"With a little help from my friends..."

IT'S AN ODD SPACE...

The wall at the coffee shop.
It's sort of a half wall, at that.
But here's what I hung.

My odd collection.

"Where did you go?"

WATCH ME HANG A RABBIT...

I mean, "pull a rabbit out of..." I mean, "pull a show out of my hat and hang it!"

Losing a weekend was not a good idea. Now -- according to yesterday's paper -- I need to "have a show" at the coffee shop, TODAY!

Guess what I'll be hanging?

"A little better all the time..."

Watching time pass...

Though I prefer the "mapping" function of an analog time piece strapped to my wrist, nothing is more entertaining than its digital counterpart. I most enjoy entering a room and finding a magical combination of numbers appear before me.

Counting in order:
1:23

4:56

Or "lucky pairs:"
11:11

10:10

Or number combos with meaning either personal or otherwise:
9:11

11:54

9:09

The latter being this beatle-maniacs favorite.

I have long given up the tradition of needing to see the year's end/new year's beginning countdown. And last night was no different. I turned off Netflix at 12:05. But I did see a digital-clock changing that seemed fitting. It was 12:12 when I last looked at a clock before hitting the pillow. I saw it change to 12:13.

Happy NEW YEAR all!

"And my friends have lost their way..."

Like lost coins
in a sofa's cushions

This time of the year I go through my website updating copyright lines, checking links, deleting old pages, etc., etc. I came upon two pages that got lost over the years when I reformatted my website back in 2009. One was of Bela Lugosi as Dracula. The other was a montage of George Harrison, Natalie Wood, Winston Churchill, Mark Twain and Louisa May Alcott called Two Days in November. Interesting stories about both as well.

Bela Lugosi as DRACULA

Two Days in November

Enjoy!

"Baby, You can Drive My Car..."

Driving in a snowstorm

It was never my intention to depict this last spread in A Place I Don't Belong as a red Cadillac driving in a snowstorm. The sky backdrop started out just as solid black. And the blank white page was just to be that -- a blank white page. But somehow that sky of very early dawn can give that white page a look of snow. This could have been my theme page for yesterday's drive to Boston and back in Winter Storm Euclid.

Imagine doing that trip in a 1956 red Cadillac?

"All day long, singing songs for everyone..."

5:12am

I woke to a work dream. Quark XPress (which may equate "nightmare" to those inDesign-ers out there). And the theme song was "...so, this is Christmas. (Work ain't over, even if you want it)..." Or was it? "...so, this is Wednesday (Christmas is over)..."

Either it's
Hi Ho! Hi Ho!...

"All my troubles seemed so far away..."

YESTERDAY was a most enjoyable "15 minutes!" Greetings and well-wishes from family, friends, co-workers and even strangers upon reading the great write up by David Rainville on me in The Recorder.

Thank you!

And what great timing as it's all going to END today. Right?

"I just had to laugh. I saw the photograph..."

I READ THE NEWS TODAY...oh boy!
THU, DEC. 20, 2012

The RECORDER ran its feature article in their ARTS and ENTERTAINMENT section today on ME! A very nice piece written by David Rainville that tells my story of "doing what I love." From my start as a janitor in a nursing home painting on walls, to my 'lucky break' in the commercial art world doing cartoons for an ad campaign, to my present job as an associate art director at a safety, health and education publisher. The article tells of my hero-worship beginnings as a Beatle-maniac in the '60's. And how over the years I have brought all my gods and goddesses together -- in unlikely combinations -- together in my art. Most recently, with the self-publication of my three graphic-novel magazines.

Pick up The Recorder today and check it out!

NOTE: Image above is an FPO an older article printed in The Recorder.

"Your Mother should know..."

JUST ABOUT A YEAR AGO
I asked my LIVE-JOURNAL friends to weigh in on two closing lines to the project I was working on titled "SAINT RINGO."

I ended up tabling the project to work on
"A PLACE I DON'T BELONG."

Similarly, I just tabled another "in-progress" project for a story I shared with my mother at one of our weekly dinners. I wouldn't necessarily use her as a sounding board for creative projects I'm working on (well,... for one, I think she would be a little bias being "MOM" and all) But I sort of wanted her OK to use a reference to the day my father died. Anyhow, she was OK with that and liked the story's premise.

I've often read amongst the writers' posts on LIVE-JOURNAL, if you can tell your story in a quick couple of sentences -- or as they say "an elevator answer" -- you're on the right track. Well, my description to mom was a lot longer than one or two sentences but when I went to re-cap the evening I was able to sum it as such: The young ARTIST discovers CREATIVITY targeted towards AUTHORITY can have MONSTROUS results.

Its working title is
"FRANKENSTEIN meets SISTER MARY SHELLEY"

"Good Morning! Good Morning!"

From "A Place I Don't Belong"

TODAY at the coffee shop...

From "A Place I Don't Belong"

YOU CAN SAVE a dollar...

From "Ain't gonna hang no pixel"

ENJOY THE ARTWORK on the walls...

From "Ain't gonna hang no pixel"

LISTEN TO some music...

From "Emily comes to my house"

ON NORTHFIELD'S SPECIAL DAY

From "Emily comes to my house"

IF YOU CARE to join me for a cup of tea....

From "Emily comes to my house"

I WOULD LOVE to sign your book or just talk about the art or just enjoy the music and the very special day...

NORTHFIELD COFFEE & BOOKS
105 Main Street
Northfield, MA
(413) 642-7119
Hours: M-F 7am - 4pm
SAT 9am - 2pm

"One and one and one is three..."

NORTHFIELD COFFEE & BOOKS
105 Main Street
Northfield, MA
(413) 642-7119
Hours: M-F 7am - 4pm
SAT 9am - 2pm

"She said, she said..."

She was working as a waitress
She moved with grace and style
"You wanna save a dollar?"
She offered with a smile.
"Northfield Books and Coffee,
I wouldn't steer you wrong.
Save yourself a dollar
On A Place I don't Belong!"

NORTHFIELD COFFEE & BOOKS
105 Main Street
Northfield, MA
(413) 642-7119
Hours: M-F 7am - 4pm
SAT 9am - 2pm