So, I won a HUGE photo award called the James D. Phelan Art Award in Photography. It's given out every 2 years and the other winners are Walt Odets and Apollonia Morrill. The show up from now until November 17th, 2007 and the opening is on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1st. Should be huge! I am so excited. I have worked harder at photography for the last few years than ever before and it seems to have paid off. It's been a 2nd full time job for me for a long time. Please come see the show if you have a chance. It's at SF Camerawork, 657 Mission St., 2nd Floor (in SF of course). And my lovely and supportive wife, Sarah will be there.
Tuesday, July 31st I will have 4 photos in a show at the SFAC Gallery in SF City Hall. I can't wait to see the show... It's the first show I've been in this year (if you don't count my Sadkids Number 4 release party - which wasn't a show so why would you count it?). The next show I'm in is in Portland next week at AudioCinema and there is another BIG HUGE GIANT surprise show in November that I thought was supposed to be announced already but for some reason hasn't been. I'll fill you in when it's officially official. So, if you want to see a bunch of good photos (mine included) don't miss the show at the SFAC Gallery. If you can't make the opening, it will be up until September 21st.
Ok, Thursday, June 7th, 2007, the long-awaited Sadkids Number 4 (color photo zine) will be released. I'm sure you are all tired of hearing about it but after Thursday it will all be over. Just bear with me. Only a few more days. Come to the party (or email me) if you want a copy (they will be $6). Here is the winning postcard I have talked so much about. Thanks everyone for voting.
Sarah is out of town and I'm alone for the week. I have rapidly reverted to my favorite bachelorhood pastime, sleeping on the couch and watching crappy movies on hbo/starz/whatever. Movies I'd never waste both of our time on (I respect my wife!). Serious total mainstream junk. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised. I really liked 40 year old virgin (I should have known I would since I always end up liking Judd Apatow stuff). There were a few others I liked but can't remember. So, last night I happened to watch the Adam Sandler movie Click. All I can say is, PEOPLE LIKED THIS MOVIE ENOUGH TO HAVE IT EARN
$137,340,146? Followed by, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH EVERYONE WHO SAW THIS MOVIE AND LIKED IT? Oh my God. What a piece of CRAP. It's about some guy who gets a universal remote control and he ends up fast-forwarding through his life because he thinks he can skip all the boring parts but ends up learning that the boring parts are what makes life worth living. The boring part to me was THIS MOVIE. And, since I'm a stubborn guy who can't learn lessons from heavy-handed movies, you know what I did? Fast-forwarded through the boring parts (which was most of the movie). I want the regular boring parts of my life back that this movie took away. Can I please scoop the cat box for 107 minutes instead? Kate Beckinsale was her usual foxy self (although I think it must be illegal for her to be in a good movie). TiVo helped cut the movie to around 45 minutes and that was still too long. Kind of like this blog post.
here was another choice for the sadkids-zine-number-4-release-party-postcard (my personal favorite). It came in 2nd place in the voting.
finished editing my latest photo zine last night (thanks to help from sarah and michelle) and will start printing it in the next few days. I sent out an email to some friends asking what design they liked best for the postcard I am having printed to promote the release party (june 7th at Foto-Grafix Books in SF). Here is one of the (non-winning) choices. I'll post the winning one soon.
How well does your name Google? Who are you up against? (Celebrities, etc.)
Submitted by Matt Blank.
Still sitting at #2 for Geoffrey Ellis. Playing 2nd fiddle to a flutemaker by the same name. You are going DOWN Geoffrey Ellis! I am also in the #4 and #8 spots.
Look at my sad vox account. It gets no love lately. Truth be told, I have been busy. Traveling, watching TiVo, going to A's games, printing photos and trying to get my new zine done. It's been in the works way too long. I hope to have it finished by early June and am planning to have a release party for it. More details to come. In the meantime, buy the new Hank IV 7" single that has my photo on the cover.
What's the first image that comes up when you Google your name?
Boooooooo! The first thing that comes up is a picture of the guy I am in a battle with for the #1 spot on Google. I have overtaken him a few times but am currently 2nd. He shares the same name as me and he makes flutes or something. He even lives in Northern California - I swear, it's not my alter ego. Here is the photo:
The second photo is a book about Napoleon. Also not written by me:
It turns out it's actually one of my favorite childhood memories. When I was about 11 or so, my grandmother came over to spend the night on Christmas eve. I wasn't going to sleep in the same bed with her so she took my room and I took the fold out couch in the living room. The living room was next to the den and the den is where the tree was. There was an open wall between the two rooms. We all went to bed early because the sooner we went to sleep, the sooner morning would be. I had a feeling that Santa wasn't actually real (kids at school tended to talk about such things) and around midnight is when my suspicions were confirmed. I heard my parents sneak into the den to put out the toys. They were giggling and commenting on the presents. It sounded like they were having such a good time. I wanted to get up and join them but didn't want them to think they ruined the illusion for me - I already knew. My favorite thing I heard them say was "ha ha, never trust a smiling cat..." They were talking about a Garfield the Cat pinback button. My Dad got a huge kick out of it.
In the morning I woke up and didn't say a word about knowing there was no Santa. I didn't want them to think I'd lost my innocence yet, let alone think that they had ruined it for me (because they didn't). They were having so much fun - it was awesome. The next year my parents kind of knew the jig was up. They started kind of referring to Santa with a sort of air-quotes type of """Santa's""" coming tonight" thing. I really appreciated that. They knew I was smart enough to know better but also didn't want to ruin it for my younger sister. I did my part and kept my mouth shut. They still to this day refer to Santa getting us gifts. No one has ever admitted knowing or not knowing the truth. Mom, Dad, I want you to know, I know Santa is real. And thanks for telling him exactly what we wanted every year. Merry Christmas.
on Drawling