I've been painting and creating again after a loooong break. I havent smoked p*t in about 8 weeks, and I have always had a hard time turning off the inner critic society without my favorite herbal antidepressant, so I am pretty proud of myself for painting at ALL. Comments? Criticisms? Complaints? Editorials?

But then we have adorable kids like this one, the sign reads, "If you can't be right, be loud." On the other side it read, "Only idiots carry signs." His protest against the protestors. I guess there were people down the street from the Pentecostals who were holding signs saying "BAN ARBOR DAY!" just to be discordant and to highlight the ridiculousness of the whole protest. 

Every year, the Pentecostals (of the God Hates Fags, Reverend Phelps pedigree) "protest" the Mormon Church. It's one of the few times I feel protective of the Mormon's and their right to practice their brand of religion 

Same kid... right in front of Castle Faggotry... what are the chances? 

10-1-05 Conference Weekend in SLC... twice a year our little neighborhood fills up with pilgrims from all around the world. These guys were from Idaho and felt like they needed to change clothes in front of our house. One of the perks of living two blocks from the conference center! 

Paul 9-22-05 

I've been cleaning my (our) room today... I sawed a bookshelf in half so it would be less imposing... I think I must of had crack for breakfast or something. Why is it that everytime I clean my room, it ends up looking like a tornado hit it? Luckily, I'm picking up the pieces, assessing the damage, and it's starting to look normal again. Meanwhile I have been listening to some of these guys; if you haven't heard either of these artists... I highly recommend them.

DJ Benny Benassi
Satisfaction (such a good track!!)
Love is Gonna Save US

and then, because I'm as eclectic as ITunes on Shuffle...

Bright Eyes
The Bottom of Everything
The Perfect Sonnet

Tag, I'm IT. I was tagged by this fine gentleman (woof)

The list of SE7EN

SE7EN ThInGs iD lIkE To dO beFORe i dIE:
7. Go to a foreign country
6. Have kids (adopted, or bequeathed, or whatever)
5. Jump out of an airplane (with a parachute)
4. See the Earth from Outer Space
3. Get Married
2. go to Burning Man
1. Live within my means

SE7VEN THINGS i CAN DO
7. give a kick ass massage
6. kiss like no other
5. killer mixed cds
4. make artwork that makes your eyes (and mind) wander/wonder
3. bake a mean cookie
2. take it like a champ
1. laugh

SE7EN THINGS I CANT DO
7. understand "PNP"
6. see there is all to see
5. do all there is to do
4. have everything i want (in this lifetime at least)
3. throw in the towel
2. get every guy Im attracted to
1. regret

SE7EN THINGS I FIND ATTRACTIVE IN A GUY
7. Sense of humor
6. Sincere Humility
5. A Killer Smile
4. Creativity
3. Body hair in all the right spots (bum, legs, chest, arms, stomach)
2. Ability to receive and give bear hugs
1. An ability to go with the flow in all things

SE7EN THINGS I SAY MOST OFTEN
7. "I fucking love you so fucking much"
6. "that's cool"
5. "um, whatever"
4. "fuck!"
3. "right on"
2. "niice"
1. "that's hot"

SE7EN CELEBRITIES I FIND INCREDIBLY ATTRACTIVE
7. Jason Statham
6. Aiden Shaw
5. Bruce Willis
4. Johnny Knoxville
3. Collin Farrell
2. Johnny Lee Miller
1. Henry Rollins

SEVEN BLOGGERS I MUST NOW TAG
7. Lauren
6. Chris (does this count.. or is that a tagback? I don't know seven bloggers!)
5. Bekka (I don't think this count's either... she hasnt updated in two years
4. Josh
3. Lori
2. serioulsy... I dont think seven people even read this...
1. no.. for real...and I dont even know seven bloggers...

a videoblog about Hurricane Katrina from a survivor...

More info about donating for relief. Give a dollar, give a thousand, give what you can!

more on the incompetency of our administration, it's dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and some scathing insight... via Lauren's blog..

I have posted a lot of work on DeviantArt... where there are great artist's.. I like a lot of this guy's work. Check him out. Be aware that lots of his photos are sensual in nature and mainly of men... but then again that's why I like it. Buyer beware! Swim at Your Own Risk!

on the more serious side... I really wish I had some way of getting ahold of David Taylor's family... Im concerned about him. I know they live in Macon, Georgia... but how many "Taylor's" are in Macon Georgia?

and now more drag queens... from "Wigstock, The Movie" fame:

Miss Lady Bunny

And now.. here's the site where all of those were from... Bon Appetit

http://bowerbird.typepad.com/mmmhellooo/

here, Miss Buttefield is talking about um.. i dont know...

here's Betty meeting a Buddhist monk. oh my god... watch it to the very end.

I dont know who Betty Butterfield is... but she is obviously a drag queen from Utah... check her out. I nearly peed!

from the book Breaking Open The Head, by Daniel Pinchbeck

Modernism caused a profound shift in the way we use our senses. In his book Myth and Meaning, Levi-Strauss admittd to his intial shock when he discovered that Indian tribesmen were able to see the planet Venus in daylight, with the naked eye--"something that to me would be utterly impossible and incredible." But he learned from astronomers that it was feasible, and he found ancient accounts of Western navigators with the same ability. "Today we use less and we use more of our mental capacity than we did in the past," he realized. We have sacrificed perceptual capabilities for other mental abilities- to concentrate on a computer screen while sitting in a cubicle for many hours at a stretch (something those Indians would find "utterly impossible and incredible"), or to shut off multiple levels of awareness aw we drive a car in heavy traffic. In other words, we are brought up within a system that teaches us to postpone, defer, and eliminate most incoming sense data in favor of a future reward. We live in a feedback loop of perpetual postponement. For the most part, we are not even aware of what we have lost.

So.. man, this sh*t going down in Louisiana is crazy. My friend and ex-boyfriend Dave Taylor moved out there a couple of years ago and we've lost touch. I really hope he's ok. I have been listening to the radio all day and the predictions of the "death of New Orleans" are pretty dire and as the day rolls on.. it only seems to get worse and worse. Stagnant water breeding mosquitoes and West Nile Virus... gasoline and other noxious chemicals speading all over the city. People not geting enough water. It's pretty messed up. I've put a link on my blog to the American Red Cross and to some other blogs with lots of information. Please donate to the Red Cross if you can!