Another reason to like Alpacas...

Apparently, Alpacas will fight off feisty foxes looking to feast on little lambs.
Story here, courtesy of treehugger

Trying to get the studio space going again...

My studio space, my garage below our apartment, is slowly coming along.
I'm looking forward to getting it fully operational and ready for making stuff.
Here are a few pics of what I've been up to:
Also, I've been transferring my "Oops paint" collection into mason jars - because it looks pretty.


Left over lids and left over paint

Giant melted tropical starburst

Lunching

King Richards Antique Mall - Whittier, CA (it's very, very, very large)
Along with my attraction for colored glass, I really like old glass 5 gallon barrels.
I just like old glass objects.
The funny thing is, glass is one of those materials that won't tarnish or rust or change color...... right? or does it?
I think I'm gonna make some floor lamps using these 5 gallon barrels as a base.
Let me know if you want to buy one - I'll take a commission!

p.s. I went back and bought that Oak Desk Chair from a few posts back.

Flush plugs

This is good design. Sexy.
Found on Apartment Therapy

Van

I keep my Van behind the warehouse at my work and today a coworker asked to borrow it to go get lunch. What a sweet looking vehicle cruisin down the streets.
I wish I had the resources to drive this sweet machine around a bit more. It's so fun to drive.
I'm glad it's getting some use even if it's quick jaunts to Quiznos at lunch time.

It's a great moving van! I'll rent it to you for free as long as you fill up the tank when you're done. Keep in mind diesel is $5.50 a gallon.
Hopefully I'll be able to set up a home fueling station in my studio/garage and get that thing running on Veg oil.

Army of Colored Glass

Colored glass objects at the Salvation Army thrift store in Long Beach.

I like these. I used to not be such a fan of colored glass objects, but these days I've been really attracted to them.

Yesterdays Lunching

There are so many random antique and thrift store within about 10 minutes of my work. I know it would probably be more cost effective to not drive around on my lunch break and save some money, but I just need to get out of the office, roll my window down, and do some exploring!


Yesterdays lunch hour was highly successful.
I visited a little spot in Whittier and picked up 22 albums!

All of them are in really great condition too! The Kinks, Plastic Ono Band (Live in Toronto), Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, The Cars, The Police, The Who, to name a few... and all for $2 a piece. Serious Score.
I like all of these binoculars in their leather cases. (below)
And I went over to Savers, the Thrift Department Store, and I saw a ton of owl stuff. For example:

jimmy riggin'

What do you do when you don't have ceiling lighting in your apartment and you don't have a 8 foot tall floor lamp? Rig up a light bulb to the top of a speaker stand!
Next project - get rid of those dang ugly blinds!

Lunch Replacement Strategies

Heather and I are in "nesting" mode and are looking for stuff for our space.
I feel like that scene in fight club when "jack" says, "I flipped through catalogs and wondered; what kind of dining set defines me as a person?" or something like that. Or than later when he's talking to Tyler and says, "It's just, when you buy furniture, you tell yourself, that's it. That's the last sofa I'm gonna need. Whatever else happens, I've got that sofa problem handled."
Oh, it's a pathetic portrait of the modern man - the accumulation of things that define us as people.

I hope I'm not that pathetic - - but, I do know I really like stuff. I love stuff! I love collecting stuff for some future art project/entrepreneurial idea/furniture hack. Am I material just because I like materials?
As my friend Dan Rossiter has so aptly put, "what's better than going over to Austins Hardwoods and walking the aisles...and just "bonering-out" on some exotic hardwood?" (context: conversation about beautiful wood....like from trees) I completely agree!

Lunch hour wanderings

I've begun to take advantage of my lunch hour by driving around and visiting antique stores and thrift stores.
Here are my recent pics.

Transitions... and fruit

2 weekends ago I moved all of my stuff out of my studio and into my new garage.
I've always known that I have a lot of stuff, but it didn't really hit me till I had to consolidate it and move it. Dang! I have a lot of stuff.

This weekend Heather and I are going to drive up to San Luis Obispo to retrieve some more wine barrels for our wedding decorations. And in between wine barrel retrieving and Father's day golfing, I've got to move the rest of my stuff (non-garage stuff) into our new place.

Furthermore, Heather and I are getting married in two months, my sister is getting married in less than 1 month, they're moving, we're moving, our church just moved...
A lot of things in my life are in transition right now - in a pursuit of greater growth.

These are all wonderful things.

It's times like these that put the fruit to the test. You know what I mean?
Fruit is a versatile food - It can be eaten raw, squeezed into juice, made into jam, dried, or made into fruit roll-ups.
It's these transitions that have the greatest opportunity to produce life for the people around me.
It's also these transitions that have the greatest opportunity to suck the life and freshness out of me. My responsibility is keep the fruit good - and allow it to be flexible, so that it can take the form of juice or jam and be a provision either way.

Let the good times roll.
Let the bad times roll of my back.
Let the good fruit grow.
Put the bad fruit in a compost pile so that it can put nutrients back into the earth.

In other news:
I want to go bowling.
I want to see The Fall.

Bike Rack (I think I'm done?)

I think I'm done with the bike rack project I've been working on at The Lab.
I decided to add some new white rocks to the area to make it look newer and cleaner, and so it draws some attention.
I also made a sign (not pictured) so that folks know they can lock there bikes up.

Long Weekend (recap)

This past weekend through the lens of Samuel Lippke

Long Weekend Behind

Had an absolutely fantastic weekend on the lake with some of my closest, long time friends.
There were many high lights for me, but I think the best was surfing a vintage Harbour twin-fin board behind the ski boat on Sunday morning. I'll post a video shortly.
Also, I was within 40 feet of a Bald Eagle - because I was sitting at the base of the tree that he was perched upon.
Loving life, loving my wife (to be), and I'm absolutely enamored with fresh water ski boat surfing.

Long Weekend Ahead

Headin' out tomorrow morning to Bass Lake for a long weekend with a close group of brothers.
My hope is that any injuries that I might incur, through our various adventurous activities, will heal before my wedding and honeymoon.

Bike rack install (3)

All I have to do is add some signage so people know they can lock their bikes up here.



I love the cast shadow on this one.

Dang Coolness!

Awesome, Awesome, Awesomeness!
This is the coolest bike lock I've ever seen.
Not only is it cool, but it's highly functional, and nearly indestructible!
Here's the link
They are a bit pricey, but I'm gonna order one when I get my next paycheck!

Heather found this picture of me as a young boy with my pet Alpaca.
I wish!
Or maybe this is a prophetic photograph of our future son walking through our meadow with our family pet Alpaca.
Again, I wish!

Yet another great weekend.

DJ'd a beautiful wedding in the Malibu canyon with this view:

Memorial Day

This is actually a picture I took from Memorial Day 2007. I love it. It almost looks staged, but it's not.

Cosmic Powers

These are three paintings from the Cosmic Powers series I worked on in February.
2 of the pieces are at the Alegria Gallery.
The piece in the middle was purchased for a Church Pastor in Mammoth (pretty neato).




Have you heard about some of the stories about Jewels falling from Heaven?