March 2006 Archives

Lauren's birthday shoes

I painted these shoes for Lauren's 21st birthday- cause you need some tattoo shoes when you hit the big 2 1. Now that I think about it- maybe I sould paint myself some shoes. Or would anyone be interested in buying some hand painted shoes on Voz's site? Or should I just keep them for family and friends. What do you guys think?

Buck at the Grand Canyon (and yeah, this has nothing to do with Vegas)

Las Vegas is kickass! Lots of fun was had especially at Lucky Cheng's. And if you think that 5 cent slots are only for old biddies- think again. One, $10 or $20 bucks will keep you there for awhile (which is great for people who are broke like me) and two- Melinda won $297 off of less than 10 bucks. Who doesn't like that. Besides that- we saw O and ate in the Eiffel Tower restaurant- where you can see the Bellagio fountain go off. A good time was had by all.

Next time I think I will check out the Palms- and see Hart and Huntington's tattoo shop. And dammit Lauren and I want to see Charo perform. Come on now...

Every morning while speeding to work, I pass workers picking stawberries in the fields on Irvine Blvd. I am probably about 20 feet from the workers clad in their baggy sweatshirts with hoods that cover their faces but we might as well have a world between us. See, I am off to an office where there is paperwork to do and on my way home I may stop at the store to buy those strawberries that were on a vine this morning. I am the consumer. But for every sweet bite of stawberry that I eat, I remember that this morning a worker looked up from his crouched position and his hood fell back and our eyes met. And I smiled briefly before speeding to the next red light. And I remember, my grandma taking us to my cousin's fields to pick the leftover stawberries before they disced the ground. I remember the overpowering smell of damp earth and ripe fruit and the way my grandma told me that "it tastes sweeter when you realize the work that goes into each one." She would have known- she was from a migrant farmworking family that knew the value of good produce and the blood, sweat and tears that it took to have a sucessful crop.

A clutch I painted for my sister

Some nights you just need to listen to some vinyl. No cds. Not your iPod. Just some good records. Its good to take things back to a time when albums were a whole concept and it wasn't just about a bunch of singles that were all waiting their turn to be on TRL. It was all about the vinyl last night. It was about 70's rock and 80s pop and 90s angsty hip hop. I cleaned and thought and doodled listening to music. It felt like a cleansing of some sort. It gave me time to think about what I want. Its a given that I want to be successful but I usually confuse it with the material. Its funny, that now that I think about it- being sucessful would be as simple as having a large visible tattoo. Because if that happens, then I know I will be in a job that is creative (hopefully my own business) and a job that allows me personal freedom. And that my friends is my ultimate goal. Not to be rich- although that would be nice-but to have a job that allows me to travel outside of the office once and awhile and to have visible tattoos. Just two things. Is that too much to ask?

That canyon is just so grand...

Along with March's winter weather came the sickness. It snuck up on me and kicked me down. So I spent two days at home- not something I wanted to do when I knew my sister would be coming home for Spring Break. I still have remnants of a sexy voice like Phoebe in Friends. I was supposed to get my tattoo this weekend with my uncle for my grandma, but the shop was really busy and we ended up making an appointment for the 16th of April. Not much to say other than that. So here is a list of things that I am feeling right now:

Things I am listening to: The Subways, Wolf Mother, Pigeon John, Artic Monkeys, The Fray (yeah I know lots of indie rock- I am waiting til I get back to my house so I can find some good hip hop)

Things that I am excited about: my upcoming Vegas trip with Naoko, Melinda, Lauren and my moms (I am going to win on the Wheel of Fortune slot!), going to Phoenix with my sister!

Sky in Flagstaff

Apparently, March is the winter that California never got in the actual winter season. If you can say Southern California has seasons. It was cold this weekend. The kind of cold where you can watch tv during the day next to a fire and be justified. You can't really go outside. It's too cold dammit. Meanwhile my sister in Flagstaff got 14 inches of snow in one day. Now that's cold.

I love this kind of weather though. Even if its at a weird time. Its time to contemplate weather. Weather thats allows you to think and have meandering thoughts. I'll take that for a couple of days. You always need a winter before you do something great.

This is my horoscope for today: It's time to identify your passions and build your life around fulfilling them. This means uncovering your real ambitions, rather than the ambitions that you think you should have. Get started!

Ha! Got that covered. I have been seriously thinking about my life and what I should be doing versus what I want to do. I have sided with my horoscope. I am going to do what I am passionate about- which is painting, making things, creating art, listening to good music, and taking time for friends. The construction on my house is ending soon and then its time to outfit the garage into a studio where I can paint and make things. And I am designing a fire pit for the backyard or as I call it the "Ring of Fire."- so exciting!

Look out for new Voz stuff in April- my sister and I are going to work on it next week...

When you are on a diet all you can think about is food. Sometimes in a 5 minute period my mind will wander throught thoughts of: when can I eat?, what am I going to eat?, is it time to eat?, dude, I am so hungry!, do we have anything to eat? Pathetic- definitely. But in the end I usually distract myself and forget. Which is probably how I have lost more than 30 lbs. Although I still have a lot of weight that I want to lose- this is definitely a big step. Its fun to be able to see the difference week to week. And it becomes kind of a game to see how well you can do. Yeah, kinda like the Biggest Loser without the working out 10 hours a day. My final goal is to be thin enough to learn how to surf. I just want to feel comfortable enough that I can just be out there without my weight in the back of my mind.

Flagstaff sunset

I almost forgot to tell you about the Aerosmith and Lenny Kravitz concert that I went a week or so ago. Our seats were amazing- two rows away from the floor. I have never been so close in my life- usually at a concert I am in the very back- peeking to see the big screen. All I can say is that Steven Tyler and Joe Perry are amazing (no pun intended). They are rock gods. Who else can wear pants that have mesh insets and an Aerosmith logo painted across the crotch- Steven Tyler thats who. And no one else. They played a lot of their seventies songs- which are actually my favorite. Kings and Queens has to be one of my all time favorites- well that an Dream On, Cryin' and Living on the Edge and Sweet Emotion (ok I think I have too many favorites). So much better than The Rolling Stones- (Mick is getting really old- don't you think). Although we were worried about the drummer and the other guitar player. But Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were golden. And yeah, Steven Tyler's mouth really is that big.

Rain coming to the Grand Canyon

Its no secret that I love rain. My favorite drops are the sprinkly little ones that almost dance before they get to the ground. Thats how it rained last night. I went for a walk last night around the lake near my mom's house. And it was beautiful. Hardly anyone was walking or running due to the weather. And it was just me and my iPod. Me and the music and the tiny raindrops. I put my iPod on shuffle and out came a mix that I couldn't have made if I was making one on purpose. I was all caught up in the rain and the music that when someone yelled to me- it scared the bejeezus out of me. It was a guy walking an older pit bull who was outfitted in a plastic slicker (the dog not the guy). He repeated his question. "What are you listening to?" I replied, "the Lifesavas." He hadn't heard of them. But he said, "I've past you twice, you look so happy maybe I should check them out." I told him that it was the rain- that I loved it. He laughed and said, "old Billy likes it too. He cried at the door with his leash until I finally got up to walk him. Nice to see someone else likes the rain." Funny how Billy did look happy while sitting there. He kept looking up into the sky wondering what was falling.

Ok, here is a very surprised me. Who knew that a huge giraffe would try to fit his huge head into a small safari car and then slime me with its black tongue all for a crappy little biscuit. Those things must taste pretty good.

Tiger- what else do you want me to say.

Our driver said that they are good for breeding and thats about it. Don't you listen to that wildebeast- you can be whatever you want.

Zebras bark instead of neighing like horses- just thought I would throw that out there.

I think from now on my stories should start with "On the tram". So anyway, on the tram the guide also told us that people send them dying or dead horses to feed to the cats. However, these people sent horses that were perfectly fine. So they decided to keep them with a wildebeast that was separated from the others for some reason. And the best lines ever from the guide were: "the wildebeast really loves these horses" and "these horses are just happy to be alive!"

Words of wisdom folks, words of wisdom.

Giraffe's will stick their whole heads into a safari car just to get a little biscuit.

Our driver warned us that ostriches will take things like cameras and shiny objects from you- which may or may not be true. Because my cousin kept trying to dangle her camera out the car but the ostrich didn't seem to care.

Zebras are cute like that.

So yeah, I have been away for awhile. I vowed not to let the construction on my house get in the way- but with my brother constantly on the family conputer and lack of time- I had no time to post. But I'm back baby and ready to go. While I was away- I went to Flagstaff with my cousin to visit my sister. And we went to this really random place called Out of Africa in Camp Verde, AZ. What we learned there from the founder has fueled sarcastic conversations for a month or so.

First let me explain that there are two parts to the place. The safari ride where you get close to animals like the giraffe and ostrich among others and the tram ride where you listen to a guide while viewing predators like lions, tigers and bears. The safari ride is far more fun cause you are actually in Safari cars but the tram ride provides the real entertainment. See we were in the tram with the founder- who is- lets just say- very passionate about his park and Africa. How can you not laugh when someone says "These are not stuffed animals, folks, this is Africa!" Then when we were close to the white tigers. The guide says "Do you want me to talk to him." Everyone on the tram says "Yeah." I am not sure what we were expecting, but it was not what we heard next- he yelled "Elijah!!" and then said, "there you go." And we died laughing cause damn I could have done that. And the tiger was sleeping- it didn't even look up. My favorite however was at the end of the ride, he said, "If you really want to know about Africa. I wrote a book. Its in the bookstore- go get it." So worth the entrance fee.

I have other pictures as well as one that looks like I am about to freak out cause a giraffe had just slimed my hand. Those pics will come later, later not right now, right now.