanks, I appreciate it," I'd reply. Two of these friends looked puzzled, not knowing that I was responsible for that particular painting. That was most certainly the best experience of the evening for me. A few nights ago I returned with my camera and snapped a few pics. Eric and Mercedes painted a black rectangle behind the canvas, framing it out perfectly. Go there, get drunk.

Cheers,
a

Well, Well, Well:

2007-03-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

I found this on you tube today after a prompt in an e-mail. I have a vested interest in what's depicted in this little film. I hope you like it:

A Quick Jaunt:

2007-02-26T17:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, against my better judgement, I decided not to play disc golf. With a huge tournament looming over my head this week in Arizona I should have been practicing. I chalked up my decision to a needed sanity break and a general avoidance of the poor weather, something I will not be experiencing in Phoenix in two days.

After an entertaining breakefast with Sperpis and Skittles I decided to go for a walk. Though some people walk without aim or purpose I decided on a destination, Kamp Grizzly. From my front door, as I learned later, it is approximately 6 miles to Kamp. What follows are some pictures I took along the way. Enjoy.

This first pic is of a gradually more pixelated stencil of Clint Eastwood on the side of some delivery truck:

Two blocks later I came across this two-tone Canada Goose (yes, that's right... Canada not Canadian, they're named after a person:
Or is that just a Mallard?

As I walked up and over the train tracks this train came by. I barely got my camera out in time to snap this photo which is blurry and depressing. The train was loaded with wood headed south. All of the wood on the train bore a stamp that read: Mt. Hood. I assume this is either to have all come from Mt. Hood or its from a company with the same name. Never mind the homeless gentleman sleeping beneath the pink cardbord. Either way it seemed a waste:

Just as I was about to cross the Hawthorne Bridge I saw this one on a rock below the Bridge on the East Side. Not sure who this is. Anyone, anyone?

This suicide notice adorns the East Side of the Hawthorne Bridge:

Once I made it downtown I remembered an old wives' tale I was told as a child about a statue in the South Park Blocks. Though it's superstition I remember it with some fondness and I found that returning to see it was endearing. The statue is of Abraham Lincoln. The superstition holds that if you place a penny in the cupped hand of the statue, you'll receive good luck. As a kid I remember climbing onto the statue to do this. Yesterday I was able to reach the hand from the ground, guess its been a while. I was a bit surprised not to find any pennies already in his hand, though, at the same time, I felt like it was my secret to share. I left a few pennies:

Then I back tracked a bit to Pioneer Courthouse Square . Each brick in the square is adorned with an individual or a couple's name. My folks purchased a brick for me with my name on it soon after I was born. I had a vague recollection of where in the square it was located- the help desk with pinpoint location technology was closed. Sunday is lame for that reason. Nonetheless I was able to find my brick within minutes of looking. It's nice to finally have a photo of this. For nostalgic reasons I still intend to get a rubbing of it framed, perhaps when it's not raining.

That's the last of the photos I managed to take. From there I walked up to Counter Media, a cool independent bookstore that specializes in the not-so-normal. There I picked up a back issue of Juxtapoz that's focused on street art.

I stopped again at the Adidas Heritage store in the Pearl District to look at shoes. Then, 15 short blocks later I was at Kamp. What a sweet walk, I'm still patting myself on the back. I hope to do this again, taking different routes each time. The walk itself was nothing. Next time, maybe you'll join me.
Cheers,
a

The Announcement:

2007-02-26T17:49:00.000-08:00

Last week I scored the full-time job I'd been waiting 6 months to get. I'm being paid more than ever and the benefits made my folks jealous. Awesome, I'm stoked. Be happy for me, I deserved it.

Din Din:

2007-02-13T22:37:00.000-08:00

My birthday is coming up. There are two restaurants I want to go to, never been to either of them. Portland City Grill for the view, and Genoa because its down the street from the crib. It may be worth noting at this point that Genoa was the place of my parents marriage some 28 years ago, though they celebrate the anniversary of their moving in together more so than the marriage date. Do you want to take me to either of them? I'll be fresh out of Arizona on my birthday so I'll be rockin a sweet tan, looking better than eva. Come on...
a

Big Treats:

2007-01-30T18:49:00.000-08:00

The 24-hour period between 7:00pm on Sunday night and 7:00 pm on Monday night was arguably the coolest day of the year pour moi:
The parents called earlier in the week to tell me that there was a package at their house for me, something a family friend had sent specifically for me. This person, though I've known her for nearly 20 years (holy shit!), she really doesn't know that much about me. She knows I was a brat as a child, and she knows that as an adult my most significant hobby is disc golf. I've seen her quite a few times over the last few years, she stays with my folks when she's in town visiting and when she's not working as a carpenter in Antarctica. That's what I know about her. That and that she worked with my mother at a bookstore years ago. What I know about Antarctica and where she works at the South Pole is that there's a 9-hole course there. Fucking... awesome!!! I knew it had to be disc golf related. Somehow I didn't even think it would bee this incredible.
She had sent me this amazing custom stamped waterbottle:

This mini-embroidered disc bag:

And these three custom-stamped Antarctice Disc Golf discs. To those of you who know about them...150 DX Innova Beast, 177 DX Innova Roc, and a 174 DX Innova Aviar:

I preach below about how I love shoes and how they're meant to be worn in much the same fashion that records are supposed to be played. These discs will never be thrown. I consider them decoration at this point. Damn it, what a sweet gift, how thoughtful.
The next morning my boss's, boss's, boss made a point to stop by my desk to tell me how he had kept hearing how great I'd been about being productive and adaptive. For a joe trying to score a full time job at the "Best Place To Work," according to Portland Monthly, this was a good-damn-thing. Yes.
Only minutes later I was informed by a co-worker, who also happens to be Yogi's cousin that she had scored Yogi and I tickets to see the Blazers/Nuggets game this Wednesday. I'd been asking her to hook us up with these tickets for nearly two months. Yogi's stoked, he wants another headband from Carmello Anthony. I want to be on Sportscenter. Wish us luck. The day just keeps getting better...
Around noon I phoned a friend I had recently house-sat for. He thanked me again for staying and taking the dog to go play disc golf. I was offered any number of treats but I hadn't any need for them. I asked about the one necessity I was without on the course... sunglasses. I realized that somehwere at the last of the summer tournaments I had played I must have left my specs behind. "I'll see what I can do," he said... Today I was given these:

Score.
Immediately following work I rendevouzed with a dear friend, Noah Levine. Noah is a Buddhist teacher, a counselor, and an educated man. He is somewhat well known for the penmanship of a personal memoir, Dharma Punx . He occasionally tours the country and leads retreats, reads from his book, and leads discussion groups and guided meditation. We had coffee and I sat for his lecture. After his lecture and before we headed over to Dots for dinner he gave me this:

An uncorrected proof of his new book set to hit shelves in mid-May. He honored my request to autograph it immediately. I inted to read it first, then shelve it except to show-off. Let me know if I can order you a copy, I know a sweet place to buy books. Thanks Noah! I'll try to hook up those kicks soon.
Just before heading to bed I scored a copy of a new record I've been wanting to hear. All day today I listened to said record on a gift my friend Cheyenne gave to me:

If you look closely you can catch a sneak peek at another stencil piece I've been working on. Though I wasn't given this gift yesterday I really didn't start using it until yesterday so I thought I'd include it here.
What a great day. I am greatful. May good days not always have material implications. Yesterday, that's how it went down.
-a

The Shoe Whore Chronicles Volume 2:

2007-01-30T18:12:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the delay. I took some unsightly photos of some of the shoes I wanted to talk about. Given that the photos were decidedly gross enough to leave off of the internet I chose to wait until there were a few worth looking at. So many of the kicks I own, you see, are on my feet so often its A)sometimes difficult to take the photo and B) that they end up on my feet while playing outdoors and they end up a bit mud-caked this time of year. I'm under the impression that shoes are meant to be worn. In a discussion I had a few years ago with a dear friend concerning another current collection, records, he explained that he thought that owning a record collection and owning rare records is neat, but that no matter how rare the record... its meant to be played. I think that applies here as well. I have one pair of shoes I have never worn. There's a good story to accompany them. I imagine I'll save that story and photo session for last...
I've got a handfull of new pics to share. I've picked up about half of these pairs within the last month.
These were a catalog order. For: Yours Truly From: Yours Truly

These are a staple for workday's:

A pair of size 12.5's I'd like to see my old man wearing at all the soccer games he attends at his alma mater:

Some fresh disc golf sneaks I scored as a thank you gift:

And, well, a few more colorways:

I've just ordered a few pair for friends at the tattoo shop. If I get lucky and am patient enough to take and share photo's with y'all I will be sure to share them. They should be showing up early next week.
-a

Gems:

2007-01-08T23:17:00.000-08:00

A few childhood memories I found. The first and last one I must claim responsibility for. For some reason I felt like humiliating myself today... Cheers!

Art, Music, Chickens and More Art:

2006-12-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

So damn busy lately. I'm going to lay it all out here, grammatically correct or not.
Two weeks ago I helped a few friends film an event that featured The Dandy Warhols playing a live set for just about two hours. Also at this event were 5 fairly dope artists: David Choe, Jeremy Fish, Sam Flores, Galo, and the London Police. All 5 artists were working collectively on 6 10x8 foot canvases. When I wasn't too busy running video tape and batteries to the fellers with the cameras I was watching the artists- music and paint alike- do their thing (and maybe I got caught chatting up the bartender as well). Having grown up in Portland I was just as astounded as you might be that I had never paid any attention to The Dandy Warhols. And, to be honest, I had never heard of any of the 5 artists that were flown in to paint and illustrate until maybe a week prior when Yogi told me about Jeremy Fish. I went and copped the newest Juxtapoz that featured Mr. Fish's artwork. Yogi mentioned that he'd been a fan for days.
Immediately following the event, during clean-up, I approached Mr. Fish and told him my story about Yogi having been a fan. Pride swallowing moments later I asked if he was going to be attending the after party and, if so, could he be persueded to draw a little "Merry Christmas" card for Yogi. "For sure, I'd love to," he says. When i saw him at the after party I realized what a nerd I had become in this moment and I tried to back out saying something to the effect of 'You know what man, I'm not even going to bother you for that drawing, you must be tired....blah." Mr. Fish replied, "No way, I'm into it, go grab a piece of paper." So I did.
Let me back track a minute only to mention the stealth with which we pulled this off- Yogi was also helping the boys of Kamp Grizzly film this event and he was sitting around the corner!
So, I grab the paper give it to Jeremy Fish. He politely requests that, as payment, I pick up a Stella for him. No problem. After standing in line for a couple of minutes, impatiently watching the corner around which Yogi was seated I returned to Mr. Fish's table. What a stand-up guy, willing to draw a "Merry Christmas" card for Yogi. He had just finished when I returned...
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!?!?" Almost MORE amazing that writing "Merry Christmas." I didn't utter a word aside from a very gracious "Thank You" as I handed him his beer. Please check out Jeremy Fish's website here. Last week, a few days before Christmas I wrapped the gift, framed and all, behind Yogi while he was playing vids. He had that thing opened within minutes of it being wrapped. He was stoked.
Also, for a more detailed description of the event check out Whiteteeth's Photoblog.

Next story:
There's no hiding the fact that Skittles and chickens are quite fond of one another. So much so that for two weeks in a row Skittles has become the wild chicken charmer at Milo McIver State Park, minus the wind-pipe. Here's a few pics to prove it... congratulate him if you get the chance, he only talked about eating one.
The last snippet:
Late last week I was sitting at the Bonfirewhere a friend of mine, Eric, works. Somehow we got to talking about the stencil work that I've been doing. "Hey, do a stencil of a Slingshot for me, I'll buy it from you," he said in passing. As I came to find out only seconds later, Eric and his wife, Mercedes, are opening a bar on SE Foster in a few months, to be called The Slingshot Lounge. Mercedes also happens to be a friend so my wheels immediately began to turn. Today I present this as a finished product... I had to ressurect it a few times as it almost became my new slingshot target. Please let me know what you think, I'd like the feedback.
I'm not quite sure what to charge for it. Materials cost just over 75 bucks to create this monster... any suggestions? Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure it out. Its 36 inches wide by 18 inches tall. Really it can be hung length-wise as well, suppose its a matter of preference at that point.
Sorry for the delay in posts. Looking forward to The Shoe Whore Chronicles Volume 2? Me too, just waiting on Mr. Mailman to deliver some new goodies...
-a

The Shoe Whore Chronicles Volume 1:

2006-12-12T18:59:00.000-08:00

It came to my attention recently, thanks to a minimalist friend, that I've developed a bit of an affinity for shoes. Consider it either fortunate or unfortunate that I happen to work for a prominent footwear company. Coincidentally my previous job was also with a Ski/Snowboard company who also manufactures shoes.
This friend has always given me a bit of a hard time about the number of pair of shoes I own (he worries so little about how RAD each pair is!). One evening as we scheme to make a million dollars one way or another we somehow drift back to poking fun at Dude, as is so often the case, and his love for shoes. It was then that we started to count, once and for all. Between the living room closet, the space underneath the coffee table, the foyer, the trunk of the car, the bedroom closet and the space underneath the bed we counted... well, quite a few pair. Enough so's that it was suggested that I post a photo of one pair per day here for the entire month of December. You must understand that this conversation took place nearly a month ago. Since that time the idea has fallen by the wayside which may or may not be related to the increasing number of shoes that have found their way into my life. Perhaps I may be able to account for a pair-per-day for the next two months, perhaps not... who's counting.
To appease this gentleman I've decided to start this "Shoe Whore" chronicle and post a few photos of some of the amazing shoes I've accrued since the last time I saw said friend. Here's one that showed up in the mail yesterday... (by the way, can you guess which shoe company I work for?)

Here's one that a generous fellow at work kicked down. My first pair of Superstars.

Let me interject at this time that this fellow, and some of his fellows and fellowettes have been the beneficiaries of some generous kickdowns as well. I just acted as the middleman, or filter, on those ones.
Today I somehow ended up with five pair of shoes that don't even fit me. Apparently I even like women's shoes. Peep these while you're here...

So, I might keep all of these (the one's that don't fit) and I might not. If you're a mens size 9 or a woman with a size 7 foot you need to start buying me dinner and drinks.
This isn't the last you've heard from the Shoe Whore Chronicles... check back for more soon. Ciao,
-A

Never Too Young:

2006-11-30T21:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this one will be even shorter.
My mother caught wind of this stencil thing I've gotten myself into. I sent her a couple of photos to peep at home. She loved them. In fact, she even asked me if I would be willing to make/paint one for her to display in her bookstore! Immediately I was honored and thought how neat an opportunity to make momma proud. THEN, after the comma in her question, she said something to the effect of "I need some artwork to put up in the bathroom." Really? She wants to display her only son's art in the BATHROOM? I had to think about this one. Though still honored to have some art displayed somewhere, I was a bit bummed at the locale. 'How can I come up with something that she will like, all-the-while being a bit spiteful at her choice of location?'
I did it.
I came up with the greatest idea ever.
It's hilarious.
I'm awesome.
It's called... you guessed it, "Never Too Young."
Enjoy...

I'm hoping to have some work up someplace within the next few months. Hopefully I can contain my excitement and not share photos of everything I do so that there will be a few surprises for people to see when/if they go check em out.
-a

Progress:

2006-11-28T23:48:00.000-08:00

Pardon me if this is a bit on the short side. I've been really busy and this monitor is only seconds away from a classic toss out of the second story window.
Been working on developing the stencil skills lately. I found another tutorial on-line that I like quite a bit and this one has been instructing me on the process of creating multi-color stencils. The ones I initially posted are, of course, black and white. The ones that I've secretly been working on can be shaded and layered. Here is a quick (and not finished, mind you) example of what I'm talking about. This gentleman I've never met before, however, he has been instrumental in developing my disc golf game. He went by the name of Milo Mciver:

Aside from this recent development I had thought about using vinyl records as a canvas for the sprayed stencils. Ironically, the same day, I discovered that not only is someone else in Portland doing this... about 20 people in Portland are doing this. They get together once or twice (maybe) a year and display their stenciled records together. They go by the name Vinyl Killers. AND, I found out that the next one of their shows was set to take place at the Goodfoot on SE Belmont and 28th on Sunday, November 26th. Sorry I didn't get this updated soon enough, you all should have come with me, their art was amazing and certainly an inspiration. With any luck I can join their forces sometime before the next Vinyl Killers show in October 2007.
Below are a couple of stencil projects I've done within the last week. The skateboard deck was for a guy at work, that's his mug with a few trefoils surrounding it. It was a bit of a "thank you" for work-related goodies he had kicked down. The gold records are for Yogi who's love for Jay-Z might just rival my love for disc golf. Hope you enjoy them...

The Early Stages:

2006-11-21T00:08:00.000-08:00

During my recent stencil scavenge hunts I came to realize that this genre/realm, if you will, could be just the opportunity that I have sought to express some form of artsitic capability. I can't play music, though I bought an acoustic guitar at a pawn shop not too long ago thinking that I'd learn. I can't paint or draw, though in high school I took art classes and pretended that I could- that was a laughable experience.
All of my colleagues and acquaintances have something going for them in that department which is why I love them so much... its an unbelievable experience to be friends with so many talented people, you're constantly impressed. Be it music, graphic arts, clothing design, photography, crafting unimaginable devices from scrap with a soldering iron, web design, tattoo art etc... I never tire of being awestruck with amazement at the talent of all of these incredible people.
All of the work tracing and cutting stencils of other people's art for use on my disc golf discs prompted me to scour the interweb for tutorials on creating stencils from photographs. Without relative ease I was able to find a tutorial that worked for me. Below are a few of the very first attempts. I found myself in front of this computer while making these with a smitten-with-self grin and a lot more money in my pocket than had I been at the bar. Perhaps someday my friends will be as impressed with my art as I am with theirs...

More Show, Less Tell:

2006-11-14T20:00:00.000-08:00

Found some more of these around near SE Belmont and Se Hawthorne:

Honestly, I'm a bit bummed that I haven't run into anything larger since I've started this city wide search for stencil graffiti. I assume I'll have to be a little more pro-active, as opposed to hoping to stuble on some art on my way to the record store or the breakfast spot.
I've stored the remainder in a photo album here.

I also found this, which I am amazed that I hadn't already seen. Threw me for a loop there for a second. 'It's not sunny,' I thought, 'How can there be a shadow on the ground?'