Friday, February 04, 2011

I still don't know what love means

An email from a friend.

I received an email from a friend this morning that struck a chord. It's an interesting perspective that I think people have a hard time seeing from time to time.

The email reads,

"The thing about life, coming from someone who can't manage his own, is its best lived impulsively.
Everything is easier said through lyrics to songs and cliched nonsense. But, honestly, how many times is one expected to say "Carpe Diem" before it becomes a crutch. Everyone grew up wondering and thinking how things would turn out for me. There were always movies and songs to go by, problem being they are all songs based on other peoples experiences and journeys. It's real tricky to distinguish idolization from inspiration. Does that make sense? Maybe we tell ourselves that the words other people have written are similar to the ones we would write ourselves, or maybe we just take them for granted and are too lazy to write them. Or, perhaps, our lives are lived across so many creative outlets that it is hard to distinguish the best from pointless. Maybe is a terrible word. It has always been there to keep me from doing something that I should have. Maybe I should paint almost always means that I will push it off until the next day. It is odd, these days, that we can gain some sort of feeling of accomplishment from simply bitching about not doing something.
Hopefully, one day, we can reach a point where we can look back and say, "I did THAT.", not "I did something" or "I made a difference", but I did something that I cared enough to do. From what I have seen so far, no one has any answers to any fucking question. And why should they? Young or old, who knows anything? No one. And in a way that is beautiful. Not in a sunset on the beach beautiful, but rather a fuck it let's have a good time beautiful. (ALL of this is based on me not having kids, not having much responsibility and having a roof over my head.)

If you WANT to do something, you'll do it. Never regret skipping a night of painting to sit in your bed and watch movies.
Think BIG.
Live selfishly."




True words from a good friend.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Looking forward...

2011 started out a little rocky but now that a month has pasted I'm able to gain some perspective and direction. I need to start doing things that inspire and motivate me as an individual. I need to create, explore and bottom line just do things that make me happy.

Mark Twain once said,"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." I want to live by these words wholeheartedly.

Here are my top 5 things I have to look forward to within the next few months:

1) NYC Ballet Swan Lake, Feb 18th
2) Art House Coop Sketchbook Project Brooklyn, NY opening, Feb 19th
3) West Coast Adventure: Portland,OR & Los Angeles,CA, March 11-20th
4) City And Colour concert, March 31
5) European Tour/ Anthony & Raj's wedding in London: London, Barcelona & Paris, April 28- May 8th

Along with the top 5 I am also looking forward to getting my studio space up and running this weekend. I can't begin to explain how badly I've been wanting to paint. I want to get dirty and stay up late with The Beastie Boys while painting in my underwear just like I did when I was in undergrad. I'm also in the market for a new instant camera. I think I'm leaning towards the Instax mini 7 by Fuji.





I like that it's mini and how the model is contemporary all the while sustaining it's classical medium of instant photography. Or is it alternative? The digital world is growing too fast for me to keep up, but that's a whole other topic for discussion. It's been well over a year since I last shot my Polaroid camera. Needless to say it's been too long. My investment in a new instant camera is imperative in order for me to support my creative cravings.


Check it out:
http://fujiinstax.blogspot.com