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Saturday, With Variety

Could you ask for better weather down here in South Texas? Dadgum, it's PERFECT! Working outside is quite enjoyable right now, which is one thing I've been doing loads of. Yesterday started out as cleaning the garage — the bane of my existence. I now have 26 40-gallon bags of junk to haul to the road on Monday. What's worse, is that I'm only about halfway through the cleaning process! So today will be another day of throwing out old fertilizer, soils, and getting all my yard tools organized so that I can really clean-up the floor. The best solution is going to be to buy a little storage shed we can hide in our back yard, and that's where I'll keep all the lawn gear — and that will really open-up some space in the garage. We pay to have people maintain our yard, so the equipment hasn't been touched in a few years — but I just can't fathom parting with all my good ol' John Deer wares. I figure the price of a storage shed is less than the amount it would cost me to replace my mower, blowers, edger, and line trimmer if I ever started doing the work myself again. But, we don't want to spend loot on a building just yet, so I have to be more diligent about keeping things organized and clean out there.

After doing that, I spent a good while spraying Cutter's Backyard Bug Control (formally known as "Bug Free Backyard") all over every living thing in our front and back yard. Let me tell you: this smack works, and it works GREAT. I've been using it for 5+ years, and it always does an excellent job of getting us through mosquito season. If you haven't applied this product on your yard — and you'd like to be able to stand outside without being bled dry — go to Lowe's now and buy a couple of bottles!

Next up was tree-trimming, which I still need to finish today.

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As mentioned in my previous post, I'm starting back into my bonsai hobby now that I have a better place to support the trees. When I first got started, we were living in an apartment while our previous house was being built, and I just wasn't able to maintain the trees properly (and I didn't really know what I was doing all that much). Since then, I've spent loads of time reading books and online articles, visiting forums, gathering knowledge, etc., etc., and now I feel better prepared. At our current house, we have an attached, enclosed patio that works perfectly for bonsai, so I've been straightening it up and making the whole room more pleasant to be in — it's really "cute" out there now. It has floor to ceiling windows (with screens) on 3 of the sides, so it gets plenty of air flow and sun without getting too hot.

I'm still letting the trees get acclimated to Texas weather and wind, so I haven't done anything as far as shaping or pruning just yet. Shock is a bad thing for bonsai. Here are the 2 I'm currently working on, a Fukien Tea (ehretia microphylla) and a Baby Jade (portulacaria afra):

This is right after I got them, and since this picture, I have removed all the annoying little pebbles, and the Fukien has begun blooming flowers. These trees are what bonsaists typically call "mallsai" (as in bought from a mall or your local garden center) because they are mass-produced and not really properly trained trees. Sure, they're little plants, but they aren't grown to be true to the art form of bonsai. And so it is with my trees, though they aren't quite as bad as the Target Specials you see during the summer. Mine mainly have technical and artistic training and soil problems — but I intend to change that over the next several years.

I have also begun propagating schefflera and crepe myrtle from cuttings, so it'll be cool to see what I can grow those little dudes into.

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I miss my Dad not being around to talk to. I would love to tell him about the people across the street and down a couple of houses, and how they had all the grass in their front yard pulled off to resod. He would also have some advice on the building I want to put in the back yard, as well as our proposed screen enclosure and big ol' patio we're thinking of having built. I miss not seeing him in his rocking chair when I go over, and I miss him asking how church went. I miss not bringing him breakfast every morning. BUT — I love the memories and how real he is all around me, in everything I see. I love you, Pop.

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We traded-up our treadmill for an elliptical machine, the NordicTrack Audiostrider 990. Sweet fancy Moses, this thing is MUCH better than a treadmill! After not running or walking while Dad was sick, my 6'4" and 230 pound frame just wasn't too hip with running — my old back starting hurting too much! Wanting to make sure we keep up with exercising, though, we tried out half a dozen ellipticals before deciding on this one — and we love it. While it takes time for your quads to get used to it, once they do, you can totally get a better workout without it taking such a toll on your body. I have 15 some-odd pounds I want to lose, and I have a feeling this'll do it better than the treadmill, easy (plus dieting, of course).

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A bird just flew into my office window.

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I'm looking forward to playing my Gold Tone Banjitar (I had them use a white head, not clear) this weekend, even if it's only for one song. He's been asking to get out of the house for months now, as you can imagine.

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That's it for now. I'm hoping to find time this weekend to install a new pickup into my Reverend Daredevil, so keep your eyes peeled...

Posted at 8:05am CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

Another Random Post To Play Catchup…

Wow, what a hiatus! It's been good though — but I'm ready to be back to posting. So, as with many of my older posts, this will be random — but I hope to cover loads of bases and let everyone play catchup with everything I've been up to.

Let's talk about the "elephant in the room" first: the passing of my Dad. I posted here a handful of times, requesting prayers and "good vibes" with the hope of Dad getting better, getting healed, getting back to normal. That didn't happen. As a Christ Follower, I prayed that God would restore Dad's body, and that God would restore vitality to Dad's lungs. That didn't happen, either. While this may seem like evidence that there is no God (or maybe one that didn't care), I see it as more evidence we have a Just God, and One that stands firm in His Creation and Authority.

You see, I believe God intended for Man to "live forever" in harmony with Him and the world He created for us (in the Garden). Mankind got greedy and screwed-up the plan, though, and Mankind and the world had to deal with the consequences we were told we would face: separation from God's Original Plan, or as I call it, the Origin. So what was God to do? Being a just God, He had no other choice, really, than to stick to His word — so that's what He did. The long and short of it is that He set Nature in motion, and Mankind would become yet another part of Nature in this "fallen" world, or screwed-up Origin.

The detail I'll pull out of all the millions available is this: Mankind now gets sick and dies.

Bringing it back to my Dad, we all knew he — and everyone else in the world — would die someday. Yet we weren't ready for him to go so soon because we love him so, so very much. The thought of his physical presence no longer being here with us was — and still is — hard to grasp. My brain still has a hard time fully processing that Dad is not here any longer. Sure, I haven't seen him in over a month, but he was such a huge part of my life (and everyone else's in the family), that the void left seems far too misshapen to allow into reality at some basic, brain level. I know he's gone, but the void is just hard to get right now.

So what about my prayers and petitions to God? God didn't act on them. Am I mad at God for this? Have I lost Faith? Of course not — because God is a just God, and He has to stick to the rules He set in motion oh so very long ago. Because we know of times when God stepped out of His Nature and performed miracles of healing to edify who He was/is/will be — we prayed that He would consider doing the same for Dad. But God was to be most edified, and Dad was to be most honored, if Dad was "called home." Like I've been telling everyone here, as much as we fought for Dad to get well and stay alive with us, God's heart ached for Dad to come home and be where he belongs, back at his Origin.

I feel that God had the foresight and plan to never fully heal and restore Dad, and that's why our family had the path we had as we fought this sickness. From the very beginning, God opened doors for us to get the best care on Earth, and through all the medicines and fighting, Dad dealt with none of the circumstances people normally face with chemo. He never had the nausea, vomiting, pain, aching, massive tiredness, etc. So many things could have gone so badly, but Dad never had any issues. While it's true that the chemo exacerbated his lung condition, he still fought that like a trooper. In the end, Dad was able to tell us everything he needed to tell us, and prepare us in every way we needed to be prepared — and I truly feel he stayed on with us so long, simply because he had just a bit more to tell us. Everyone thinks their Dad is a hero, but I really do believe a "normal" man would have died days or weeks before Dad — but Pop was just a tough ol' dude. He wasn't leaving until he was ready and it absolutely necessary — and that's what he did.

That said, God was merciful and kind in Dad's illness. He helped us get through things in ways that make our familial jaw drop. God was hugely compassionate, and if there was a "Way To Die," God made it horribly easy for us when you get right down to it. So in the end, the Victory of Dad being back at his Origin is so awesome, it far outweighs the pain of not having him here. Dad is truly healed, dad is truly well. We don't have to wonder if he'll get sick again in 3 months, 12 months, or ever again. And because of the Dad he was (and my Mom is equally awesome), we all see Dad everywhere. His hand is on everything, from the drill press in my garage, to his hammer, to the patio door we hung, to the clear coat on our cabinets, to the paint on our ceiling, to the crown moulding we hung together, to the woodwork on Mom and Dad's cabinets, to so, so, so very much. Nothing around us is without his handprint — and that's because he was a Dad in truest sense of the word: always there for us, always a friend, always the center of the familial life. Seeing him everywhere is such a blessing, and that's also what makes his passing easier to swallow: the legacy and memories he left are so, so wonderful. Couple that with his spirit and character, it's an honor to carry his family name.

And there you have it. I could go on, but I won't. It's still rough, and it's still tough — but the good and great outweigh his sickness by so much, the joy of his Victory over death is becoming more and more the focus. God is merciful, compassionate, and just — and Dad is healed more than we could have ever asked for here on Earth.

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Total shift now, and into to music mode. I bought a new guitar, though I haven't had a chance to take a pic just yet. It's a Reverend Daredevil HB in wine red (here's a pic from Reverend's site):

This is my third Reverend, the second being the P290 version of this same guitar, but I can't stand the 290 sound. I'm not 100% sold on the pickups in this guitar either, but my plan is to toss a WCR Iron Man into the bridge. It should be freakin' ridiculously awesome then!

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Since I can never have too many hobbies for myself, I decided to go back to one I experimented with (unsuccessfully) several years ago: bonsai. Now that I have more free time thanks to working from home, I can devote more time to sticking to a proper routine with the trees — or that's the plan, at least. So I got myself a Fukien Tea (again) and a Baby Jade, 9 and 5 years old, respectively. We'll also be taking some classes and stuff like that, and we're hoping that will really pay off for these little guys. Like the guitar above, I haven't had a chance to snap any pics — but I will soon (and I'm sure you can't wait!).

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RAILhead Effects is doing great, and I still haven't done an ounce of promotion or advertising. I'm planning to do a small push at the beginning or Q3, though, just to see how much more comes in. I'm really loving the custom build work, too, and it's great to really create something for someone that fits their exclusive needs. Nice!

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My massive, Hannh Aitchison half sleeve tattoo is healing perfectly, and now I'm sketching out the next ones I plan to get. I still can't get over how beautiful it is!

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Thats it for now — I need to get to work on pedals and hauling my new drill press into my indoor shop...

Posted at 7:41am CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

Still Here…

Just a quick post to let everyone know I'm still here — things have just been crazy the last several weeks. Long story short, my Dad passed away April 5th, so things have been totally family-focused. I'll post more later, but I just wanted to let you all know I haven't disappeared...

Posted at 7:18pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (14)

Amazon Kindle 2!

I took the plunge and snagged an Amazon Kindle 2, and I'm loving it so far — but I'm going to give myself a full week before really making a firm judgement.

If you read all the time and you run out of storage space, it's definitely worth taking a hard look at the Kindle.

Posted at 10:53am CDT | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hannah Aitchison Tattoo Experience

I have officially been Hannah Aitchisoned! Like I said on here before, I got it into my head to get my Family Crest tattooed on my shoulder, and Hannah Aitchison is the artist I wanted to do the work from the beginning. She was awesomely gracious and fit me into her schedule (her wait is usually 12 to 14 months), so my wife and I flew from Texas to Los Angeles and met her at High Voltage Tattoo (aka LA Ink) Friday, the 27th.

She was absolutely wonderful! She made the time pass with great conversation, stories, etc. — lots of talking about music and art. She talked about the show a little, and about future plans, and she is just a pleasure to be around (and she's even prettier in person!). I could go on, but I'd rather post pics...

After introductions, she tested the sketch size on my arm, and decided to increase it 20% so that it filled-up my biceps better. That ended up being perfect, so she shaved my arm and made a stencil transfer. The first placement was too high, so she dropped it lower, and it was perfect!

The next step was to get all the black border work done, and she made the outline of the shield and helm nice and thick so they'd pop better.

Next we moved to color, taking care of the green, then the helm...

Here's a shot of the ink caps, showing just how good Hannah is at mixing the basic colors she chooses into all kids of shades and hues...

Hannah then set into shading and shaping the texture of the mantling (you can see one of Hannah's prettiest unfinished tattoos on her arm in this pic, too)...

At this point, Hannah casually says that she's seeing blue behind all the mantling, just to fill-in and really set off the entire piece. I told her to do whatever she thinks since she's the expert, and it turned out looking AWESOME! And yes, the red you see on the back of my arm in the last pic is blood...

After six hours, the work was finished:

Overall, this was just a totally great experience. It was a really fast trip (we arrived late Thursday and came home early Saturday) so we didn't do any sightseeing — but the Hotel Beverly Hills was amazing, and that's where we'll stay at the next time we visit for sure.

Lastly, the first thing everyone asks me is about the pain. Does it hurt? Yes — you're getting poked with needles all over, thousands and thousands of times. Any way you slice it, it's uncomfortable — but the tender parts of your skin (like under your arm, the back of your arm, etc.) are especially painful.

After an hour, you begin to get used to it, so you can zone-out and just focus on something else. After 3 hours, your butt and back start to hurt a bit (if you're sitting up), so that makes it even easier to ignore the needlework. Hour 5 is when things started getting really rough, and I started to get really thirsty, antsy, and the shakes. The work on the back of my arm was really, really bad, and there were 2 times I mentally stood up and said "okay, we're breaking for an hour!" I focused on that imagery, and drank water to try and put the pain behind me, knowing that she'd be done back there soon. However, there's just no escaping the sensation of someone trying to rip your skin open while rapidly puncturing it with needles. This is also why artists don't usually do pieces as big as mine in one sitting — it's freakin' rough for both parties. Hannah said some people will go into a shock state and start turning green, puking, getting intensely thirsty, pass out, etc. I can see how that is possible, for sure — but I didn't have a choice, so I just sucked it up and tried to zone-out as often as I could. Hour 6 is a blur, like I was swimming under water a bit — and I don't remember a whole lot except me working hard to ignore the pain.

But did it hurt enough for me to never do it again? HECK NO, MAN! I already have ideas for other work, and I'm already looking forward to getting more of Hannah's gorgeous artwork on my body somewhere!

Posted at 10:51am CDT | Permalink

Boba Bobble

I ordered some Star Wars boble heads from Woot.com, and they came in today. And, of course, I couldn't resist taking a shot of my favorite Star Wars character, Boba Fett.

Posted at 5:37pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hannah Aitchison Giddiness!

In almost one week, I'll be under the needle with Hannah Aitchison, getting my Family Crest tattooed — and I am TOTALLY STOKED! We've been going back and forth via email, nailing details down, and it's been an absolute pleasure to work with her. She genuinely seems (almost) as excited as I am to be doing this art for me, and that's because to her, tattooing is such a personal connection with the client. I'm entrusting her to permanently modify my body with her artwork — and I'm doing so because of her reputation, skills, and the beautiful work she's done for others. That's a MASSIVE level of trust for me (or anyone) to place into someone. On her side, she hears the story behind the art — the meaning. She is becoming a landmark in my life, and I'm coming to her to help me tell the story that will live on my body forever. I will always have a Hannah Aitchison on my arm, and knowing that she's doing art for me (or anyone) that contains such massive meaning and personal importance — that a big load of pressure for her to do her best for the client. Her vision and talent will bring the story to life forever. Add to that the fact that we'll be hanging together for around 6 hours, and you can't help be get to know the other person just a little bit as you pass the hours.

I'm also stoked to see if she'll let me have her original art, because that would just be totally cool to have hanging in my office! And I must admit that I'm curious as to her height for some reason, because she doesn't look like she's a whole lot shorter than me — unless everyone else is really small. We'll see.

Hotel reservations are made. Airline tickets are bought. The car is rented. Now comes the waiting for the day to arrive, and the inevitable passing of 6 some-odd hours simply known as "Earning the Right to Wear My Tattoo." My type of work is usually done in a couple of sessions due to the size, detail, and color — but Hannah says I'm I'm "stalwart," we can try and get as much done as we can both handle.

We'll see! woot!!

/Okay, I'm trying this after a full dose of Lunesta, so hopefully it all came out okay. zzZZzzZZzzZZzz

Posted at 2:35am CDT | Permalink | Comments (0)