GJ Willis' Art Notes

I had a scheduled day off from work. I took it to celebrate Earth Day and to work on my Sowebo Poster. I still have no idea what I’m going to do. Throughout the week I’ve been doing sketches of possible ideas. I suppose I’ll come up with a clearer idea by tomorrow.

All I did today was glue down a border. I wanted to make sure I had a straight border. I noticed that on the poster I made last year the border was anything but straight.

Also I really like the border that came with the poster this year. Who ever did it, did a fantastic job. It wasn’t as busy looking as the ones in previous years. The design was crisp and clean and not too frou frou. In my opinion this is the best border yet! You can actually incorporate the border in your artwork with out it taking over the work.

Morning Commute:
This morning I got on the #2 bus. I didn’t take much notice of the driver. The light rail was on time as was the shuttle bus.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: 4/20
Yesterday, was 4/20. I don’t understand how it has gained significance over the years.

A lot of Morning Shows had 4/20 themes yesterday inviting the guys from High Times and NORMAL to express their views. The only thing I learned was that there are numerous theories about how 4/20 gained significance or derived it’s name.

First off I have to let you know that I’m a square. I’ve never smoked pot. I don’t drink either. Also I’m not a Republican or a Religious Conservative. I’m just a tragically unhip black wall flower.

Even though I’ve never smoked the wacky tobacky, I’m all for legalization of marijuana. I feel pot smokers are basically harmless. I’ve never heard of hard core pot smoker breaking into someones house to get money for there next high. That’s usually the problem you run into with crack or heroin addicts. Crack and heroin are two drugs which I feel should never be legalized.

I’ve seen too many peoples lives destroyed by those two drugs for me to say it’s ok to legalize *all* drugs. Norway has had pot legal for many years and to the best of my knowledge they’ve never run into any serious problems because of it. If anything it would bring in extra revenue for the government. Well, that’s all I have to say about 4/20....

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a mint green pull over, jeans, and beige tennis shoes.

The bus and light rail were both on time this morning. It’s 62’ outside. The weatherman said it’s possible that it will get into the 90’s later today.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: The Creepy Man
Today, is the first appearance of the creepy man. I don’t know his name. He scares me. He’s always sitting on the steps in the same exact outfit reading a book when it gets warm outside. I always see him sitting there when I get home from work.

One day a couple of years ago I came home a little earlier than usual and I saw him rushing to set up his stuff on the steps. This made me think that maybe he’s sitting there watching my every move and wasn’t just out there casually reading a book.

When ever I see him I feel uncomfortable. I feel as though he’s silently stalking me. Then again he could just be innocently reading a book. I don't know for sure. The only thing I know is that this year I’ll set up my security alarm. If the folks downstairs have one set up why can’t I?

WHAT I’M WEARING:
I have on a long sleeve red, pink, and beige waffle knit shirt. I’m also wearing green slacks. For the first time this year I’m wearing my beige canvas tennis shoes.

I got on the 1# bus marked Ft McHenry. The driver said, “Hello!” to me but not to the other passengers. I found this very odd.

INTEREST OF THE DAY: VIRGIN RADIO
I found a new favourite internet radio station, Virgin Radio. It’s based in the UK. It kind of reminds me of HFS in a since because they are constantly running promo’s about a concert they have coming up. You can call in to win tickets.

I think it would be neat if I won tickets for the concert sponsored by Nokia. The only problem would be how to redeem my tickets and make it over to the UK for the concert?

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today, I have on a royal blue short sleeve shirt and a stripped cotton jacket along with blue slacks and blue suede shoes. It’s supposed to get up to 80’ today. I feel dressed for the occasion.

MORNING COMMUTE:
The bus was on time. The driver had a shaved head. He kind of reminded me of Run from Run DMC.

When I was waiting for the light rail train I saw a man casually jogging on the light rail track. I suppose he had a death wish of some sort. He was dressed all in black. He wore a black sweatshirt, pants, gloves, and knit cap. The celebrity he most resembled was Peter Hornsby from 30something who happens to look like tennis legend Bjorn Borg.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a light blue long sleeve pullover and blue jeans, and brown leather lace ups. I was going to put on my blue suede shoes but it was taking too long to put them on.

Wow! Today, I was playing around with iTunes. I bought 6 songs in the iTunes store.

The first song I downloaded was Desmond Dekkars’ The Israelites. The next songs I bought in order were, Gary Glitter’s, Rock N’ Roll Part 2, Joseph Arthur’s, Even Tho, and Los Lobos’, Good Morning Atzalan.

Then I tried to find this old Santana song that I love. The problem was I could’nt remember the title. Throughout the song it sounded like the guy was singing, “I’m waiting.” Thinking I had had found the right song I downloaded, Waiting. I listened in horror as I realized it was the wrong song. Then I found the one I wanted, called, Winning. I quickly found out that in the song the guy was in actuality singing, “I’m winning”, not, “I’m waiting”.

Right now I’m wondering if they have a way you can preview songs on iTunes before you download them. I’d hate to relive another Santana experience.

I suppose I might also get an iPod any day now. The one I think I’ll get is called an iPod Shuffle. I want to get this particular model because it’s more in my price range. The iPod Shuffle runs for about a hundred bucks. The other models are about 200 to 300 bucks. The reason for the price discrepancy is that they have more memory on them. The one I want stores about 250 songs. This doesn’t bother me none. I believe with an iPod you can add or delete songs you become bored with. If not then I guess I’d better look into getting a pricier model.

Also today, I was listening to internet radio on iTunes. I found this really great NY station that plays a large mix of music from the 50’s on to today. Oddly enough, it has a British announcer. I believe it’s called NYPS or the New York Power Station. I also was listening to my all time favorite station , Music from the Blue Light.

OS X rules!!!