hey that's my bike.

i'm back from sleeping under my best pal's ceiling in the biggest little city.
i've been home a day and a half from my weekend excursion and i've had a hard time concentrating. as much as i love my job, it felt wrong getting up and going to work this morning. i feel i have become distracted from what it is i set out to do in the first place, especially in the last few months. my trip to reno/sanfrancisco seems to have jolted me into remembering what i wanted of myself and discovering that i have lost sight of what's important to me. i'm still working on things in my head- as the whole of my generation seems to be doing now. i'm not alone in being lost, but i feel i'm closer to seeing for the first time exactly what i want.
landing a few jobs in the last few days that are more along the lines of what i want to do be doing has given me some confidence. and being in a state of missing my best friend has also given me some perspective on what i can do to help fix that. where do i want to be? what do i want to do? more importantly, how can i make that a reality once i figure that out?
i took an online quiz for kicks, a 'which reality bites character are you?' and discovered, little shock to me, that i am troy dyer. well, mostly. except without the guitar and greasy hair. but that closed-off romantic, unrealized potential is wrapped up in here somewhere. if you discover my lelaina on some random rooftop smoking cigarettes, send her my way.

fatty fat fat.

in my unruly youth years ago, i remember sitting in the back of the bus on the way to some band competition with the tubas and the drum corps. we were harassing head drum major leah for some reason i can't recall, most likely in response to some insult or comment she made about the drum corps or any one of its members. and to boot, she was on the other bus in the lane next to us, so it was not as though she could hear our insults anyway. i'm sure she deserved at least ten percent of the abuse, but all i remember is chris georgeson spelling out "fatty fat fat" in christmas sticker-decals on the window of the bus for her to read as we cruised past. dallis shrieked out soon after that she wouldn't be able to read it because it would appear backwards to the other bus. the rest of the drum corps scrambled to correct it in time for leah to see. whether or not leah saw it-- though she was not "fatty fat fat" in technical terms-- i can't say for certain. she glared at us anyway.
but the sound of my pals voices crying out "fatty fat fat" still rings very clear in my older ears. it was all in adolescent fun anyway.
i'm posting some photos of the bathroom i haven't before, including a detail of the fatty fat fat rat in honor of my chubby little, frozen rat i finally buried today. and thank you to my dad who dug the hole.

finish. repent.

i managed to pull out a finish on the mural work at the VaC around three this morning. i don't have progress shots for the mice above the mirrors because i painted them in one night. there's nothing like the pressure of knowing they open tomorrow and i have no more time to debate on the finer details. on the plus side, i spent the last three years observing my rat, so research was not necessary-- and i draw a pretty mean mouse when pressed. i have wanted to get back to my rodent roots and i had a funny little idea of a chubby mouse and the word "repent" scrawled into my tiny sketchbook that i wanted to turn into something.

the candies look delightful. i'm more than pleased that this is finally done. i also regretted that i didn't have a DeathStall for Pancho Villa, so i snuck him in behind the door.

urinals.

i've still been plugging away on the VaC's boys bathroom. a few more nights to finish, i've gaged the amount of work pretty well. The VaC opens Friday night and i look forward to my work finally getting its audience. the girl's bathroom won't be finished in time for the opening, but it's really coming together as well. The artist working on it is among my favorites, and i anticipate its finish; it will be the bathroom walls i have to look at more often.
i've done some work in the stalls (death stalls) as well, and i want to credit my pal zach for providing me with help on the research and details. my original intention was to have the five stalls in the girl's bathroom, each with a famous historical odd death. after finding out i had the boys bathroom instead, i was limited to two stalls. damn urinals. i selected my favorite two odd deaths and put them up anyway. here's a taste:

Rasputin: He was reportedly poisoned, beaten, and shot before he finally drowned. classic. the idea behind the DeathStalls is to make you slightly uncomfortable while using the facilities. that, and you should learn something too. multi-tasking while on the pot, emerging that much smarter from the bathroom. you can wow the ladies with your new-found knowledge.

hope to see you at the opening.