This is a bit of a digression but check out this video my friend made. He makes these slot cars tracks as a hobby, and a side business. Dude is so talented.

I have decided to start drawing again.
I am somewhat disappointed with what I have done tonight.
I still hate myself.
I haven’t done my taxes yet.
I still love my kids.
Knowing my kids still need me keeps me alive.
I define myself as an artist first and foremost.
My career is as far removed from art as you could possibly be.
I believe I am a poor artist.
I believe I am a poor father.
All these things are true.

So after 20 years of working in a door factory, ten of them working on the trimmer huffing around 80-100lb doors, my body is a mess. Even after having a desk job for the last couple years I am in constant pain. I know this is caused by my lack of stretching and exercise, and no real physical damage, so after visiting physiotherapists and chiropractors will little effect I asked my friend Chiho to help me out. Chiho is a personal trainer, and I figured she could help me with some core strengthening. I am a lazy ass and would not exercise at all without her. Well let me tell you, aside from the exercise bits, the biggest help has been her stretching regime. Chiho will bend and twist me like a Flex Armstrong doll, helping me do stretches and massaging me in a way I could never achieve myself, and it is working fantastically. She has done more for me than any physiotherapist has ever done.
This has nothing to do with anything, but I just wanted to say thank-you to Chiho for all her hard work. If you live in Chilliwack and need a little help getting back in shape, or ending the constant pain of over used and under exercised muscles, I highly recommend Chihoko. She is worth every penny.

I’m going to try and get back into the game here. I want to draw.
Not sure where to start, but I won’t get too ambitious off the bat.
Of course, I can still do work if required, I still have the capability to draw, I just can’t seem to muster up the energy to make stuff for myself.
I will see if I can force myself to do something.
Either that or kill myself. I haven’t decided.
Work is pretty busy, (real work, the soul destroying corporate stuff, not art work), and family responsibilities keep me on the go, but I think I just need to better manage my down time.

Since my truck was stolen and I had to buy a new one I’m getting pretty tight in the cash department too, so if anyone is looking to hire a dependable artist who never misses a deadline, just give me a shout :)
Plus it’s hard to claim tax exemptions when you had no income related to your business in a year :) I don’t think there is a check box for crushing depression in the tax forms, although I may be wrong since I haven’t put my taxes together yet.

If you like what you see give me a shout. Who knows, It might help :)

Ahh. One thing I want to accomplish. My friend Mari has written a story she would like me to illustrate and help her publish. It’s a great story, and I think should be very well received if I pull it off. I shouldn’t spoil it too much but it’s an autobiographical piece and my friend has had a very tragic, and uplifting, life. I cried reading the script. I think it would be a very worthwhile project and I hope I do it justice, (If get it done at all.)
Wish me luck. This story deserves to be told.

I will never understand what the big deal is with life, what all the excitement is about. I understand I have a pretty good life. I do not suffer, I have more than adequate means, and yet, I don’t enjoy it one bit, and fail to see what is enjoyable about it. It’s a struggle. It’s difficult. It’s a troublesome unending toil, and then you die. Then what? Nothing. It seems so pointless.
I’d like to hang around to help my kids grow up, but beyond that I have no interest in any of it.
I try to be good to people, I try to help those who need help, even though the reward is often getting shafted in the rear. I think I used to care. Somewhat. But that has been pretty much crushed in the last few years. Now there is a whole lot of nothing. I say this by way of explaining why I don’t update very often. It’s a rare day I feel inspired. I can go though the act of drawing whatever and hoping to find gold, but I can barely find the energy to open my sketchpad.
Sorry.
I will try to get out a sketch whenever the mood hits me, but there will be no flurry of art this year, or any year thereafter I imagine. With my luck I will live another 40.
Mostly I’m just waiting.

Somehow I messed up my site so google can’t find my front page, I think I fixed it but just in case you can’t get there yet here is a link. (or click on my name at the top.)

I guess I can still draw kinda.

I was looking at some of my art tonight, and I have decided I like some of it after all.
But I’m still not drawing yet.
I don’t know why. Long slump? Depression? Laziness? Who knows.

When only your friends tell you your art is good it’s much like only your mother telling you you are handsome. What it means, essentially, is that your mother loves you very much…and you are ugly.

I would like to take the time to say thank-you to a good friend of mine Kikuko Roueche.
Kikuko has been a long time friend and she always been there for us.
Sadly, Kikuko moved away from Chilliwack, and is now living it large in the big city, far away. :(
Kikuko is living in Burnaby / Vancouver now and she is selling real estate to support herself and her two boys, so if you are looking to buy a house give her a shout.
You couldn’t have a nicer person representing you, and that’s worth it’s weight in gold.

I painted a picture of Kikuko and her awesome little guy as my entirely inadequate way of saying thank-you. Here it is.

Thank-you for everything Kikuko.

Thank-you Steve.

My e-budz Chris Bishop. [0_0]

I am dabbling in sequential art. This story is the clean PG version, there is a less clean version in the same set. You will probably have to view full size to read it, just click on the image.

I thought I should take this opportunity give a shout-out to my good friend Mari Okazaki. This will sound like a bit of an advertisement, but I assure you it’s all from the heart.
(I’m sure her server will not be hammered too badly by the 2 hits a month I receive)
Mari has had a harder life than any of us could ever imagine, and yet she goes through life with such a positive and giving attitude that she infects everyone around her.
If you live in the lower mainland, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, even Vancouver, and your body or soul aches, there is no better person to turn to.

In Addition to having a Soul the size of Canada, Mari is an extremely talented Reiki practitioner, and if Reiki is not your thing, she also gives a mean Shiatsu massage :)
I just can’t say enough good things about Mari, sometimes in life you are touched by someone who is so far above you spiritually that you feel humbled and blessed by their friendship, Mari is such a person.
Please check out her blog, and if you are hurting, give her a call. You will not regret it.

Next post is art. I promise for real this time :)

Michiko and I took a trip in to town to see the Vancouver LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) pride parade this year. It was fun, a bit crowded on the streets but the weather was perfect and we had a nice walk around the city afterwards. No doubt, Vancouver is truly a beautiful place to live.
Here are the pics I got, mostly shooting over my head.
Lets hope by the time my children are my age this parade will be nothing more than a celebration of diversity, and the political necessity that drives it will be a dim memory.
Until then I am proud to be an ally, and strongly support all my friends and loved ones, straight, gay or somewhere in between, and love them for who they are not their sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or the colour of their skin.

OK. I will shut up now. Next post is art, I promise.