Pizza Box Tilley
My old roommate and I would rummage through the used magazine section at Half Price Books stores for New Yorker magazines, drawn to their illustrations. And as an unabashed “Spaced” fan, he made his own Flaps magazine by slapping his own rendition of the fake women’s mag’s nameplate onto a New Yorker. He proudly displayed his creation … Read more
Ptero Call
My portrait (above) finally came back from FreeCrappyPortraits.com, pterodactyl and all. This illustrious piece was culled from the photo I submitted of smiley Josh: I also mentioned my love for comic books, techno and dinosaurs. I joined the FCP roster of artists late last year. When the founding members of the website were asked to … Read more
Legendary
2012 will certainly not be a boring year for China. When I traveled through China last summer, my colleagues and I felt the cursory effects of the Jasmine Revolution. (Note: Do not whip out your camera upon the masses.) I’ve been meaning to go back because the country faces the deadly combination of slow economic … Read more
Post-Holiday Blues
Photo by Joshua Barajas I’ve only kept one newspaper article. I have a 2003 USA Today newspaper clip on the I-30 tree near Ft. Worth, TX. It has since yellowed, but I’ve kept the clip for the story’s underdog narrative and the fact that a national newspaper covered an extremely local curio. Sadly, the online … Read more
Chelsea
I recently found a disc of my very first video art projects. It probably didn’t need to be exhumed, but these are the seeds of my fascination with video. If I didn’t take that video art class at New York University or become friends with many RTF students, I probably wouldn’t be pursuing a career … Read more
100,000
Last week I crossed the 100,000 threshold at Last.fm A lot could be discussed about my music consumption, but there are already excellent posts about the topic. The effects of my musical gluttony have been tinnitus, missed social connections and an impractical amount of CDs, vinyl and external hard drives. But my Last.fm profile fails … Read more
Burroughs Adding Machine
I need help dating a typewriter. My stepfather recently unearthed a Burroughs adding machine from his father’s garage (above). We’ve looked at several photos and websites for reference, but the closest we got to honing in on the date was deciding that it was awfully similar to the 1931 model. We also can’t locate a … Read more
Self
During my summer abroad in China, many of my fellow foreign correspondents captured me in various formats. Lizzie Chen, in particular, shot numerous photos and videos of me sleeping on a bed, couch or bus. And Ngan Ho drew my signature annoyed and/or thinking face during a morning meeting (below). With so many versions of … Read more
A Otra Cosa, Mariposa
It has taken four years to know how my brother felt about our father’s sudden death. For my mother, sister and me, our reactions were immediate. Mom morphed into a drunken, karaoke barfly. Despite a stormy relationship, my sister now recalls my father as “a good man, father, husband and friend” and praises him in … Read more
Megaceros
Irish Elk (Megaceros), Pleistocene Epoch Entry in “Fossils: A Guide to Prehistoric Life“: Europe had antlers up to 11 ft. across, the largest know deer. The collage is mostly made out of a newspaper weather map. Materials also include tissue paper, other parts of a newspaper, colored pencils, watercolors, pen. No matter how I saw the … Read more
