Luciferian Blues

Hey friends. Man, today flew by. Mia and I headed out to Eble Ice Arena to watch Uncle Andy play some pick up hockey. Now, she's been there a few times, but I swear, today she REALLY loved watching today. She saw the rink when we got in the arena and said "HOCCCKKKKEYYY!" She pounded on the glass, waved to the goalie, cheered on the few goals that were made. It was awesome. Best part is that she even wore one of my toques winter hat) on her head. She hates wearing hats these days. Every one of them. But I told her today "you have to wear the hat if you want to watch hockey" so she put up with it. After the pick up game, and Andy came out of the locker room, she gave him a big ol' hug. Awww...

We drove around visiting Jill, Auntie Ashley, had some lunch with Grandpa and stopped by Grandma. On the way to Grandpa's, she napped for about 15 minutes. When I brought her into the house, she didn't wanna sleep anymore, and just played with us. Later, Jill and I were able to watch both episodes of Modern Family. The one had the oldest daughter going off to college. It was pretty sad sorta too. Jill and I both don't know how we'll be able to contain ourselves when Mia goes off to college many years down the road. I don't know what I'll do...

The other day we had a great time on a rather windy bike ride, followed by some soccer training. Mia would say "go get the ball Daddy" when I'd boot it across our large back yard. Super fun. Can't wait to boot it into a goal on a team some day hopefully sooner then later..

Been tough feeding Riley (the last guinea pig) and not seeing Devany. We really miss her. Mia even too!

Last but certainly not least, I've been putting in some late hours trying to knock out three solid soccer logo concepts for my MLS Milwaukee FC project. Posted today the three to see which one would be the logo my friends would like the most and make it on the jersey. Now that it's figured out, I can work on the 2nd part in the near future. PLUS I need to start my Dad's birthday gift PLUS a tattoo for a coworker PLUS PLUS that Lil Wayne portrait for a girl too. SUPER busy here. I will prevail and pull it off.

That's it for now. Can barely keep my eyes open. Thanks for reading!

Prevent This Tragedy

Lots to discuss today, so let's get right to it. Friday, somehow on my daily run with Remi down the bike trail and through the park, I LOST my cell phone. How?? When I picked up his crap, I noticed the phone wasn't next to my keys. Damn. Where could I have lost it. I retraced my steps and couldn't find anything. The next day, still couldn't find anything. I suspended my account and phone so whomever had it couldn't do anything with it. I was due to get rid of my carrier and get a better phone. My lost phone was very basic, but regardless, I needed to find it. 5 days later, I got an email from AT&T that a woman found my phone. Jill picked it up Tuesday after work. I was relieved. I was bummed because I had a lot of old awesome photos of Mia on it. Thankfully I have it again, but I do plan on giving it to Jill to replace her old one, and I'd like to get on board with a different carrier and pick up a smart phone.  Leaning towards US Cellular.

First, I said "Okay, I want an iPhone, let's see what Sprint offers because Verizon is far too expensive." Sprint's 99 buckos for unlimited everything wasn't happening. Forget it iPhone. Looked at T-Mobile. Good deals, but then I heard the reception is awful. Rats. Heard good things about US Cellular. So now I'm looking at different smart phones and hope it works out. 

Now for some sad news. A couple days ago, when Mia and I went to go feed our guinea pigs Riley and Devany, Devany wasn't looking too good. I sat there and petted her for a while saying "it's alright buddy you can eat lettuce later". Later at work I got a call from Jill that she died. That moment when I decided to rub her little piggie head would be the last time I'd see her alive. I know to most people it's just a pet, but this guinea pig and her sister Riley were the first pets Jill and I got together. Devany's was mine, Riley's was Jill's. When we moved into an apartment in Waukesha, we wanted pets. Cats were pricey for the deposit, so when a friend of Jill's was giving away some guinea pigs, we picked out two. They were always a hit at our parties back in the day.  My favourite memory with the pigs was a long time ago in our apartment, Jill and I were laying awake in our bed just talking. Jill was poking fun at me about something, I responded to the insult, and in the living room we heard both piggies squeaking like they were laughing at me. Devany was a good little piggie. I'm going to miss her. It was incredibly depressing when Mia went in tonight to feed Riley. "Where's Devany??" Broke my heart. Jill's too. I'm going to have to bury her Saturday. I know, I know "it's a guinea pig Mike". Still loved her, and love her now lonely sister.

This weekend, yard work, maybe a bike ride. Hopefully. We went on a really nice bike ride the other day. It was incredibly awesome. The colours were beautiful, Mia had a great time.  Hope to do it again.  That's all for now. Thanks for reading. 

Summon Monsters

Hello friends. Another delightful day off for Mia and myself. Hung out with my Dad, visited My mom over at her work ( Mia even scored a free sugar cookie) and stopped over at Kwik Trip to adjust my weekend schedule (thank you Meena!)and per the usual, she passed out very quickly on the ride home. Speaking of ride, we switched our car seats to front facing which is awesome. Why? well she needed the leg room, which was the main reason why we did it, but NOW she can see us from the back seat and likes to wave and interact. Makes driving places a little easier.

Art is at a stand-still. Motivation is a little low. I really need to kick it into high gear. I think when I don't have a deadline, I tend to procrastinate. Not good at all. Gotta work on that big time. Super stoked to watch my nephew play some soccer Sunday. Should be a fun time. Plus it'll be Mia's first live soccer game. Hopefully she won't try to get on the field. I may have to bring a ball for her to kick around.

Mia's doing a fantastic job as my "trainer" during the day. My daily routine includes a run with Remi at 7am, and if it's nice out, Mia and I will take the bike out for a mile or two ride. When we get home, we kick the soccer ball around. I'll boot it across the yard she'll say immediately "go get it Daddy!" and I'll run and kick it back and she'll say "kick it again!" This goes on for 45 minutes. Totally a blast. All before I work later at 2. I told Jill she's getting me in training for HOPEFULLY Winter or Spring soccer.

Alright, that's it. Short blog tonight. I gotta check laundry and head off to sleep. Later :)

You Dress Up For Armageddon

Helloooooo friends. So I've got  rad story to share. But first let me tell you about Saturday: We've been to the zoo about 8 times (well I most certainly have) and Saturday was the very first time Jill & Mia saw the sea lion/harbor seal show. That was actually the main reason why we even went to the zoo that day. I wasn't certain how Mia would do just sitting in the benches, but ocne the show started she was absolutely riveted. She would clap and point to the animals, and wave as they'd do tricks. She'd even talk to the strangers next to her pointing out to the pool saying "SEALL!!" All in all, great time. So on to my rad story: Sunday, me, Jill and Miss Mia went to the park and took the dog for a walk. Jill had an idea to bring the bike and Mia's helmet and see if she would want to take a ride. Sure, why the hell not. Got her in the bike seat, strapped the dreaded helmet on that she absolutely hates and headed down the bike path. She through a mild fit going down the path and sorta calmed down later. Not a bad first ride at the park. Monday, another gorgeous day out so I tried again. This time, built the bike ride to be an exciting adventure. She would respond with "oh boy oh boy! With helmet Daddy!" Umm okay perfect. Sure. Pulled out the bike then carefully strapped on the helmet. She was amped and ready to roll. Awesome! And off we were. bike riding, together. Daddy and daughter. This was what I wanted to do this summer. I wanted to go bike riding with Mia so badly, and for a short while she wasn't interested in it. Monday morning was amazing. We actually rode for a mile. She enjoyed pointing to the dogs, waving to some of the neighbors and laughing as I had to pedal hard up some of the hills. We came back to the house, and of course she said "AGAIN!!" The last few days have been cold-ish and rainy so we haven't gotten back on the bike sadly.

Last night she was finishing up with bath time and I recently found out that there was a Chelsea game on my day off :) So I told Mia "Do you wanna watch Chelsea and Juventus tomorrow??" "OH BOY OH BOYY! GO CHELSEA!!" It was awesome. Wednesday morning I told her "Miaaaaa we're going to watch the Chelsea game today!" She got super excited. Didn't sleep well due to Jill having to get up in the morning early to photograph a school. But later got enough sleep to enjoy our day together. Oscar's two back to back goals were sick. But of course Juventus some how caught  up and tied the game. Damn! Oh well.

Art is kind of at a stand-still at the moment. Slightly because of motivation, mostly because the creative wheels in my head aren't turning (regarding the MLS Milwaukee team logo & kit) I'm trying to nail some really good rough sketches. Nothing clicking as of yet.

Seems like Summer is ending and Fall is just about here. Love the Fall time, but sort of sad to see Summer go. We had a scorcher of a summer this year, but there is more daylight to enjoy in the evenings. Oh well. Still stoked for Halloween :)

That's all for now. Adios :)

Let The Stars Play

Evening friends & readers. It's been a pretty good Wednesday off, as usual. Spent some time with my pops. Mia was actually pretty happy around him. Sometimes my dad comes off a little strong around her and she gets slightly frightened. Even got a nice picture of them. Later, she shared some sea food salad with my Mom on her work break. She didn't nap on the ride home, but that's alright. When Jill came home tonight, she got super excited! "OH BOY OH BOY!" I couldn't stop laughing.

Tonight on the drive to the store, she did something that blew us away. She started rattling off the ABC's. The letters sounded well-enunciated and she finished it off with "Now I know my ABC's, no more monkeys jumping on the bed". We couldn't stop laughing. When I pulled out my iPod touch to try to video record it, she stopped after about 10 letters. Ah rats! Oh well. Hahaha. Jill & I were discussing tonight how amazing she truly is. She can be a pain at times, but man this kid is the center of all things beautiful. Her smile, her eyes, her laugh, it's pretty amazing.

Making slow process on my MLS Milwaukee team logo/jersey kit. Did some sketching at work the other day and I think I've got a pretty cool concept on where I want to go before I take it to Adobe Illustrator. Was asked my a girl to do a Lil Wayne portrait. One of our third shifter's daughter loves him and asked very nicely for me to do it. Defiantly not my cup of tea. To be honest, I can't stand his auto-tuned voice but that's alright, I'll nail this. No time table for it which is always nice. I've got to work on the third shifter's tattoo as well. She asked first, so her daughter's portrait will wait. So my art plate is getting more and more full, but that's the life of an artist.

Saw that it was national news that the new iPhone 5 specs were being announced today. It's pretty crazy that everyone all over the world was tuned in to see what the magical elves at Apple had in store for the masses. It's mostly because the iPhone is the major competition against Droids and that Samsung Galaxy iii thing.  I love Apple, and the programs and products I've been fortunate to use, but my life won't change if the new screen isn't as big as other smart phones, or whatever complains people will have right off the bat. It's funny. When I started the graphic design program at W.C.T.C, I had to learn how to use an Apple desktop. Man, was it different then the PC's I learned everything on. I dare you to find someone with a Macbook Pro that even knows what a zip disk is! I dare you! That's how we used to have to save files on! These big zip disks. Not small practical flash drives. When I transferred to Carroll College, zip disks there too for the art majors. It'd be nice if Jill and I can upgrade from our basic phones to an iPhone but it doesn't have to be the newest toy. A 4 or 4S would suffice. We'll see come March 2013'.

Enough ranting for now. Later people.

If All My Days Go By

Good evening folks. Looks like I'm going to have a nephew come 2013. My little brother and his wife found out today they're having a healthy baby boy. Stoked for the kids. They've wanted a baby for quite some time so this little monster is a big blessing for them. Tonight, they should Jill, myself and Mia all the cool clothes they've got for the little dude. Awesome.

So I'm in the process of working on a very cool project. The Major Soccer League includes a lot of major cities all over the country and one state they missed, was Wisconsin. Sure, soccer isn't really viewed as a 'seriously viewed sport' compared to the likes of American football or baseball, but as a fan of soccer, I'd like to create a hypothetical MLS soccer team logo for Milwaukee, WI which would include a home and away kit as well. I've got colours figured out, I just need the damn team name. Any ideas would be appreciated. :) I even found a vector template to play with in Adobe Illustrator and later Photoshop for the finished piece. I promise this will be absolutely amazing.

I also have some rad onesie ideas for my little bro's kiddo but will have time to figure that out. I know what I'm doing for it, I just need to actually DO it.

If I can play in an adult soccer league come Spring of 2013, that would be incredibly amazing. I have this amazing urge to play again. It's funny because my Dad's like "why? why do you wanna play again?" I feel like I should have played longer when I got out of middle school. Come High School, I was heavily involved with band and in sophomore year I tried HS volley ball because I got pretty good at summer league volley ball freshmen year. Well the point is, I want to seriously prove to myself that at the age of 29, I can play soccer again and play real well. Plus, I'd really like to have something to look forward to during the dreaded working week. When I was active playing shows, by Thursday, I was stoked for the weekend to play a show or two with the band. As lame as it sounds, playing live was my drug. Playing in front of a crowd got me to a place only a die-hard musician can appreciate and be familiar with.  Playing in a band, won't be for quite some time. The time it takes to build and polish a band takes a ton of effort and this isn't the best time to start or join a group. One day, these drums will sing again for the masses :) That's all for now. Going to finish this bowl of ice cream and call it a night soon. Cheers!

Little Dawn

Good evening friends and fans of my blog :) Well, for the past 3 lovely days, I've been off of work. Why you ask? My older bro's kid Alex stayed by my parent's for a few days while his school was getting ready. So my mom and I took him and Mia to the zoo on Monday. Both kids had a great time, despite it being pretty damn hot. Alex wanted to ride the train with Mia but I was uncertain she'd enjoy it. The flipped the first and only time she was on the carousel. When the train came in with my mom and Alex on it, she got nervous and kept saying "NO..NO....NO!" On the short drive home, Mia passed out in the car. I took her in and she slept off all the excitement from her fun day with her cousin and grandma at the zoo. Later after dinner, Jill, Alex, Mia, my Mom and I took the kids to the pool. After 6, Cool Waters is slightly cheaper. It gets a little cooler after 6, but it's still a good way to cool off. I took Alex down the water slides (about 6 times) and Mia got upset when she saw him go down because SHE wanted to share the excitement with daddy. Afterwards, Mia suggested Kopps for custard. The kids totally loved it.

Tuesday, Mia and I went over to visit my dad in the morning. The kids played with Legos, kicked the soccer ball around, played with toys,  had some lunch, overall a great time was had. I later asked Alex what was his favourite part of his visit, he told me "just hanging her with Mia". Very cute. He's such a nice, smart little nephew. My favourite part was when he told Mia "Peace out homey" when they said goodbye.

So back to the daily grind tomorrow. It's been nice spending nights with Jill & Mia. Her parents are visiting this weekend. Mia will be stoked to see them. Tonight after grocery shopping, we walked around Steffans and Baby's R Us. For a part-time job on Saturdays, I'd love to work at Steffans, even though they're never busy, but it'd be fun to work and watch soccer games. Ha! Man do I miss playing soccer. Maybe Spring 2013...

That's all for now. Cheers friends :)