Just one "Must Have"

It's not all that often that I come across a particular thing that I feel like I absolutely tremendously desire. The above item is one such thing. These have to be the coolest shoes I have ever seen. I am definitely going to find a way to get these. Seriously, how can you not want a pair?

Thank you! Thank you!

I had a birthday gift show up in the mail yesterday. Meisha said it wasn't supposed to get here so soon, but she was so excited, she couldn't wait and keep the secret, so she had me open it. Inside was this book from my dear friends. I'm so ridiculously excited to read this and oogle the amazing pictures of Alex Grey for hours on end. So THANK YOU THANK YOU Dallin and Nadya! It means a lot to me.

Zion Trip with Dallin and Seth

We had a really amazing trip. Had some good hikes, good talks, good relaxation, good contemplation, and got to wear some really killer hats. I had a lot of problems with the focus on my camera, so sorry about a lot of them being fuzzy. Maybe it adds to the effect of the picture, yes? There's a lot of pics here, so if you find the slideshow taking too long, you can GO HERE for the full gallery. Enjoy.

Balloons and Self-Preservation

I see "lots" of balloons and "lots" of cars, but no people?

This sale is Rockin'!!

I know I just posted something talking about how I don't like to talk about the car business and here I am, doing it again. I was out taking pictures for my other blog and realized a (maybe) sad thing. I'm witnessing the death of the car business. The business is lying on it's back, grasping for air and puking blood that looks like red and white ballons and a cheesy "Rockin" banner. Sales like these really feel like that final desperate act of self-preservation. I'm hoping that the death of the car business is a good thing. I hope it means evolution. I think there are a lot of "factors" that play into the car business being an "evil" or "dishonest" business. I like to call those factors "people". There are a lot of ruthless people in this world and a lot of them sell or work for car companies. I hope that their death brings about their evolution. I really do. Not because I'm going to stay in the car business and want it to be a pleasurable experience, but because I think humanity as a whole needs to evolve or die. I hope this recession is the beginning of the death of humanity and society as we know it. I'm tired of things the way they are. I want to evolve. I want to be reborn out of my own smoldering ashes (and I'm starting to feel pretty damn ashy). I don't know if I can fucking take it any more. I don't know if I can sit back and listen to another fucking speech beginning with "In these tough times....." Fuck that. Just be what and who you want to be and do what you want to do. Stop looking for an excuse. Stop waiting for that "one thing" to push you the extra step to begin being yourself and just push yourself. Obviously I'm talking to myself here as much as anyone. Thanks for reading.

Have a beautiful day.

Just trying to understand people.

People are interesting. And the way people go about trying to accomplish certain tasks is even more interesting. Sometimes I hate talking about the car business, but it's an unavoidable part of my life for now and I found this situation strange:

A small Japanese woman with a cane walks into our dealership last week. The funny thing is that this woman is the type that everyone knows that from the minute she walks in, she's here to play hardball. It emanates from her. She spends time with her salesman (not me) and seems to find some kind of thrill in making him run to and from different cars, pull them up, open them up only to say "I don't like that one." They find a car that "kind of" works and sit down to figure out the payments. This woman proceeds to tell the salesman "You have 2 minutes and then I'm out of here." The salesman scrambles to try and get the figures in time, but she sticks by her word and at the exact 2 minute mark, stands up and starts hobbling out of the dealership. The manager runs out and begs her to stay. She says "Ok, fine. 2 more minutes. BUT THAT'S IT." They scramble to put together the price. They run out as she's standing up again, show her the price and she says "Ok, thank you." and leaves without buying the car.

Here's where it gets interesting:

This woman uses a fake name and "secretly" shops me on the internet to see if she can really get the best price. She proceeds to email back and forth with me for several days and several times a day to milk every bit of information possible from me. Once the week of emailing is through, she calls me for for a few more brief questions, but blocks her number so I can't call back. The crazy part is that this woman just went through this entire process to save less than $200 from the price she was originally given in the dealership. The even crazier part is that this woman bought the car from another dealership to save $200 more (We were selling the car at $200 over cost. I told her that and told her I thought it was fair. The other dealership sold the car at cost and didn't make anything).

The psychology of people when negotiating intrigues me. Just when I think I'm starting to understand a little, I realize I may never understand. Party because everyone is different and partly because when people want a good deal they can truly act insane.

I would like everyone to know that life doesn't have to be that hard. You don't have to spend a week of your time and everyone else's time to save a few hundred dollars. If you want a good deal on something Google it. You really can find just about anything you want there. And if you find yourself paying $400 too much for a $25,000 car, it's ok. Life will not end. You won't miss the money and probably won't know you even spent it. Don't stress. Be happy. That's it.

Logo Redesign

After some great design advice from Nadya, I've done some redesigning. Here are the new logos.

A little help, please.

Well I've got a business name and a website. I need some feedback. Let me know what you think about the logos and taglines below. Any design tips or feedback would be much appreciated. And it's OK to be as critical as you want. I just want honest feedback.

If you're curious, my website is www.desigmotion.com. Check it out if you'd like. It's pretty much just a temporary contact page for now. I'll get the real site up as soon as I get caught up on the other sites I'm doing.

Logo #1
Tagline #1

Logo #2

Tagline #2

Thanks.

About Bunnies

When Nadya asked me to draw a picture of an evil bunny, it got me thinking. I knew one day I would have to dig deep within myself and overcome my morbid sexual fear of them. With that in mind I accepted the challenge. I sat in dark rooms, dark corners, and dark closets just waiting. Suddenly, there he was. That little bastard showed his face just long enough for me to get a good look..... and back into the shadows of the night. And here he is. I feel a little more comfortable around bunnies now, but still can't help but cover my privates -just in case.

Blindness

Meisha and I just watch this movie last night. It really got me thinking a lot. I've never seen an epidemic movie done quite this way. It explores a lot of the types of theories and ideas found in Lord of the Flies. I found myself enjoying the hell out of it, yet hating it and being disgusted all at the same time. It made me think about order, and how we as a human race need it. It made me really start to wonder about "true" human nature and what that meant. It made me wonder what I would be like and who I would be like in the movie had I been thrown into such a situation. Would I be a leader? Would I be a follower? Would I be an asshole? Would I have died.... or killed myself? I love movies that lead to more questions and inspire independent thought.

This is one of them.

A boring rainy day at work combined with a lack of willingness to move due to a sore back caused this picture to come into creation. It's me(if you couldn't tell). I feel funny drawing myself. You'd think I should know the look of my face better than anyone seeing as how I see it in the mirror everyday, but it's quite weird trying to think about how I look while drawing. By the way, Sleeping with Ghosts makes a good soundtrack to a good drawing session.

That's probably it for today.

My New Life

• Zip jacket up.
• Backpack on.
• Headphones in.
• Crank Things Falling Apart and grin.
• Glove one, glove two and feel the leather wrap around the handle bars.
• Feet to pedals and I'm off.
• I instantly feel the rain hit my checks and begin to run down.
• As The Great Collapse gets going, I pedal harder and realize I'm passing all the cars.
• Enter parking lot.
• Weaving through pillars coming within inches.
• Peppers of red and green, onion, cheese, ranch and drinks.
• Jamming as I walk through the aisles, flashing strange people with my even stranger smile.
  
• Food to backpack.
  
• Glove one, glove two.
• Enter the pillar slalom. Even faster this time.
• Skidding around the corner and down the road.
• Thighs burn.
• Pushing harder through the rain.
• Pushing harder through the pain.
  
• And home.
• This is my new life.
• And I love it.

Santo Jorge de la Gordo

So I took on what I thought was a "little" Photoshop tutorial. After hours upon hours of learning and hundreds upon hundreds (literally) of layers. Here he is! In all his sweaty glory. Introducing.....

Santo Jorge de la Gordo!

For a bigger version, go to my deviantART page.

Ole!

Me? A Web Designer?

So I just officially finished a web page for my first real paying customer. I guess that makes me a web designer, maybe? I've got a few more customers already lined up, so hopefully there will be many more to come. I've got to think of a company name so I can make my own page for a portfolio as well. So far I'm stuck on Onetool Design. I'm not sure if I like it, I'm not sure if I don't . Your suggestions are very welcome. So yeah, click on the link below and check the site out. Don't blame me if you don't like the pictures, I just went with what the customer wanted. Have fun. Thanks for looking. C-ya.

www.master-arbor.com

I'm a doodler

I doodle constantly. All day. It helps me stay focused. Weird, I guess, that drawing keeps me focused on what someone is saying as opposed to actually looking at the person or whatever it is that other people do to focus. Either way, I usually just chuck the doodles, never to be seen by a soul other than myself. Seems kind of pointless. Kind of. I guess it helps me listen and therefore serves a purpose. I had a particular amount of fun drawing this one in sales training earlier today. I happened to look at it just barely and said to myself:

"Hey! I have a blog. Why don't I just throw this little doodle of mine on my blog? "

After that, I said to myself: "You're right. Put it on there. You need something to do to occupy your mind for a minute anyways."

So now I have a doodle on my blog. There it is. Have a good day. Be happy. I'm sure as hell trying. May my Maxima R.I.P.

I didn't get it

So I was super excited to watch this movie last night. Previews looked bad ass. Plus I pretty much love anything that Tarantino is involved in. Quite frankly, I just didn't get it. Some really cool scenes, cool visuals and the violence was quite neat-o. It just really didn't come together for me in the end. Maybe I needed to be under the influence of something other than a greasy In-N-Out burger and the large plate of veggies I ate to combat said burger. Maybe I'll watch it again some time and it will all make sense.

That's all for now.

I'm still a skier

Sitting on the lift, freezing, staring at my skis. You can't beat that feeling.

Seriously frickin' cold. Shaking from wind, snow, cold. Ice up my ass. I look like Rudolph. My big red nose showing to light my way. I'm feeling old and sore. My back hurts, my legs are shaking and feel like a combination of jello and wet noodles. I have a headache from the night before that I just can't kick and my previously blown-out and surgically modified knee is swollen to the size of a grapefruit. You can't see more than 20 feet in front of you because of fog and clouds. Bumps in the snow jump out of nowhere cuz the light is so flat. Seriously, the snow STINGS. It's so cold and so windy, the snow feels like thousands of tiny needles on my skin. And I LOVE IT. Every minute of it. I can't get enough. This is one of the happiest miserable days of my life. I love the feeling of the poles in my hands, fingers squeezing in sheer anticipation. I love sitting on the lift, looking down on what I can see, picking my line, looking for jumps, visualizing my movements, breathing every bit of it in. I love moving through the trees so quickly that a wrong turn could kill you. Seriously, Sunny Bono died on the same run at the same resort by hitting a tree. Well I say "fuck you, trees" and ski through them as fast as I can. There's something about being airborn, too. My knee was so swollen than I couldn't spend as much time in the air as I wanted to, but what a feeling. I love skiing. I will ski more. It's crazy. I used to ski over 100 days a year. Did it 5 years in a row. Skied around 80 days a year the previous 3. Now I ski 2. Something must change. I am a skier. I realized that more than ever this last weekend. It's one of the few things in life I can say I'm truly passionate about. So I am here to say to skiing "I will get you and you can't run from me. You can't escape me and I can't escape you. We are soulmates and that will never change." Next time will be even better.

My best Rudolph impression.

Leggo My Ego

I'm trying to finish a book. It's taken me way too long to get through it and I'm not really sure why because I LOVE IT. It's a short, easy book and I'm just not done. Maybe it's Resistance at it's best (read the book and you'll know what I mean). Either way, I got to this section today that defines the ego and the self. It really illustrates a hell of a lot of my inner battles I've been dealing with over the last several months. I like to think that when I actually think about life and my philosophies, I identify much more with my Self. But somehow a lot of the nasty parts about my Ego keep creeping in. One day I'll find a balance. Anyway here it is:

Here's what I think. I think angels make their home in the Self, while Resistance has its seat in the Ego.

The fight is between the two.

The Self wishes to create, to evolve. The Ego like things just the way they are.

What is the Ego, anyway? Since this is my book, I'll define it in my way.

The Ego is that part of the psyche that believes in material existence.

The Ego's job is to take care of business in the real world. It's an important job. We couldn't last a day without it. But there are worlds other than the real world, and this is where the Ego runs into trouble.

Here's what the Ego believes:

1. Death is real. The Ego believes that our existence is defined by our physical flesh. When the body dies, we die. There is no life beyond life.
2. Time and space are real. The Ego is analog. It believes that to get from A to Z we have to pass through B,C and D. To get from breakfast to supper we have to live the whole day.
3. Every individual is different and separate from every other. The Ego believes that I am distinct from you. The twain cannot meet. I can hurt you and it won't hurt me.
4. The predominant impulse of life is self-preservation. Because our existence is phsical and thus vulnerable to innumerable evils, we live and act out of fear in all we do. It is wise, the Ego believes, to have children and carry on our line when we die, to achieve great things that will live after us, and to buckle our seat belts.
5. There is no God. No sphere exists except the physical and no rules apply except those of the material world.

These are the principles the Ego lives by. They are sound principles.

Here's what the Self believes:

1. Death is an illusion. The soul endures and evolves through infinite manifestations.
2. Time and space are illusions. Time and space operate only in the physical shpere, and even here, don't apply to dreams, visions, transports. In other dimensions we move "swift as thought" and inhabit multiple planes simultaneously.
3. All beings are one. If I hurt you, I hurt myself.
4. The supreme emotion is love. Union and mutual assistance are the imperitives of life. We are all in this together.
5. God is all there is. Everything that is, is God in one form or another. God, the divine ground, is that in which we live and move and have our being. Infinite planes by the spirit of God.

I most definitely recommend reading this book. I think anyone trying to find motivation in creativity, work, life, relationships, etc. can find some solace in the book.

Maybe one day I'll actually figure myself out.

A Friendly Holiday Reminder

I've been playing around with Photoshop and my tablet today and thought I would remind everyone of the upcoming holiday season. I hope it helps. =)

Piercing Pic for Nadya

Here it is! The infamous piercing! It's not a very good pic, but I realized I had one so I thought I might as well post it here. I'll take a ridiculously cool artistic pic of it someday and post that instead, but for now, this is what you get.

This is a bonus picture of me drinking "Nuclear Iced Tea". I'm sorry. These pictures come together as one package deal. If you don't like the iced tea pic, close your eyes and scroll past.

That's it. Nothing more.

Behold! Meisha and Her Haircut!

So Meisha got a haircut (and color and piercing) from a new salon in St. George called Sinful Pleasures. The place was awesome and the people are really cool. They gave Meisha a free piercing with the color, so it all worked out. I know my Photoshop work is crappy, but give me a break. I don't know anything and I did these really fast. Good news! I just got my tablet to work with my laptop, so as long as I can find the time, I might actually be putting some art on my blog. That would be neato mosquito! Right?

Playing with colors and what not

Playing with lighting effects. I tried to make it a little 3D, maybe it worked. I don't know.

Playing with colors again. I really liked the reflection in Meisha's glasses

I think this one is really cheesy, but I like it. Everybody likes an evil Meisha

Playing with some filters and stealing art from Giger. I hope he doesn't come kill me in my sleep

We hope you enjoyed the show

LIVE! Fingerpainting update

This is the second and final section of LIVE fingerpainting on Cognitive Hallucinations.  We hope you enjoyed being completely up to date on all the shenanigans taking place.  We also hope you enjoy the rest of the pictures.

My finished fingerpainting

Meisha's finished fingerpainting

Moving to clay sculptures!  Yeah!

Halftime show by Meisha

Meisha striking a pose during halftime!  Oooohhh sexy!

My beautiful sculpture

His name is Larry

He likes batteries.  But he had an accident

Meisha close up.  Just for embarrassment

Building Larry.  He used to have a hat.  I didn't like it.

I sure have enjoyed sharing all the fun times with all the (probably 2) people reading this.  I intended it to be entertaining.  I hope it met all me intentions.  Have a fantastic evening!