31/366: ready

On my way home this evening and ready for the cold. I always wind up being much warmer than I think because I ride pretty hard on the bike.

30/366: watching the world

Checking out the scene on the street below my studio window this afternoon. I like to take breaks here and there to watch people walking by; observing the patterns and interactions of pedestrians, bicyclists, cars, trucks and buses.

29/366: ideas

Current reading: Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock

28/366: wandering eye

The other night, I took two shots and both worked. Tonight, there were 17 and most didn't work. This one barely got the nod. I'm off to bed.

27/366: shadow world

On my walk home from work tonight, I caught a glimpse of my alter ego's shadow alongside mine. He was quiet tonight and not much in the mood to talk.

26/366: flavors

Dinner at Mustard Greens on 3rd near South Street tonight. It seems to have become the place to eat whenever there's an event happening amongst my core group of friends.

We celebrated a baby shower the first of three, count 'em, three for one couple in the group earlier in the day with family members and friends with babies. The dinner was just for us to spend time with the expecting couple.

25/366: listening to tales

Hanging out upstairs at Gojo's in West Philly with friends. It was cold and we were reluctant to leave the warmth of our place, but I'm glad we did. The company of good friends can warm you like nothing else.

24/366: winter uniform

The end of a pretty productive studio day. The coveralls and hoodie help to keep me warm during the winter days. There's heat, but I rarely use it...too expensive.

My coveralls are caked with paint because I have a habit of wiping excess paint from my hands and brushes on them. Old sweaters and t-shirts find their way up there, too-the former for warmth, the latter for rags.

23/366: wiped out

Work did me in today.

22/366: new resident

Today my wife became a resident of the U.S.

This morning we went to our interview at the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) office. It had to be the most intense 40 minutes we've ever had together. Intense as in scary; our future in the near term was in the hands of this one person. If there was one thing he didn't like or thought was questionable about the validity of our relationship and marriage, she might have had to leave for a time. Luckily, our paperwork was in order and our answers to his questions consistent.

When the words, "As of today, you are a resident of the United States" came out of his mouth, referring to Eva, a weight the size of the Titanic was lifted from our shoulders. We walked away hysterically numb but elated.

21/366: layering

Longjohns are a must for days with temperatures like today's. Any time the thermometer goes below 30ºF, they go on with no hesitation.

I have several bottoms in different colors. I have a blue pair that are thin, but really warm. I purchased them for a camping trip a few years ago and I'd love to get more. They're less bulky than traditional long underwear, which makes a difference when I'm indoors for most of the day after walking to work.

I could just take them off while at work, but I'm too lazy to bother most of the time.

20/366: the start

I love starting off a cold morning with a hot, steaming bowl of oatmeal. It's only recently that I've begun adding blackberries or blueberries to it. Most of the time, I'll cut an apple up and add that, but I needed to switch things up a bit so I wouldn't get bored. Oh, and cinnamon is a must.

My wife makes faces at my 'porridge', as she calls it.

19/366: the fix

I can be handy when needed.

The old toilet arm finally rusted through this morning, just as I was getting ready to head to work. I made an emergency visit to my local hardware store, found the part, and installed it in almost no time. I even got to work on time.

18/366: back to work

Today was kind of a 'shaking off the cobwebs' day at the studio.

I hadn't worked consistently for about a month and-a-half. Even though I was only in there for a few hours, it still felt good having that time exclusively for art again after the distraction of the holidays.

17/366: grays

My chin is the only place where there is a concentration of gray hairs. I'm usually pretty clean shaven except when I'm off from work. There are a few greys here and there on my head, but that's about it at the moment. I think I was about 35 when they started appearing.

Earlier today, I thought back to when I was a teenager anxiously looking for some outward sign that I was growing up. I focused most of my efforts on whatever facial hair I could find. Every dark wisp of hair I found was cause for self-contained excitement in front of the bathroom mirror.

When the grays started appearing, I laughed and thought, "This is just too weird". I hadn't given it much thought before, but I'd made it to the point of getting my first gray hairs and the beginning of another stage in my life.

16/366: clean

The kitchen and bathroom must be clean.

15/366: decisions

Trying to make a choice about which brand of angelhair pasta to get for dinner. My wife added it to the delicious vegetable and chick-pea stew she made on Sunday.

14/366: privacy please!

I'm really happy not having to deal with being under the microscope of public life.

13/366: shop

This was the first project I did in 7th grade shop class. I remember that it took me forever to finish. It was my first time learning to translate two dimensional measurements to the 3-D world. Not only that, but it was my first experience with power tools. You can see the trouble I had with the 'M". I think I got a B- for this.

It's one of the very few creative things I have left over from my early teens.

12/366: wild in stone

I'm not thrilled with this image, but I really didn't feel like taking another one when we returned home, so here it is.

The day was nice enough to spend outside so today, my wife and I decided the Philadelphia Zoo was a perfect place to go for a while.

The highlight of the day was seeing the new tiger cubs playing around in their enclosure. The biggest surprise was seeing the elephants still there. They were scheduled to be transferred to a zoo in Pittsburgh last November.

11/366: shadowed

10/366: other worlds

I've always read comics. They were my saving grace as an only child, taking me to places with people and beings I couldn't imagine.

I've never been a 'collector', but rather more of a very interested reader. When I was a teenager, I sold off a ton of books that brought in a good amount of money at the time, but had I the sense to keep some select titles, I would have had a lot more only a few years later. Immediate circumstances dictated the disposal for cash.

I continued reading regularly until a little over five years ago when my habit became too expensive.

This past September, a new comic book store opened up near my studio in Old City. I couldn't help but go in if only to look. I'd returned to the old neighborhood but didn't recognize the surroundings. Most of the characters I knew were still around, but in the comics world 5 years is like 20 life-times: a lot can happen. I wanted to reacquaint myself with the Marvel universe and started with the Civil War saga, one of those events that affected just about all of the Marvel characters.

I also like a lot of non-hero characters and books from my older collection, like Neil Gaiman's Sandman, the Transmetropolitan series, Lucifer, and Preacher and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.

9/366: ritual

Cleaning up before bed is mandatory for me. I have to be insanely tired not to. It just feels better crawling into bed having rid myself of the day's dirt.

8/366: my turn

Got chosen for jury duty today. First time. I've been pretty lucky to not have actually been on a jury in the past, but I suppose it could be interesting. I'll have a first-hand experience on Thursday for a trial that's supposed to only take a couple of days, according to the presiding judge. We'll see how that goes.

7/366: when opportunity knocks...

...take care of the small steps long before deadline...

6/366: no time

Not much time for anything tonight. I'm on a deadline to complete a grant application for the Pew Fellowships. It's due late tomorrow afternoon. I'm editing final digital images of paintings and I should be done tonight.

This is the first year that they are doing completely online applications for painters. I don't know how it's going to work out, but I'm happy about doing everything digitally...no more slides to contend with...

5/366: mice snacks

5/366: mice snacks

Mixing up some yummy mice bait and peanut butter in hopes of doing away with our little non-rent paying 'guests'.

4/366: wife approved

4/366: wife apporved

This is me with my wife-approved girlfriend, Orana, one of the Blythe dolls. More specifically, a Merry Skier Blythe, according to E.

I don't know when it started, but I began noticing little versions of these dolls popping up around the apartment before Orana arrived. There will probably be more. One of the ways we've retained stereotypically male and female childhood hobbies: I read comics and she collects dolls.

3/366: pen and paper

3/366: pen and paper, originally uploaded by tilaneseven.

I've kept a paper journal since I was about 17 or so. There are years where I've written every day and several times a day and there are also huge gaps where entries are months apart.

I discovered Livejournal around 2000 or so and have been writing there pretty regularly over the years. Still, putting pen to paper, watching letters form from the ink, scratching out mistakes and sometimes doodling on the pages still feels special to me. Plus, there are things I write in my paper journal that are just for me and never make it beyond those pages.

2/366: cold

2/366: cold

Today was the first really frigid day we've had around Philly so far this winter, with the exception of a day or two in early December. I'm a believer in layering and don't play around when it's cold.

1/366: recovery day

1/366: recovery day

Brought in 2008 with lots of friends and alcohol-way too much alcohol, too fast. Good times were had, but ouch!