Here are some things my friends have been up to. Lately I've had some talks with friends about sources of inspiration. For me, friends creating good works are inspiring. There's a dialogue that can transcend forms; seeing something good by someone else makes me want to share something with them.
Nick Harmer is the friend I've had longest for life, we've known each other since we were 12 years old. Most of you know him as the bass player in Death Cab for Cutie. He was going to blog here with me; and in the archives there's still like two posts by him. Anyway he's started his own which features an amazing news story on emo culture that has us culpable for teen suicide (no really), as well short fiction, which he hopes to have more of. He just posted his first short story there. Check out his blog colony collapse here.
Illustrator Josh Cochran has redone his website right here. There's always something amazing to look at there. This is only about some of Josh's work, but his pieces featuring war zone imagery I especially take note of; in an age when a lot of artists I know are frustrated with political process and how to put in their work Josh somehow captures the feeling of the times. Here's one I just happen to like, though.
Another Dan-Ah Kim illustration I didn't see at first from Dan-Ah's Etsy store where there are some very affordable giclee prints. I respond to this one so much because it reminds me of my recent little adventure. I'm totally biased to what she does because she makes art that looks like the way things feel inside my head, once they get translated into memory or daydream.
Cat Kim did this as more of a doodle than anything but I like it so much here it is. Here's a link to her site but all that's up now is what happened when I asked a girl to the prom.
And lastly, this is from an email from a friend in Japan. I've had a shift lately that has been good for me as far as inspiration goes, as well. I declared myself an atheist at the age of five. I know that sounds ludicrous but my parents remember it well - between their Christianity and Bhuddism they kind of left their kids to make up their own minds. Lately I've had some sort of internal reckoning that didn't happen all at once but gradually. I got bored and angry with the declarations and praise heaped upon people like Dawkins and Harris - atheism as a religion. Martin mentioned Fortean Times in his blog. Arrogance and ignorance are always two heady combinations. I've come to find that the world is mysterious and uncanny. Every single person has some sort of unexplained event or memory of a stray perception into something unknowable. Maybe not knowing how the universe works exactly is something beautiful in itself. I've derived inspiration from that. Most importantly, respect and listening to others' beliefs has tuned me into something, some frequency that was missing.
My friend in Japan writes beautiful emails to me from time to time. And here's what she wrote recently when I asked her to tell me some ghost stories. English is not an easy language for her but I think she writes beautifully, and even better than I just did:
When I was 21, I used to live in Seto, a city near Nagoya.
My apartment was located at the crossroad.
There were traffic accident frequently, so I kind of got used to it.
One night I heard the crash and thought that someone got hit by a car.
But it was really late and I was so tired. I went back to sleep.
Then, the next moment I realized, I could feel that someone was standing right next to me.
I was so scared that I tried to keep my eyes shut.
Even though I kept my eyes shut, I could somehow see this woman.
She started walking around and told me that she could've been saved if I called for help.
She was blaming me for not calling.
I tried to say something, but I couldn't talk and I couldn't move.
I chant buddhism mantra in my head because that's what we are supposed to do when we encounter ghost in Japanese fairy tails.
I think I fell asleep eventually, and when I woke up in the morning, I found all my window in my room was wide open.
I was really cautious and I even drew the curttain with clothespin to make sure that it's shut completely before I go to bed.
So it's impossible that the window was open. But I found all the clothespins on the floor and the curtain and the window was open.
Anyway, there wasn't any accident that night, so I didn't have to feel guilty about not calling.
But I used to see her afterwards time to time. I really wanted to move there because it was a bit creepy, but I couldn't.
I didn't have enough money.
My friends told me that I might be drunk and I had nightmare and didn't remember that I opened the window and etc.
But I wasn't drinking that night and it seemed so real.
Well, that's my ghost story when I was 21.
I used to see an old man standing in the tiny space between the fence of parking lot and the buidling next to it.
It's impossible for a guy to stand such tiny space(it's a space that I can hardly put my hand in it), but here he was standing it.
The moment I realize that he's there, he disappears.
But I never felt scared or creepy at all.
I told my mom about him. She told me that he sounds like a guy who had cafe near the place..
I also told my friend and she told me that he must be the cafe guy. She told me that I could see a photo of him at city's history museum as his family donated his old movie posters and record collections when he died.
So I went to the museum and it was the guy that I always saw.
It was quite nice as he seems to love movies and music, too.
I don't consider myself as religious, but I can say that I'm pretty superstitious.
I believe that there will be some unknown power or will that somehow makes this world what it is.
Religion is sort of the tool that opens the door for this unknown thing.
So it doesn't make any sense to me to fight over which religion is right as after all, it's the same thing.
So here are some suggestions for inspiration: listen to beliefs that aren't your own, ask someone to tell you their first memory or the strangest most unusual thing that's ever happened to them, watch some good fight scenes, eat amazing food and drink coffee or tea, see what your friends are working on, write overly long emails and ask for the same, listen to music you don't normally listen to, try doing something in a style you never have before, and share your work, the things you love. If they don't work at least you'll have fun.
Nick Harmer is the friend I've had longest for life, we've known each other since we were 12 years old. Most of you know him as the bass player in Death Cab for Cutie. He was going to blog here with me; and in the archives there's still like two posts by him. Anyway he's started his own which features an amazing news story on emo culture that has us culpable for teen suicide (no really), as well short fiction, which he hopes to have more of. He just posted his first short story there. Check out his blog colony collapse here.
Illustrator Josh Cochran has redone his website right here. There's always something amazing to look at there. This is only about some of Josh's work, but his pieces featuring war zone imagery I especially take note of; in an age when a lot of artists I know are frustrated with political process and how to put in their work Josh somehow captures the feeling of the times. Here's one I just happen to like, though.
Another Dan-Ah Kim illustration I didn't see at first from Dan-Ah's Etsy store where there are some very affordable giclee prints. I respond to this one so much because it reminds me of my recent little adventure. I'm totally biased to what she does because she makes art that looks like the way things feel inside my head, once they get translated into memory or daydream.
Cat Kim did this as more of a doodle than anything but I like it so much here it is. Here's a link to her site but all that's up now is what happened when I asked a girl to the prom.
And lastly, this is from an email from a friend in Japan. I've had a shift lately that has been good for me as far as inspiration goes, as well. I declared myself an atheist at the age of five. I know that sounds ludicrous but my parents remember it well - between their Christianity and Bhuddism they kind of left their kids to make up their own minds. Lately I've had some sort of internal reckoning that didn't happen all at once but gradually. I got bored and angry with the declarations and praise heaped upon people like Dawkins and Harris - atheism as a religion. Martin mentioned Fortean Times in his blog. Arrogance and ignorance are always two heady combinations. I've come to find that the world is mysterious and uncanny. Every single person has some sort of unexplained event or memory of a stray perception into something unknowable. Maybe not knowing how the universe works exactly is something beautiful in itself. I've derived inspiration from that. Most importantly, respect and listening to others' beliefs has tuned me into something, some frequency that was missing.
My friend in Japan writes beautiful emails to me from time to time. And here's what she wrote recently when I asked her to tell me some ghost stories. English is not an easy language for her but I think she writes beautifully, and even better than I just did:
When I was 21, I used to live in Seto, a city near Nagoya.
My apartment was located at the crossroad.
There were traffic accident frequently, so I kind of got used to it.
One night I heard the crash and thought that someone got hit by a car.
But it was really late and I was so tired. I went back to sleep.
Then, the next moment I realized, I could feel that someone was standing right next to me.
I was so scared that I tried to keep my eyes shut.
Even though I kept my eyes shut, I could somehow see this woman.
She started walking around and told me that she could've been saved if I called for help.
She was blaming me for not calling.
I tried to say something, but I couldn't talk and I couldn't move.
I chant buddhism mantra in my head because that's what we are supposed to do when we encounter ghost in Japanese fairy tails.
I think I fell asleep eventually, and when I woke up in the morning, I found all my window in my room was wide open.
I was really cautious and I even drew the curttain with clothespin to make sure that it's shut completely before I go to bed.
So it's impossible that the window was open. But I found all the clothespins on the floor and the curtain and the window was open.
Anyway, there wasn't any accident that night, so I didn't have to feel guilty about not calling.
But I used to see her afterwards time to time. I really wanted to move there because it was a bit creepy, but I couldn't.
I didn't have enough money.
My friends told me that I might be drunk and I had nightmare and didn't remember that I opened the window and etc.
But I wasn't drinking that night and it seemed so real.
Well, that's my ghost story when I was 21.
I used to see an old man standing in the tiny space between the fence of parking lot and the buidling next to it.
It's impossible for a guy to stand such tiny space(it's a space that I can hardly put my hand in it), but here he was standing it.
The moment I realize that he's there, he disappears.
But I never felt scared or creepy at all.
I told my mom about him. She told me that he sounds like a guy who had cafe near the place..
I also told my friend and she told me that he must be the cafe guy. She told me that I could see a photo of him at city's history museum as his family donated his old movie posters and record collections when he died.
So I went to the museum and it was the guy that I always saw.
It was quite nice as he seems to love movies and music, too.
I don't consider myself as religious, but I can say that I'm pretty superstitious.
I believe that there will be some unknown power or will that somehow makes this world what it is.
Religion is sort of the tool that opens the door for this unknown thing.
So it doesn't make any sense to me to fight over which religion is right as after all, it's the same thing.
So here are some suggestions for inspiration: listen to beliefs that aren't your own, ask someone to tell you their first memory or the strangest most unusual thing that's ever happened to them, watch some good fight scenes, eat amazing food and drink coffee or tea, see what your friends are working on, write overly long emails and ask for the same, listen to music you don't normally listen to, try doing something in a style you never have before, and share your work, the things you love. If they don't work at least you'll have fun.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home