The Praxis Show

For the next seven days, you can view and bid on ebay for artwork by some of my favorite artists. They have created and/or donated work inspired by my dog, Praxis. Most of these artists have met Praxis, or know how much he's meant to me, and donated their time and talent to my effort to raise funds to pay for Praxis' chemotherapy and other medical bills after he was diagnosed with lymphoma in May 2008.

I've held on to these for a while, maybe too long, and I only kind of know why. Since the diagnosis, I've been in a strange state trying to wrap my head around losing a loved one to an illness like cancer. You have to accept that there's no cure, and that treatment can buy you time, but there's never a guarantee of quality of life, and certainly no sense of how long that time will last. Engaging in this artwork, all of it capturing some part of Praxis and my love for him, brings that home for me... and I'm not always strong enough to find a way to deal with the loss that's looming ahead. I think part of me also wants to keep it all!! Each piece is so fantastic... truly. This is a talented bunch and I'm incredibly lucky to have these folks as friends. This is an exciting time in my life. This is the first time I've had so many creative friends who are successful in their endeavors and inspire the same in others.

The work ranges from oil paintings to gooco prints and is a diverse collection of talents and styles, and 10% of the proceeds will go to The Magic Bullet Fund to help other pet owners find funds for expensive cancer treatments. It's a terrible feeling to have... to not be able to afford something that can help an animal you've loved and cared for. It made me feel powerless and disloyal. That was afwul, and I hate to think of anyone being in that position.

Check out the auctions on eBay!

Please enjoy the work. You can check it out on ebay, or on my flickr page. Bid if you feel so inclined and spread the word! Participating artists include Jeffrey Brown, David Horvath & Sun Min Kim, Martin Ontiveros, Seonna Hong, Christiaan van Bremen, Martin Cendreda, Silvio Porretta, and Susie Ghahremani.

Flickr Fun

Read a tweet from my friend Vidalia saying that an Irish rock band had used her Flickr stream to piece together a music video. Reason enough to watch it! Next tweet said that Praxis was in it, and he is!

J. is an amazingly talented photographer who is able to capture the best and worst from people, in the most invitingly fun way. She snaps pics for Juxtapoz, LAist, and others, and she's one of those friends I wish could make the best kind of living doing the thing she loves and is GOOD AT!

A coffee table book of her Mr. T pics is long overdue. If anyone has any offers, I'll be happy to step in and act as her temporary literary agent and make that shit happen!

the 20|20's - Psycotic Erotic

Happy Birthday, Praxis!!

Tomorrow is Praxis' 14th birthday. I'm having a surprise party for him tomorrow night at Scoops (as seen in GR) his favorite place for vegan ice cream treats. Last year, for this 13th birthday, Tai made Praxis a special batch of vegan Peanut Butter & Coconut ice cream and we had a party at home with friends (canine and primate) and partied like rockstars.... sort of. Praxis was totally pooped by the end of it.

The party was one of the first I'd had in my new house. It was one of those things that made my house feel like home. Some of the best people I know came to help celebrate. They aren't just the best people I know because they understand how much I love my pup, but they just simply are... really great people. Praxis got lots of love that night. He was showered with prezzies, snacks, brain freezes from his special ice cream, and weird anxiety from the giant dog cake he wasn't sure what to do with.

Esther was with us then. I'm thinking of her a lot lately, especially when I think of how for a short time I was able to share a lot of love with her, but not enough sharing for me... I wish I had more time to give her more. Every dog deserves love, ice cream, birthday parties and friends. I'm happy I was able to give Esther a taste of all that, I just wish she was with us to have some more this year, and next, and the one after that...

So, yeah, if you're near the Bicycle District at around 8:30-9 pm ish, then join us for some of the best ice cream in LA, and wish my pup a happy birthday with me! It's a surpise party, so don't spill the beans to the birthday boy...