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POETRY + PAINTINGS + PHOTOGRAPHY + DRAWINGS + LISTS + BIO + MUSIC + SHOP

Thursday, April 28, 2011

PHOTOSHOOT REMIXED.

so as many of you pancake gobblers & milk shakers know, i like taking photos.  what we should also know is that i'm not very good at it.  SO!...i compensate by adding 50,000 layers of madness to each of them to create what i guess i call "xx versions" because somewhere along the line, i like the whole kiss kiss, or hug hug, whatever.  which is it by the way?  is the X the kiss?  or the O?  so confused.

anyway, here are just a few of the edits i finished from my shoot with miss staslie, aka blondah.  i hope you like them.  a couple of them have even received a bitty of online success.  woo!  yay yay!  pom poms!

(clique to enlique)











el fin.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

PHOTO SHOOT w/STASLIE!

here are a few rough draft photos of just a few of the images i took of a tiny little modelette named staslie.  she is near & dear to me, so please do appreciate!  edited & Health Photo versions of many of these images will be ready in the next month or so.  very excite!

vive le france!

(clique to enlargue)
priceless

just super

bad wrinkles, will fix!  awesome hair

love this

love it

feels very phantom of the o.

emo mess

fish lips

and one she took of me.  :)


xx-SK

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

NEW BOOK.

as many of you banana bread lovers know i'm taking a break from this life-gobbling blog.  that being said, i'm using the time wisely to work on my new book, tentatively-titled, "gold as ice" ...which i will attempt to squeeze out before i deploy in june and hopefully sell 4 copies of before i die.

i love all of your faces.  some more than others because well...some are just nicer to look at.  :)  haha...


xx-sk


GOTTA RUN CINNABUNS!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

REST.

taking a bit (or a chunk) of a hiatus from the blog (or a goodbye).  no, i'm not having some wildly exciting meltdown or anything of the sort.  just wearing down really.  as deployment continues to creep up on me, my life continues to get busier by the day and i'm falling over to be honest.  anyone who knows me knows i don't get tired and i don't like sleep, so that's saying something for sure, shirley.  it's not like this is some essential daily vitamin in everyone's diet...like waffles are mine.  i think of it more like banana slices on your cereal.  

anyway, i have so many fun ideas & directions i want to go, just dunno if i'll have the time/energy?  who knows.  gonna disappear off the map for a couple of days, step out of town & recharge.

for anyone who has sent me love, sincere encouragement or support...i'm in debt to you and i'm seriously grateful for your words.

if you sent me a novel thanking me for helping you through a rough spot in your life or what not...i owe you as well and am on my way to remedying that as we speak (though we're not actually speaking).

and so...it never stops.


xx-sk


extra special love to- mr.white,staslie,danielle,paulwalt,gma,gpa

BEING THANKFUL FOR IT ALL.

everyday i feel like we overlook 99% of the things we should be thankful for.  i too am so outrageously guilty of this.  bad steven.

that being said...with thanksgiving around the corner and love pouring in from all directions, i think now is a great time to feel this out.  let's hug this baby out.  let's talk turkey, life & the difference between loving something and being thankful for it.  huge difference!

not everyone knows my story and most could care less, but a huge part of why i joined the army was because i'd gone totally numb.  besides my perfect little dog, i was going thru my daily motions without really being that grateful for anything.  i wasn't grateful for my food, shelter, family (not enough!), my then girlfriend, my job, my clothes, my health, my friends, my church, my education, my nothing.  i had become so numb that i'd have been lucky to feel anything if i got run over by a mack truck with spiked tires and just married cans dragging along its tail.    i was near dead to the world.  i was miserable.

hmm...i sense a correlation!  epiphany!  i wasn't all that thankful for anything i had going on in my life...and likewise, i was dreadfully depressed and at times borderline emotionless.  me emotionless!  nuts!  i'm an emotional guy...but..(insert big-eyed pause)...i hadn't realized the fortune of my very own life.  is this starting to sound like a dr. phil episode?  oh no!  someone punch me in the face with infected brass knuckles!  better stay on point.

i guess now...being in my shoes, where i am...going thru the day-to-day challenges and frustrations of the military, my perspective has changed drastically.  who in the world cares right???  ha!  well...i care about you, so i'm writing this.  so eat it! i also like your face...but that's a whole 'nother note.  

the truth is that i think so many of us close happyness out of our lives because we don't open our hearts wide enough to see how fortunate we are.  seriously...if you read this, you're already more fortunate than 90% of the world (because you can afford the sweet technology).  ON PAPER.

the thing is...who cares about money right?  money doesn't help you realize how lucky you are.  it pays your bills and keeps you comfortable, but it doesn’t measure true fortune.  luck isn't derived from financial status.  luck is falling into a family who loves you inconditionally.  luck is finding the career that inspires you every single day.  luck is excellent, God-given health.  

so we have money...woo woo.  the U.S. has buckets of money to throw around in the air and dance in...and then add to the national debt...lol.  we make it rain!  and then add up our credit card bills.  dang!  i could be so gangsta!  oh wait...i am.  haha...

back to it.

the bit that i'm chomping at here is that the majority of us probably take the bulk of our lives' blessings for granted.  i for one took almost EVERYTHING i had for granted.  people included!  bad bad steven.  that's a terrible thing to do.  in army terms...this would be a perfect place to say, "beat your face private".  i needed to be shook out of this state.  do you?  

DO YOU?

are you stuck like i was stuck?  if so, why not choose this thanksgiving to pull your beautiful little head out of the sand, wipe your crusty eyes and be TRULY thankful for what you have.

thanksgiving is not a day to celebrate a dumb bird's flesh.  

don't get me wrong...i can eat some turkey!  turkey lurkey!  but...i'm not getting 2 days off of work and traveling halfway across the country to worship some animal that doesn't even get a shoe box-sized exhibit at the zoo.  i mean...even the peahens and billy goats get space depending on where you are.  goats aren't even that cool.  they’re like an 8 on a 1-100 scale of zoo animal coolness.  

on with it.  i guess this is just me taking my experience and encouraging all of you to be absolutely thankful for what you have.  not just loving it.  love is good.  don't get me wrong.  you know me...i am the first person who'll step up as an ambassador of love.  sometimes i think i see in pink & red.  that's beside the point though.  the point is this:

take a second to acknowledge what/who you have and be downright grateful for it.  you can love someone on accident.  you can love people just by being your daily version of you.  being thankful though - takes effort.  it takes a conscious, acknowledged thought to be genuinely thankful.

maybe this year's the year we all look at how blessed we are and smile a little brighter.  if you have bad teeth...maybe scale it back a notch.  just kidding.  :)  seriously though.  for me personally, sometimes it takes someone who i love or respect to get in my face and say "steven...how can you ever be down?, look at everything you have!  look at your this and that and blah and etcetera".  it's true this.

sometimes we get lost in the blur of the day's motion and forget what we have.  that's just gotta stop.  if you want to really embrace this holiday...if you want to make it more than cranberry sauce (weird) and spandex pilgrim costumes (or am i the only one who has one of these?)...then take a step back and BE THANKFUL for what you have.  

if it takes writing it down...write it down.  make a list.  check it twice?  why not?  it helps me.  :)  the more i do this...the more i accept my blessings and cherish them, the easier it is for me to draw the connection line from gratefulness to joyfulness.  the more i find myself glowing.  do it i dare you.  i dare you so much that i would never even consider truthing you.  plus, writing it down is a better way to focus and take time to kind of...i don't know, dedicate your energy to center yourself on what matters most.  

so we must then wait no longer and make GREAT LISTS!!!  us listers will enjoy this.  many others will say, "oh, i don't have the time for that" (bah you!  go dive off a skyscraper onto a bed of sharp sticks!  jk)...but why not all take 5 minutes out of our busy lives and embrace what we've got.  some would say perhaps, “shake what our mamas gave us”?  oh no.  :(


okay okay…

without further ado, here is my list.  because i can't be some tie-dye wearing, ooey gooey hippy loudspeaker and then turn around and not complete the exercise.  

Things That I am Wildly Thankful For (2010 Edition).  

1.  a perfectly folded stack of t-shirts
2.  my family because they are amazzzzzzing (6 z's worth = highly impressive)
3.  the constant opportunity to grow at work from constantly wanting to chop my head off (literally)
4.  my unsquashable faith!  
5.  my cardboard consistency Kashi cereal that i eat 2x day even though i know it tastes like wet trash
6.  my body's ability to heal when busted, and the legendary 170 yr. old doctor who has helped me thru the process
7.  your face because i love the way it moves
8.  my electrifying sense of touch (yow yow!)
9.  long, crazy hair on a girl
10.  Christmas music because it makes me happy even when i feel like death itself
11.  painting because it helps me maintain sanity when the army makes me want to drink AIDS blood (too graphic?  sorrrrrrrry)
12.  under armour
13.  osu football even though they break my heart at least 1x every season
14.  1000x new friends.  man i never thought i'd love so many knuckleheads
15.  Andrew Belle's voice - this guy man...just brings me peace & hope & makes me feel like i'm slow dancing in a non-sticking vat of light blue cotton candy
16.  king gussie because he's the perfect mammal & he's my only son - likely forever
17.  airplanes

now, i only did 17 because that is my favorite number and anyone who knows me knows i could go forever.  students, lovers, fighters & friends...there is no limit to this exercise.  regardless of what master p or silkk the shocker say...i promise you there is no limit.  you can go up to 17,000,000 if you want, but i'm not responsible for your unemployment claims.  

now that i've dumped this heap of unfortunately sappy word syrup on you, i hope you share the love.  it makes me sad when people think of thanksgiving as a day to celebrate eating (we're not fat enough yet USA!?!?)...so this is our chance to turn it around and right the holiday ship.  

if you agree with anything i've said, or just want to do a list of things you're thankful for, i would positively encourage you to re-post this w/ or w/out my personal message.   but it's your turn to spread the thankful butter (no trans fat, low in carbs)...

show some love.  be thankful for what you have.  cherish your days.  it's not just about eating anymore.

i love all of you.  and your smiles.



xx-steven

THE BEST OF NANCY. VOL. 1

as promised, or mentioned...i can't remember and i'm not clicking back...here comes gramma.  


mind you, i'm only posting these tonight because it's easier to dig around on her facebook, copy & paste than actually think...AND, people seem to like my grandparents more than me or my sense of humor, so there's that.  


i already told the tale of francis.  he is a wise and embattled knight hailing from harsh Lima, Ohio.  as is the the Chief (gramma).  


i know a little girl who likes to party,
and her name is nancy.
i won't add much more (what do i look like a Casio?) other than to say that she has more spark than a fireworks store and isn't afraid to tell it like it is.  she's sweet, extremely small and gets her perm re-did every couple of weeks.  gramma antsy as the littlin's call her, is thug passion when people thought that lifestyle wasn't cool anymore...but is.


you have to be patient with the Chief because she's a lot more aggressive than grandpa (think of a dainty little hawk with nail polish and a huge trout in its beak)...refuses to use lowercase letters and will talk to absolutely anybody.  which i love about her.  she's been like that her whole life and i definitely wouldn't change it.  


for what it's worth, over Christmas, i tried explaining to her the whole CAPS is like SHOUTING EVERYTHING and she laughed and then i'm not sure she got it.  she hasn't changed a thing, so who knows.  probably my favorite thing about gramma is that she knows she sucks at technology and isn't afraid to admit it.  you will see this in very many of her posts and status updates that i put here to share.  she thinks it's cute i guess to be one of her 4 friends on "the facebook" and she will tell you that within the first 5 minutes of your conversation in you ever meet her.  i promise you that.  promise.  at the same time, she makes funnies on everyone's pages about not knowing how to use the computer, so there's a bit of confusion there, but it's pretty great.  
someone likes to get a little crunk with the grandsons.


so, i give you the best of NANCY vol.1 (mind you a lot of these are wall posts to practical strangers...priceless)...oh, and please fall in love with the excessive exclamation marks and repetitive posts.  if she thinks something is funny, she'll go and post that exact thing on 10 people's wall...even though mom said she refuses to learn copy and paste...haha.  awesome.  some of the posts i've found of hers, i have found literally 20 times.  


it's pretty easy to see why i say i have the most amazing g-rents on the planet.  and it's also easy to see why they're (frank&nance) perfect for each other.  if you know a goofier pair of 78 year olds, you let me know.  and i'll call you a liar to your face.


remember, the whole fam is like this.  so you see how it spreads then...




THE BEST OF NANCY.


1)  HEY!!! WAIT!!! WHO HERE IS ITALIAN!?!?!?!


2)  HEY!!! HEY!!! WHOSE BIG IDEA WAS IT TO HIDE MY PORTABLE COMPUTER MACHINE ON TOP OF THE REFRIGERATOR!?!?!?  TOOK ME 3 MONTHS TO FIND IT!!! HA!!!


3)  HEY!!! HEY WAIT!!! WHERE DO THEY PUT THE SPACE BAR ON THESE SPACE MACHINES!?!??!?!


4)  HEY WHOA!!! IS THIS ONLINE DATING!?!?!


5)  HEY!!! YOU'RE FUNNY!!! COME HERE!!!


6)  HEY!!! HEY!!! WAIT!!! I FORGOT WHAT I WAS GONNA ASK!!! HA!!!


7)  HEY!!!  ARE YOU THE ASIAN ONE!?!?!?


8)    WHO SAYS KNITTING ISN'T A REAL SPORT!?!?!?


9)  WAIT!!! VICKS VAPORUB TESTS THEIR PRODUCTS ON DOGS!?!?!? I'M SO LOST!!! HA!!!


10)  HEY!!! HEY!!! ANYONE HERE EVER HEARD OF THE SUDOKU!?!?!? DO I HAVE TO BE JAPANESE TO LIKE IT??? HA!!!


11)  HEY!!! HEY!!! YOU LOOK NICE!!! ANYONE HERE LIKE JUDO!?!?!? HA!!!


12)  HEY YOU!!! HEY!!! LISTEN!!! IS THIS MYSPACE!?!??! WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS!?!?!?


13)  HEY!!! WAIT!!! IS THIS MATCH.COM!?!?!? WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS!?!?!


14)  HEY!!! WAIT!!! DO I KNOW YOU??? ARE YOU THE POLISH ONE!?!?!


15)  HEY!!! WAIT!!! I'VE SEEN YOU BEFORE!!! HEY!!! WHO HERE LIKES GOOD LIP GLOSS??? I KNOW I DO!!! HA!!!


16)  HEY WAIT!!! WHO ARE YOU!!?!?! YOU LOOK LIKE A BRONCO TO ME!!!


17)  HEY!!! WAIT!!! DO I KNOW YOU!?!?! ARE YOU THE ONE WITH WITH THE SMALL HANDS!?!?!? HA!!!


18)  HEY!!! WAIT!!! WHO HERE'S FRENCH!?!?! I LIKE TOAST TOO!!! HA!!!


19)  WAIT!!! THERE'S A HORSE ON THE TEAM!??!?!?


20)  HEY!!! I WISH YOU LOOKED MORE LIKE TOM SELLECK!!! HA!!!


21)  AM I THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO CAN'T SAY NO TO A KEANU REEVES MARATHON?!?!? HOT FUSS!!! HA!!!


22)  HEY!!!  WHAT IS THIS RAP MUSIC EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT???


23)  WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS THE FACEBOOK ACCOUNT ANYWAYS!?!? I CAN'T KEEP UP WITH ALL THE FRIEND REQUESTS AND FARMVILLE THINGS!!!


24)  MICHAEL JACKSON??? IS THAT THE SAME THING AS SAMMY DAVIS JR???


25)  LISTEN HERE BLONDIE!!! HE WAS BORN FROM A PACKAGE OF FIRECRACKERS JUST LIKE HIS MOM!!! EXCEPT THEY DIDN'T ACTUALLY EXPLODE!!! HA!!!


26)  HEY!!! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN'T STOP WATCHING WHITE GIRLS!?!? INSTANT CLASSIC!!! HA!!!


27)  HEY!!!  SHAWN!!! NO CHRISTMAS BINGO FOR YOU!! 


28)  HEY!!!  YOU TALL ONE!!!  GO FLY A KITE!!!!!!! HA!!!!!!!!!


29)  HEY!!! HEY!!! IS THIS THE INTERNETS??? WHO PUT MY PROFILE ON HERE??? HA!!!


30)  HEY!!! HEY!!! DO YOU LIKE SKATING??? YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'D BE GOOD AT IT!!! YOU SEEM GREAT!!!


31)  HEY!!!  WHO HERE LIKES IRISH PEOPLE!?!?!?!?






and there you have it.  a small sample size of the Chief.  mind you, she has posted a lot more than Francis and says a lot of the same stuff again & again & again (i found the "HEY IS THIS MYSPACE" post over 20 times)...but she's easy to love and quote.  as you can see she also likes making friends and always asks where people are from.  incredible in my book.  


i love my gramma.  anyone who's ever talked to me about her knows how much she means to me.  anytime you can ask an 80 year old gal questions like, "Grandma, if grandpa was a vampire with no arms, would you still love him just as much?"...and get an actual response...you know you've found yourself a legend.  


here's to you gramma antsy, you perfect 10 you.  keep on truckin & lovin, servin mcgriddles & channel surfing like it's nobody business.  




goodnight all, xx-sk




p.s.  if you see nance walking down the street, you have to ask her 2 questions...because it's been our running thing for about a decade now. 


1.)  gramma, are you shrinking?  (which she'll say "probably" to)
2.)  gramma, are you losing weight?  (which she'll laugh and say, "i wish" to)




(photo tribute)


mean muggin.  would you mess with this 5' 1" woman?
or this sweatshirt?  i sure wouldn't!


gramma flexin on walt.  rockin the tneck hard for xmas.


on the verge of raising the roof.
don't hurt your back Chief!


'nuff said.


she's still got it boys.  watch out!  


gramma talks three things;
mcgriddles, jive & bridge tournaments.  


this was the night when she had 4 and we had to chase her
around the house to get her to bed by 9.


ABSOLUTELY LOST.


GRANDMA IS A CYBORG!  LOOK AT HER!


look how tiny she is in her fleece vest!!!!!!!!!  i love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

MILLION $ NCAA BRACKETS.

the brackets waiteth not another second my ticking clocks.  here i present you with four brackets from four gigantic (and highly-evolved) cerebellums.  well, some would argue mine.  but...brian, brandon & chris i wouldn't argue with.  if you don't take their tourney advice based on their selections, maybe consider adopting their picks based on their extreme good looks?  really not that bad of an idea.

i wanted to put little pictures of each of their beaming faces next to their brackets, but i forgot to ask, so out of politeness...and mindfulness to chris' shy character, brandon's married status (can't have all the women fighting about) & brian's selection of duke, i have refrained.

les braquettes.  compare, contrast, mock the other 3, and make some hot finance off of this blog.


(click to enlarge, of course)

brandon - a lousiville fan.

chris - a purdue fan.

myself - a buckeye fan.

brian - an admitted duke fan.


oops, part of mr. brian's got chopped off.  :(  that's why i don't like screenshot pdf's!  ...ok, enough enough.


goodbye & goodnight.
xx-sk