ChaCha-vision

Ripple - Illustration Friday Special Topic

2010-06-17T17:45:00.003-04:00

I'm back! Probably thought I was long gone and had forgotten all about this place. I haven't. I just started to realize that I need to get back into things like this....blog, IF, and etc. These things keep my creative juices flowing!

And what better way to make a comeback than with drawings for a great cause.

These drawings are being donated to Ripple, in which each print will sell for $10 with proceeds going to the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and International Bird Rescue to help with this tragic oil spill happening in our Gulf.

Living on the Southwest coast of Florida, born and raised, I am deeply saddened and upset at the whole situation and it makes me more upset with each passing day. I'm hoping that my small part will help add to the big ripple!

Photo Friday - The City

2007-10-25T14:27:00.000-04:00

Now this one was easy, but hard at the same time. There are two cities I have visited that have made an impact on me, and i love both of them! So for this Photo Friday submission I will post not one but two pictures that capture the topic for me.

The first city is Boston, Massachusetts.......

(picture taken towards the Charles River from the 42nd floor of my sister's office building)

My older sister, Cheryl, has lived up in Boston for probably the last 9 or 10 years now. I try to visit atleast once every year, not only to visit her but to visit the city. Living down here in flat Florida has its beautiful sides (the beach, warm weather, small town that ive grown up in) but there is just something about big cities, big buildings, and lots of people and things to do that I can't get enough of.

The second city is New York City, New York......

(picture taken in Times Square)

New York is one of those cities that you have to visit atleast once in your lifetime. There are just soo many people and soo many buildings and sights to take in. I love the hustle and bustle of this city, but I'm not quite sure if I would be able to handle living there full time. It really is an amazing place.

I miss both of these cities very much!

Illustration Friday - 'Open' - Gallery Edition

2007-10-11T10:02:00.000-04:00

acrylic on ready to hang canvas - 12" x 16"

well i am back in to the illofriday swing of things. when i heard about the possibility of it hanging in a gallery, i couldnt pass up submitting something. after hearing the topic was open, this idea popped into my head and i immediately started to create it. to me it portrays what more people should do nowadays, open their mind to new ideas and new possibilities that those ideas may bring. enjoy.

Thursday Challenge - people....

2007-06-20T13:56:00.000-04:00

well i was going to upload a picture of busy Times Square in NY for the people topic this week, but i decided to go a different route. i remembered having this picture from a friends wedding and realizing that this could fit the topic perfectly, although we would have to change the topic from just 'people' to 'important people.' aside from two people missing - coughPHILand JOEcough - this ring of friends consists of some of the most important people in my life. curtis, john, evan, pete, mike, and jared have been my best friends for quite some time now and i wouldnt exchange them for anyone or anything. i have definately had and will have a lot of good times with them! not to mention, they have contributed to some of my best memories ever....and it doesnt end there. the dave matthews band shows are our way of getting the whole gang together atleast one time out of the year, to have more good memories together to add to my list. that weekend is coming up in September and i am extremely excited about it. as long as dave keeps touring the ring of friends will keep attending.
to curtis, john, evan, pete, mike, jared, phil, and joe - thanks for being my friends! love you guys!

Photo Friday - How I See Myself

2007-06-05T11:24:00.000-04:00

PART ONE :

well, for 5 out of the 7 days a week, this is how i see myself....sitting at my desk in my cubicle typing and clicking away at work. as you may be able to tell by the photo, i have tried to make my cubicle my own by adding a few things that make it chacha-esque. by all the little crazy office supplies along with some assorted trinkets and a few japanese toys, you would think i did something graphic related or worked for a toy company. nope, not even close. i work for insurance adjusters that handle insurance claims.

oh and yes, that is a 311 mousepad. a definate must have for me!

PART TWO :

the remaining 2 days from the 7 usually start out like this - from there who knows what the days hold. as much as i love the weekends and having places to go and people to hang out with and not having to work, i love to actually have the option to sleep in a bit and enjoy it, if i so choose. sometimes some nice long shut-eye can be sooo refreshing! and then its up and at em for whatever i decide to do - the mall, the beach, bowling, or just chilling, its anyones guess.

Photo Friday : Relaxation....

2007-04-27T14:54:00.000-04:00

nothing says relaxation to me like loungin on the beach on a beautiful summer day. one reason why i love living in florida is you are never far from the water. i mean, come on, could you blame me?!? look at that view!

ps. yes i know i am wearing sneakers and jeans on the beach but we didnt plan on going out there this particular day, it was just a spur of the moment thing, meeting up with some friends who were already out there.

Photo Friday - Growth....

2007-04-02T16:15:00.000-04:00

why yes, i know you are shocked but here is another photo post and for Photo Friday's topic this time. arent you just thrilled?!?! anyways, this one could actually go along with the Thursday topic of Spring also, but i think this picture suited growth better. its perfect with that little tree sitting right in the middle of those bushes. soon it will be big and tall and will proudly shade all those cute little flowers below it on a hot summer day. until then it will just have to continue to grow. i know this is an older shot but i havent used it for any other posts. it is from the summer of 06 when my mom and i made a surprise visit to my sister in boston. this was in the boston gardens. enjoy.

Thursday Challenge - Spring

2007-04-02T15:30:00.000-04:00

a-ha! i have an entry for this weeks Thursday Challenge of Spring. i went out fishing with curtis yesterday (which means he fishes and i bring my camera and find cool shots in all the different places he likes to cast out at) and i found some hibiscus plants along one of the sea walls. i was determined to get a new picture to use for my entry......and i succeeded! i really like how this close up shot of a hibiscus flower turned out. i wasnt exactly sure what it would look like seeing as how i was only using a digital camera. gotta love nikon though!! enjoy. oh and note that i am on time with this post and even early!

Thursday Challenge - water....

2007-03-19T16:06:00.000-04:00

yay, a picture is posted! Blogger was being a punk last week and wasn't letting me upload any pictures for whatever ungodly reason. oh well, this weeks Thursday Challenge photo is up now for you to enjoy. i loved the water splashing in this picture so i figured it would be perfect for the topic. this was taken at the Venice Jettys, one of my favorite places to go.

Thursday Challenge - old

2007-03-14T15:04:00.000-04:00

Well, i was all ready to post a picture for the Thursday Challenge before a new topic tomorrow and wouldn't you know Blogger will not allow me to upload photos. grrrrr! just when i have a great photo i took over the weekend that i wanted to fit into one of my photo blogs and here it is not letting me post the most important part...the photo! well, i guess i will check it again later and see if it is working then.

Fat Mike has sent us an update!!.....

2007-02-21T09:51:00.000-05:00

its sort of coincidental how my buddy Jerome just came back to the states not too long ago from Australia and now Fat Mike is there with some words of wisdom regarding the great country.....

'Fatty left us alone to "hang down low with the nice Australians"(and New Zealanders) but he sent us a telegraph from the land down under where women glow and men plunder...

Notes from Melbourne: Australia is pretty much the greatest country in the world. No, I don't need to qualify that…it is the greatest country in the world. A lot of people think that their country is the greatest, and that's why this country is so great. People here don't think they're the greatest…they really just don't care…it's not a competition here. It's about who can be the nicest and have the most fun. It's like California, but with really nice people. It's like Britain, but with great weather and beaches. It's like Germany….no it's really nothing like Germany. I just don't get what the British were thinking when they found this place and decided to make it a prison colony. Then they actually paid families to move here. OK, it does have the most deadly insects, spiders and snakes of any place in the world. Of course there's the skin cancer rate, and it does take 12 hours to drive from one city to the next, and they did almost completely kill off the entire indigenous population, and their prime minister is W. Jr., and they are responsible for Crocodile Dundee and Dead End Drive-In...I digress….it's cool here, y'all should visit sometime, FM'

Heart warming, it's... The Epitaph Weekly Newsletter for the New Year!

2007-01-03T09:37:00.000-05:00

lets start off the new year with a little insight from our beloved Fat Mike over at the Epitaph.....

'New Years Eve marriage proposals are so romantic. How much more perfect can it get than to take a knee and ask for his/her hand at midnight. I read about a guy in Pennsylvania who did just that and his soon-to-be wife accepted...Then an hour later they got into an argument in the car and the guy busted his woman in the face with a steering wheel lock - knocking her cold and sending her to the hospital. Love is truly in the air these days and romance has reached a new level. Sigh...'

Photo Friday - Weather...

2006-12-22T12:23:00.000-05:00

well i am back, but not for long. it seems as though around the holiday season things get all kinds of crazy hectic and things that were once routine seem to get pushed aside for company and good times. i have a little bit of time on my hands before my vacation starts at the end of the day until the new year, so i thought i would leave you with a photo for the new topic for Photo Friday. the topic is weather and nothing suits the topic more than this picture. it was taken
back in late june of this year when my mom and i went to pay a surprise visit to my sister up in Boston, MA. it was such a rainy day out, but we werent going to let that ruin our fun for the day, which started out with this picture at the U.S.S Constitution. it was sooo rainy, in order to take this picture i had to put the camera in its own little poncho, a ziploc baggy. enjoy.

La-La Land, it’s… The Epitaph Weekly NewsletterI

2006-11-15T12:04:00.000-05:00

i havent given you some words of wisdom lately from Mike over at Epitaph, so i think i will post his latest email for your enjoyment. this guy is too much!!

"I believe I have almost completely slipped into “La La Land”. I talk to myself A LOT, like way more than I should. The other day, I caught myself cracking jokes to myself, then laughing (laughing really hard) at the punch lines I delivered to myself? Sometimes I sit down in front of the TV and say out loud, “Hmmm… What are WE going to watch tonight?” This is weird, but fairly awesome because I never feel lonely anymore, which is good, I think? When I start sending myself flattering MySpace comments, I’ll go get help. Until then “WE” are fine all by myself."

Mike

Thursday Challenge - Orange....

2006-11-10T21:46:00.000-05:00

well this is a shot of me not being able to make up my mind so i just decided to incorporate all my 'orange' ideas into one photo, and i think it came out mighty fine! these are just a few of the orange items i saw when i was looking around the room thinking of what i could do for this weeks topic. then i thought, well forget choosing just one im gonna put them all in and let them all have their minute of fame, plus i love all the different shades they add! the items included in this orange piece are as follows : small orange parking cone, orange belt, orange floral design gift bag, and my favorite part - my big orange stuffed Nemo (only a section of his eye and face of course). enjoy.

oh and i would like to thank all of you for your positive feedback on my new venture into these photo challenges. it has really opened my eyes to whats around me even more than i was realizing and im loving the fact that i have an excuse to take a million more pictures than i already do!! so thanks for the kinds words, hopefully they keep coming!

ya know what, i really like this font alot more than the one i have been using. so as of this post im making a change!

Photo Friday - Light...

2006-11-03T16:47:00.000-05:00

what a coincidence that i just so happen to have a picture i took last sunday that perfectly fits with this week's Photo Friday topic of light!? now if you frequent my blog alot and you see the topic of light, something will click in the back of your head making you think that i have done something with this topic before (or maybe you could just see it on the archive list on the right hand side of my blog lol). dont fret, you arent crazy! i thought the same thing when i saw it posted, but it turns out they had the same topic of light for the Thursday Challenge a couple weeks back. anyhow, this is a picture inside a lighthouse looking up. what better way to portray the topic than of a picture with light coming in through a lighthouse?!? man, am i good or what!! so here it is, an early Photo Friday submission. enjoy!

ps. just as a side note, this is one is in my group of 'favorite shots ive taken so far.'

Photo Friday - Accidental....

2006-11-01T14:17:00.000-05:00

and here is another post...are you shocked?!? well ive been waiting and waiting to post both this one and the Thursday Challenge but blogger was being a butt and not letting me upload my photos. anyways, here is my submission for this weeks Photo Friday which is Accidental. one day while curtis and i were out fishing and taking pictures at random parks and waterways, i accidentally took this shot. curtis had just yelled for me to come to where he was fishing at about 5 feet away, because he had spotted a dolphin. so as i was getting up from my tree stump seat and trying to run over to where he was with the camera, i didnt realize i hit the button and took a picture of myself until i brought the photos from the camera to the computer. so there is my 'accidental' shot for this weeks topic. enjoy!

Thursday Challenge - Autumn.....

2006-10-31T16:06:00.000-05:00

well, what do you know. blogger actually let me upload my photo!! yay!! this one is for the thursday challenge which happens to be autumn. seeing as how i live in southwest florida, the only way we know the seasons are changing down here is the drop in humidity! so to give this picture that i took over the weekend more of an autumn feel than just a couple of pumpkins, i decided to add some faux fall leaves to it. enjoy!

Illofriday - smitten......

2006-10-19T20:22:00.000-04:00

what do ya know, i did an illo today. i wasnt planning on doing one and as of yesterday i only had some ideas along the lines of portraying how one would think about how much they love someone or something. seeing as how it was a slow day at work, right before i left for the day i sketched up something quick that i thought about maybe using. i added some finishing touches and some color to it once i got home and decided to use it. its quite the mixed media piece too - some pen, pencil, crayon, marker, and watercolor. so here it is nothing extravagant but i seem to like it alot. hope you will too. enjoy.

Thursday Challenge - Glass....

2006-10-18T15:58:00.000-04:00

well as promised here is a new picture taken with my new camera for this weeks Thursday Challenge, which is glass. as soon as i heard the topic for this one the idea just seemed to come to me and it came out exactly how i had pictured it. this was taken in my backyard and given a little pizzaz in photoshop. i love how the glow on the glass turned out. enjoy!

Thursday Challenge : Shiny...

2006-10-05T12:47:00.000-04:00

ah a thursday challenge. beautiful. however, i have lied. i said the next photo i put up would be a new one from my new camera, but i had this one and saw the theme and thought how perfect it would be. next time, dont worry! this is a close up of one of the cows of the Cow Parade they had around Boston back in June. this one was just completely covered in these stones, sorry i dont have a full picture of it. these cows were everywhere and they were all done by different artists. all monies made from auctioning off these cows in the area benefitted the Jimmy Fund. enjoy.

oh and ps. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom today!!

Thursday photo challenge - light....

2006-10-03T15:26:00.000-04:00

my first submission for thursday photo challenge.....and it is an old shot. never fear though, i will definately have some new ones freshly taken for you next time. this is one that i took at busch gardens and it is one of my personal favorites. the light comes through and hits the flowers just so, fitting the topic and making my photo a success in my eyes. enjoy.

photos, photos, everywhere!!...

2006-10-03T15:11:00.000-04:00

so seeing as how i just made a recent purchase of a new Nikon digital camera (which is actually my early birthday present from my mom), i decided to join a few of the photo sites that are along the same lines of illustration friday, but you take photos (pritty self explanatory, right?). there are two that ive been checking out, thursday challenge and photofriday, both which will have different topics each week. i might toggle back and forth between the two sites or i might just even surprise you and do both. i have been slacking on the illustration fridays due to lack of creative ideas lately so maybe doing some photo work will help me get some new ideas from seeing things in a new light. to your surprise you might even see an older picture or two that i have taken, depends on the theme. these sites will give me a chance to share my photos with you as well as my artwork. i love to take pictures and now that i have a camera at my dispose any minute of the day - watch out! so keep checking back!

IlloFriday....Farm....

2006-09-14T21:47:00.000-04:00

i know its not an illustration persay but i figured it would be alright to put a 3d piece up. so here he is making his illofriday blog debut. and im sure cheryl is ecstatic upon his arrival too. i know i am cheating again by using something i already have done, but i have been waiting for the perfect topic to put this little guy up here. i have a few different shots i wanted to share with everyone so they could get the full effect of him. hes just styrofoam and sequins, but i pinned each one on one by one. it took me about 2 months to complete so you could see why he is my pride and joy. enjoy!

oh boy!!

2006-09-08T14:05:00.000-04:00

okay so i have been having problems getting my illofriday announcement on time on fridays so i decided to go over to the site and check out this weeks topic. farm. hmm. well at first i wasnt too sure what to do, but then it hit me. a surprise for you guys that i will love being able to finally post on here!! i might also work on something new as well, but well see how that goes. so keep checking back with me! have a great weekend.

Another newbie....check it....

2006-09-07T10:57:00.000-04:00

so as most of you know, i like to keep a running tab on the right side of my blog of all my friends and artistically inclined buddies blogs. what a crazy sentence that was! anyways, i just wanted to bring to everyone's attention that i have added yet another - Lies of an Honest Man. ramon, who is the writer and owner of the blog, has been a good buddy of mine for a while now and always has some interesting stories to tell. if you feel like leaving him some love, go on over and check him out!! thanks for joining us here on blogger.com, ramon. cant wait to read about your adventures!

a little late but still completed...match for illofriday....

2006-09-03T14:09:00.000-04:00

its a little late but i had promised i would post it!! this was for illofriday's 'Match' a couple weeks ago. i started working on it right away, but then i had some company down for the weekend, making me focus more on cleaning the house than painting. needless to say, i missed the deadline. however, as soon as the company left i picked my paintbrush back up and finished this one out. it came out perfectly, one of the few that looks exactly like what i had planned in my head. i was so excited about the outcome i decided to hang it in my room instead of sticking it in one of my many portfolios. one thing about this painting that you might not be able to determine by just a photo is that it has a 3d effect. the match is actually painted on a piece of styrofoam poster board and glued on with pop dots to give it a 3d effect. the background is just your regular canvas and it was all done with acrylics. hope you guys like it as much as i do. enjoy!

I know, I know...

2006-08-25T10:37:00.000-04:00

okay, so ive been doing good with getting my illos out on time and on my blog but this week i have a very valid excuse. my sister is coming down from boston today for the weekend, mainly to enjoy the 311 experience with me on sunday at the Fairgrounds in Tampa. however, i have been working on my illo throughout the week and it is half way done. i was going to put up a little sneak peek for everyone, but i didnt want to ruin the outcome of the finished piece. i will give you a hint and let you know that it will be a 3d canvas idea that i am working on, somewhat resembling something from a comic strip. we shall see if that is the same effect that comes across once the piece is done. so keep checking back!!

Hating your job or just plain fed up with stupid people?? who isnt? read this!...

2006-08-23T11:50:00.000-04:00

well it seems as though lately ive been just completely fed up with stupid people that surround me. i thought that maybe after 5 years it would get better, but alas - some things just never change! so in anticipation for the 311 festivities and good times to be had this weekend, i have been just ignoring the idiots cuz you know there is nothing in this world that is going to ruin my 311 excitement! in the meantime i read over a passage that hangs in my cubicle that a friend of mine wrote one day. he is also a fellow 311 lover and reading it helps me get through my day. so thanks jordan, your writing helps!! here it is, enjoy and maybe even hang it in your cubicle for a reminder on bad days.

'Interruption
+++++++++++++++
When you find yourself beginning to feel overwhelmed by negativity, you can always choose to break the pattern. Stop whatever you are doing, and for three or four minutes focus your mind on thoughts of gratitude, acceptance and peacefulness.

Breathe deeply, and relax the muscles throughout your body. Reflect on how very fortunate you are to be alive and aware in this universe that's overflowing with positive possibilities.

Give yourself a peaceful break. Give your spirit the opportunity of resetting to a more positive perspective, and it will.

In a few short moments, you can easily and naturally break free of any negative pattern in which you may have been caught. You'll be vastly better positioned to effectively respond to whatever life sends your way.

Instead of acting out of anger or frustration, fear or anxiety, you'll be able to choose your actions based on your own positive purpose. Instead of being caught up in the grip of negativity, you'll be calmly and firmly in control.

When the negativity starts to get overwhelming, choose to interrupt it with a positive, peaceful break. You'll find it can make a profound and positive difference.

Jordan
Positive Energy'

so thanks Jordan, your words help to calm me down on a day that i would otherwise just like to say 'screw it' and walk out the door.

Illofriday....play...

2006-08-17T22:57:00.000-04:00

well, not the greatest but yes it is on time and just made it too! i had this great idea in my head to use some real playing cards for an art piece, but nothing was coming to my mind that matched the things i was picturing. then, at the last minute, this one came to me. it is one of those ball and cup games from back in the day. that little game where you would spend hours and hours trying to get that ball to flip up in the cup. i figured if i made this simple little toy out of the playing cards, then it would be a little closer to the idea i was trying to portray. so here it is, play for illofriday. hopefully next week will be better! enjoy.

ps. the entire thing wouldnt fit on the scanner and the pictures i was taking werent coming out good at all, so this one had to be cropped a little.

Capture for illofriday....

2006-08-05T15:33:00.000-04:00

whoa whoa whoa! this must be an all-time new record for chacha!! an illofriday finished before the week of work even starts, shocking!! well here it is and man did it come out exactly how i wanted it to. all i used on this was some markers and a little creativity. when i heard the topic of capture this instantly came into my head. dont know why or from where but it was perfect and i started sketching right then and there. maybe it has something to do with me watching too many 'Inked' shows on A&E - i love that show!! anyways, here it is. delivered on time and with pride. enjoy!

So fresh and so clean, clean....

2006-08-03T11:01:00.000-04:00

hey, what do you know, i have an illo to post and its actually a new one to my sketchbook!! i saw the topic and had this pop in to my head right away, so naturally after having an idea it wasnt hard choosing a medium and how i was going to portray it. for all of you who have to have a bottle of this on your desk at work, then you know what it is and what company it is without me getting myself into copyright trouble by printing it on there. words or not, it is still some good hand sanitizer and its green because it is the kind with the aloe :) i worked on this one day at work when there was a horrible thunderstorm outside. it forced us to shut all our computers down and just wait for it to quit, so that meant some extra time to do a little sketching! and here it is. enjoy.

GASP an illofriday.....skyline.....

2006-07-13T21:39:00.000-04:00

i finally did it. i finally took some time from my craziness and sat down and did an illo. yeah i should probably thank curtis too. he was pushing me to actually get it done because i havent picked up a pencil or paintbrush in a while. also, he decided to go fishing with a buddy of his which gave me a few hours to myself. so i put on some jams and went for it. i actually did a whole entire piece before scratching it and picking a section of it and converting it to this. i think it came out pritty well. all in all, i think it is a successful piece. all i used for this was a pen, a piece of charcoal, and some crayons. pritty simple and yet i got the effect i was shooting for. enjoy.

IlloFriday....rain.....

2006-06-29T13:58:00.000-04:00

i know, i know....it has definately been a while since i last posted anything. i have been soo busy this summer with vacations and bowling leagues and such that ive pushed my painting aside. a bad thing for sure, but its good sometimes to have soo many things to do. i didnt have time to paint anything for this weeks illofriday because i just returned from a trip to boston, mass. my mom and i went up there to pay my sister a surprise visit. boy was she shocked!! the look on her face was priceless and we had alot of good times. i used one of the many photos i took while on the trip, for this weeks illo. there were only 2 days up there when it wasnt atleast sprinkling on us, so i figured this picture would suit this weeks topic of rain. the picture is of a carnival that came out of no where after a bend in the road. seeing as how we were driving and it was raining, the rain collected up on the window letting me take this great picture. i know its sort of cheating but its all i got for right now, better than nothing i always say! enjoy.

Sorry...

2006-05-25T14:06:00.000-04:00

what better way to say that you're Sorry than with a beautiful rose?! man, i was just sooo ecstatic with this piece once i finished it. it was one of those spur of the moment pieces that started out as a small pen sketch on the back of an office memo pad during a slow day at work and after some thick, clean lines and some color were added became an amazing piece! i am definately going to get a nice frame for this one and find a nice place to hang it in my house! it deserves to be out instead of sitting in a stack of portfolios in the dark. about the piece - it is a black pen sketch that i made a photocopy of and then added some crayon type colored pencils for a splash of color. everytime i look at it, it reminds of the glowing rose from beauty and the beast. enjoy!!

GASP an early illustration friday....angels & devils...

2006-05-18T14:01:00.000-04:00

i know everyone is going to be surprised and curious by my early entry. well, its because i cheated...again. i had this one sitting in my portfolio just waiting for a suitable topic. however, i never imagined a topic as perfect as this one would come along for me to display this piece. im greatly appreciative for whomever submitted this topic to the site and kudos to you!! i know this is one of cheryls faves and im sure she, along with myself, is excited to have it up. i also have another little sketch that i did quickly one day on my break that also fit the topic that i wanted to share with you. whats this you ask?!?! not one illofriday submission, on time to say the least, but two pieces for this post?!?! to what do we owe this pleasure?!? i know i know, its a rarity but enjoy it while its here. so here is the other little piece that fit the topic of angels & devils.....

both photos have been taken on the new carpet in my new rental house that my boyfriend and i reside in. enjoy!

a little late, but better late than never.....fat.....

2006-05-12T11:23:00.000-04:00

well, its a little late and i missed the illofriday deadline, but i still have something that i have been working on - pigs are pritty thick and would definately fit under last weeks topic of fat! anyways, i have been slowly reteaching myself photoshop because it has been way too long since i have done anything in it artistically- 5 years since my high school design class to be exact. its been a little hard for me to draw anything amazing though because i do not have a tablet yet and actually did this one with just a mouse. just a little bit about the piece now - i dont know if you guys will pick up right away on this or not but it is actually 2 pigs in 1! what a deal right?! well the faded background is his behind and little squiggly tail. the front more dominant layer is the front view of the big guy. after doing a little drawing and adding some color i decided to use a little bit of texture and outlining. so there you have it, my photoshop debut. enjoy.

ive been slacking, but for a good reason.....

2006-04-28T09:34:00.000-04:00

i know i have been slacking on my illofriday submissions. ive been wanting to get into my art, but everytime i get an idea and start to pull out my supplies, something comes up - like the following. the reason for me missing out on this weeks illofriday is because going to my lunch break on wednesday i came out to find my car looking like this...

yup someone decided to break into my car and steal out the entire middle console, cdplayer, ac unit, vents, cup holders, everything while i was in my office at work. real nice huh. however, during the slow time at work i have been teaching myself tricks and learning tips about photoshop and hopefully ill be able to start doing some of my pieces with another medium besides just using acrylics or pastels. so hopefully ill be back with something this up coming week. thanks for sticking with me eventhough i havent had much up for you to enjoy.

Epitaph newsletter, a fun story to share with the ones you love....

2006-04-26T09:43:00.000-04:00

so i had to post this story not only cuz he drew such a perfect picture in my head of the whole scenary but just because its funny. enjoy.

'I saw the most awesome thing in history this morning. While driving to work, I observed some bloated guy rollerblading down Sunset Blvd. with a 40oz. of malt liquor in each hand! Now this guy was about 5’6” and had to weigh at least 280lbs, so you can bet he looked fresh scootin’ on some bright purple rollerblades! Besides being ultra-cool for simply buying 40s on rollerblades, this guy also happened to catch a wicked bump in the sidewalk and he went down hard… However, he managed to save both of his 40s by pulling them tightly to his body, as if they were small children, and taking the brunt of the fall on his knees and right side. Now, this guy should be a superhero if you ask me. Just the fact that he saved the malt liquor is enough to make him my hero. So, here’s to you bloated guy on purple rollerblades buying Olde English! We love you, dog! Keep on keepin’ real!
- EPITAPH BLIZZARD BEAST'

Grilled, It's......the Epitaph Weekly Newsletter!!......

2006-04-12T09:21:00.000-04:00

this was just too funny not to post.....
'Just when you think the world can not be more unfair, you read a story like this... Two drug dealers (allegedly) have been arrested in Washington State and the state saw it necessary to seize these guys' dope "grills." That's right; the state of Washington took their jeweled-ass mouth pieces as "seizable assets." Is nothing sacred? So what if you acquire your "grill" by selling crack to kids... once your bejeweled grill is in place, no one but God should be able to remove it! So, if you're gonna crime, make sure to hide your grills.
- EPITAPH BLIZZARD BEAST'
hope you enjoyed your dose of another funny, yet true, epitaph weekly.

Feet for Illo??....ewww.....

2006-03-23T15:43:00.000-05:00

well, it seems as though blogger is accepting my pictures now. i know its not the greatest of illos but it suits the topic for this week. i would have spent some more time on it, but its just been crazy lately. my boyfriend curtis and i are finally moving into our perfect little house together this weekend. also, if you know me you know i hate feet, so i decided to do a funky little piece that wouldnt gross me out by trying to complete it. enjoy.

Blogger hell !!! ......

2006-03-23T09:46:00.000-05:00

just so you guys know, i have been trying to upload my submission for illofriday this week and the damn blogger just wont let me. i go to add the pic and it starts uploading it to the site and then the box just goes blank and says its done. leaving me with a blank post?! i guess i will have to put it up when the site is back up and running 100%. maybe i should try it from another computer tonite too. the big move is this weekend so if its not tonite it might not be for a few days. keep checking back.

IlloFriday....Insect....

2006-03-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

When we think of the word insect, we dont exactly think of something that is graceful, fragile, and full of beauty--no. we think of some creepy, crawly little thing that will just make our skin crawl. well, instead of drawing the usual spider, i went for what everyone might not think of right away. on this blog that is known as chachavision, one would know that this 'going against the tide' is normal and pritty much a given. aside from having a great idea, its wonders what a slow, boring day at work that you might think is uneventful and worthless, actually helps to give you some free time to come up with something that makes you quite proud and pleased--and still able to make the illo deadline on time. enjoy.

IlloFriday....tea anyone??.....

2006-03-02T09:35:00.000-05:00

here is tea. not super stoked about this one, but i think it was a pritty creative idea nonetheless. i had soo much time at work this past week that i just started finding images that i could use to create a collage. i hadnt done a collage in quite a while and everyone knows how i love to add a little diversity to my portfolio, so this seemed like a good way to go. i didnt just want to create a collage of teacups and tea kettles so i used everyday objects to create the pieces in the end. the items are as follows : the tea kettle is some sort of clay pottery from a museum, the knob for the top is a hand carved wooden cane top, the top handle is from an antique chinese tea kettle, the dragon shaped handle is from some sort of japanese art, and the spout is, you guessed it, a spout from a silver tea kettle - it was too elegant not to use! for the tea cups, they are just ordinary well buckets and the handles are brass dresser drawer handles that you might find at your local hardware store. so eventhough this one doesnt really have any chacha pizzaz marks added in, i think it still suits the mood for the topic. oh and to anonymous, enjoy your time away. we will definatley miss your illos from now until then....whatever will we do?!?! enjoy.

Pondering the brevity of existence, it’s... The Epitaph Weekly Newsletter!....

2006-03-01T16:12:00.000-05:00

man, this little ditty from Matt over at Epitaph was just way too funny not to repost. i hope you read on and get a good little chuckle....
'There are many fundamental questions that cause profound moments for people in their lives. For example, when people sit back and ponder things such as: is there actually a God? What is my purpose for existence? Is love truly real, or just a figment of the imagination? Is there life after death? These and many other questions can cause one to roll around at night feeling tortured and tiny in this huge world. These are all very good questions, but the one that drives me insane and causes me to contemplate the abyss of the human soul is quite simple: why does the Hamburger Helper guy only have 4 fingers instead of 5? Is it a sign? Is it an omen? This has consumed me for the past few years and will continue to do so I’m sure!
The Hamburger Helper guy can still make the horns of Satan, he can still bitch slap people, he can’t flip people off, but something tells me he can fire a gun with those gross little fingers of his. Keep an eye on that guy; there is way more than meets the eyes there…“Helps you hamburger make a great meal? Yeah right…”Matt HeinemeyerEpitaph Blizzard Beast'

Early Illo.....song....

2006-02-22T22:19:00.000-05:00

well looky looky, an early illo submission from chacha. and no your eyes are not deceiving you. i have been waiting and waiting for a somewhat close topic to post this piece. this is one i did a few years back that i just cant get enough of. it was actually a piece i did for my final exam from one of the many still life displays set up for us to choose from. the guitar and bottle display was the most appealing one to me......and so you have it. a nice and simple still life done with watercolors and oil pastels. imagine the beautiful song or songs that could come out of that guitar. enjoy.

Another illo.....simple....

2006-02-16T21:48:00.000-05:00

well here it is. the most simple sketch i could find in my archives. just a quick little thing that i did while wanting some more soda! it might seem weird, but simple has probably been the hardest illofriday topic yet. it could have been anything, yet it had to be just that, simple. so, even with a couple birthdays and valentines day to enjoy, i still had time to pull something quick out of my sketchbooks to share with you. enjoy.

Another newbie....

2006-02-16T09:13:00.000-05:00

Well, it seems as though another friend of mine has joined us, not only here in the blogging world but also on the illofriday scene. i would like to welcome TJ to the fun and excitement, and also the addiction that he has yet to realize that will take him over from here on out. his blog has been added to the almighty 'list-o-blogs' on the right hand side of this page. he just started not too long ago, so there are only a few posts, but im sure in a couple weeks hell be booming with creative images. go and check him out at Hybrid Blog o' TJ and leave him some love. so TJ, heres to many more illofridays to be had.....welcome!

illofriday....chair....little lonely lawn chair to be exact...

2006-02-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

well, i almost didnt make it....again....but here it is. chair was this weeks illofriday and of course i have a little story to go along with it. i was pressed for time this week with valentines day ideas and birthdays coming up so i just wanted to do something quick but still with a little pizazz! this picture was taking on the St. Pete Pier down here in Florida before you get on to the Skyway bridge. my boyfriend Curtis and I decided to go fishing off of it for a change in our regular scenery. however, all the bait shops on the pier were either out of bait or closed, putting a damper on our plans. so, seeing as how we always have the camera in tow, we decided to have a few drinks and take some photos. this pic was one that i had taken because the chair just looked like it was sitting and waiting for its kodak moment. after laughing over it and enjoying the day, the picture was dubbed 'little lonely lawn chair,' the perfect title for this spur of the moment shot. so here it is, after a few filters added in photoshop, little lonely lawn chair making its blog and illofriday debut. enjoy.

IlloFriday.....Glamour.....

2006-02-02T23:27:00.000-05:00

and so we come to that time of the week again. the time of the week where i post my painting for illustration friday. when i heard the word glamour for the topic, i thought of sparkles, lace, glitz and elegance. i wanted to incorporate all of these things into one simple, yet sophisticated, piece. i wanted to start out with a nice little lace effect for the background that would accent the glitzy marque style of the word glamour. this piece came out exactly how i had pictured it in my mind, making this yet another one that i got right on the money in my point of view. and just to let you know how passionate i was about making this piece perfect, i glued on each and every one of those sequins with the help of two straight pins and some glue. im not exactly sure on how i feel about the picture for this post, but it was hard getting a good shot with the shine from the sequins. hopefully, you get the idea of how great it should look, like it does here in person. enjoy.

welcome, welcome....

2006-01-31T13:41:00.000-05:00

i just wanted to put up a post to introduce a newbie to my list-o-blogs and to the illustration friday realm. This guy is new not only new to the blog scene but he is also new to the illofriday scene, and he seems to be taking control of both worlds. so if you have a minute and want to see some pritty funny and intricate sketches go on over to Surviving the PHD. check it out and drop him a comment or two. so welcome to the scene, doogie wannabe, and hope these two worlds treat ya right!

E is for enthusiastic....

2006-01-21T18:47:00.000-05:00

so here it is guys....the illo that i had finished but just couldnt get up here on my blog in time. i was very happy with the outcome, eventhough i went through about 5 or 6 different layouts. i just decided in the end that craziness was always a good choice for my work, instead of trying to sit there and make some kind of pattern or meaning to the way that i pasted the E's on. all this one consists of is newspaper, acrylics, and a black sharpie. i loved the colors i had chosen, they just worked so well with each other that i couldnt stop painting Es...i had used almost an entire newspaper - the sunday edition mind you! oh yeah before i close out this post, i would like to thank the Charlotte Sun newspaper, for this piece would have never come to life if it hadnt been for their wonderful contribution. have a good weekend and enjoy.

E is for embittered..

2006-01-20T09:05:00.000-05:00

man, i had one done (on time!) that i think turned out pritty rad. i painted away on wednesday nite and then did some cutting and pasting on thursday nite and got done with it around 11ish. so that nite im all excited about the turnout, which was a different interpretation of the idea i started out with, and i go to look for curtis' digital so i can take some shots and start cropping and resizing. well to my dismay, i couldnt find the camera anywhere! curtis was half asleep and after searching for a few minutes in the dark, i decided to just give up. i didnt have any time this morning to take some shots so please come back and see me again for i will definately have my illofriday submission up by this weekend!!

A new year, a new illofriday.....flavor......

2006-01-01T16:12:00.000-05:00

well here it is, another year. seems as though they are going by faster and faster. i decided to start the new year out right by getting on the ball and getting my first illofriday of the year done and finished by the deadline. however, i did sort of cut a few corners by using an older piece, but this one seemed to fit the topic. not to mention, i love to share everything in my portfolio, new and old, with everyone to enjoy. hope all of you had a great time on new years eve and your new year is off to a happy and a healthy new start. stay true to your resolutions and heres to another year! enjoy.

a special illofriday for the season....holiday...

2005-12-24T21:46:00.000-05:00

well here is yet another twist to the chacha illustration friday part of the blog. i decided seeing as how it is the holiday season and the topic being just that, holiday, that i would do some sort of christmas picture. i knew i wouldnt have enough time to actually pull out the paints and the brushes and throw something together that i would be proud of because things are crazy hectic here at my rents house in anticipation for christmas tomorrow. so seeing as how i had quite a few pictures that are christmas related i thought i would take one that i liked and pull it into photoshop and tweak it a bit. therefore after a few filters and some text, i came out with the finished product that i have posted above. i know i have been here and there with my illos lately, but with the holidays and family and friends being in town, its been so distracting and left little time for my art. me being in the christmas mood and it being christmas eve i decided to do a little holiday photo and not only do an illo this week but it get it in way ahead of schedule. so to you and yours have a happy and healthy holiday!! enjoy.

Apocalypse now, its...The Epitaph Weekly Newsletter!....

2005-12-16T09:03:00.000-05:00

Seeing as how i have missed out on a couple illo fridays here and there because of the busy holiday schedule, i decided to atleast give you a little excerpt of funniness from Matt over at Epitaph....so here goes.....
'If the world is not going to end soon, it needs to. I’m all for science and all that good stuff, but I just learned that a doctor Margaret A. Keyes, M.D., Ph.D. is currently injecting human brain cells into a mouse and the f-ing thing is developing memory, extended motor skills and an extremely high level of intelligence! Now, the hope of the researchers is to try and see if they can get the mouse to the point of communicating by sound or even primitive language! I’m not scared of the end of the world, but now that it’s here, I am getting kind of scared… This is cartoon shit! Talking mice… what the hell is going on? With all the weapons in the world, talking mice will be our demise! I say GOOD!
So, talking mice are just around the corner and nanotechnology is also upon us. How stupid is it that humans are smart enough to kill themselves on purpose? Overall, it’s pretty awesome I guess.“(Whatever a mouse will/would say when they can talk)”Matt HeinemeyerEpitaph Blizzard Beast'
sounds pritty crazy to me, but then again who knows. no longer will the Bear City skit on SNL be funny because it will be that way in the future, but with walking talking mice. talk about bizarre, sheesh!

ive returned....with an illo....blue....

2005-12-08T19:12:00.000-05:00

so when i saw the topic of blue i was all excited!! finally a topic that suited this piece perfectly to where i could share it with all of you. this is another one i did back in high school but one that i love sooo much! (youre probably thinking, hmmm how does this differ from any other pieces that shes done....doesnt she love all of them sooo much). but unlike the others, this one doesnt really have any personal meaning behind it, but it does have a quick story. we were to find a picture from a magazine and identify and outline all the different shades, whether it be light or dark. then only using one color, would make a few different shades to use to match the picture to where if you looked at it from a distance, you could still recognize the photo. well i saw this add for Hard Candy and had to use it, for all of you guys its a makeup line. anyways, i worked really hard on it and was so pleased with the outcome that i did another one that maybe ill share with you some other time. the size of this one is another reason why i like it so much. the original is about 24' x 36' and is on a black piece of matting that i decided to crop out of the picture. my art teacher loved it and wanted to put it in the art show. it hung there along with a few other pieces that my teacher had picked of mine to be in the show. eventhough my art didnt win any ribbons or trophies, it still was a great feeling to walk into a crowded room and see my artwork hanging on the wall and to see that people were actually enjoying it. so here it is. enjoy.

a newbie to the list-o-blogs...

2005-11-11T08:47:00.000-05:00

i was honored to have a newcomer to my blog recently, who decided to comment on my scratchboard for this weeks illofriday. (thank you for your comments by the way) whenever i see someone new has taken an interest in any of my pieces, i go and check out their site to see what kind of style they posess. well, definately go and check out the last link on my blog list, ice cream monster toon cafe. there is some really creative stuff on there and i love alot of what this artist has to offer to the illoworld. so go check it out already!

illofriday...night....

2005-11-09T23:01:00.000-05:00

so here i am, another week another illo....and yet another new twist. this weeks topic was the perfect time for me to pull out the scratchboard. i had only delved into this medium a few times, so i decided to get some tools and some boards and try my hand at it again. i really enjoy this one and it was a great idea for messing around with some different textures. this piece starts playing one of my fave 311 songs in my head everytime i see it, 'thank you lucky stars.' what a perfect fit right?! enjoy.

illofriday...broken...

2005-11-03T21:04:00.000-05:00

well, i guess its better small than nothing at all. i wanted to retake some pix of this big piece i did a while back, but i had a crazy hectic week. between work, halloween, and now dog sitting....i didnt really have time to do something new or remember to take new pix of this one. Hopefully i will remember to do it sometime this weekend or next week and ill repost a bigger version of it. its a pritty big canvas....dont have the exact measurements but its bigger than 26x34, you can tell i didnt have much time to measure it either. ah well. this one was really awesome to paint and i added some glitter to the flames. i really wish i could display this one better the first time around, but alas, if i waited to post the bigger version, i wouldnt be able to get it on the site in time. so here it is. i will repost hopefully by next week. so please come back and check on it if youre interested. enjoy.

happy halloween...

2005-10-30T00:47:00.000-04:00

hey there. no, this isnt my illo, but a nice way to bring in the halloween festivities this weekend and to come. i finally got over to my rents house to carve my pumpkin with my sister. i must say, this came out alot better than i had thought, ya know just like everything else i do. im just glad it didnt cave in our break. i wonder how many people will be drawing and painting broken pumpkins to get in the halloween mood for illustration friday. well, i had to share my creative pumpkin carving with you guys, so i hope you like it. not to mention, i had to represent for my boys....311!!! enjoy.

IlloFriday....remote....

2005-10-25T23:30:00.000-04:00

wow, only wednesday and chacha has her illofriday up. what has gotten into her?!?! well, here it is. i knew when i heard the topic was remote, i had to do a tribute to one of my most favorite remotes.....my old nintendo controller. i know atari started it all for me, but nintendo was such a great system. whenever you show a picture of that remote, everyone around the world can recognize it. not only did it sound like a good idea for an art piece, but it gave me a chance to toy around with some shading and using just pen and pencil for a piece. it just started out as a little sketch, and then bloomed into this little piece that im extremely happy with. hope you guys like it as much as i do, and i hope it makes you want to dig into your closets and pull your old nintendo system out. if youre a video game lover, such as myself, you probably still have it out and ready for action. man, im getting the itch to play. enjoy.

Illofriday....cold...

2005-10-20T23:54:00.000-04:00

alright, so heres my new illo. yet again, something a little different from me but i think it worked out well. this idea came to me while i was at work. i usually run aolradio on my computer, which helps me get through my day. they have an all dave matthews channel, which i frequent a few times a day. when i heard one of the songs i love, 'grey street' one of the lines caught my attention and gave me the idea for this piece. the line that inspired me is...'and though its red blood bleeding from her now, it feels like cold blue ice in her heart....' i know my piece isnt a snowy winter scene or even a tray of freezing cold ice cubes, but i wanted to take a different approach to the topic. i had the 'cold hearted' theme going through my head, but that line gave me the complete picture to finish the sketchy idea i started with. this one is just acrylics and watercolors on a flat canvas panel. they were having alot of sales and putting out alot of coupons in the paper for Michaels, so i stocked up on some more canvas' instead of using cardboard like i usually do. so as always.....enjoy.

gasp....ive been tagged...

2005-10-18T08:58:00.000-04:00

today ive been tagged on my blog. i didnt really know what it was until someone had done it! my friend onesickindividual decided to tag me, so i have to write 20 random things about myself on here and then tag as many people as it took for me to complete it. i better get crackin, who knows how many blogs ill have to be visiting. so you better watch out, you could be the next one that gets tagged!

1. drawing and painting help me keep my sanity
2. i could eat cheesecake or ice cream 24-7 and never get sick of it
3. ive been sporting the short spikey hair look since high school
4. me and my three sisters are all six years apart
5. my mom and my dad are six years apart
6. i have a hard time with watercolors, but im slowing learning
7. i love rollercoasters
8. i hope to buy a house in the near future with my boyfriend curtis
9. im filling out this tag thing when i should probably be doing some work
10. every 7 years my birthday lands on thanksgiving
11. i love to visit all these illustration friday blogs, they really inspire me and ive met alot of very awesome and talented people
12. chacha is not my real name
13. bowling is one of my favorite past times
14. clubs and concerts really get my adrenaline going, they are a must!
15. i bought my grandma a fish named sam on her 92nd birthday, she loves him!
16. i love to sleep in on saturdays and just watch cartoons
17. one of these days i will get to visit california
18. i play the clarinet
19. ive never seen snow, but hopefully one of these days i will
and finally.....
20. 311 is my all time favorite band!

so there you have it. 20 random things about myself and it took me 5 minutes to do it. hopefully i can find 5 people that will actually complete this and keep it going. so here goes nothing.....

cheryl
jmg
dave b.
chris
toyebot

.....tag youre it! enjoy.

IlloFriday....Lost...

2005-10-11T17:18:00.000-04:00

my my my...i am early this week for illustration friday! last week i just barely got my piece on before the topic expired, and here I am on a Tuesday posting my finished piece. The fact that I already had this piece done has alot to do with it, but its still early! This is one of my bigger pieces that I did back in high school. The quote is actually a line from a Filter song that inspired me to come up with this idea. Ive been waiting to use this one, and finally a subject was revealed that came close to the meaning behind it. The line from the song fit what was going on in my life, at the time, to a tee! I know being a teenager and having only school to stress about, it might seem as though kids blow things way out of proportion and worry about things that just aren't a big deal compared to the real world ahead of them. However, i was in a time in my life when i was being pushed and pulled in every direction about making choices for my future. no matter what kind of ideas or plans i had, even if they were solid and worth making...if it didnt include college, it wasnt a wise choice according to the guidance counselors. so in a sense, i was actually making progress in my life, but then someone would mention to me that i wasnt making smart decisions....stopping me dead in my tracks. the fact that all the confusion and decision making was making me seem like i was lost in the woods, brings me to the meaning behind this weeks illo. i love this piece and i really wanted to share this one with you guys and see what you thought about it. i also wanted to mention how big this piece really is, it is about 4' x 2 1/2'. working on a bigger canvas gives you a better chance to bring the piece to life and to really go crazy with it. enjoy.

IlloFriday....float....

2005-10-07T09:07:00.000-04:00

man i almost blew this one!! with all the birthdays this week, it cut my time in half and i had to do this one pritty quicklike. i wasnt too excited with the outcome because i had a totally different finished image in my mind....but hey that always happens right?!!? as soon as i heard the topic i thought of someone meditating and just floating in the air all peaceful and serene. well this pose is from yoga, not sure what its called cuz im not into all that stuff, but its for real. the concept behind there being 3 images, is sort of finding your inner self. its only one person floating (which would be the yellow one) and each one on top of that is an inner layer, getting deeper and deeper and finally hitting red which would be the soul. i painted this one out and it was definately too plain to be a chacha piece, so i had to add some oil pastels on top for accents. hopefully, like some other of my pieces, it didnt ruin the outcome...but come on it was really plain and boring looking. anyawys, here it is. enjoy.

early illo....fresh....

2005-09-29T11:34:00.000-04:00

wooohoooo! i actually finished an illo that i love and........its early!! how bout them apples?!!? well anyways, here it is. nothing actually to do with the topic persay, but i was sticking with trying some new ideas with my art. when i heard the topic i thought of new art thats trendy and fresh, so of course i had to use really vibrant, upbeat colors. i had this all set up in my head and it actually came out looking alot better than i had imagined. i must say its pleasing to my eye and yet another good one to add to the portfolio. i hope you all really like it. oh.....and dont get your hopes up, just because this one was early doesnt mean ill always be on time. but hey, heres hoping. enjoy!

IlloFriday....escape....

2005-09-22T18:08:00.000-04:00

another illo for you guys to fiest your eyes on. this one is for escape, and whether you agree with my interpretation or not, i hope you like it and leave me some feedback. as you can tell, i painted some funky, mis-shaped music notes ( and for those of you that are not music savvy, that one in the middle is a formata, it is placed above a note and is meant to let you know you should hold that note ). i wanted to make these notes appear to have a Salvidor Dali feel to them, seeing as how he is one of my favorite artists. then on top of the piece, i did some awesome light splatter painting, which added a nice splash of color, but also was another tribute to another favorite artist of mine - jackson pollack. okay, so now that all the explanation is out of the way, its time for the interpretation and the way it fits with the topic. unlike some of my other abstract pieces, i decided to take this topic personally. i asked myself what kind of things or means help me to escape my reality. well easy....two things are for sure, art and music are definately my escapes! so i decided to mix the music with art and even give some props to some of my faves - dali and pollack. i was really pleased with the way this one came out, and i even got decent pix out of it. so here is escape and i hope you leave me your thoughts, which by the way, i really appreciate!
enjoy.

Venus Williams gives props to 311....

2005-09-20T13:59:00.000-04:00

whoa. never would i have thought that an awesome tennis player such as Venus Williams would enjoy listening to my boys....311. here is what she had to say in a clip from an article that she wrote about this years tennis season -
"This season has been a great one for women's tennis. Sony Ericsson became the sponsor of the WTA Tour. I love their W800 Walkman™ phone and listening to "Kick It Up" by Lyndrea Price, "Can't Fade Me" by 311 and "One Spin" by Zack Hexum. These songs represent the soundtrack of my life as a player."
not only does she like 311 and lead singer, nick's, brother zack hexum, but she picked an awesome song to keep her spirits up and to get her pumped to play. you can check out the rest of the article here. right on gurl!!

RIP Andy Howard.....

2005-09-19T10:01:00.000-04:00

Thanks to bulletin boards on myspace.com, it has come to my attention that the former Twisted Method guitarist, Andy Howard, passed away this past friday afternoon. i have seen these guys play numerous times at Neptunes in fort myers, fl. i was always trying to get more and more of my friends to hit the shows with me. they were such good shows too....full of energy, pumping up the crowds, and just getting everyone to jump and go crazy!! not only did they put on a good show, but i was so proud to see that a band from down here in southwest florida got so big and so quickly. eventhough the band split up and other members are doing side projects, it was great while it lasted. Here is the article that is floating around a few websites about the late guitarist :

"Former TWISTED METHOD guitarist Andy Howard was reportedly found dead in his bed Friday afternoon (September 16). He was 23 years old. Howard left TWISTED METHOD back in May, citing his desire to take care of his twin girls at home as the reason for his departure.According to The News-Press, TWISTED METHOD were one of only two rock acts to originate in Lee County, Florida and go on to sign national recording contracts. The band were signed to MCA in 2002 and released "Escape from Cape Coma" the following year. In 2003, the band were tapped to perform on the second stage at Ozzfest.Over the past two years, TWISTED METHOD continued to tour and and bring new "inmates" (as they called their fans) to their asylum of sound. Their first show back home after Ozzfest at the defunct Neptune's was sold out and their performance at radio station 99X's X-Fest stole the show from more popular bands such as PUDDLE OF MUDD and TRAPT.Following TWISTED METHOD's split in June, the group's vocalist, Derrick "Tripp" Tribbett, formed a new project called MAKESHIFT ROMEO with ex-TWISTED METHOD bassist Derek DeSantis (who plays guitar in the new band). The new group also includes ex-MOTOGRATER bassist Jonny Nailz and former SLITHERYN drummer Tom "T-Bone" Burke."

Illofriday....depth....

2005-09-15T09:55:00.000-04:00

so here it is. not too happy about the way it came out, because these pictures dont do it any justice, but i tried! i worked long and hard on this with acrylics and pastels, but when i sprayed the clear coat sealant over the top, it made it sooo much darker than i had hoped it would have. so much for trying to preserve my artwork. the bottom picture is the best one i could take to get the aura and the feel for it fitting the depth topic, but the top one is a better one of the darker colors around the edge and the really vibrant colors i used in the middle. there is a bit of a glare from the flash on the digital camera i used, because this was way too big for the scanner although that would have been the safest way to go. im still working on cleaning up photos in photoshop and getting a feel for using the digital to my artistic advantage, but it takes time. well anyways, here it is and i hope you guys can sort of see what it should look like. around the edges i used black, olive green, and a lighter brown color that i mixed up almost to look like a tree trunk. then in the middle i used pink, yellow, white, orange, and purple to make it as vibrant as possible. i had the idea in my head of showing artistically how people perceive each other. on the outside they can be very dark and drab almost a mysterious feel to them, but the deeper you look into the core or the more you get to know them, they are bright and full of life and energy that seems to just light up the whole entire room. i know there are plenty of people that just soley represent the middle part, but im sure they have their down days too. be ever so kind to leave me your comments on this one. i might just have to fool around with it on the computer and see if i can get a better view of it, but i wanted to make the deadline and earlier than thursday nite or early friday morning! enjoy.

Illofriday....Roots....

2005-09-08T23:35:00.000-04:00

soooo, this one came to me at the last minute....really. i had sketched out a few things over the past couple of days, but nothing was hitting me enough to put up here, so i was just gonna skip it! then, i was just laying in my bed ready to close my eyes and enter slumberland, when i just realized i had a good painting i could use for this topic! this one was one i did back in my high school days, and was one of the pieces my art teacher loved and had matted for me. i remember this one taking me sooo long to do too, i was trying really hard to get the shades down pat, because as you can see, this is another...no dont say it.....watercolor!!!! but eventhough this is a watercolor, it is not a landscape or some sort of floral piece, but something different with a little chacha flare behind it. so here it is, better last minute than never. and i hope im not breaking any unwritten illustration friday rules by using some older stuff. i do like this one and i love the colors i chose. so here it is! enjoy!

Fat Mike is back in action on Cha-Cha Vision....

2005-09-07T09:52:00.000-04:00

well for whatever reason, i was not receiving my newsletters that i use to share with you every Wednesday or close to it. but now, its back and im ready to post. if any of you do not enjoy the intellect of Fat Mike, no worries. just click on that little 'x' in the top right corner of the screen, and read no more! do come back to check out my artwork, but in the meantime, some entertaining words of the wise......

"Greeting from the Third World! Louisiana Purchase? Maybe not such a bargain after all. Even at a measly 15 million dollars, it seems the French knew something that the US didn't. Building a city 10 feet under sea level in a hurricane zone isn't the greatest plan. OK, all kidding aside (and yeah I know that the Louisiana Purchase was a lot more land than just Louisiana), it's nice that some people are giving out the big dough to help out the Big Easy. George Clooney, George Steinbrenner, Jay-Z, P-Diddy, Oprah, Nick Cage, and Spielberg each gave a million bucks and John Grisham gave a whopping 5 million. Lots of citizens are digging deep to help out, so when I read how much money some of the biggest US companies are giving, it surprised me. Actually it didn't surprise me.Chevron is giving 5 million. That's nice cuz I'm pretty sure John Grisham and Chevron have about the same annual income. The only real difference I can see is that Grisham didn't double the price of his books when this disaster happened. Then there's Walmart. Walmart originally pledged 8 million. Now it's up to 17 million. Walmart is the biggest company in the world. If it had it's own economy, it would rank 33rd in the world (right behind Portugal). Last year alone, it grossed 285 billion dollars. The family that owns Walmart is worth over 100 billion dollars. If my numbers are right, it's kind of like a family that has 10,000 dollars giving 170 cents to the relief effort. Thanks Walmart. Citizens: yay. Corporations: boo. --Fat Mike"

IlloFriday...dreams....

2005-09-01T21:21:00.000-04:00

well first of all, i know alot of you are probably wondering how this ties into this weeks theme of dream, but honestly it does. first thing that popped into my head was some sort of shooting star idea. ya know when you were a little kid, or maybe still to this day, whenever you see a shooting star you were to make a wish. and if you were lucky that wish would come true. there are so many different sizes, shapes, and colors of people ive come into contact with in my years. in this piece, each star represents a different dream that someone has wished for. and just like jimminy cricket use to say, 'when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.' man how many times have we heard that, jimminy's getting some real bank off of that one. probably glad he was the one to set it loose to the world back in the day. man i love that little guy!! so here it is. leave some comments and your own interpretation. i love hearing what you guys get out of my art. for those of you who are wondering, that word says 'dreams' and its made out of pipe cleaners i bent into crazy shaped letters. enjoy.

oh yeah....only 1 more day until im in tampa rocking out to 311 with cheryl, jordan, and jerome. what an awesome time we will have. oh yes we will....watch out!!! cuz 311s got the boom ya'll.

311.. in the news...a must read...

2005-08-26T21:59:00.000-04:00

so as you all may know, or not know, i am a HUGE 311 fan. well whenever my guys are in the news i like to just take a minute to applaud them for a job well done. cheryl and jmg attended the Mass. 311 show last Friday, the 19th. they called me 3 times from the show-once before they went in to their seats, once during All Mixed Up (one of my alltime fave songs), and once during the drum feature during Applied Science. i was already excited to be getting those calls and it was pumping me up for the show i will be going to on september 3rd, but im very pleased to see they are still pulling out the big drums to join Chad Sexton in some rockin beats!!! as a result of that show, there was this article in a local paper up there that my buddy jmg sent to me for my reading pleasure. now it is my turn to take it and turn it on over to you, just to show you that 311 can still rock the place and keep up the funk. talking about them just makes me want to go put on a cd or two, and it will only be a week from tomorrow that i will be in tampa heading my way down on into the pit for an awesome show. for whatever reason, this stoopid blog wouldnt let me put the link in there, so i will put it down here instead.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/08/25/311_delivers_stirring_funk_rock/
'cant nobody do it like 311...break it down what it is...dedication!!!'

Illofriday....reflection...

2005-08-23T21:09:00.000-04:00

whoa! dont reset your computer screens, chacha has actually posted an illofriday ON TIME. and early!!! although i did cheat a bit. i had this one for a while now, and ive been just waiting to be able to use it for one of the topics. this one fit it perfectly, along with helping you to uncover a more serious artistic side to me. however, i did have a little help on this one, but only in what steps to take next. this one was done a few years back in an awesome art class i took over the summer with my little sister. the teacher we had was so crazy and soo much fun. she was really open minded and did permanent makeup for a career aside from her painting. how kool is that?!? but she taught me how to do this wonderful landscape using the dreaded medium i try to stray away from......watercolor!! and i must say im very proud of this one seeing as how it was actually completed and looked like an actual scene. this is one of 2 landscapes that i completed using watercolors, and probably the last 2 landscapes i will complete using watercolors. im sure depending on the topics of illofridays future, i might pop out the watercolors for a more serious attempt and i might just even be happy with outcome. so i hope you guys give me some good criticism on this one. enjoy.

an illofriday repost....wisdom....

2005-08-19T17:12:00.000-04:00

well ive decided to repost this illofriday so you guys can get a better idea of what was put into it. i didnt even realize you could post pictures directly on here, which my buddy anonymous had told me. ive been using Hello to post my photos on here ever since i started the blog, and that is why you couldnt click on it and zoom in on it. i want you guys to enjoy my artwork to the full extent, so i have started with this one and have reposted it. hopefully now you can click on it and see the detail. however big it becomes once you click on it, thats as big as i could make it on this thing. if it works okay, then i will be posting all my illos this way from now on. enjoy!

Illofriday...wisdom...

2005-08-18T22:38:00.000-04:00

wisdom

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wow, you guys must really like me. you seem to always come back for more on these illofridays! by the way.....i thank you for that! just like a few other of my illo-masterpieces, this one came to me at the last minute. it actually has a deeper meaning behind it than you might think, although you guys are sometimes better than me at interpreting my work. so the whole idea i had for this one was that life is like a puzzle. there are soo many pieces to choose from that will fit into the empty spaces, but its very overwhelming and very tricky to figure out. however, if you use the wisdom that you have acquired over the years from those more experienced than you, it is less complicated to complete the puzzle....or in puzzle terms, you will atleast have the right pieces that put together the border. i always seem to do those first and then work my way in. either way you look at this one, i hope you like it and leave your comments on it. for those of you curious enough, yes i did use real puzzle pieces for this one. i figured the real pieces would give it a better effect than if i had just drawn in my own. TGIF. and...... enjoy.

NEW 311......TODAY!!!....

2005-08-16T08:39:00.000-04:00

311.. - DTOM

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well today is the day my friends. the 8th album, Don't Tread on Me, by the band that ive adored for over 10 years now, 311, is being released today for your listening pleasure. although many of the songs, including the whole album on myspace, has been leaked and most of you have already heard it all the way through. me being the big fan that i am, decided to wait for the cd to actually come out in stores to listen to it, so i could blast it on an awesome system either at home, or more preferably, in my ride. also, there are certain stores doing free giveaways with the purchase of the new cd, such as bsides, remixes, and even a free 7" vinyl with a few songs on it. if any of you remember from when Evolver came out, they gave away 7" vinyls with that one as well. im not exactly sure what stores are doing this, but i know if you go to the 311 website they will probably have it on there under their news section. i know for a fact Newburry Comics is doing this giveaway, since i had my sister purchase the cd there for me last year to get the record and there arent any of those stores around here. so check out what stores offer what before you buy, but definately go out and get this cd TODAY! im sure you will enjoy it. cant wait to see them on Sept 3rd in Tampa!!!!
'i am a music lover, and somehow i get paid. this song would still exsist if no money was made, thats the difference. i summed it up in a sentence." --311..

IlloFriday...empty....

2005-08-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

empty

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well here i am, running very, very short of the deadline for the illofriday of empty this week. although, i did make it and before friday morning at that. what now?! heres one that was inspired by myself and by andy warhol's marilyn monroe. i know its not an exact interpretation, but it gave me the idea to use a repetitive image in different colors and different shades. also, what better way to express the topic of empty than with a background of million dollar bills, but empty piggy banks. pritty ironic isnt it?? although when i was younger, my piggy bank was nearly empty and consisted of mostly pennies. if i was to check it now, im sure id be wishing to have those pennies back. ah well. hope you guys like this and hope you give me some comments! tgif tomorrow. cant hardly wait. until then...goodnite and enjoy.

IlloFriday....Aging...

2005-08-05T08:50:00.000-04:00

Aging

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heres a new attempt to my illofriday once again. eventhough it was probably because i was cutting it close to the deadline, all of my art supplies were at my parents house. so i improvised and thought all day yesterday of something i could throw together that i will still be proud of enough to post on the site and on my blog that would not only reflect my style, but that would still get the topic across clearly. as i was throwing this one together, i was really proud of the outcome and it also gave me another new piece to add to my growing collection. now i just have to work on trying out new sizes to my work. alot of these ones that i just bang out real quick a day or so before, are all usually 8x10 or smaller. with having limited space to do my art the way i would like to, its difficult to work on larger pieces that i was so use to doing. not to mention that these days its harder to store the bigger ones, eventhough they are my most favorite kind to create. the little black box on the hand that is holding the baby says 'one love.' i thought if you clicked on it from my blog it would be big enough to see but it wasnt. bummer. oh well, im still very excited about this piece and i went through a hundred quotes about aging before i found this one that i had to put on there. "Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art" - Garson Kanin. enjoy.

New York City.....here we come....

2005-07-29T09:10:00.000-04:00

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well today is the day. i get off of work nice and early and head my way down to the airport, curtis in tow, to fly up to New York for the weekend. ive been waiting and waiting and waiting for this day to come and im sooo excited to be seeing the city again, as well as my sister cheryl. we have a nite flight so when we start coming in for a landing we will get to see the city all lit up. man i cant wait to see that. im sure you have all heard over and over again what the purpose of my short vacation is, but i will tell you again anyways. we will be attending the Island Getaway festival on Sunday July 31st at Randall's Island. there we will see some awesome bands that i cant wait to see live. Jem, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Black Eyed Peas, and of course, Dave Matthews Band who will be headlining. all i know so far is that each band is going to alternate playing on 2 different stages and that for the big stage, we have warehouse lawn tickets. thanks charlie! im sure i will have tons of stories and pictures from our city adventures that i will have to share when i come back. hopefully cheryl and her first hand experience knows where we are going around the city on saturday. wish us luck that we wont get lost, although i doubt we will, but itll be fun either way. enjoy your weekends, i know i will be!

IlloFriday, success!.....Tranquility....

2005-07-28T09:19:00.000-04:00

Tranquility

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well here it is guys and gals....a completed (and on time) illofriday from your friend chacha. man some illofriday topics give me these awesome ideas that just hit me while im sitting at work. i was afraid with me having alot to do this week, because of my trip to New York this weekend, that i wouldnt have gotten an illofriday out at all....again. i was mad last week because i was busy on vacation and didnt get to partake on Karma, which could have been an interesting one to battle. but, i really love this piece and i just couldnt wait to get home from work yesterday so i could get out my paints and start crackin. for those of you who might not know, this is a japanese character, or Kanji, for the word Tranquility. anytime i hear very peaceful words such as tranquility or serenity etc., i always have very calming japanese images with the bamboo, characters, and the little birds and flowers in my mind. eventhough i took japanese for a few years back in high school, i still needed to look up this character online. boy my japanese teacher sure would have been disappointed, but there are soo many characters, there just wasnt enough time to learn them all, even for me being one of his top students. i enjoyed what i learned of the language and hope to learn more over the years, i really need to brush up on it...its been a while. hopefully, they will keep japanese in high school so other students can have the great experience with an interesting language just as i did. now back to the piece. just in case you were curious, i drew up the japanese character and just sponged it with acrylics, then i used one of those nerf suction cup darts for the yellow circles, acrylic as well. then i outlined the japanese character with a sharpie and brushed over a blue watercolor wash for the background. enjoy.

I dont work today....or the next 3 days.....

2005-07-21T23:14:00.000-04:00

well just like in the words of the black eyed peas...'pardon me as i celebrate!'....i have been on vacation since Friday, and lemme tell you its been great!! ive been doing soo much its actually been a worth while vacation. i went to west palm beach to see 2 back to back dave matthews band shows with curtis and the gang. then curtis took me to the Pier in St.Pete and then to Johns Pass in Madeira Beach where we did some shopping and had some great seafood for dinner. Today we spent the day in Fort Myers and hit up my two favorite places...Ritas and Sweet Tomatoes. Tomorrow were going to Sun Splash waterpark, saturday chillin maybe bowling, and then sunday were fishing to end out the week. its been great and ive been having a blast. only one more week of work and then its off to NYC baby to see Dave and Black Eyed Peas and Jem and Robert Randolph and the Family Band. im sooo stoked and i can hardly wait. im gonna get to bed now though. i just finished a mondo muffin from perkins and im pritty tired from running around fort myers today. sorry no illofriday this week, dont mean to leave you guys hanging. ill be back in action next week...hopefully. take it easy and ill be checking in later when im back to the grind.

awesome album...check it.....

2005-07-13T21:40:00.000-04:00

Jem - Finally Woken

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so i have found an amazing cd that was put out on Dave Matthews record label. the new cd by Jem is out in stores, and i would highly recommend buying it. cheryl introduced me to her by having me listen to the single 'they.' right then, i needed to hear more and it had sort of a sound to it that i was very familiar with. it sounded like evanescence/poe/ks choice/dido. sooo many artists yet her own unique sound. not only did i like what i heard, i went out and bought the cd which was very nicely priced at $9.99. it really makes my day when a minimum dollar cd purchase is actually worth every penny. i also checked this gurl out because she will be one of the featured artists at the Island Getaway on Randalls Island in NYC, which i will be attending on july 31st. if you dont buy the cd atleast check out some samples. my fave songs on this disc are '24', 'they', and 'save me.' although all the songs definately have their own uniqueness to them. i give this one 2 thumbs up, and nice find, dave, for signing her. enjoy this musical treat!
and on another note, this blog hasnt been working so great and not only could i not post all day, but i logged onto my email tonite and it came up with over 20 emails. mind you i had checked it before i left work for the day. all of my comments from the past 3 or 4 posts have popped up in my email. crazy how this thing has gliches and does crazy things on its own. odd id say.

IlloFriday....metropolitan...

2005-07-11T21:18:00.000-04:00

metropolitan

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here it is. an early one for me. actually, i sort of cheated. i had this one in my sketchbook and really liked it so i wanted to show it off. and what better topic than metropolitan to use it for. this was a sketch i had done a while back, and wanted to make one out of every medium i could find. i wanted to do one out of colored pencils, crayons, paints, newspaper clippings, pastels, charcoals..... anything. but turns out i only did one in pastels, pencil, and crayons. this one is, as you can probably tell, pastels. i started dipping into other pieces that emerged from this one little idea so of course i pushed it aside and starting working on my new ideas. ah well. guess this one can be picked up again sometime down the road and will come out even better than what i had planned. hope you guys like it and i will definately look forward to your feedback, just as i always do. so enjoy.

Jumping the Great Wall....

2005-07-08T13:50:00.000-04:00

danny way

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well this one just had to be added to the blog de chacha. one of my favorite extreme sports is skateboarding and DCShoeCo is one of my favorite brands and sponsors for this great sport. danny way, pictured above, is probably one of the most talented skaters out there, next to my man bob burnquist of course. sorry danny, bobs been my guy for as long as i can remember. back to the matter at hand, danny is hoping to set a record by jumping over the Great Wall of China on his skateboard. i actually saw a news interview a couple weekends ago about danny and his big jump. he actually has had practice with this on a huge drop in set up that leads right to a vert ramp thats he got out where he lives. supposedly they are going to be airing this live on either cnn or espn, one of those stations, but no times are scheduled that i know of right now. im sure the news and the internet will have something after the jump to put out there for us to check out. if you want more info on this amazing attempt, just go here and read the article or go and check out danny ways official site. i will definately keep my fingers crossed for danny and hope that he not only makes it, but lands safely on the other side. good luck danny and make skateboarding history, next to hawks 900 and burnquists completed death loop.

IlloFriday...Sport....

2005-07-07T20:31:00.000-04:00

sport

well i almost didnt make it this time. but here it is. i decided to take a different approach to illofriday this week. i know its last minute and a bad excuse for not doing something with my paints or pastels, but this is a good way to broaden my medium horizons. i thought i would try using photoshop and use the filters and tools to make my own artwork out of a photograph that was taken. the picture that was altered above, is of me fishing at the Venice Jetties down here in Florida. my boyfriend, Curtis, and I go fishing alot and since its a sport and I do it quite frequently, i thought it would fit the illofriday perfectly and would give me a chance to mess around with a program that im familiar with, but not a pro at. so here it is and i hope you like it. boy once i found that blurring tool, it was all downhill from there. i really liked the way it added those awesome swirls to the water, giving the picture a psychedelic feel to it. after all that fishing, i didnt even catch anything that day. it doesnt matter though, ive made up for it on others. so as always....enjoy.

oh and a little side note.....when cheryl finds out that i used photoshop and actually tried out the graphics world, she will just jump for joy. so here i am cheryl, dipping into your world. hope you like it and maybe you can give me some good pointers.

oh and another little side note....hope you guys like my new photo on here for my profile and comments. its a little sketch that is supposedly a little cartoon version of me. i did it a while back with colored pencils. i thought it was perfect and i think ill stick with it.

Congrats Cheryl....

2005-07-06T09:41:00.000-04:00

2005 Jeep

Posted by Hello
hey there guys. just wanted to give a shout out to my sister Cheryl, who just purchased a brand new 2005 black Jeep. im not quite sure all the stats on it, but i do know shes loving it and im sure shes crusing around boston enjoying the breeze blowing through her crazy hair. this is a big deal my friends! she was driving around in a 96 mitsubishi that she has had for literally years, and it was bout time she got something nice and brand new for herself. i drove that crazy car a few times, let me tell you it was quite the experience. even being in the back seat was an adventure. if she took a turn too quick, the bowling ball and other junk in the trunk would shift around and hit the back of the seat, punching me in the back everytime. and it was always fun to aim for potholes just cuz you could. i use to drive that car in my previous visits up there, and man i wish i was going up there this year so i could get my hands on that new jeep. i bet it was hard for her to get rid of her long time companion, but im sure she didnt have a problem trading it in for what shes got now. i feel like i should ship her up some fuzzy dice or something to make the purchase complete. well cheryl, congrats and i hope you enjoy your jeep!! heres to you staying dry while you drive home with the top off and hope that the rain doesnt just come pouring down out of no where. oh yeah.....drive safe!!

Live 8 - tomorrow - July 2, 2005....

2005-07-01T11:11:00.000-04:00

Live 8 2005

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hey guys. tomorrow is the day that Live 8 is hitting the streets and the airwaves. '10 concerts, 100 artists, a million spectators, 2 billion viewers, and 1 message... To get those 8 men, in that 1 room, to stop 30,000 children dying every single day of extreme poverty.' All over the world Live 8 will be the only thing that people should be tuning in to. there is an extremely talented and diverse line up that you can check out here. i am sooo jealous of anyone that attends any one of these shows. it surely will be a performance to remember. not only will there be various artists partaking in this great event, but something amazing will also be taking place, aside from making a change. one of my fave bands, and yours, Pink Floyd will be rejoining for the festivities and for this great cause. check out the whole scoop on it below. i still havent found any times posted for any of the listed performers, but there will be numerous radio and tv stations broadcast and streaming live from all over the world. check out your listings and definately tune in sometime throughout the day tomorrow and just endulge yourself in the music thats trying to wipe out poverty and hunger in africa. if you want more on the Live 8 scoop, check this out, it gives you a quick run down on what its all about. also go there and sign the petition. tune in tomorrow or youll be missing out on the biggest concert this year. get in the know and check it out. support the cause and enjoy the show.

Pink Floyd reunited...

2005-07-01T11:10:00.000-04:00

pink floyd

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yeah I know...no one believed me either when i went around and told everyone the real Floyd was getting back together. alot of people were skeptical about it at first, but after all of the media coverage up until this point, everyone is waiting in anticipation for the show tomorrow nite from London. check out this excerpt i snagged from the internet....

'Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof apparently couldn't get the Spice Girls back together, but he did pull off the long-rumored reunion of Pink Floyd. The band's classic lineup will perform together on July 2 at the Live 8 concert in London, marking the quartet's first live show together in 24 years.
The reunited Pink Floyd will join a lineup at London's Hyde Park that includes Mariah Carey, Coldplay, The Cure, Dido, Elton John, The Killers, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Paul McCartney, REM, Scissor Sisters, Snoop Dogg, Sting, Joss Stone, U2, and Velvet Revolver. Simultaneous all-star concerts are planned in Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, and Rome. A sixth show is scheduled for July 6 in Edinburgh, Scotland, close to the G8 economic conference of world leaders that gives Live 8 its name and purpose: raising concertgoers' consciousness and influencing G8 participants to combat poverty in Africa.
Bassist Roger Waters, who wrote most of Pink Floyd's music and lyrics during the era that saw such classic albums as Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and The Wall (1979), left the band in the mid-80s, then sued the other three members (guitarist-singer Gilmour, keyboardist Richard Wright, and drummer Nick Mason) over their use of the group's name, since they continued to record and tour as Pink Floyd for the next decade.
"Like most people I want to do everything I can to persuade the G8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world," Gilmour said in a statement on Sunday. "Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if reforming for this concert will help focus attention then it's got to be worthwhile."'

so yeah....you heard it right. Waters, Gilmour, Wright, and Mason will be reuniting for one show for this great cause. we will definately be checking all the channels and internet stations throughout the day so we do not miss this moment, which will hopefully be an amazing one. so check it out and get in the know. Pink Floyd back together again for one show in London tomorrow for Live 8. dont forget and enjoy the show.

IlloFriday....Heroes...

2005-06-30T09:03:00.000-04:00

heroes

Posted by Hello
well as you can see, i decided to go with the patriotic approach to the illofriday topic of Heroes. with the 4th of july coming up and all this war stuff going on, i figured it was a good time for me to take a second out of my busy day and to salute, if you will, all the men and women who fight for our country. with my sister living up in massachusetts and hanging with alot of folks on the military base, i have had some time to meet and chill with them, man those were good times!! even some of my own friends have joined the forces and are taking care of business. you guys rock. so instead of putting up a picture of my parents or even doing my interpretation of the most delicious hero of them all, a sandwich, i decided to put up one of my favorite art pieces in my collection and put a little patriotism into this illustration friday. not only do i hope all you guys enjoy my artwork and have a very fun and safe 4th of july, but i hope you take a second to appreciate the hard work our troops are doing, no matter how you feel on the whole situation. enjoy.

Also, as cheryl simply stated in her quick comment on here, this piece was painted on a piece of wood. like she said, it doesnt show through on this picture and i wish i could make it a bit bigger, but you get the idea of it on here. and i just thought i would add that to show that ive been using different mediums and using different materials for various outcomes with my art.

I win...why...because I win....

2005-06-27T16:29:00.000-04:00

my little red

Posted by Hello

2005-06-27T16:18:00.000-04:00

placida pier

Posted by Hello
well sorry curtis, but i won at fishing yesterday. curtis decided to take me out to a pier i hadnt fished on before, the pier down in Placida. we got down there around 2.30 or so and fished for about 2 or so hours. curtis thought he was being slick and decided to use 2 poles at once while i just stuck to my one all afternoon. boy were the fish biting and there sure were plenty of them swimming around. i started out by catching a little jack at the same time curtis was pulling up a nice sized lady fish. so the games began, with the score at 1 to 1. then i got another, a good sized sea trout, 1-2 chachas in the lead. then i pulled in another sea trout, 1-3. curtis getting a few bites here and there was trying to snag a huge snook he saw taunting him down below the waves, but didnt pull anything up. then i get a bite, this was a big guy. i reeled in to see that it was a big ol jack. this guy was pritty big, and very heavy. having a light test line and a light pole, he broke off and got away. man i would have liked to have taken a pic with that guy. oh well. but it counted on my score which was now 1-4. so then i hit a patch of fish, getting little reds and another good sized sea trout. one of my catches is in the pic with me up above. i finally had a huge one on the end of my line and it broke off all my goodies, so i was done for the day. the score was at 1-7 and i gave curtis some time to catch up. well he wanted to beat me so he was going to cast right into the school of fish i had been picking from. all of a sudden he gets a nibble and hooks one.....only to pull up that little guy you see in the picture above. sorry hun, but i won this day. you always get the biggest catch of the day and bring in the most fish, but sunday was my day and i kicked your butt. hmm wonder what new pier we will fish off of next time.

did you get your tickets??.....to the 311 show!!!....

2005-06-24T10:04:00.000-04:00

311 seats

Posted by Hello
HOLLA!!! i got us some kickin seats for the 311 show at the Tampa Bay Ford Amphitheatre on September 3rd. Cheryl, Jordan, and Curtis, I will be ever so pleased to announce that I have scored us some general admission pit area 'seats'. well standing area of course but dude how awesome is that?!? i scored us seats in the pit, right down where that little yellow oval is. i added that and a little note 'we are here' in paint, but it didnt come out as large as i thought it would. i guess it paid to wake up at 6pm from being sick all afternoon and having a huge migrane, to log onto the presale 311 site at 5.59 and hit buy tickets!! i ended up getting charged for 8 pit tickets, but after leaving some emails and messages to the ticket seller right after that happened, I am down to just one order of 4 pit tickets. i am sooo stoked not only to be going, but to have cheryl and jordan coming down and now getting pit tickets!! i have never been closer than the 3rd section at an amphitheatre show before. my first 311 show was at the House of Blues down here which is still my fave venue. that is the only show where i got up pritty close with a good view, from right behind the light and sound board. man can their light guy kick some tail during the show. he really gets into it and you can just feel the energy bursting off of him. hopefully this show will be a memerable one. and not to mention i believe this will be 311 show #7 for me. different cities, different states, different venues, different friends i went with all of that has made each show its own special one! cant wait to add this one to my list!
oh yeah one more thing before i got, i hope to see my Gabe there. ive missed him at the last couple shows and its just not a 311 show until gabe comes over just to let me know hes there and to look out for him in the pit.

311 Ticket Presale TODAY!!....

2005-06-23T14:05:00.000-04:00

311 & Unwritten Law 2005

Posted by Hello
so as you can all see by my beautiful new post, the 311 ticket presale for the Florida shows is tonite at 6pm standard eastern time. i am sooo stoked to be getting some good seats tonite for the September 3rd show at the Tampa Ford Amphitheatre. also, not only is 311 coming close to my city, but my sister Cheryl and our good buddy Jordan are flying in from Boston and California to attend this awesome Labor Day weekend show with curtis and i. sooo excited not only for them to be coming down and visiting us, but this will be the first time that cheryl flies down here to florida to attend a 311 show with me. the last couple years i have planned my vacation time around the 311 dates and i would fly up to boston, mass and attend the show with cheryl and jmg up there at either the fleetcenter or tweeter center. what a diehard fan arent i?!? well this year is a change and im soo excited that the tampa show is not only on a saturday nite, which calls for some ultimate partying, but it is also labor day weekend. itll be an awesome 3 day weekend, that i can go to the show and not worry about using any of my vacation time from work. how awesome is that?!?!? so go and check out if 311 is coming to a town near you, and if so get your tickets!!!!

IlloFriday...Black & White....

2005-06-22T09:17:00.000-04:00

black & white

Posted by Hello
okay guys, here it is. the long awaited black and white contribution to the site that we all know and love...illustration friday. i finished this one up last nite around 10.30 and boy am i proud of the outcome. it came out better than the original sketch, which is a rarity. i like it soo much its up there with my other fave pieces that ive done in the past. you guys gotta let me know what you think, and im sure you will. oh by the way, there was a bit of inspiration behind this piece, besides the ever obvious topic of black and white. cheryl would be proud to know that i have had the lyrics to one of her fave songs by her fave band for a while and i finally decided to use them as an art piece. the song is...drum roll please. The beauty of gray by her boys Live. i went and saw them last year, and i was lucky enough to hear them play this song. it quickly became one of those songs i cant stop listening to and im glad i could use it to create a piece of art, and not to mention a piece that fit the illofriday topic perfectly. you can check out the lyrics of the song here!....you should read em, they are pritty inspiring. also, i realized there was another song that i love to blast from my car stereo that would also fit this topic. that song is The gray race from one of my fave bands Bad Religion. check out those lyrics here! so thats that. not only am i proud of my new masterpiece, but i found the perfect idea that fits the topic, and im early!!!! man its only wednesday and im done. this could be an illofriday record for chacha. well back to work now. enjoy!

On a lighter note...a family guy movie...

2005-06-21T10:49:00.000-04:00

boy oh boy the fans will be thrilled....check this out from AOL News......
"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane is preparing his long-awaited direct-to-DVD movie based on the exploits of his cartoon clan for a Sept. 27 release. "It's been an enormous undertaking to juggle this with doing 35 new episodes of the show, but we think it turned out great," MacFarlane said of the film, his first full-length feature, and the first direct-to-video ever made off a television franchise. The 83-minute, unrated "Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" ($29.98) is based on the animated series MacFarlane created for Fox Television in the late 1990s. The irreverent series, aimed at adults rather than kids, went on the air in early 1999 and was canceled in 2003, only to be resurrected last month after an overwhelming demand for the show on DVD. The first DVD set sold more than 2.5 million units, the second-highest sales tally of any TV-DVD release behind the first season of "Chappelle's Show," and two subsequent packages lifted the "Family Guy" franchise's total sales to about 4.5 million units. That prompted Fox to take the unprecedented step of bringing back the show. The new season debuted in May and has since featured a bevy of guest voices, including Drew Barrymore, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Tilly and Adam West. "Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin" is something of a thank you to the show's fans who bought so many DVDs, MacFarlane said. "Fox had such a great amount of success with the previous DVD releases that I think they felt there was a built-in, surefire market for a 'Family Guy' DVD," he said. "It's also a lot easier to put out a DVD release than it is a theatrical film while you're doing a television series." The movie finds Stewie, the maniacal baby genius, having a near-death experience that prompts him to change his ways. Instead of seeking to dominate the world, he sets out on a road trip to find his real father. Guest vocal talent includes Barrymore and Ron Livingston, as well as three cast members of "Beverly Hills, 90210" -- Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling -- "in a special gag," MacFarlane said. The DVD will include several special features, including deleted scenes, still galleries, animatics and a commentary from MacFarlane. "We also sandwiched special features around the movie," he said. "It begins with an animated movie premiere, with the family arriving to watch it, and then there's an after-party at the end." 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is planning the biggest marketing campaign ever for a TV-spawned release, according to division worldwide president Mike Dunn. Plans include national print and TV advertising as well as a viral marketing campaign targeting college students at bars, clubs and fraternity parties; special screenings will be held for college students."....
im sure this will be a must have in our home...im sure you guys will agree...that little stewie cracks me up...especially sunday nites episode when they shot to a clip of him starring in his own ipod commercial.....hilarious!!!!!.....if you missed it you definately missed out!!....i think it would be alot more successful if they released it into the theaters....how awesome would that be?!?!....

sad soul asylum news....

2005-06-21T10:40:00.000-04:00

this just in from AOL News....sad times for our old rock favorite Soul Asylum....read on....
"Karl Mueller, bassist and founding member of the Minneapolis-based rock act Soul Asylum, died Friday at his home, according to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. He was 41.
Diagnosed with throat cancer in May 2004, Mueller underwent radiation treatment and was said to have been in and out of the hospital in recent months. In the early 1980s, Mueller formed Loud Fast Rules with singer/guitarist Dave Pirner and drummer Dan Murphy, a band that became Soul Asylum three years later. After a period of underground notoriety, the band achieved mainstream success with its 1992 breakthrough, "Grave Dancers Union" (Columbia). Mueller's cancer was in remission in October when such veterans of the Minneapolis music scene as the Replacements' Paul Westerberg and Husker Du's Bob Mould staged a benefit concert to help with spiraling medical costs. Mueller also joined his bandmates for a Soul Asylum performance at the show.The Star Tribune reports that Mueller, Pirner and Murphy recorded a new Soul Asylum album earlier this year and had been "negotiating with a major label" for its release. A memorial service will be held at noon Wednesday at Lakewood Cemetery Chapel in Minneapolis. In Mueller's paid obituary in the Star Tribune, Pirner, Murphy and former Soul Asylum road manager Bill Sullivan are listed as "bandmates and brothers," even though the bassist was an only child. He is survived by his wife, Mary Beth, and his mother, Mary."

Its all about the Cha-Cha Bowls....

2005-06-20T11:45:00.000-04:00

so jmg and cheryl have both emailed me about this Bill Simmons and how he does a column that they always check out...well i guess in one of his columns, he wrote about his experience with chacha bowls...pritty crazy how they would name a food after me but for everyone to go soley for this purpose, nearly blew my mind...here check out what he wrote about it....
'6. The Cha Cha Bowls (Pac Bell Stadium) When I went to a Giants game five years ago, my friend Mikey dragged me to a BBQ place in the center-field bleachers for Cha-Cha bowls, saying, "It's all about the Cha-Cha bowls." You tend to trust the opinion of someone who once owned a mammoth Traci Lords video collection. At least I do. Anyway, he wasn't kidding – it was all about the Cha Cha bowls: Caribbean jerk chicken, beans, rice, BBQ sauce, other goodies … all in a big plastic bowl for just $8.50. Best ballpark food ever. '
wow now how bizarre would it be for chacha to go to the pac bell stadium to check out the chacha bowls?!?, sounds like a kodak moment to me!! hopefully i would like them although it sounds kinda hot...but if they say it is the best ballpark food ever well then i guess we will definately have to believe them....just the name alone makes it sound like a must have! and i should definately become the next chacha bowl spokesperson and add model, talk about a good marketing strategy!