Maintaining Radio Silence

We're away from home, so my blogging will most likely be onvacation as well, though I'd like to get a post or two out over the next couple of weeks. Anyway, so, don't worry about me. I'm still alive. Peace.

My Wife Is Rad

I love my lady. She is rad. She cooked some delicious food all say yesterday for my fun open house. She got me a super-cool Holga for a graduation gift. She has supported me for as long as we've been together and has helped me an unbelievable amount as I've gone through school. She's a friend, a partner and an artist. She's smart, funny and pretty. She's an incredible mother and an incredible wife. She's everything I could ask for and I just thought I'd let you all know how much she means to me. I'd not be one-third the man I am today without her. She is rad. I love you, Candace.

Oh Yeah...

I'm done with college. For like, forever.

I Am Trying Really Hard

It's really hard for me not to be interested in the new Michael Bay Transformers movie. I really want to not care about it, to distance myself from what is mor ethan likely to be a steaming turd of a film, but every chance I get, I'm checking out what's new with it. I just watched the new international trailer. i got a little excited. What is wrong with me? What is this rash? Is there a cure? An ointment? I may as well admit that I will be there when it opens, prepared for disappointment but secretly hoping in my nine-year-old heart that this movie rocks like no other. [sigh] What's a nerd to do?

Why Won't You Watch 30 Rock?

It's got Alec Baldwin. He's funny. It's got Tina Fey, who is also funny. Also, it's got Tracy Morgan, who is ten kinds of funny. You can watch all of the full episodes over at nbc.com. It's a funny show. It's not pee your pants funny, but it's certainly funnier than most sitcoms out there. It really needs your help. Will you please watch it please?

This Is Why I Love This Man

Here's a commencement speech given by Wayne Coyne. It is genius.

It's That Time Of the Month...

No, I'm not menstruating... yet. No, my eMusic downloads refreshed. Here's what I gots.

Art Brut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll
It's almost like they got together before recording this record and said "Well, Art Brut, what shall we put together that will make Dylan smile?" and then recorded it. Angular, rhythmic guitars, witty lyrics and short, fast songs - it's right up my alley. It's simple and fun and sarcastic and pretty freaking perfect. It's a little overlong, with 15 tracks, but it's worth the money. How can you go wrong with a song with lyrics like, "When I get off that plane, the first thing I’m going to do is strip naked to the waist/And ride my Harley Davidson up and down sunset strip./Hmm, I might even get a tattoo."? (from Moving To L.A.)

Islands Return to the Sea
These guys used to be (still are?) the Unicorns. I remember seeing a video for "Jellybones," on MTV2's Subterranean back in the day and saying to myself, "Man, now that was weird stuff. In a good way. I must check those fellows out some day." Well, I still haven't, bu tthey're on my list for next month. This is a more "serious," endeavor, but it's still weird... in a good way. A bit like Animal Collective or early Mercury Rev (man, I must find Yerself Is Steam on CD!), which, for the likes of me and my fly homegirl Martha, is a very good thing.

M. Ward End Of Amnesia
I loves me some M. Ward. I would have to say that the guy's one of my favorite artists producing work today. There's a lot of ink spilled talking about how "timeless," his music is, and it is, but I think that makes it seem somehow distant or academic (pronounced: "old 'music guy' music") when in fact it's still visceral and applicable. It's beautiful, haunting stuff and if you don't like it you're a Communist and I will personally turn you in to Senator McCarthy and see you hang like the freedom-hating pinko you are. Or at least write you postcards detailing how much you smell but never send them because I really do like you and would never hurt your feelings.

Anyway, so that's my downloads for the month. I'm pleased with them. Anybody out there heard anything recently?

P.S. - Jesse, still haven't heard Viva Voce's new album. It's not on eMusic, though a few of their older ones are there. I'll have to check on it when we're down in Vegas for Christmas. Also, I'll be looking for the new Mando Diao album. I saw it on Amazon, but it's still import only, which makes the angels cry little bitter teardrops

Where I'm At

Well, today was the last official day of college for me, which is not quite registering... maybe because I still have a lot of work ahead of me before I'm really done. Or maybe I'm just in shock.

Anyway... graduation. Since most everybody's received theirs by now, here's some pictures of my graduation announcement. I'm pretty proud of it. It was originally intended to be mailed as a postcard, but the anal retentives at the post office wouldn't let us send it that way, so it was sent in envelopes instead. I tried very hard to remember my sequential design training and had it work regardless of which side you opened. I likes it.

I'm hoping to have dylantodd.com up really soon. I got quite a bit of work done on it this afternoon. You'll know when it's up, I promise you that. Anyway, that's it for now. Peace in the Middle East fo shizzle.

THINGS I DON'T LIKE!

PEOPLE TALKING ON CELL PHONES LOUDLY IN PUBLIC!
PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING AT THE POST OFFICE!
NAZI GORILLA CYBORGS WITH LASERS FOR TEETH AND A BIONIC ARM THAT SMASHES THINGS!
COMIC BOOKS WRITTEN BY EITHER OF THE WEIRD JEFF'S, A.K.A. JEPH LOEB OR GEOFF JOHNS!
BLOGS THAT DON'T HAVE POSTS FULL OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!
THE FACT THAT I AM STILL TIRED EVEN THOUGH I'M GETTING PLENTY OF SLEEP LATELY!
TEH SPEHL CHEKUR!
ZOMBIES!
MOVIES THAT DON'T HAVE HECKA EXPLOSIONS!
CANDY!
JUST KIDDING! I LOVE CANDY!
LOWER-CASE LETTERS!
PEOPLE WHO SAY 'LIBARY!' IT'S 'LIBRARY,' PEOPLE! IT'S JUST ONE MORE LETTER! THIS ALSO GOES FOR PEOPLE WHO SAY 'VALENTIMES,' 'FEBYOOARY,' AND 'MAN-AYSE!' 'MAN-AYSE!' THAT SOUNDS DISGUSTING!
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE TODAY IT IS DARK AND RAINY AND WINDY AND TERRIBLE AND I HATE ITS GUTS TO BITS I HATE IT!
WHEN I ASK CANDACE 'WHAT'S STUFF I HATE' AND SHE SAYS 'I DON'T KNOW!'
WHEN PEOPLE WRITE CHECKS! IT'S 2006 PEOPLE! GET A DEBIT CARD IT'S NOT DIFFICULT IF YOU HAVE A CHECKING ACCOUNT THEY WILL GIVE YOU ONE! IT'S CALLED THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY FOR A REASON!
WHEN PEOPLE COM EINTO MY PLACE OF WORK (WHICH IS THE GAP WHICH I ALSO DON'T LIKE) AND ASK IF WE CARRY LEVI'S! WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH THAT!
QUESTION MARKS!

{whew} Glad I got that off my chest.

My Face Is Getting Fatter (or) the Post Where I Whine Like A Girl About My Weight

From Candace's photo shoot at the old drive-in. I love thses pictures except for one thing: my face is so freaking fat. I will definitely need to do something about that. And soon.

No now, of course. But soon. Maybe. Hopefully. I'm sleepy.

Sleepy Sleep Sleep

I just woke up from a nap and I'm doing much better, thanks for asking. I turned in the last part of the huge identity design project this morning, so I'm hoping to get some sleep here soon, as I've been avergaing about three hours a night for the week.

Yeah. That sucks.

Anyway, I'm feeling a bit better now, and I'll try to post some pictures of my last project up on here sometime soon. For now, I will content myself with trying to print up my grad announcements and business cards, going to an art seminar this evening and attending my history of design and illustration class.

Then: sleep.

Teh Sadness

First off, I am woud so tight I'm afraid I'll sneeze and my head will fly off into some lady's lap and she starts screaming and it's terrible and funny at the same time. I'm trying to get a ton of stuff done at once and it's taking its toll. I'm tired and stressed and want this semester over like yesterday.

I'm being a baby, I know, but I am stressed so please bear with me for the next... 16 or so days. I promise I'll be a lot more fun in a bit.

Anyway, so I did my last Comic Frenzy poster ever. I wept one single tear as I finished it. I'm a little disappointed because I had a really brilliant idea that just couldn't make work in the little time I left myself to finish it (I'd forgotten about it until I was trying to go to sleep last night, which left this morning to whip it up... maybe it'll see the light of day as a future Christmas card?). Still, the poster's good and manages to convey the pathos I sort of subconsciously associate with department store Santas, and since comedy is tragedy plus time... I figured why not exploit my childhood terrors for money? Anyway, here it is:

And that's my final Comic Frenzy poster. Have I mentioned how much fun they've been to work on this semester? When I approached Shon to try doing some a couple semesters back, I told him I'd do them for free, and I was pretty serious (but I still expect to be paid, Feller!). It's been a great experience and I have some great pieces for my portfolio which I need to print and get up on the interweb and I don't know if I'm going to sleep tonight.

[breathe]

Anyway, keep checking back for updates on the status of dylantodd.com, as I'd like it up within the next week or so.

Anyway. L8rz, sk8rz.

Check It, Yo

Wow. Just wow.

Also...

It's December. Woo-hoo. The countdown begins...

This Book Is Cool

So I ordered this book from Amazon a week or so ago after lusting after it for some time. I justified the purchase by saying it was to inspire me for my portfolio, business cards and graduation announcements. And... it did. In spades.

In fact, the word "inspire," is a perfect descriptor for this handsome volume, put together by Ellen Lupton (whose Thinking With Type is probably the best maual om typography I've seen... sorry Mr. Bringhurst), as this is more of a book of cool ideas than an instruction manual. (If you want an instruction manual, check out this book instead, which I am also lusting after.)

The more I do this artist thing, the more I find myself wanting to do things myself, especially once you realize how easy &/or fun some things are to make. Like books. Or envelopes. Or kittens. There's something awesome about holding something in your hands that you made that looks good. As my homie, Mister Rogers, would say "It's a good feeling."

Anyway. There you go. D.I.Y.: Desing It Yourself by Ellen Lupton is rad. Just thought I'd share.