2008

New relationships. Making new friends. Moving home to home. Fresh music. Booking shows. Making money. Losing money. Driving highway. Meeting up with strangers. Out of town shows. Fighting kids. Hitting things. Getting piss drunk. Throwing fits. Knocking down walls. Smoking more weed. Camel Crush’s. Home mad torches. Blowing up anything I can get my hands on. Living with the love of my life. Fucking up hard. Making it up. Pouring my heart and soul into everything I do. Biting Kathrine’s nose. Butterfly kisses. Old school hardcore. Illegal downloading. Midnight road trips. Taunting the cops. Throwing drinks at bicyclists. Shouting obscenities. Whistles. Drive-In movies. Shitty soundtracks. Horrible vision. Driving nights with no interior lights. Breaking down in another city. Food poisoning on the road. Trying to make it. Blockbuster movie nights. 99 cent rentals. Walks with Brannigan. Cleaning up his mess. Getting fat. Drinking too much soda. Eating too much junk food. Five dollar footlongs. Downtown Disney and cheap Empinadas. The Ford Fuckus. Smashing windows. Living in secret. New seasons of Top Chef. Iron Chef: America. Septum piercing. Recon with the guys. Mental health trips. Peer pressure. Xanax. Losing 14 Viacom channels. Christmas Crucifest.

2009

Working out. Dropping some pounds. Auburndale bike trails. Running Lake Hollingsworth. Mosh. Mosh. Mosh. More shows. Another year with my favorite woman. Brannigan growing up. New apartment / house. New car. Enrolling in College. Finding a steady job. Collecting Vinyl’s (7″ and 12″). Staying monogamous. Massachusetts road trips. Booking more shows. Making money, money, money. Collecting Nike’s. The Hundreds. HUF. Supreme. In4mation. Hitting the road. Touring with Harvest The Deceased, Malak, and Cosa Nostra. Southwest Deathfest. Four And Aft 2009 Roster. Management. Expanding my design skills. Living life to the fullest.

I’ve never spent so much time apart from my family as I have this past year, but as the clock continues to turn, things are beginning to look up, and whether they know it or not, I’m still here for them, just as I hope they’re here for me. The realization of spending Christmas with a new family is frightening, but I’ve come to terms with it, and even managed to get a chuckle out of this “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” parody. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I have, and hope the holiday season brings as much comfort for everyone else as it always has for me.

‘Twas A Florida Christmas…

T’was the night before Christmas and all through the town,
no noses were frozen, no snow fluttered down,
no children in flannels were tucked into bed,
they all wore shorty pajamas instead.

To find wreaths of holly, t’was not very hard,
for holly trees grew in every back yard.
In front of the houses, Dads and Moms were
adorning the bushes and coconut palms.

The sleeping kiddies were dreaming in glee,
hoping to find water skis under the tree.
They all knew that Santa was well on his way,
in a Mercedes-Benz, instead of a sleigh.

And soon he arrived and started to work,
he hadn’t a second to linger or shirk.
He whizzed up the highways and zoomed up the road,
in a S-L 300, delivering his loads.

The tropical moon gave the city a glow,
and lighted the way for old Santa below.
As he jumped from the auto he gave a wee chuckle,
he was dressed in Bermudas with an Ivy league buckle,

There weren’t any chimneys, but that caused no gloom,
for Santa came in through the Florida room.
He stopped at each house….stayed only a minute,
emptying his sack of stuff that was in it.

Before he departed, he treated himself
to a glass of papaya juice upon the shelf.
He turned with a jerk and bounced to the car,
remembering he still had to go very far.

He shifted the gears and stepped on the gas
and up Highway 436 he went like a flash.
And I heard him exclaim as he went on his way,
“MERRY CHRISTMAS Y’ALL, I WISH I COULD STAY!”

In other news, I’ve finally made my transition back into the design game. I’ve got a few recent projects behind me, and a few coming up, and am happy to finally be immersing myself in this world once again. Sorry for the rushed post, there’s nothing intruiging about it, but i’ve got a busy day ahead of me, gotta run!

I took out my septum close to a month ago, I guess you could say it was a waste of money and time, but it was a fun experience. My tiny venture into body mod has opened my eyes into so many more things. But again, there are no pictures to document my journey. I guess it’s time to invest into a decent camera, maybe a DSLR, or maybe a simple point and shoot. Any recommendations?

I’ve got a number of smaller projects to keep me busy over the next few weeks, along with a few offers I’ve yet to fully review. In your opinion is a full year of merch design for a record label worth $500. I suppose it all depends on how much they decide to work me. But on the upside, the money is paid in full up-front, which could come in handy over the next few weeks.

Luckily, the milk thistle found in Rockstar Energy Drinks is a natural antidote to this poison, and so far, it seems to be working. On another note, after further investigation, the mushroom ingested turned out to be a False Death Cap, an almost identical mushroom that, as the name suggests, is not fatal. Hurricane born mushrooms, not something I ever want to encounter again.

• August 11th – The Yellow Sign, Once We Were Buried @ Transitions Art Gallery – Tampa, Florida [w/ Illithid, Legions, and Board The Windows]
• August 17th – Screamin’ For Vengeance Tour @ The Dungeon – Orlando, Florida [w/ American Me, Oceano, Borland, Devoured By Pestilence, Harvest The Deceased, and Along Side Oni]
• August 22nd – Deterrence @ The Mad Hatter – Lakeland, Florida [w/ Denounce The Betrayer, Alvira, Astraea, and more TBA]
• August 28th – Catalepsy Tour Kickoff @ The Dungeon – Orlando, Florida [w/ Rose Funeral, The Breathing Process, Years Spent Cold, Red I Flight, Devoured By Pestilence, and 42 Children]

More coming soon. Keep an eye out on http://myspace.com/iamaadesign for future updates.

But through all this, the one thing that bothers me is the stereotype that comes with being god-free, whatever that entails. I’ve never once claimed the influence of Satan, I’ve never once spoken of Satanist beliefs (thought I do follow some of them), or any type of Left Handed Path. The use of the upside down cross, or crucifix has been misconstrued. It’s been warped throughout the years to become something it’s not. It’s not a symbol of Satan, but rather a symbol of martyrdom, of dying for what, or who you believe in. It’s a symbol of humility, as St. Peter originally intended it to be when he crucified himself on this cross. My beliefs do not reflect the influence of Satan or any sort of magic.

In the same relation, Satanists do not believe in Satan either. Satanism is an atheistic religion, heavily influenced by the left hand path of Satan, who is simply their representation of all worldly indulgences. Satanism is about being involved in yourself, basically. Not bothering, nor asking to be bothered. It’s about surrounding yourself with the people you trust, the people who don’t annoy or bother you. I may have Satanist beliefs, but I don’t, in any way, believe in Satan as an entity.

Client: Life.Ended.Abruptly
Published Work: http://myspace.com/lifeendedabruptly
Date Completed: June 15th, 2008
Description: Full MySpace layout, including Masthead for Life.Ended.Abruptly., a Central Florida Death Metal band. Project took about 10 hours, spanning over a week’s time. Minor changes are still being made. The masthead is a series of manipulated photos, the mountain range and explosion being two separate images.

Client: Sparing No Lives
Published Work: http://myspace.com/sparingnolives
Date Completed: June 1st, 2008
Description: Photomanipulation layout for Sparing No Lives, and Orlando based Hardcore bands signed to Statik Factory Records. As a quick side note, the base image for the Life.Ended.Abruptly. layout was used to fill the inside of the main figure’s mouth. Once again, this layout is a photomanipulation, making use of two separate images (the meat racks and the main figure). To accompany the new layout, a new identity, including logotype, was created.

Client: From Ruins Of Treachery
Published Work: http://myspace.com/fromruinsoftreachery
Date Completed: May 29th, 2008
Description: MySpace layout for From Ruins Of Treachery, a lakeland deathcore band. Originally playing under the name All Shall Bow, this layout was created using various lighting techniques and a small collection of stock renders to represent that name. The concept was eventually kept for the new name as well. A new logotype was also created to accompany this layout.

Client: Personal Work
Published Work: http://myspace.com/iamaadesign
Date Completed: May 20th, 2008
Description: Full MySpace layout for promotional use. Simple layout, again playing around with some basic lighting and tiling techniques. The type used is VTKS Bandana. I will most likely revise this layout at a later date.

I’m not sure if I’m ready to let the word into my life. Or maybe I’m just lazy.