Thoughts on blogging my thoughts....

I was going to quit blogging, but I was told it helps with therapy. I admit I do it for therapy and to exercise my writing skills. One day they will make movies from peoples blogs I am sure of it. I get the reward is clearing space in my head when I write things out. I don't know who reads it besides me. The fact is it helps me let things out. Sometimes I think maybe someone will get some benefit from it. I can say what I want. When I started taking steps to a life I wanted I realized I wanted less from computers and electronics and more to talk to people face to face. To make art by hand, eye, pencil, pen or brush. Opening my shop helped me get back to talking to folks in person. We have disconnected so much. So many folks on their phones and computers while their kids grab desperately for their attention and love. Most of the work I do is lost on many. They don't see the care and time it takes to make it. Often I get asked, "do you use computers to make art?" Well, yes, that's how you clean up your ink drawings now and how you advertise you day to day things. I get sick of entering passwords, updating software and apps, and I can't really afford a better computer. My cell phone is the Ford Pinto of the cell phone world, but so what? When I started my diet a few months in I really noticed how much media we buy into. I had to look at the Pizza ads as Trans fat cheese, with even more oil fat plus bread carbs that turn to sugar with all the processing and chemicals added topped with loads of salt. The Nutty candy bar has fattening oily nuts surrounding a loaf of sugar and extra, extra salt. This was the lesson. I have started to guard what I have. What we all have in America... Freedom of Choice. Would you pay more for American made or Organic? Do you care? I may get a new computer one day. I may buy things made in China from time to time. I may even eat Pizza and Candy again, but I will try and make the right choice and exercise my mind away from what I am advertised to do. Hopefully I have learned that I can still connect with real people face to face. I hope I don't make a dungeon of my home and remember to get out and breathe what's left of the clean air we have. You are worthy of a good life Scott... don't waste it. As for fun today I got the new lp on white vinyl "Danger" by The Last and it brought me back to the mid 80's and kept me in the present at the same time. The Last's L.A. Explosion and the Descendent's Milo Goes to College were always great Hermosa Beach/Redondo Beach/Hawthorne classic studies in surf, punk, psych and California Lifestyle just waiting to be crammed together like peanut butter and chocolate. 30 some years later you got this lp. You can hear "walk don't run", Stiff Little Fingers, The Byrds, Beach Boys and all kinds of influence. The Pilmsouls should have made a record this good, but never did. Green Day seems plastic in comparison the the real emotion and feeling expressed within. My buddy Craig's stencils should have been the front cover, but hey, Ray Pettibon will do. Should you buy it? It's your choice, but it is low sodium (I think, anyway).

Today is 11/12/13! So far... a pretty good year.

Celeste (who teaches with Sharon),Peter and daughter Ani stopped by the booth at Crafted again and Ani (being my best collector and client) bought a box I found at goodwill and painted up. It deals with transitioning to the next world (we all have to go some time). The Quote on the top is from a Psychedelic Furs song called "Heaven". It was emotionally tough to make and Ani just lost her grandpa so I am so glad she found it and took it home to be part of her collection. The diet is still going on. I passed my 100 pound weight loss mark a week or so ago and soon I transition back to eating food (that will mean 3 shakes a day and one meal for dinner). Going back to food is the hard part, but I think I am ready for it. I have a good class group and after this next class ends I will go on to the weight management class. I want to go all the way and not look back at were I was before. This is a life change for me. It's hard to keep focused sometimes, but my life is better now. I can walk better. I have more flexibility and mobility. I have much more confidence in myself and I care about myself and my life more. I feel I may have bought some more time. I was pre-diabetic and my knees were starting to go and I was looking at where I was going. It was going to be death or a very rough remaining life. Sharon said she would not be able to push me if I was so heavy in a wheelchair... was that where I was going? I helped my grandmother in her last days at her retirement home. She was stuck in her room all day watching TV and had to be taken care of. When I went to get her meals for her a lady who lived there asked me if I wanted to be her volleyball partner. I was in no shape to play volleyball with this much fitter and much older than me woman. Helping my grandmother was such hard work (physically) it was my first steps to a healthier life. I may not die young after all.... (not if I can prevent it) I have started a Bike riding club called The Streetriding Cheetahs with a blog page here: www.blogger.com/streetridingcheetahs so far my friend Keith (from Kool Corner at Crafted) and I are planning to start riding along Cabrillo Beach. I have not told him about the club yet, but I am sure he will join it. My plan is to ride the Long Beach Marathon this year (20 miles) on the Bike Tour. I hope to get out today on my bike for a bit. I am still taking baby steps to get back to bike riding. I always wear a DOT certified motorcycle helmet (cycling helmets wont cut it. They are just foam coolers.) Helmets ARE cool. I wear good shoes and gloves too. Another big part of getting my life going was getting my mind going. To do that I took guitar lessons for a long as I could. It was not always easy, but I stuck with it. Soon my memory improved. The weekly improvements I made gave my instant confidence. I made sure I had a great teacher too (The great Walter Martinez at Gray School of Music, San Pedro, CA.) He was tough at times, but very caring and supportive. I could not have started this path without the help of my mom Pat and step dad Charlie who gave me the opportunity to take lessons, get my bike, and take the classes I needed. I was afraid to ask for their help before and I am glad I asked now. I am very grateful for this life and to have my family and friends, but before they could help me I had to help myself first. I forgave myself for my past mistakes. I have learned to trust my loved ones more and worry less about what I can not change.

You need good friends...

I went to High School (sometimes) with my friend Mark Waldman. He and I and a small group of others were the Punks at Redondo High. It was the early 80's and hardcore was getting started and we loved it. Mark often had his skateboard, a boom box with a cassette that had Social Unrest on one side and the debut of Suicidal Tendencies on the other and usually a pack of smokes he always shared with me. He was dependable, very loyal and we both were on the Road to Ruin. Years passed and I was headed away from the road I was on. On the way out I saw Mark on a friends couch and wondered if he would ever make it off that road alive. More time went by and I left my once sleepy beach town that had become a yuppie haven for the cozy new home of San Pedro (which now is in danger of becoming a high rent area too.) I worked as an Illustrator for a few companies and met my wife and settled down. I had a few art shows locally now and then and was still part of the punk community (and still am). I did not know Mark had found his way to an art career and had taught art too and after many years my former boss was showing at The Gasoline Gallery with some of the artists I was inspired by, so I went to El Segundo to check it out. I met the owner and guess who it was? Yep, Mark Waldman. Some of our old friends were working for him too. We had both found new paths and were fine tuning our lives. He was about to become a dad (twice) and was now sober as was I. We had talks about getting older and our health. We still had the same bond after all this time. He welcome myself and many others and gave us the opportunity to show at a legit art gallery. It was a blast. He often closed down Main street and lined it with custom cars and motorcycles and all the punks and outsiders you could handle every sunny summer beach city weekend, cranked up the tunes and made sure those who still drank had a cold beer. The party lasted almost 10 years. Many of us found fame and recognition for our art. Mark gave us a soap box to let out our sorrows, but his world in the end was getting out of control, but this time it was just the kind of life troubles that find us now and then. He got the wind knocked out of his sails of a bit, but he held strong and became the great dad he is now. He is dedicated to his two sons Ford and Cole. He had the number 3 tattooed for them to remember that no one can take their bond away. For the last show at Gasoline I had done a real personal painting for the show and did not want to sell it so I put a real high price on it. I left it in Mark's care for a few months. Gasoline had closed and Mark had formed Sweatbox, his new company for his return to art. I had started my own shop too (Aicher's Pop Kustom Shoppe at Crafted, San Pedro, CA) and we both have found that even though the road may change we still have a bond. So I went over to see his new studio space at his home and saw his new Grenade Heart limited editions and it struck and emotional chord. We both could have had heart attacks from our bad health at any given time. This piece really had me thinking of how fragile and great the journey of life is and the power and pain of love. This story is proof that the past will find you. I traded with Mark my emotionally personal painting for one of his hearts and I hope I will never take for granted the things he gave me and helped me live through. Here's to our new paths. Don't let the pin fall out. Find out more about Mark here: http://pinsta.me/sweatboxstudios