huy's freetime

huys freetime means that he is not unloading boxes at adidas, has a beer in his hand and a skateboard in his other hand, is standing over his octopus like screenprint machine, making things either for hasbeen design or scumdays. his latest obsession is stopmotion photo movies. here is an example of a photo movie and a scumday skate gem!!!



www.hasbeendesign.com
www.scumdays.blogspot.com

An EXCERPT from howie

a dear friend who uprooted himself from Portland, Oregon to Doha, Qatar a few weeks ago. You are missed. XO

"Most days aren't too exciting. I'm mentally exhausted when I come home from work. I'll tell you about my most interesting day in Doha, it began last Friday. My neighbor Mohammed picked me up around 11:00 AM, and we drove to a Mosque. On the way to prayer, he told me hated George Bush. He said, "America's is in the middle east for oil." I didn't disagree with him. Further along in the car ride, he explained the differences between Shi'ite muslims and Sunni muslims. The Shi'ites are to Sunni's as catholics are to protestants. After a short while we arrived at the Mosque. Mohammed drove right to the front of the mosque, and blocked in a car or two. I laughed. We walked into a courtyard outside the mosque, took off our socks and shoes, and entered a wash room with white marble floors and polished silver colored faucets lining the walls. I imitated Mohammed's movements; I washed my feet, hands and face. Once I dried off, I entered the mosque and sat on a carpet and listened to a Sheikh give an ardent sermon. During the speech, the Sheikh's intonation was passionate and his mannerisms were forceful - he threw his hands around like a man with some shit on his mind. After 30 minutes into the sermon, Mohammed leaned over and told me, "The sermon is about sex before you're married." I laughed to myself. Later in the day, I told him, "Now, I know why you laughed during the sermon." Mohammed has no problems (making love to)* ladies outside of marriage, and I doubt he has any trouble picking them up either. He's a suave guy who resembles Mario Lopez. After the sermon, we went to a Syrian restaurant, and Mohammed tried to boss his girlfriend around over the phone while I laughed. His girlfriend is from Oregon and has no problems telling him what she is and isn't gonna do. After he got off the phone, he told me, "American women are to, to, to." "Independent", I responded. The ladies in Syria are more acquiescent than American ladies, if I can make that generalization."
*edited word choice

feverish

A good picture is equivalent to a good deed.

- Vincent van Gogh

photo by j. crowe

a T-chart

Um, so Japan rattled and rolled recently and then a massive wave washed over the shores of a city. Its in pretty bad shape, and sadly things haven't gotten too much better for those who have suffered the worst. I was still 4 days short of flying to Tokyo when the earthquake hit but that meant that I had to make a decision: Stay or Go...
Its difficult making these kind of decisions... a school of children are depending on me to teach, its only a week before I am supposed to start work, they've already got enough shit on their plates a the moment vs. the unknown fear of possible nuclear radiation, your scientific inclined friends telling you about the importance of your thyroid gland and the friend in Japan whose mentioned the lack of bottled water available and the likelihood of electrical blackouts for the next few months. UGH.
WHAT NEXT? I am looking forward to the next 6 months as flowers blossom and the sun begins to shine. I haven't had summer in a while and I am feeling pretty lucky to be in Oregon for this next one.
So my travel blog won't be so much about the freedom one experiences whilst on the road... at least not for a while. I am not sure what's next but i am keeping thoughts positive and fingers crossed for some MAGIC.

love,
ckd

i ate a rainbow

sometimes when i am sick and snot is blocking my breathing passages i like to remember the better, healthier moments when i felt like a stallion and grooved for 8 hours at Fog & Bubbles Dance Party Extravaganza 2011!!!!

i am glad its not sunny today

i wanna flox

(art by Flox)

i rode up to the mountain with a friend of a friend recently who was surprisingly out of control... i wont go into details but i was scared and i thought "dammit how'd i get myself into this situation". but the reality is i get myself into those situations all the time and normally things work out just fine, including this time, i was home safe and sound a few hours later. A little extra sore from a collision on the mountain (getting hit full speed by this dude). Aside from the minor uncomfortableness and lack of trust i had for this person, he was wonderful, full of great ideas and fun to be around, additionally he put into words something which i've felt for a long time "I have a special connection with birds," I asked him why and he said because he wants to be able to fly. I smiled and nodded, but inside there were small fireworks going off in my mind "me too! actually i think i am kind of a bird" but i didn't tell him this.

recently life introduced me to another person who has a special connection to birds and kind of reminds me of one due to the fact that he is incredibly independent, nests in rafters and seems to frequently migrate North to South. He blows my mind with his ability to create relentlessly. Makes me giddy inside that I made such a cool new friend during my brief stint back in Oregon.

I have twelve days left in USA until I fly to Japan, they are going to go by fast. I am so happy I came home, even if it was brief and fleeting its been full of romantic dates with my best friends, making memories with the family, exploring the free events around portland (please watch Y La Bamba video courtesy of Barbarapartment.com) all around a damn good time.

Y La Bamba — Dialect Of Faith from bar bar apartment sessions on Vimeo.