blog jamming with jimmy

this is what i brought to work in my bag today

2011-11-18T11:20:00.002-05:00

i got to work this morning and opened up my bag; inside was a comic book featuring a character named cannibal fuckface and a cider donut. i shouldn't have been surprised, i packed my bag when i left the house this morning. i guess it's just a reminder to check in with yourself once and a while and see where you're at. not sure what it all means but the donut was delicious.

i've arrived

2011-01-27T07:55:00.005-05:00

4 years of high school during which time i was first inspired to become an art teacher by mr. young and ms. sullivan.
5 years of undergraduate study in a frozen wasteland called syracuse, ny.
10 years laboring away in a career i rarely enjoyed.
2 years of graduate school where i read around 500 pages a week, unpacked my invisible knapsack and accrued $93,000 in student loan debt.
2 years of substitute teaching: approximately $12,000 and considerably less respect earned.
5 months into my first full-time teaching gig on january 27, 2011 my first snowday.

it was all worth it.
sorry, my last post was just about a year ago - one incredibly eventful year. i'll be posting again with some frequency and get everybody up to date on what's been going on and what's coming up. till the next post enjoy the snow, sip on some chocolatl and hug your bobby.

old mexico

2010-01-30T15:14:00.003-05:00

i lived in mexico for a year when i was in fifth grade. whenever i tell people that they always ask "new mexico?". if i meant new mexico i would say new mexico; now whenever i refer to mexico i like to call it old mexico. anyhoo... i'm off to old mexico for a week with shauna to find a suitable place to marry the girl. wish me luck keeping her out of an old mexican prison following tequila fueled brawling with banditos in some seedy cantina. hay que lastima!

christmas morning jimmy

2009-12-25T12:49:00.002-05:00

christmas eve

2009-12-24T17:37:00.001-05:00

just wanted to say happy holidays and show off the christmas card i made this year.

bird houses part 6

2009-10-27T17:01:00.003-04:00

once again it's been way too long, especially when considering i took all of the bird house pictures on the same day. these are the final four - and most ambitious - of my designs: at some point, hopefully not too far off i would love to make some more.

bird houses part 5

2009-10-06T16:26:00.002-04:00

here are a couple more bird houses:the house above is made to be hung from a tree limb, and the house below is designed to be attached right to the side of a tree.

bird houses part 4

2009-10-01T15:45:00.002-04:00

here are a couple more of my bird houses - and two of my more "different" designs. this first one isn't really a bird house at all, but rather a bird table for placing seed on daily to attract birds to feed. it is made to look like an ancient greek temple. this second one is a nesting box for robins.

bird houses part 3

2009-09-30T10:05:00.003-04:00

the bird houses are finally finished. i started posting about them way back in july: this post of some finished driftwood houses and another post of unpainted houses fresh from the wood shop. so as to avoid a sensory overload i'm just going to post a couple of pictures a day over the next couple of days.

i blogged a pie 2

2009-09-26T18:29:00.003-04:00

some of you may remember a post from last year celebrating my first pie. this is a photo of my second try; it was far more successful than last year's - which wasn't all bad. the pie doesn't lie - yum!

welcome back to me...

2009-09-21T20:34:00.003-04:00

... and hopefully to anyone that might still be looking in on my blog. it's been a month since my last post and to be totally honest i'm not quite sure why. this summer i churned out a lot of work - much of which is actually finished - so in my wisdom i'll kick blogjamming back off with some unfinished stuff. those of you who have ever been by our apartment will most likely have seen the wooden birds i carved for shauna for her birthday or may have seen the blog post of the bird i made for my landlady mary jean; well i'm back at it. these are a couple of pictures of some new birds in progress, that with any luck will be finished - painted and lacquered - tomorrow. check back soon for more progress - and i promise more blog posts. viva la jammin'!

too damn hot

2009-08-18T21:43:00.001-04:00

it has come to this... i hate the heat and humidity.

celebrating 6 years of pure bliss for shauna... a.k.a. love is nice

2009-08-14T14:03:00.002-04:00

shauna and i have been dating for six years today. i made this little drawing for her from a picture taken the day we were engaged. such a super lady!

housing

2009-08-04T15:04:00.004-04:00

this is not the way i had originally planned on crafting this post but here goes; it was really supposed to be all about how papi had finally discovered the kitty house i made for him last summer. you may remember it as the one that i built out of wood, painted and then wallpapered. my sister knit a blanket for him to lay on while he lounged in his sweet little tudor abode. much like the old house however, papi never visits it until the temperature hits about 85 degrees. we have always joked that it's his summer house. after almost a year papi has finally taken up residency:all i can say is thank goodness his house is dry because 93 mercer apartment 2 is not. there was a flood from the apartment above today. shauna's closet took the brunt of it. thankfully there weren't any catastrophic damages. soldier on

birdhouses part 2

2009-07-27T10:50:00.003-04:00

here is a first look at tiny town. there are 9 houses, 1 nesting box and 1 bird table in all. i'm in the process of priming them all for painting. i'll give them their individual due as i complete them. for now enjoy them in their raw woody goodness.

montauk part 3... birdhouses part 1

2009-07-23T18:35:00.002-04:00

shortly before leaving for montauk shauna and i were brainstorming for ideas on how to get our craft on. we decided it would be super keen if i made birdhouses. while we were on the beach i started collecting odd bits of driftwood and detached pieces of storm-fencing and i was able to turn some of those collected scraps into these tiny avian abodes. this is a normal old bird house:and this is a tiny house that could serve no practical purpose except for heightening the adorability of any room it graced.more to come...

montauk part 2

2009-07-22T16:44:00.008-04:00

summer camp is over and i can once again get back to blogging. for all of the blogjammin' readers who have patiently waited out this latest blogging hiatus i will reward you all with a little skin at the end of this post, but for now on with montauk part 2:these are a couple of pics from our day at the beach:this is shauna doing a super cute little landscape painting of the scene above while we were hanging out in the sand:you can click here to see the finished paintings. and here is that skin you were all promised:i'm pretty sure i already regret posting a shirtless picture of myself on the internet. i invite you to post your best hairy, tubby breast jokes in the comment section.

4th of july

2009-07-05T21:02:00.005-04:00

i'll return to the montauk - yeah, i know we were there like a month ago - posts, and there is a ton of recent craft work to show off but first a couple of pics from the fourth of july. here's a pic of shauna risking a blow-up from heather - she's a fire-cracker - with her middle-finger shennanigins: we were fortunate to be able to see the j.c. fireworks from our vantage point: as well as the n.y.c. show: finally here's a nice shot of papi and his always exposive behavior:blammo!

montauk part 1

2009-06-17T17:42:00.001-04:00

sorry bout the no posts. lame. no, f that, super lame. i'm getting back in the saddle again. shauna and i spent last weekend in the hamptons - montauk more specifically. montauk is not super lame, quite the contrary, it's super magical. over the next couple of days i'll be posting some pictures from the trip, some arts and crafts i've been working on and some fun stuff from the end of the school year and the summer camp. here are a couple of pics from the weekend that speak for themselves.

ah, naples in the springtime

2009-06-01T12:58:00.005-04:00

this is a little pen, ink and brush sketch id did while subbing the other day at e.i. i've never been to naples before, i was looking at this comic panel by jean giraud, a.k.a. moebius:

fuzzy balls

2009-05-27T14:19:00.002-04:00

look out tennis world, shauna and i have taken to the hard court. after a marathon three day session of play in some summer heat we're taking a few days to recover before we hit the courts again this weekend. look out mr. jiggles, yer goin' down! - for those not in the know mr. jiggles is the name of my gut.

gail watching

2009-05-18T19:20:00.004-04:00

in what could best be described as a redux of the koched! post from a couple of months back i was able to surreptitiously snap a photo of shauna with a sort-of celebrity; this time it was top chef's pudgy judgy gail simmons at bar pitti in the west village. one day someone is going to catch me in the act and knock me out.

labia sebucula

2009-05-14T12:02:00.006-04:00

labia sebucula, or "lip sweater" for those of you not versed in latin. no doubt you've all noticed a pretty steep decline in my may posting totals. my knee jerk reaction would be "hey, i've been busy, doing a little more teaching than usual, i just don't have as much time for crafts and such that i used too have". that sentiment might be disingenuous. i think the real problem might be my clean shaven face. since the "lip sweater" went away i'm not feeling as inspired or clever as i once did. maybe it's one of those samson kinda deals. no worries all, i'll find my drive again.i refuse to remain moxie free. keep checking in and i'll keep trying to entertain; and here's one more look for the road: oh how i miss you my old friend. r.i.p.

word to my mutha!

2009-05-10T17:38:00.003-04:00

happy mother's day mom, thanks for all your mumly ways

red sox yankees part 3

2009-04-26T23:23:00.007-04:00

nine brooms for the nine games in the home-stand sweep. the sox swept the yankees tonight, won nine in a row at home and ten in a row overall. oh, and jacoby ellsbury stole home. delicious.

red sox yankees part 2

2009-04-26T19:54:00.004-04:00

well, the sox prevailed again. there was about a dozen lead changes in the game, it was the sixth longest 9 inning regular season game ever and the sox came back from a 6-0 deficit to win 16 to 11. the animated corpse of jason varitek hit a grand slam and the terrier had six rbi in the win. the sunday game starts after eight, lets hope i can make it through. go sox

red sox yankees part 1

2009-04-25T09:57:00.010-04:00

it's no secret to anyone that jimmy likes his baseball. what jimmy really, really likes is some red sox yankees baseball. last night was the first of eighteen games that will be played between these two teams during the regular season. watching sox games in the yankees tv market is always bittersweet; i get to see my team play, but i'm also forced to listen to the y.e.s. network announcers. every time i hear michael kay speak i throw up a little bit in my mouth. last nights game featured this over-hyped - and over-fed - "athlete" pitching for the yankees: it was really the worst sort of game for about three and a half hours, the yankees getting a gifty call, joba pitching lousy but still weaseling his way out of trouble with four double plays and the red sox just looking lousy with the bats. if i had a temper i would have thrown something. then the magic happened; in the ninth inning, down by two runs with two outs and youk on base "new manny" jason bay came in to face mo rivera - arguably the games greatest closer. before i get into what happened, it is worth taking a moment to talk about "new manny". sure i loved manny back in the day but his antics, lazy baseball play and all-around doucheyness eventually meant he had to go and he was replaced with bay. this is manny in the field: and this was "new manny" last night: this is manny standing at home plate after a home run celebrating himself: and "new manny": back to last nights game - two outs, one on, down by two runs and jason bay crushed a home run off mo to tie the game. he quietly rounded the bases - so canadian - not even smiling - not because he wasn't having a good time - but because, as he later explained, "Until you win the game, it's really hard to jump up and down and get all excited about anything..." he almost looked like he felt bad for rivera. in the eleventh inning youk hit a walk-off home run against demaso marte, a pitcher not so good like mo. youk was not afraid to celebrate: with the game now over even "new manny" enjoyed the moment "...once Youk hit that ball, it was a relief and we could enjoy it a little more, winning that game makes all the difference in the world in enjoying it." and if you enjoy youk's beard you will definitely enjoy beardoftruth.com. till part 2 tomorrow...

ice cream social

2009-04-21T19:13:00.008-04:00

this year has not been kind to my blogging output; first i was working too much to stay consistent, now i'm finding myself in a bit of a creative rut. lucky for me i had the raw material to post about a kick-ass ice cream social i had with heather and shauna two weeks back because truth-be-told i don't find anything else quite as inspiring as ice cream. we had some nice weather so we were cruising j.c. in our bocho when we came across torico's homemade ice cream parlor. they have a deal where you can sample eight single scoops of different flavors. we all took it very seriously, sampling each flavor, rinsing between bites and ranking our choices. the flavors in play were chocolate chunk, chocolate chip mint, cinnamon, coffee, dulce de leche, vanilla peanut butter, butter pecan and coconut joy.you can see shauna's final rankings next to our empty cups.all told just a wonderful experience. they advertise having sixty flavors, i think i'll keep it up until i've tried them all.

gold

2009-04-12T18:03:00.002-04:00

sometimes i come across this sort of thing when searching for images. just super!

squirrel

2009-04-07T18:27:00.002-04:00

this painting was hanging on the wall of my house throughout my childhood:i fancy myself the artistic type and i went to film school so one would figure i have at least decent powers of observation. for the purpose of this post most importantly i love cute furry animals so how is it that i missed out on this:it wasn't until my most recent trip home that shauna pointed that little guy out to me. i'm so disappointed in myself. it might be time to reevaluate this whole artist thing. how can i teach children to appreciate art when that super-magical squirrel was right in front of my face for all those years without me ever noticing. alas, i'm forced to lament the lost time we could have spent together.

opening day

2009-04-06T21:08:00.003-04:00

sorry i've been so absent again. I've got some good stuff to post soon; some fun drawings from when shauna and i were stranded in the airport in carolina, a video of papi giving me a bath and some pics from an ice cream social we had with heather. for today i just wanted to acknowledge that the baseball season has begun. the sox got rained out, but the yankees newest - and fattest - pitcher got shelled so not a bad day all around. see you tomorrow.

birch tree beehive

2009-03-25T20:22:00.002-04:00

i started a new painting today. this is it a couple of hours in.

unearthed during some research

2009-03-24T11:06:00.001-04:00

why i think this is funny sort of speaks for itself.

finished pencil box

2009-03-23T18:24:00.004-04:00

these are some pictures of the pencil box i made for shauna. the kitty, inside and feet of the box are prussian blue; the color on the body of the box is just a thin coat of white gesso. I covered the whole thing with a coat of shiny varnish.

finished spoons

2009-03-22T13:08:00.003-04:00

i've finally finished the wooden spoons i was working on. the top spoon is for me, while the bottom spoon is to be sent of to isreal for the mum of a friend of my sisters. the pencil box is nearly complete as well; it just needs a coat of varnish. i'll post a picture of it tomorrow in all of its painted and shiny glory.

pencil box progress

2009-03-18T12:28:00.003-04:00

the little pencil box i'm working on is coming along nicely. all that's left to do is gesso, compose a design, paint and varnish. hopefully i'll finish it up by tomorrow.

happy st patrick's day

2009-03-17T10:25:00.005-04:00

i don't really know what this picture is all about - although it does seem vaguely offensive - but this is what comes up when you google irish monkey. anyway, happy paddy's day. i'll be crafting all day; i have several wood-working projects going right now so i'll be spending the day on the stoop sanding wooden spoons and cutting tiny bits for a pencil box i'm working on. these are some pics of my early progress. enjoy the day.

preview of things to come

2009-03-13T16:36:00.004-04:00

blogjamming readership is way down since before thanksgiving when my old hand turkey post created all of that internet buzz. so, while i'm not sure who's reading this, i am pledging here and now to increase my output, and will do so over the next two weeks with arts and crafts posts, hopefully some comic book progress posts and a several part series - à la my spring training posts - on some comic book artists that i'm looking at right now or were influential in initially getting me hooked on the medium back in the day. as for why i've posted this picture of papi, just look at the guy and his doppelgänger bobblehead. as always adorable. see you monday.

a stroll through the old hood

2009-03-12T17:12:00.002-04:00

now that i'm living in j.c. i don't get back to the old hood very often; this will no doubt change when the weather picks up and zummy puts their tables back out on the sidewalk. ah yes! sun, german beers and wieners! i happen to be on second street yesterday and passed a community garden on second street, a few blocks from the old apartment that had some new decor. i love this bit of muralling and thought i should put it up on blogjamming. spring break is starting tomorrow for both of the schools i've been working at so expect and increase in post frequency and arts and crafts output.

snow day!

2009-03-02T09:02:00.003-05:00

to celebrate my first snow day as a teacher here are some pictures of monkeys in the snow. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

double-dipping

2009-02-24T10:38:00.007-05:00

sorry, there isn't going to be a lot of blogjamming this week, i'm double-dipping jobs for the next several days. i found this book cover which is just eerie in several ways; first that looks exactly like a young me engaged in two of my all-time favorite activities: eating ice cream and sitting. secondly that looks a bit like a young shauna with the ice cream down - she has a childhood story i've heard several times about ice cream falling off of a cone while she was walking around a store (***spoiler alert***) she put it right back on the cone and continued to chow down. finally the book, double-dip feelings is for helping children work with two contrasting feelings at the same time; much like the pleasure i experience cashing multiple paychecks versus the pain of working not one but two jobs in a single day. i'll post when i can, enjoy the week.

spring training part 5

2009-02-20T14:07:00.003-05:00

this is not a photo from a spring training game, it is however yet another photo of ted williams. this is from comiskey park in 1957:i absolutely love this picture; williams basking in the glow of god-light while waiting for the pitcher to warm up, the ball frozen in mid-air, the chesterfield ad on the scoreboard and the mist that fills the ballpark all lend a certain enchantment to the proceedings. super magical.

spring training part 4

2009-02-19T10:41:00.004-05:00

this is an undated - and only color photo from the archive - of ted williams taking batting practice during spring training:the term triple threat is is thrown around a lot to describe performers who show a modicum of ability to sing, dance and make appearances in crappy movies. rarely do these so-called triple threats truly excel in all three disciplines - i'm looking your way madonna, you leathery bag of gristle. where is this going? was ted williams some kind of triple threat? hell yeah he was, in a non-traditional sort of way. i've established his hall of fame baseball and angling careers - and despite how threatening his fishing was to fish - his third career was perhaps the most "threatening" of all; a u.s.m.c. avaitor who served in both the second world war and korea. when williams initially went into the service during ww2 he was desribed as being too good - his reflexes and aptitude making him one of the best the military had ever seen - to send into action and was used as an instructor. When williams was recalled at age 34 to serve during the korean war he was given the option to play baseball for a service team; he refused and went into active duty flying in 38 combat missions. this is a photo of williams being sworn into the military in 1942:williams' hall of fame baseball career was twice interupted by war, missing all or part of five seasons and he is still one of the top five hitters in history. that friendo is a triple threat.

spring training part 3

2009-02-18T11:30:00.005-05:00

this is a photo of williams working out during spring training in 1956:i can't help but think that they do things a little different in today's spring training facilities. seeing him hang there like a slab of meat is reminiscent of this other photo of ted:while most people are at least aware that williams was a hall of fame baseball player - arguably one of the top five hitters in the game - what a lot of people don't know is that he was a hall of fame angler as well. even if you knew he was a prodigious fisherman, you might not have known he was a hall-of-famer because who the hell knew there was a fishing hall of fame. that right there is a lot of fish.

spring training part 2

2009-02-17T13:14:00.011-05:00

this is a photo ted williams from spring training in 1948: if this week's blogjammin' was only about ted williams i would have saved this post for friday. beyond the start of spring training my interest in ted williams was rekindled by the recent passing of john updike. updike wrote a&p, which is not only my favorite short story - non-sedaris category - but also one of the few things that i read while at syracuse i truly enjoyed. reading about updike's life reminded me of an article he wrote, hub fans bid kid adieu, that was first published in the oct. 22, 1960 issue of the new yorker. hub fan bids kid adieu is the story of ted williams' last game at fenway park; a game made legendary by the fact that ted williams hit a home run in his final at-bat. you can see the at bat here:
ted never came out and tipped his cap. while most people attribute william's refusal to acknowledge the crowd to aloofness, updike explained it by writing that "gods do not answer letters".

spring training part 1

2009-02-16T16:30:00.005-05:00

for as much as these posts were to be about honoring spring training and showing some cool photos from the life mag archive my selections have more or less turned it into a ted williams - a.k.a. the kid, the thumper, teddy ballgame or the splendid splinter - love fest. we'll see how this shakes out as the week goes along, for now this is a shot of the aforementioned "splinter" arriving at the first day of spring training in sarasota florida in 1956. the one question i have is why did he arrive in his uniform? was he so excited to play he slept in it the night before? tune in tomorrow for more olde tyme spring training fun!

spring training is here and i'm so excited i could pee my pants!

2009-02-15T14:12:00.004-05:00

with the arrival of baseball spring training this week i've decided to do something a little different with blogjammin'. several months ago google images digitized and made available 10,000,000 pictures from life magazines archive. since i first learned about it i have found myself geeking out on how vast and impressive a historic record it is. this week i will be posting a baseball image - mostly red sox of course - from the archive. this first one - not a bosox picture - is from dodger town in 1948; it seemed like the perfect picture to kick of a spring training bonanza.

shauna, a.k.a brainiac, a.k.a. the leader

2009-02-11T14:22:00.006-05:00

all winter long i've been teasing shauna that she looks like brainiac when she wears her down coat with the hood on. this is brainiac: in all of my comic research and reading i've come to realize that that i've confused the brainiac - a superman villain - with the leader - a hulk villain. this is the leader: hold on to your hat here because i'm about to depart from my usual geekiness into a rarely seen comic book super-geekiness. my confusion could be easily enough explained by the fact that they both have big green brain-filled heads. brainiac is an alien however, while the leader, much like the hulk, is a man that gained his powers from exposure to gamma radiation. so when i snapped this photo of shauna in full-hooded glory while walking home the other night the hamster wheel in my head began spinning. i started doing research and here we are right now. it was that fallout shelter sign, with it's familiar radiation symbol that inspired the investigation and this post. despite the uncanny resemblance to the leader i'm going to continue to call shauna the brainiac anytime she dons that hood. it just works better. as a final eerie note, a first grade student in an art class i substituted for on monday did this drawing: sorry shauna, the leader ranks only thd (3rd) best to that boy. hey, look on the bright side, you and your big puffy brain are number one with me.

koched!

2009-02-08T19:38:00.003-05:00

this saturday shauna i joined my sister and her friends for a fancy brunch at capsouto freres. that's when shauna got hizzonered. i think ed might be catching on to the fact that i'm taking his picture in this second shot.

papi in pencil

2009-02-04T19:03:00.005-05:00

another week lost to teaching. don't hate on me, blame my lack of blogging on the educational needs of the privileged youth of nyc. avionics and design, math, english, science and art all in one week; versatility is alarming. i managed to sneak in a few minutes to do some drawing today - i'm really trying to keep this comic book alive. i was working from the same photo i used to make this wax collage. see you later in the week.

sorry

2009-01-29T17:49:00.003-05:00

i've been working quite a bit lately. double dipping some days even, as a consequence there hasn't been much craft work going on. what has continued is my comic book research. i was looking at comic book covers the other day in preparation for the first web issue of my book and i came across this doozy from a comic version of an old t.v. series. damn that's creepy and wrong on so many levels. i'm nervous the f.b.i. is going to come knocking on my door just for posting this picture. check back soon for more blogjamming.

bona fide

2009-01-22T14:59:00.005-05:00

for those of you who do not yet know - seems impossible since three people read this blog - papi just got a lot closer to being full-on bona fide. how is that you ask? because this girl:agreed to marry this guy:congratulations papi, you're legit!

not the post you might be expecting

2009-01-20T14:55:00.009-05:00

tomorrow i'll pass along the news on how papi became bona fide - legitmate - if you will, however today i just want to comment about an experience i had during president obama's inauguration. a few months ago i came across this photo of me as a child.then today i saw this and my world was shattered.memories of my childhood will never be the same.

skating party

2009-01-15T20:27:00.002-05:00

sorry there has been so little blogjamming lately. i promise i'm not just resting on my laurels after that brilliant papi-is-a-triangle-with-a-line-sticking-out post, i've just been teaching quite a bit lately. i'll be doing my regular friday at e.i. tomorrow then i'm off for a skate in central park with my lady. with the three day weekend coming i'm sure there will be a lot of arts and crafting going on. see you in a couple of days with some surprises.

papi... the icon

2009-01-12T11:52:00.006-05:00

i was laying in bed this morning watching papi stand perfectly still like a bloated statue, staring off into space at who-knows-what and my mind snapped into some sort of graphic design mode. over breakfast i was doodling on a scrap of paper and came up with the graphic essence of papi. this is not the perfect picture of papi to illustrate his resemblance to my doodle - the camera angle, the tail curl and the humiliating effect of having his toys piled on top of him - but with a bit of imagination you can see it. i'll be teaching every day this week so there may not be a ton of craft postings, however there were so major breakthroughs with the comic book this weekend so the first few pages shouldn't be too far off.

teacher man

2009-01-08T15:22:00.003-05:00

no craft work today, too busy getting my spanish on. i'm back at e. i. tomorrow for my regular friday art classes. tune in tomorrow, i might be inspired to do a little watercolor with my class. p.s. someone should tell these schools to keep tacos on hand for spanish classes, it shouldn't be underestimated just how inspiring a taco can be for both students and teacher.

señor french is back

2009-01-07T17:16:00.007-05:00

i finished the heavy work on my magic spoon today. no picture yet because i want to slap some lacquer on it so it's chili ready. i figured everybody would prefer to see it with a full glowing sheen. in other news i'll be subbing in a spanish class tomorrow; i'm not going to allow myself to get too excited - no one likes to be disappointed - but i hope there's tacos. till tomorrow, adios amigos.

magic chili spoon in progress

2009-01-06T15:36:00.004-05:00

this is the magic chili spoon so far. it's carves from a piece of 1" x 3" pine. hopefully it will be done tomorrow.

back to school day

2009-01-05T20:11:00.005-05:00

holiday vacations are over. i was back at allen-stevenson today co-teaching an after school program. we have 13 fourth and fifth graders and we are studying design and aviation. it went great today. the students are starting with gliders and will go on to build airships and hovercrafts. i would have killed for programs like this when i was a kid. i get to work in the woodshop which is always a thrill for me. check back tomorrow to see my magical wooden chili spoon.

happy new year!

2009-01-02T16:33:00.003-05:00

sure it's a day late but new years day is an official blogging holiday. nobody but nobody blogs on new years day. anyway, hope the new year treats everyone to something delicious.

new years eve

2008-12-31T14:09:00.002-05:00

the weather calls for a very chilly night tonight. i think i'm just gonna spend the night someplace warm with my lady, papi and a couple of six packs of pbr. happy new year every one.

moving day

2008-12-30T19:40:00.002-05:00

today was heather's moving day. half of the family is living in j.c. now. it was a busy day and there was no time for arts and crafts so i thought i would post this informative self-defense material. let's hope we never need to use it.

christmas has come and gone

2008-12-29T14:26:00.003-05:00

so we're in that no man's land that is the time between christmas and new years. as always i was treated very well by my family and friends. everyone did miss out on what may have been the perfect holiday gift. there's always next year i guess. hint, hint.

merry christmas

2008-12-25T16:51:00.003-05:00

it's a christmas miracle, 2 posts in one day

2008-12-24T15:40:00.003-05:00

just wanted to show off the christmas present i made for my landlady mary jean. this is the first of the new birds i've made since the ones i did for shauna. he's a good one!

christmas eve tree trim

2008-12-24T15:35:00.002-05:00

one of my favorite days of the year is here. i got together with papi and had a little talk and he agreed to be cool around this tree.the charlie brown special is all decorated and ready to go.

back for more

2008-12-23T13:43:00.004-05:00

here i am again, begging at santa. all i wanted for christmas was some more turtlenecks and cardigan sweaters. the tree-trimming is under way and is coming together nicely. it's a bit tricky keeping the tree watered with papi around. who new cats liked pine-water so much. on the plus side he hasn't taken the tree out yet. these are some picture of what was our last christmas tree.

who is this guy and why am i sitting on his lap?

2008-12-22T16:56:00.002-05:00

i'm working on my tree trimming decorations today, check back tomorrow to see my charlie brown special in all it's treelicious glory.

winter in jc

2008-12-19T15:40:00.004-05:00

our first big snow of the year came today. here's some pics:

party time

2008-12-18T15:25:00.003-05:00

after getting up at 4:30 this mornimg to get shauna off to the airport for the holidays and accidentally breaking her birthday birds i was too tired and busy doing repairs to do any new crafting today. i will be rallying for heather's fancy office party tonight. i'm just gonna slip into some of my finery and turn on the charm. yeah, this should be cool. i just hope i can keep up my strength so i can show off some of my newly minted dance moves.

for no other reason than how bad-ass it is

2008-12-17T18:39:00.003-05:00

this is a real photo taken of a squirrel fight at a campsite in namibia. wow.

heather the pirate

2008-12-16T16:05:00.002-05:00

for heather's 40th birthday shauna and i decided to each paint a portrait of her as a pirate. this is my half of the diptych, shauna's can be seen on her bee warblers blog

calling in sick

2008-12-15T18:43:00.003-05:00

sorry all, i'm taking a sick day from blogging today. it's sad really, i have some good stuff to blog right now. check back in tuesday to see the fun paintings shauna and i made for heather for her fortieth birthday. for now this picture of papi when he was a kitten will have to tide you over.

potter party redux

2008-12-12T14:50:00.005-05:00

as you may remember shauna and i have a fondness for potter parties. with the publication of this new little book we once again have a reason to read aloud to each other. to liven up the festivities i made shauna a magic wand while teaching up at the a-s wood shop the other day. we love the flying and the magic.

finally finished

2008-12-11T21:20:00.004-05:00

at long last papi's house is finished. i spent the day painting on the ivy and flowers and wallpapering the inside.the wallpaper is a lovely floral, bird and heart print. very manly; if ever there was a doubt this all but confirms that papi has no testicles.
the flowers are tough guy too. i hope he enjoys it and doesn't completely dismantle it on his first visit inside.

every time I think I'm out.... they pull me back in!

2008-12-10T16:17:00.005-05:00

i was called in to substitute teach at a-s again so no more progress on papi's house. so many promises broken on that one. i did do a little more wood-working in the shop, so consequently there is a five-thousandth unfinished project in my cue. this is a photo of the very rough beginning of a funky wooden spoon i'm carving.

lied again

2008-12-09T18:55:00.007-05:00

as you can no doubt tell this is not a post about a finished house for papi. i was called in to work today at allen-stevenson so i was unable to properly craft today. i worked in the wood shop today so i was able to work on some more little wooden birds like the ones i made for shauna's birthday. i failed to demonstrate how i made those so i plan on showing you all now. this is a photo of the tracings on the board, the rough cut-out and a nearly finished smoothly shaped and sanded bird. check back for more progress in the coming days, and tomorrow for a finished papi house.

it'll be finished tomorrow

2008-12-08T17:30:00.003-05:00

as you can tell from this photo papi is eagerly awaiting the completion of his new home. he can barely contain himself. it's a bit much really. calm down kitty, a little more foliage and some wallpaper and the new place will be good to go.

sure nobody loves to work but look at the rewards!

2008-12-05T17:50:00.004-05:00

once again i'm sorry about the lack of blogjamming this week but we all must do what we all must do to put food on our families. giant towers of bananas and juicy, juicy mangoes aren't free ya know. check back monday for some new art and crafts. papi's house is very close to finished and as i'm typing this i'm taking a break from laying out the first two-page installment of the comic.

i'll be taking a few days off from blogjamming

2008-12-01T21:24:00.003-05:00

i really hate to do it but this week is just too darn busy. i'll be working at cue for the next few days and there just isn't going to be much time for crafting or the comic book. i promise to come back strong toward the end of the week or next monday. please tune in then.

... now i'm blogging another pie

2008-11-28T19:05:00.002-05:00

you may remember about a month ago i took my first trip down pie street. this is the pie my sister crafted for thanksgiving dinner. beautiful!

stuffing jam '08

2008-11-27T11:22:00.005-05:00

here's some pics of our late night stuffing jam. the event was sponsored by herradura tequila and we would also like to thank the wu-tang clan for their generous support.

jesus jumped-up giblets

2008-11-26T15:25:00.002-05:00

i finally got my hands on those giblets. this whole thanksgiving thing is bigger than i thought. enjoy this picture of my giblets.

yet another one of these posts

2008-11-25T17:34:00.003-05:00

another day has gone by without any arts and crafts accomplishments. i was working today for a friend at the cue art foundation picking up and moving some art work for an upcoming show. i had some pretty nasty flashbacks of my old film production days being in that van driving around the city in traffic. any way, i promise some art tomorrow.

where there's smoke there's firefighters

2008-11-24T16:01:00.004-05:00

after getting a late start to the crafting today there isn't any new art to post. i was called away to turkey shop for my first thanksgiving dinner i'll be hosting - that is if you don't count the spinach and rice meal i consumed alone in nepal in 2000. shauna and i picked out what by all measures appears to be a winner of a bird. oh yeah, and we woke up to a fire in the building next door to our apartment. no was hurt. i'm not really sure it was all that serious, the firefighters were very relaxed the whole time they were outside. at any rate one of the first things i'm thankful for this year is that that smoke wasn't pouring out of our kitchen. that bird is begging to be roasted and nothing must stand in our way. i can't wait to get my hands on those giblets!

very nearly there

2008-11-21T17:25:00.005-05:00

papi's house is very close to finished. all that's left is to paint some ivy on the outside and some grass and flowers around the foundation.

guy le teach

2008-11-20T16:05:00.004-05:00

so i know that i had promised to finish papi's house but i was called in to teach today. i'm going to have to finish up tomorrow. in the meantime enjoy this olde tyme print of a monkey providing nourishment to a child. really it's more or less just like my day at school but instead of porridge i'm coming with knowledge. and i'm not wearing a bonnet. oh, and i'm wearing pants and a shirt.

someday this war's gonna end...

2008-11-19T16:26:00.006-05:00

this is taking me a lot longer than i thought it would. here is the day's progress; it's kinda barfy right now but i'm counting on it coming around. keep your fingers crossed that papi likes it!

kitty house inspiration

2008-11-18T12:56:00.003-05:00

i had hoped to blog the finished kitty house today but it's taking me a little longer then i thought it would. sorry, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. in place of the finished product i offer you an image of the house that inspired my final design. i loved the brothel suggestion but papi is a boy; we've already taken his testicles i don't want to promote any further gender-bending confusion. tune in tomorrow to see papi's painted house in all its glory.

scratchy shauna

2008-11-17T14:17:00.003-05:00

this is a sketch of shauna for the comic book. she's the final regular character. i'm not sure how i feel about this one; i'm still trying to work out a style. finn's much cuter in real life.

papi's new home

2008-11-14T15:07:00.006-05:00

when shauna and i moved to jersey city a few months ago we radically upgraded our living situation. it only seemed fair that papi should be treated to some new accommodations as well. you may remember that i built his old house out of cardboard. it took a beating over time - papi had a taste for that particular cardboard - so i decided to go with wood on his new house. hopefully he won't chew his way through this one. this house was built last august one day up at the allen-stevenson wood shop. it has to be painted; i'm still trying to settle on a fun design or color scheme so if anyone has any ideas please share them with me in the comments section. heather, in an attempt to make papi the most spoiled cat of all time knit him the little blanket under his paw to cuddle up on in the new crib.

monkey art

2008-11-13T13:54:00.003-05:00

i've got a full day of art teaching and a full evening of art openings so no new art of my own to post today. this painting is pretty sweet however. enjoy!

finished scratchboard owl

2008-11-12T17:00:00.002-05:00

owl sketch

2008-11-11T17:34:00.003-05:00

this is a first pencil sketch of another of the characters from the comic book. the owl is a part of the supporting cast for our hero's crime-fighting activities. hopefully tomorrow i will be posting a finished scratchboard version.

a couple more practice sketches in scratchboard

2008-11-10T19:09:00.004-05:00

these panels are establishing images of the apartment on the evening our hero embarks upon his crime fighting career.

unearthed during comic book research

2008-11-07T16:47:00.002-05:00

not sure where it's from or what it's about but i like it.

a little cross-promotion

2008-11-06T12:21:00.002-05:00

today, for two reasons - 1) i haven't had time to work on the comic so there isn't much new art to post and 2) shauna's work is amazing and more people should be seeing it - i want to take a moment to promote the bee warbler's blog. the link can be found in my links section, so if you stumbled across this blog somehow i encourage you to check out her work - and stunning photos of eleuthera were she is staying for her friend christina and tommy's wedding.

smoke 'em if you got 'em

2008-11-05T16:02:00.005-05:00

for ten years i was a cigarette smoker. during those ten years i justified my dirty and deadly addiction by describing a cigarette as "the icing on the cake" after anything good. despite some occasional crankiness and the addition of a few unsightly pounds i am so happy that i was able to quit and would never recommend that anyone take up the habit. last nights election results and some timely received federal and state income tax refund checks have restored my faith in our democracy. the return of intelligence and fresh ideas to the white house certainly has me breathing easier. it is my understanding that president elect obama enjoys an occasional smoke. all health concerns aside, i hope he enjoyed one last night after hearing the results announced. sweetest smoke ever.

shauna's birthday birds

2008-11-04T18:44:00.005-05:00

every year i like to try to make something for shauna's birthday. this year i was inspired by a collection of carved wooden bird pins i saw in the book the art of gaman by delphine hirasuna. the book focuses on arts and crafts that were made by japanese american prisoners of u.s. internment camps during world war 2. the birds in the book were carved out of scrapwood, painted, lacquered and then fitted with a safety pin. I have been interested in animal dioramas for a while so rather than making a pin i decided to carve 5 different birds and set them up on a fallen branch i found in the lawn in front of jersey city hall. we hung the branch in the living room. i'm very pleased with how it turned out.

it was a nice little sunday... i just wasn't sure if there would be enough time

2008-11-03T16:43:00.014-05:00

this sunday was one of those brisk fall days that's just perfect for a stroll through central park with your special lady and an old jelly jar filled with herradura tequila and lime juice. as luck would have it we ran into my sister heather in the park on sunday as well, running in the nyc marathon for the first time. we kicked the day of with a little burger time picnic party at grand army plaza with a to-go sack from the burger joint. that place never dissapoints and then bolted up to the 25 mile-mark of the marathon course to shout "run chicken run" and "hurry up, we're hungry for dinner" as my sister blazed by.it was a truly remarkable performance by heather, not only did she run a marathon but afterward she cooked a big birthday dinner for shauna and made it down to her local pub for a couple of pints. how she did it i don't know but i was tired all day today.
it's worth mentioning that i came up with the slogan for those t-shirts like the one shauna is wearing so f.y.i. my copywriting services are available. anyway, congrats to heather and a very happy birthday to shauna. love you both.