"If one person didn't exist, Everyone's life would change." ~Katharine Kinkead, 19

Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything goes wrong to the point that logic points out that you should be overwhelmingly depressed, but somehow you find yourself in a decent mood? Well, as hard to believe as it is, I feel like I've been shit on enough this week to the point that I should be in an adolescent stage of grief (after all, I am nineteen), but somehow I've managed to keep pretty upbeat. Somehow I can still stare into the rain and not feel entirely alone because I can take note off the way the rain falls at a slant, making little quotation marks in the sidewalk's reflections of the city's lights. But it's not only the natural beauties that have kept my spirits up, it's my family and the way they've helped me grow.
Somewhere along the line I've learned to pick up on daily patterns, like a name that's been repeated multiple times over the course of weeks; like Thomas Friedman. I've heard the name in my core studio, my research studio, my politics class; I've seen the name on Wikipedia, on books covers, and in articles. But you see, there are two Tom Friedmans. One is Tom Friedman, the artist who graduated from the University of Chicago and was made famous for taking small items and making giant compositions from them. The other is Thomas L. Friedman, a journalist for the New York Times and author of Hot, Flat, and Crowded, a book on my list of readings for Politics. It's strange how both names relate to my life so strongly, even if it isn't a significant strength. But in seeing such a connection, I've managed to keep an eye out for the name, and tonight it proved to make more sense than ever.
While stumbling around the pages of nytimes.com I found a popular articles list with Thomas L. Friedman listed unexpectedly (I obviously never realized how popular he really was with the publication), and so I opened it. The post, entitled Where did 'We' Go, Tom (as I will call him when we are finally good friends) asserts the fact that at a time when our economy and our political system has developed an immense desire for our nation to be one, we are in fact the opposite. This is not only a worry for Tom, but also one of my worries. With the debate on healthcare reaching newer and greater levels, it has become evident to me that our nation really doesn't know how to come together and not only support our leader together, but also take care of one another. The right wing has been bashing Obama and many of his tactics unfairly, but the left has also ridiculed Bush to no end. As Tommy puts it, we cannot afford to destroy the legitimacy of another president. Regardless of whether we like him or not or believe in any of the plans tied to his name, we must support Obama in some way, and some of the "attacks" that Tommy talks of are exactly what we shouldn't be doing. Yes, there is a Facebook poll as to whether or not someone should kill Obama. But before you say "That's only a kid. That's not so bad." think about this: where do children get their ideas from? And this: do you really want children thinking violent thoughts about their president now?
As foolish as the article is, there are plenty of other incidents that allude to awful national sentiments, such as Joe Wilson's infamous "You lie!" at Obama's health care speech and a boundless amount of death threats. These instances are not American, they allow no we to be formed, and right now we need unity.
My mother can say that she remembers the day that President Kennedy was elected and you can see the emotion in her face when she says she will never forget the day he was assassinated. I remember the day President Obama was elected. I don't want to have to "never forget" his assassination. I look back on the day he was elected and, without fail, I always get goosebumps and foggy eyes. I was in Grant Park. From the moment I entered and saw the floods of people following to the moment I left and saw the "Yes we did" shirts being sold and people hanging out sunrooves whipping clothing above their heads I could feel the incredible sense of unity. Even though I didn't know everyone in that park that night, we all had something to relate to and we were all a part of history. That night there were no lies behind the "we". That night we were Americans united.

Thomas L. Friedman: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/opinion/30friedman.html?em

Wikipedia is our Friend

"There is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of intelligence."
~Robert G. Ingersoll

Ingersoll, a Civil War veteran and Illinois State attorney, never had his place in the political spotlight thanks to this belief. When others told him to run for office and conceal the fact that he was an agnostic he refused their pleas. Such a vigor for public truth is something that I wish to uphold in all my future publications. For now I am taking my own twist on the values that Ingersoll championed with an upcoming project entitled Folie à Deux. The presentation, named after a form of psychosis in which two people transfer delusions from one to the other, is my first of hopefully many magazines informing the public of current cultural and political issues that have multiple views to be looked at. Because I consider myself a member of the deluded public, I cannot formulate such strong opinions as Ingersoll, but I can supply a version of the truth for my fellow misinformed members of society and in the most comprehensible way possible. For my first booklet, if you will, I will be tackling the hard hitting topic of Health Care: Is ObamaCare right for US? With Congress currently on recess until early September there have been more than a few articles in the news for and against the plan that has been labelled as socialism. In my first edition of Folie à Deux I hope to conquer the following questions with as little bias and condescension as possible:

What exactly is ObamaCare?
What are the pros and cons of ObamaCare?
What is Socialism?
Is ObamaCare Socialism?
Is Socialism sustainable?

The layout for the project will be very simple in design and legibility will be a key factor in the entire printing process. The pages of the publication will not be flooded with words either, with only a few ideas on one page so as not to overwhelm the reader. The point is to get the truth out there in the simplest and most understandable way possible. In the end, it is the public's decision as to whether to support ObamaCare or not. Hopefully whatever "delusions" my audience experiences will be intelligent ones transferred to all of their acquaintances and the public may be properly and thoroughly informed without propaganda. It is a feat that may be near impossible, but I am willing to take a chance and withhold my opinion for a day until I have ALL the facts, and I hope my readers will, too.

When I rule the World I'm making Stephen Hawking my Manservant

With the amount of people living in our world today it's hard not to hate the race of life that technologies have created. Or, at least, I do. But as much as I would rather be sitting at a cafe in the French countryside writing some witty novella or a few poems, or maybe just contemplating how I managed to escape technology, I have finally caught on to the high-tech applications of my MacBook Pro. Not only have I learned how to upload a PDF and tinker (properly) with Adobe software all in the past week, but I've kind of gained an appreciation for the jerks that decided to make life that much more competitive.
While newer and stupider technologies sprout more than dandelions these days (cue the Segway), I do find that there are plenty of positives about innovations in science. For example, according to an article in Wired scientists are now one step closer to being able to create fake limbs that actually work with and for the brain, a fabulous invention for those poor victims of Shark Week. And then there's that kid in the UK who discovered how to decompose plastic in a SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT, a feat that once again proves the brilliance behind European school systems because in fifth grade I made a posterboard presentation about blood cells and used Microsoft Paint to put googly eyes on images of cells. But more impressive than the article itself is the source of the article: digg.com. Digg is a web community where people post worthy news articles and web junk and other members choose whether or not to "digg" them, a surfer dude way of saying "vote for". But Digg is not where these web communities end: let's not forget about FacebookLiveJournalMyspaceAOLMSNYahoo! and my favesies, Blogger. With all of these brilliant innovations in the web universe (revelation: I now know why it's called the "web", I'm not slow..) there is a LOAD of information being circulated to everyone everywhere. But not all of that information is valid, an awful truth that I realize every day. Another truth I face is that of the origins of these web communities: I hate to think that our Founding Fathers, and maybe even Martin Luther King, Jr., might in some way be responsible for such platforms as Facebook and Myspace. We have so many rights now that there is an excess of resources and, in turn, an excess of information. But instead of me typing even MORE information to flood the minds of the mindless, I suggest reading my pathetic looking article on today's communities and communications and how they correlate to such minds as Thomas Paine's. I hope that after reading my article you have more of a hunger for truth, because the truth is like a cupcake: it makes you feel all warm and satisfied on the inside! So Digg IN!

Move-in, Move-out; Dance-on, DANCE-OFF!

This weekend was crammed with things to do and people to see. Friday, my Parents came to town to help me move into my new place on Saturday and Sunday and then that night I was able to run off to the Printer's Ball at Columbia College with Miss Mattie. There, we arrived a little to late to catch any sober fools, but we did catch all the drunken dancers! Not only did we essentially vaccuum up all the free-be mags, but we also approached the dance floor for some extremely entertaining photo-ops and some great people watching. Here are photographs from our darling little adventure:

Chicago apparently does not have its own recycling program.. But we do the best we can without it!

The Candy Shop!

Chicago and Bikes go hand-in-hand, why NOT put it on a bag?

I am regarding Plaid as a color of its own from now on..

JAM ON.

After two days of Parental time and moving, I am finally able to post images of my archival book. I have yet to figure out how to distribute it (I know that the one that doesn't seem too wonky will make it's way to the Joan Flasch Book Collection if possible). This is probably my favorite endeavor from class, but mostly thanks to the craftsmanship I put in to the cover on the book. It's a red and green, hardcover book that measures about 3"x 4" and opens up to reveal a water color tree followed by pencil drawings of the cross sections of said tree. I like to think of the work as "visual poetry" because it sings the same sort of tune: gentle abstraction. This work has convinced me that a printing press or screen printing lessons would do me some good, but for now, the inside will remain penciled. Here are some images of the book unillustrated (illustrated versions will be updated later):

If the mattress being used as the background I would regard that as the Hand of God, but God probably would have cleaned his mattress more thoroughly before photographing...

It's Times like these When I take Advantage of Hulu

And so my first book has officially been published via Lulu.com! It's called Lights of Night (I'm so proud to be able to italicize my own work...) and it's a collection of various different photographs I took when I was back home in Jersey on a rainy night driving around. The images are all longer exposures so all you see is blurs of light and color and maybe a dashboard or two. The book itself has 13 color images and a three page blurb about the beauties of driving at night in Jersey, when the traffic isn't as bad because the densest state population is asleep. And the last page contains my information (Name, E-Mail, Blog) and a "Thank you for reading!" to wrap it all up good and tight like fresh ground beef from the butcher. Here are a few images from the book and the cover art:

Now I can go watch Arrested Development on Hulu and some Rocko's Modern Life! Shaawing!

Sometimes All you Need is a Good Waxin' and Some Marvin Gaye

After a long and stressful week, which really spanned over a week and a half, I decided to treat myself to some goodies at Trim, a waxing joint where my good friend Kat acts as a functioning receptionist. But I couldn’t go ahead with my lash tinting (a $20 affair as opposed to a $24 bottle of mascara) without clearing my conscious of the homework I had due soon ahead. And so I decided it would be best to distribute my Zine by requesting to place one on the table in the waiting area to which Kat forcefully replied with: “TWO”. And so two out of my remaining copies landed themselves amidst a sea of Vogues, Comsos, and Vanity Fairs. After having said lashes tinted, and feeling utterly and shallowly beautiful, I proceeded to give my a copy to a lady paying for her Trim procedure of choice after deciding that the conversation prior (holding the topic of anal bleaching) warranted me enough to give her a book with a page devoted to a poem about Breasts. After leaving Trim while unlocking my bike I locked eyes with a young fellow walking the street and forced another copy upon him. My final copy was precious, and so I felt it must lay in the hands of someone worthy and fitting, and so I decided that the one location fitting enough for my bizarre and hapless (moreso hopeless) Zine would be none other than the volunteer movie store known as Odd Obsession (I HIGHLY recommend checking it out on Milwaukee Ave..). There, I trapped the young man running the computer of the joint and handed him my Zine. A day of success and glories, no doubt after a fail of a Zine, and here are the pictures to prove it:

The Zines are In!

Whelp, kids, the Zines are finished for class and I was asked to review Vrinda's Untitled piece of work. I would like to start off by saying that her Zine is just that, a piece of "work". Just by looking at the cover you can tell that she was meticulous about every little detail concerning her Zine, from her stylized highlighting of different words in larger texts right down to the little veins and capillaries of her anatomical drawings. Everything about it yells detail, detail, detail. But it is in no way boring! With proper photocopying Skillz, Vrinda was able to gain just the right contrast for each page, whether is be a big hulking mass of black with different dream or heart diction highlighted to the barely-there texts concerning blood cells and blood pressure. Each page has its own character and shows it right out loud. Vrinda even bothered to vary her page sizes and chop down a few pages just for anatomical drawings of eyes and skeletons and whatnot. And the splash page, if I do say so myself, is quite the beauty! Perfectly copied. And with varied page sizes come varied censoring styles, from blocks of ink that cover the entire page minus a few sentences to little patterned blotches and all the way down to nothing so that you can see the entire text. I must say, that on top of all this genius, that the cover is probably my favorite part. Not only does it catch your eye and separate itself from the rest of the book with its paper, but it's also really funny to pet. So let me say this, folks, go. Go out and read Vrinda's Zine (a name unworthy of this piece of artwork). Go read it, and pet it. Pet it lots, and make your fingers as happy as your eyeballs!

For more information please visit our class Blog and Vrinda's own Blog.

Time is on My Side but that doesn't mean I like Him.

This past weekend I ventured out to good ol' New Jersey and experienced ever problem that could possibly happen in a trip back home after a hard week in Chicago. I'll spare you the awful details of arriving home with one of the worst colds I've ever experienced only to be greeted by too many family members and friends needing me to be here and there at this specific time. But in short, I apologize in advance for not being able to blog sooner about my Zine, and even more sorry that I was unable to allot myself the necessary time to make a TOTALLY RAD Zine. But nonetheless, I was able to crank out something that I am proud of given the amount of time put into it. It's a little ditty of a Zine with all my shouldn't-be-published poems and thoughts and some absurd doodles, if you can even call them that. But instead of telling you all about it, I'll leave it up to my camera lens to show you what went ON. The Zine is called "Work In Progress" because that's really all it is and we should all look to work on progress in life rather than digressing, but now I'm doing that and sounding hackneyed as a price. I must say, however, that I am extremely proud of my copying Skillz and the fact that I was able to piece fifteen of these babies together in a matter of hours. Hellz to the yyeah. Now for the imagery...

  

The Best Things in Life are FREE. Or Stolen.

Before Distribution Time, I decided I would make more copies and take upon Ian’s ingenious suggestion of making my books into smaller sizes. SUCCESS! With the help of Kinko’s, a chopping block and the edge of a tin foil box I was able to make 43 +/- chapbooks ready to see the world with eyes unclouded by hate (if you catch that reference I may or may not owe you ten bucks..). If I could make babies that fast I’m pretty sure the world would be a horrible place by now.. Here are some photos of my kitchen on work day:

For distribution purposes I decided I would follow the ways of great Christian and Buddhist followers and stand on a busy street corner and hand out my chapbooks. But PLEASE, do not get confused, I know it is very easy to do so, but there is NO “u” in my name.

Anyways, I walked up to the “corner” of Milwaukee, North, and Damen, with my friend Alex and we decided with a quick roundabout spin that we would choose the Bank of America Slice of a block for distribution, aka the Flatiron. And so we trotted like no one had ever thought to trot before (because it doesn’t really require any thinking) and low and behold we approached our designated land and I proceeded to hand out my chapbooks standing with my weight balanced quite awkwardly on one leg, shoulders hunched, testing new slogans with ever fifth customer: “A moment for the arts?” no. “Free thoughts?” not really. “Free thoughts, free art!” yes! And then I suggested they check out my blog (THIS ism). SWEET, BRO. Here are some more photos:

"I CANNOT take this photo seriously right now.."

Yes, that is a limousine, and yes, the driver did read my chapbook while sitting at the light shortly after receiving it.

Some Cool Cats outside of American Apparel dugg my chapbooks...

OK, so this guy was probably my favorite fan of the day, if you will. He not only took a chapbook the first time around, BUT he also came back to inquire as to how to read it and what it meant, AND after walking down Milwaukee Alex and I saw him and his friend eating dinner outside. I would like to thank the grand street of Milwaukee for this string of wonderful coincidences! 

Even the police are informed..

My last chapbook went to a young man wearing a DG shirt who replied with, "Seriously? I can have this? What about your number?" I'd like to take that as a sign that this was a successful day of business, despite what was to transpire later that night.. 

NOTE: As soon as I get a scanner I will post a PDF version of my chapbook so that everyone who follows my blog may be clued in as to what these people find so intriguing.