The Mugblog

Here we go...

So that last post was a bit serious, but it helped me vent a bit, and seeing things written down really makes them clearer.  Anyway, during my hiatus I did find a bunch of cool shit for ya'll to check out.  Hell by now you guyts have seen all this crapola and I think I'm really showin' ya somethin'. Whatever, here we go:

First off, I haven't had Monkey McGee on my blogroll for a long time.  Why?  Well, I used to, then he quit blogging, then he popped up again, somewhere along the way I failed to put him back up.  But he's there now and you should check him out.  Oh yeah, he also lives right down the road from me (relatively).  No, we haven't met, but there's a good chance we've passed in traffic somewhere.

THFB is having a mix CD exchange.  I pretty much think it's the coolest idea ever and a great use of blogging.  All you have to do is send him your address, he'll orchestrate your exchange, and send you an address to mail a CD to.  I already got my CD from Lori W..  Ironically Lori is from Southgate, KY.  Not that I know where the hell that is, but I'm from Louisville so I thought that was pretty cool.  Sorry, the first round of exchange is over but if you're interested I'll keep you posted as to when the second round begins, or just check out THFB for updates. 

Hey Now!!

Yeah, it's been a while.... a long while, since I've posted.  I've had other shit goin' on and The Mugblog is just one of the aspects of my life that has suffered in the past several months.  I've found my self procrastinating a lot lately, a LOT more than usual.  Thusly, things to do and stuff to think about have sort of piled up and I've found myself, frankly, stressed out.  Now I'm not one to typically let the weight of life burden me, but as they say "every dog has his day".   Yeah I know that you don't usually use that phrase in this context, but it's really the only cliche' that I can come up with right now. 

Anyway, I'm startin' to see the light a bit.  This semester of school is winding down and I'm certainly ready for it to be over.  I'm kind of at a midway point in my college career where I'm having trouble visualizing the end , but 'm too far to turn back.  The desire to finish up is still there, but I feel myself loosin' steam.  This semester was a clear reflection of that.  It's kind of a hump, or ironically enough, a depression right in the middle and once I get over it'll all be good once again.  I'm ready for a break, re-align, re-evaluate, and get my bearings set on the future.  I'm sure you can all relate, Jen said she did, and that's certainly comforting.

School isn't the only thing weighing on me lately.  I've had a whole gambit of family issues arise since the beginning of summer.  Not that I'm gonna to get into them here, but they were certainly factors and I guess not until lately did I realize how much they were really bothering me.  So it's time to add them to the restructuring docket and deal with them, screw this depression shit.

All this being said, to all my buddies that might have gotten the impression that I was tryin' to avoid them, or as Regan put it in a voicemail, wondering if I was "still with us"; I am and'll be in touch soon.    

Banned Books

Here's a list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books according the the Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and the American Library Association (ALA). I'm gonna list the top 10 here. Many are books that were required reading for me in school. And that being said, they're the books that in some way shaped my literary tastes and my view of the world. Then again, maybe I'm not the best example.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Background of Challenges:

1,607 were challenges to “sexually explicit” material (up 161 since 1999);
1,427 to material considered to use “offensive language”; (up 165 since 1999)
1,256 to material considered “unsuited to age group”; (up 89 since 1999)
842 to material with an “occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism,”; (up 69 since 1999)
737 to material considered to be “violent”; (up 107 since 1999)
515 to material with a homosexual theme or “promoting homosexuality,” (up 18 since 1999) and
419 to material “promoting a religious viewpoint.” (up 22 since 1999)

Thanks to joeparadox.com for the links.

Mug Art

Here's some of my work that I did in 3D Design class during the spring semester. The first is made out of aluminum extrusion, wire, and washers riveted together to make a kinetic sculpture inspired by the work of Alexander Calder. The second is an abstract plaster sculpture of a crushed aluminum can. My instructor chose these two pieces to be exhibited in the BRCC Virtual Art Gallery.

Commercial Appreciation

Another one from NIKE.

Django

Django Reinhardt's name came up last night and I knew I had heard it before, but didn't know who he was. Here's who he is. Glad I found out.

Debate tonight

So I'm gonna watch the debate for as long as I can stand it. Once I start the boredom divertion click to ESPN or "The Deuce" it's all downhill, and a few minutes later I'll forget all about the talking heads on every other channel. Hopefully I'll absorb as much as I can while I'm there in order to have a decent conversation, or at least a response, to someone who engages me about it. I think that this site kinda sums up the way I feel about this years election.

Thanks to McGee for the link

Flaming Boxhead

Today I'm gonna do stuff. I'm gonna try to do all the stuff. It probably won't happen, but as of right now, I plan on doin' it. It's good to have goals in life ya know. Wish me luck. Check out this idiot.

Self Portrait

This is a self portrait of me chillin' in the "big tent" at Bonnaroo 2004. Unfortunately I took almost no pictures for the three days I was there. That's OK, I remember MOST of it, and the last two days weren't all that aesthetically pleasing anyway.

South Park Mug

I don't know if this is a sad confession on the state of this blogs content, but this guy is how 80% of my visitors get here. He pops up when you search Google Images for "South Park". Some days he's like sixth in line, sometimes he's on page three. Good job dude. Keep sendin'em our way. Even if we aren't what they're lookin' for, we'll make 'em like us, an keep'em comin' back, DAMNIT!