Rockin It

This guy made me smile. Not only because he's rocking a sweet-ass suit and shades, but because he's on his way to the DNC last month. Strut on, brotha.

Fat Kids are So Loveable.

Just perfect for a Friday.

This kid is either going to be the next Will Ferrell or in therapy for the rest of his life.


Fat Kid Successfully Avoids Ridicule By Swimming With Shirt On

Eye Candy

I have been taking a digital photography class for the past couple months and we're making books as a sort of final project/get-a-chance-to-finally-actually-hold-some-of-the-photos-you've-been-digitally-altering-and-working-on-for-weeks type deal.

I have been a long-time shutterbug, but only very recently (and somewhat reluctantly) have I branched out from my beloved analog b&w film to color digital. It's been fun and I think my favorite activity has been trying to recreate tricks from the darkroom: like overlapping negatives (err...layers.)

So meet the cover of my new book, Eye Candy. I mixed a photo of the Paul Insect mural from his recent opening at Fifty24SF with a photo of the city through a window where I take the class and added some sexy lil' curves, levels, color balancing attempts, and the like to come up with this.

I'm not sure why I like how it turned out so much, but I can't help but think of Orwell's 1984 every time I look at it.

My Recent Afternoon with Amandalynn of The Seventh Letter

About a month ago, I asked Amandalynn of the infamous Seventh Letter graffiti crew to let me come stalk her at her studio for an online feature. What was supposed to be a quick visit to chat and snap a few photos turned into one of the sickest afternoons I'd had in a while.

I first met Amanda at a Henry Lewis opening at 111 Minna. I was pretty faded (I blame Gabe for giving me a wad of free drink tickets) when we were introduced, as I was talking to graffiti writer Reyes (also part of TSL.) We briefly talked and as I walked away, I noticed a pendant hanging from her neck with "7th" written on it. I sorta put two and two together, as I was familiar with her art and had emailed back and forth with her numerous time through work, but decided not to bug her and carried on my way (probably back to the bar...)

A few days later I got an email from Amanda, apologizing for not properly introducing herself to me. Turns out that yes, it was her at the gallery and we'd both mistaken one another for random art opening groupies. She'd actually assumed I was Reyes' new girlfriend (as he'd recently started dating someone) and when she mentioned to him that she'd met his new lady, he set her straight.

Long story short (okay, not so short...this is gettin long) Amanda and I hung out at her three yes, three, studio spots for hours. I got to see her new stuff, meet some of her peeps, as well as her adorable (and possibly hyperactive) god kids, and her black cat and two pet snakes.

Amanda really struck me, as she basically moved out to SF at age 18 not knowing anyone or what she was doing and turned that vulnerability into a great strength. The rest, as they say, is history and now Amanda continues to kill it on the street, as well as in the shop, studio, and anywhere else she won't get yelled at for painting.

Without further ado, just check out the entire thing online here.

Clap Your Hands and perhaps Say Yeah

I must admit, I do tend to clap my hands quite often. Not only in moments of excitement, but also in general conversation...hey, I'm a really emphatic individual.

Makes sense that I can't stop listening to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's self-titled album today. Good stuff.

So join me in clapping your hands. And maybe give me a yeah if you're so inclined.

Work on that Vocabulary, Stupid.

I love this.

Not only am I fanatical about words, vocabulary, and pretty much anything in written form, but I also think feeding hungry people is just dandy.

So stumbled I did upon www.freerice.com and spent waaay to much time playing their vocab game, which donates grains of rice to needy folks.

For each answer you get right, they donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. It gets addicting, as you watch little rice grains pile up as you answer more and more questions correctly.

A lovely Thursday morning discovery. So work on that vocab...because who the hell calls 20 grains of rice a meal?

This Makes Me Wish I Was from Brooklyn: Jay-Z with Evan Roth

Evan Roth (aka fi5e) was recently asked by the cats at RED to make a video. Not just any video; a video for a new Kanye West produced Jay-Z song (featuring Santogold, which will be featured on the soundtrack for the Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious) for RED & the Global Fund to Fight AIDS in Africa.

I love Evan Roth as well as Kanye West, and Jay-Z and hate AIDS, so this new project is right up my alley. Not only is the song sick, but the visuals (made up of only letters from the word 'BROOKLYN') really take it to another level. Looks like Brooklyn has a new anthem.

Watch the whole video below, and then perhaps hit up google, as Roth is the self-proclaimed number one return for the google search "bad ass mother fucker". After watching this vid, I'm apt to agree.

Turn up your volume...this song fucking kills it. Damn, I wish I was from Brooklyn (kinda.)