Pinklight Bazaar

So, I flew down to Orlando/Winter Park, FL the other week for the first ever Pinklight Bazaar, held at a friend's (awesome) bar, the Redlight Redlight. It was me, and several other crafty & entreuprenurial gals selling their wares for a night of girliness, complete with baked goods and rockin' tunes.

^Here's my setup


^The cupcakes & rice krispie treats,
courtesy of my friend & organizer
Erica


^Me, revelling in the baked goodness


^Pretty in Pink was playing
in the background.

All in all, it was a really successful night, and they're talking about doing it again. I'd be totally stoked to go back down, if that's the case. It was super mega awesome fun.

A deep understanding between the city and me.

I love this city.














It's been pushy and demanding of me lately, but man, look at it! I'll forgive it for anything.

Meanwhile, I'm creating new work. No, really!

Birthday Weekend Pictures.

I turned 28 on the 17th. It was pretty epic.

My necklace says, "Indi Rocks" and she does!





David and Lisa!




Emily, and Joe's book.


David brought the cake! From Flatbush! That shit was good! And it very nearly fell off the table about ten times, so it was a very lucky cake to be saved so many times.


The next day, I defied the odds and wasn't hungover. Then we went to the museum, to learn about SCIENCE. Emily is enjoying STEGOSAURUS.


They brains be little.




Awesome views from the 7 train.


Emily hates my birthday.

America's B-Day, 2007 style.

The Fourth of July was grand.


First, there was a barbecue:



And then we went to the Long Island City waterfront:



And then Brendan and I were like, WTF Joe, you make that face in EVERY photo:



And then there were fireworks:







And then we just kept drinking and drinking. I had a vendetta against my liver (what did it ever do to me!).

ALSO, Brian made the best burgers I've ever had: He shoved bleu cheese, garlic cloves, and sundried tomatoes into the beef and then put cheddar cheese ontop and omg I loved it so much I married my burger.

I feel compelled to point out everyone is wearing a coat-- mostly because it was unseasonably cool. Joe had his sheepskin coat, for crying out loud.

Tonight, a portrait of my train.

Tonight was awesome! I went to a party! And someone broke a lamp from playing wii! And on the train home some 13 year old white kid was loudly proclaiming to his friend that "YO the WHITE BITCHES AT MY SKOOL IS SKEEZES CUZ THEY DONT LIKE WHITE GUYS. And yo i be like YO BITCH I WHITE and they YO YO YO dont fuck with me they be like OH I GONE FUCK WITH PUERTO RICAN FUCKERSSSSS" and the spanish girl across the way from me and I were fucking dying. His friend was privy to the joke, he kept looking over, aware that we were dying in peels of laughter, but like a good friend, didn't let on, to embarass his friend who kept going on and on: "YO THIS BE AT THIS BITCH'S PARTY OK???? BUT HER MOM AIN'T BE THERE...."

The girl, the kid, and I all got off at 36th street, and she and I kept trying to stifle laughter as he walked stiff-legged, trying to hold his pants up, because he subscribed to the 1994 edict that thou must walk with thou pants half-off. They seriously were (A. 2 sizes too small and (B. Halfway down his legs. It was terrible. I resisted the urge to ask if his leg was hurt and instead she and I bonded and giggled until he was out of sight. We are now BFF.

Oh, Craigslist.

So, I'm looking for a new apartment.

There's no art here anymore, because my life has been overrun with a lack of productivity brought on by apartment hunting and a promotion at work. I did post on Craigslist, looking for a dog-friendly apartment out there, and this is what I've gotten so far. This is all that I've gotten so far.


Hi I like the area I have lived in bay ridge before now I live in Mill Basin ( too Far)
I am a video engineer in My fifties I dance tango and that is about it


Thanks for getting the ball rolling early on annoying the shit out of me, Craigslist.

whorelando.

Time is flying by, people.

I'm now barely a week away from visiting Orlando... I've been away since September, and am going down for a weekend of debauchery and drunkeness with my rowdy co-workers, cuddles with my friend Erica's dog, sushi at the absolute greatest sushi restaurant evarrrr, Spiderman 3, and best of all: DANCING.

New York is the greatest city in the world, sure, and it's got awesome cannolis and it's got super sweet cheap knock-off aviator sunglasses selling for $3 a pop in SoHo, but dammit, you can't dance here.

I-Bar, in Orlando, was my place. Yes, it got predictable, and yes I got sick of going every Friday night (and some sundays and then also thursdays) and dancing to the same playlist and drinking the same drinks (although, a 50 cent vodka anything in nyc is unheard of), but I guess you just don't know what you got til it's gone, because I haven't danced but once since I moved here, and that was an impromptu, drunken whirling dirvish of a mess on Halloween. Here, enjoy some I-Bar, while I gear myself up in anticipation.

Orlando's a boring place, that made me unhappy pretty much the whole time I lived there but I'll be damned if it doesn't have its charms. Like this.

Whatever the hell that means, I mean.

Sprung is all sprung and stuff

Spring is here. Like, it's actually here.

Anyone who's been in the vicinity of New York City will tell you this past winter was ridiculous. Number one, it just never REALLY got cold, consistently cold. We had a couple of terrible, freezing days, and then a bizarro day or two in January where everyone was in short sleeves. Then it got terrible, and freezing for a day. And then it was just mild. The first snowfall came on Valentine's Day-- February! I moved here from Florida preparing myself for blizzards for Chrissakes. It snowed a couple of times, mostly flurries, a few moderate accumulations (which stayed on the ground for WEEKS), and then April rolled around and everyone was tearing their hair out as the winter that never wanted arrive in the first place simply didn't want to leave.

Just last week I asked a co-worker, "Have you looked at the weather report to see what it'll be?" and the snarled reply was just, "I gave up."

And then BAM! 80 degrees! Which is awesome!

Except not awesome; I have not yet installed the big, heavy air conditioning unit that must be fitted into the window, nor do I know how to do it without it teetering and falling out onto someone. I'm actually about to do that now. Should be an adventure. If I never post again, it's because I crushed someone from three floors up and am on the lam.

Ink Wash Series #2

Last year I got a great, if not delayed response to an ink wash se.ries I did last summer. All small pieces, all ink wash on cardstock. Went with it again very recently. Excitingly, it features a bunch of cute, sometimes barely clad girls. Always a good time.










Originals are all small-- under 5x7" usually. Ink wash, graphite, on card stock. Originals available, if you're interested, holla.

Mini Painting of a friend.

Here's a quickie ink wash cartoon of my friend from Florida, Brittany.



She has great big cartoon eyes, and I don't know why I've owed her for so long on the drawing front.

1:36am.

I'm finishing my second red bull as I plow ahead on a commission. It's a cartoon illustration that was requested of me. All fine and good, but man, I stayed up all night last night. And then, you know, the day job. And then, you know, the gym. My eyes are burny. Not that I'm complaining. Just.... stating facts.

I'm debating whether or not to try selling items on etsy, like I did last summer, or just going with e-commerce either here (actually, hey, is blogger set up for that? i should check into it) or registering a new domain for 7seventeengallery. Last summer, prior to my move to NYC, I listed several illustrations and paintings on etsy for sale. The results were mixed: I sold only 2 items ON etsy, but sold 2 on livejournal to people. And from etsy, I recieved 7 commission requests. It probably would have ended up being even more profitable, but I had to plan my move up the eastern seaboard. I've been garnering enough attention via myspace that I can't decide whether etsy would just be a step sideways. I dunno, maybe it'd be easier than the e-commerce.

Or maybe I should stop musing and start drawing.

sunday night.

God, for an art blog, it sure seems bereft of any actual art, right?

But for reals guys, I'm working on it. Lately it feels like I don't have any time to work on anything. Between the day job and going to the gym and the love/hate relationship I have with the MTA (such as waiting on a subway platform for 20 minutes just to be told no trains are coming through and then waiting 30 minutes for a bus that doesn't even stop), I feel like I'm constantly running around and when there's finally a moment in the day to sit, and complete an illustration, I just want to sleep. Really badly. I mean, I love sleep.

But no, really, there's some stuff; like I posted over on myspace, I have some girls in my ink wash series that I'm working on. Last time I did such a series, it was well recieved over on etsy and elsewhere, and they sold really well.

What I really should be doing is getting on printing those TSUNAMI VS ROBOT shirts. Before Urban Outfitters rips me off.

Rain.

A dreary day in the five boroughs-- Rain! Not that it's a big deal or anything, but it's kind of a bitch to walk in. I opted to make my way to the Elizabeth, NJ Ikea for some Swedish bargain shopping.

Tonight, I'll tell you what I ought to be doing:
Finishing 4 illustrations
Packing similar pieces of art up for shipment
And working on the mockup of the new t-shirt.

I'll tell you what I'm doing instead:
Vodka
America's Next Top Model
Gin
Lost

Two Years. Ish.

Circa March/April two years ago, my motherboard melted and I was rendered without the internet for a solid 15 days. Without cable, I had virtually nothing to do to entertain myself at home so I spent numerous hours in a Barnes & Noble cafe, alternately reading, sucking back iced lattes, and drawing from gossip rags.

I guess I found a picture of Heidi Fleiss.

Idling in Place

Here's a quite vague, basic rundown-- not that you asked for it, but one great hobby of mine is rambling about myself.

Rundown!
-I have to dial back compulsions and obsessive behaviors sometime. They're very boring obsessions, just mostly annoying.
-I'm afraid of making doctor's appointments. Like, making an appointment seems to be an admission that something is wrong.
-My dog sheds way more than I am equipped to cope with.
-I still feel really bad about not giving that bum in Grand Central Terminal my cake from months ago.
-I played Hungry, Hungry Hippos by myself as a kid. I deemed the pink one as my lucky hippo, despite the fact that I would win no matter what.
-I have to eat a wheat english muffin and peanut butter, cinnamon, and banana everyday, or the known universe is bound to collapse in on itself.

Oh, again.

Again, eating healthy just got crapped all over. I visited my esteemed colleague Mordicai last night, which commenced an evening of
#1 chicken chile verde burrito
#2 a "scotchmallow" egg
#3 gin, tonic, etc.

That was last night, of course, but the trend continued today, when I ate half a glazed donut and a quarter of the remaining half of the burrito. The last quarter of said burrito, and the half of that donut were pawned off on co-workers, with presumably higher metabolisms.

I mean, that's all well and good; I ruled at the gym! Ruled!

I'm having a moment or two of writer's and artist's block presently. That's why I'm dicking off here on blogger.

Who says blogs have to be full of interesting insight, or celebrity gossip?

Robot <3 Yew.

I sold this guy's brother not too long ago, and just discovered this one's still in my possession.

He's still for sale, y'all!



And for only $15. Whadda deal!

7 Has Always Been My Lucky Number.

(I only ever said that because my birthday's got 3 7s. 7+7+7 = 21, and so I expected 21 to be a much luckier year than it actually turned out to be. But I was adopted on the 27th, so I decided 27 would be a lucky year too, to make up for 21! I moved to NYC. That seems lucky. I mean, you know, so far.)

syncopation.

Syncopation has nothing to do with this entry. It's just a great word.

The day job though. Man, how do people balance stuff out when they have a day job, and are also trying to cultivate their creative endeavours? On top of that I have a dog that needs attention, and a gym membership. And I'm still trying to make friends in New York. How do you manage it all? Networking, I guess, will be key, but when is there time for that? I mean, I work full time. I am lucky in that I have the ability to maintain web access and such from there, so at the very least I can deal with the blog and myspace stuff from there, but I'm not able to work on the art there. So seriously, how do people balance it all?

Word?

Word.