“It’s interesting that most everyone seems to be as creative (and in most cases, maybe even more creative) than in our formative years,” Toby Gibson observed in a recent thread.
“Definitely we need a topic on how everyone is venting their creative bent these days. I’ll leave it at that and save the long-winded rant for the actual thread.”
Abridging my own long-winded rant, Toby nails another great topic. Nostalgia is a rich vein indeed, but this group is more than the sum of its memories. From Toby’s own writing to Patrick Works’ and Dave Doyle’s photography to Todd Lahman’s tonsorial stylings to the welter of punk-rock chefs in the house — to the folks who are still making music, of course — there’s a lot of creativity here (both money-making and otherwise).
Floor’s open: What are you creating nowadays?
Good topic . I’ve been playing music in various degrees for my whole life , not as long as I’ve been drawing though . I get my creative kicks in the field of tattooing .
I’ve been a professional tattooer now for 22 years starting out behind the Funland arcade in the little shop that used to be there . State street & Broadway .
I did a year or so out of my house and then got a job at the shop I’ve been at now for almost 19 yeras Along with tattooing I still play guitar and keyboard , mostly just for fun though . I was in a few ill fated bands that never went very far , in terms of ” success ” . We had lots of fun and got laid a lot so I guess it was all for the better in the end .
Aside from that I paint with water colour and do wood carving in the form of Polynisian tikis , neither as much as I’d like to but they both add to my creative outlet of tattooing and keeping me sane . Oh and I made a little baby , that was pretty creative I think , and he turned out pretty neat .
I’d like to think that relaxing was a creative outlet as I try to do that as offten as possible . . . making tropical drinks . . . does that count ?
>>I’d like to think that relaxing was a creative outlet as I try to do that as offten as possible . . . making tropical drinks . . . does that count ?
Mike: Works for me — especially if you use paper umbrellas!
One more drop of oil on the conversational gears: What’s your definition of “creative” activity? Mine’s pretty inclusive and doesn’t distinguish much based on how much money it makes — both “commercial” and “amateur” are problematic words for me. Oh, and “hobby” bugs the crap out of me! 🙂
My name is Toby, and I’m hooked on Phonics.
Nothing embarrassing about poetry- formal or otherwise. At this point in time poetry comprises easily more than half of my reading. Late in life I’ve learned to enjoy poetry again, I think in large part because of the huge surge of new artists in the wake of “poetry slam”, something I can give or take. I think with the huge influx of “ghetto poetry” (a lot of which I find kind of derivative and predictable) came an enormous backlash from gifted poets who embraced another direction entirely- kind of like the difference between the beats and Bukowski. Both good, but definitely coming from different beginnings and with messages worlds apart yet also similar.
I also dabble at poetry- probably more Bukowski in mine than anything more formal. I’ve never had the discipline or the keen insight it takes (or the patience) for the classics- I’m an admitted (or maybe reluctant) philistine. That’s just me though- I’ve also read maybe half of every book in my house. The poetry though- that’s something that started with me writing song lyrics on my high school book covers and it just never stopped. I’ve got stacks of notebooks filled with notes and poetry, stories and whatever overflows my brain. For twenty+ years I’ve pretty much always carried a notebook in my pocket or on my person. I suppose it all started when my mom used to make me write down my dreams every morning first thing (another byproduct of that is I’ve always seemed to be able to recall an inordinate amount of dreams most morning, some with startling clarity.)
I dabble at photography, dabble at poetry, dabble at fiction- obsessive compulsive dabbler. Lately I’ve put protools to use and started doing audio, the very rudimentary first tries coming off better than I expected. It’s amazing how telling audio is- it reveals every flaw in your writing as well as your presentation. After the first few tries I am sold on the idea that I’m no longer done editing until it’s passed the acid test of audio.
Some of my stuff is here:
http://www.myspace.com/Randomnonsequitur
Writing is therapy, for me- a way to work things out on paper or just to vent or get things put in their proper compartments in my head. (truth be told it also gives me a place to harass whatever or whoever is bothering me- usually a societal group or demographic- and that, for me, is priceless. Much more stylish than climbing a tall building with a hunting rifle and imploding live on the evening news. 😉 )
One of my favorites of late- Nercity:
He’s pretty militant usually (this video is probably his friendliest work) but I find it appealing that a lot of his beliefs and politics are very similar to my own.
Poetry is for fags.
Wow- that’s deep.
Thanks for the support, Toby and Lou. Not protesting too much are you, Lou? Sorry--faggy Shakespeare reference…
John Wayne was a fag. I installed two-way mirrors in his pad in Brentwood. He came to the door in a dress.
John Wayne was a midget, he rode ponies in his westerns.
His first name is Marian and he wrote poems.
Well, maybe, but there’s no truth to the rumor that, late in his career, he fronted a dwarf punk rock outfit, Marion and the Ponyfaggot Cowboys, their lyrics derived entirely from Spenser’s Amoretti…
I’ve never really written poetry. I’m sure it’s got everything to do with not wanting to go into the family business. … Goodness knows I’ve tried my hand at a lot of other media, but there’s a big mental block there — one of these days I’ll find the right SSRI, and it’ll all come pouring out!
But Lou I thought you were up for Poet Laureate?? Is there something you want to tell us?? Are you speaking in code?
🙂
>>a dwarf punk rock outfit
THE LITTLE KINGZ on FOX TV Uncovered
Not that there is anything wrong with it.
I read alot of Henry Gibson
Hoot!
Mathew in regards to the paper umbrellas , I do in fact .
No tropical drink is truly tropical until it has a paper umbrella !
I cook
I’m not sure if this would be considered a creative outlet, but my favorite pastime is to keep my high powered (sniper) rifle close at hand. I enjoy lugging it around random rooftops, setting the gun securely on it’s tripod mount, and zeroing in on the anonymous people below. It’s quite relaxing, methodically taking the parts out of the foam lined case, building the gun to my specifications, and then carefully breaking the gun down, setting the parts in their respective spots and locking the case. I hardly ever bring bullets anymore….
By the way, Mr. Lahman is a magic man with scissors and straight razor.
I guess I’m a fag cause dig poetry, ha!
I am a bit of working class art fag, I paint house’s and anything else that does not move and then I also oil paint, draw and what ever else I can get into.
Had a kid a 3 years ago which led to me leaving my last band around 2 years ago. I got to sit in and record a talking blues part with David Rinck, Dave Ellison, Dave Fleminger, Matt Johnsons and Kristi Maddocks a sort time ago, this has given me a bit of a itch to start doing a band or maybe just recording again.
This might sound really weird on a site like this, but in my spare time…
…wait for it…
i play music. 🙂
Well, in addition to playing in Manual Scan and The Shambles, I’ve also been part of a couple of Gary Shuffler’s tribute acts. I was/am in both “Queenly” (obviously a Queen trib) and “Gary and the Gnats” (Adam and the Ants).
Beyond that, I have suddenly found myself writing comics. I came up with a concept for a Halloween costume, completely based on indecision. I couldn’t decide whether I should be a pirate or a vampire. So I put on my pirate clothes and put in my vampire teeth and said I was a “vampirate”. My friend, Jeromy Cox, who was with us that night is in the comic business, and by the end of the night, he’d figured out an entire story line.
Which he promptly sat on for ten years.
Finally, after much prodding from friends, Jeromy wrote it all out, drew it, had it inked by a friend, and then did the coloring. Bloodfire Studios brought it out: Vampyrates. You can see some of the artwork at http://www.vampyrates.com
I did a fair amount of critiquing of the story and dialogue in an email to Jeromy. So much so, that he said I should write the next issues. Nothing happened for a while (2+ years, actually) as Jeromy is crazy busy, but we finally got the ball rolling. I’ve finished writing two issues, and he’s busy drawing the first of those two, while I move on to the next few. It’s been a blast, and I truly enjoy this line of work.
My girlfriend has a pirates dream…….. a sunken chest
It’s funny, Dean. I have a really well-stocked bar, but very rarely drink at home. But I do love experimenting when I have the chance. Here’s something that a bartender friend of mine worked out with me. I came up with the basic suggestion, he added his own twists, and over the course of a couple of weeks, we tweaked it to this:
A Nice Pear
Fill a shaker with ice. Add the following:
1 1/2 oz Grey Goose la Poire (do NOT use Absolut Pears)
3/4 oz Triple Sec
Double splash of sweet & sour
Double splash of 7-up
The juice of 1/2 lime (about 4 wedges squeezed in — go ahead and toss those squeezed wedges into the shaker, as well)
Shake like a madman.
Serve the whole thing in a large bar glass or strain into a martini glass.
kev, will you make me one when i come over? i’d like one. and i don’t really drink anymore. that. sounds. yummy. o, and the vampyrates… i need copies. i am a vampire/zombie/pirate o phile.
Ava,
I’ll be happy to do so. And I’ll do my best to fire off both a copy of Vampyrates (though please note it’ll be the first issue, and I had nothing to do with the script) and my mom’s book to you.
Oh, one more general Vampyrates note: Jeromy, originally thinking he’d be writing the book, and not planning it too far into the future, decided that in order to pay tribute to me for the genesis of the book, he’d name the main character after me. It’s very weird writing about someone named Kevin Ring.
i saw that and i cracked up. but you have to admit, your name DOES sound very old fashioned and piratey.
henry is excited to have a book written by a mama i was friends with when i was little older than he is now. i won’t say a word about the vampyrates and just let him trip out on the connection. 😉
I consider myself a very creative person but outside of writing and snapping some fotos for this blog, I really don’t produce any impressive evidence of that. I suppose it comes out in the ways that I think and live these days -- as all that “american dream” stuff is shite -- throw what we’re supposed to do to the wind, and write our own damn storyline. Graffiti Lao Tzu. Set up shrines in shopping malls.
Eric, you’ve inspired me to find my wrist rocket.
Kevin: We are very into pirates at my house. We all have hats and weapons. Our bed is a boat and the carpet is hot lava. You have to put cushions out if you want to walk across it or you’ll disentegrate. Coincidentally I’ve been re-reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Would love to read your book.
Pretty much anything with ooggie boogie creatures in it makes me happy. Vampires. Zombies. Aliens. Yetis. Mothmen. Cthulhu.
you forgot about el chupacabra!
oh yeah. and…ava likes mexican goat suckers.
gotcha. (i have the power. muahhahahahaha)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cryptids
i will so not go there, mamaK. bahaha!
Cryptozoology, Kristen? I always knew you were cool.
I have taken pictures for a living for a long time now. That got old and I invested in my own lab which was stupid so I went broke.
Now I have a restaurant job with health package for the kids and take pictures for money only once in a while…but take a lot more just ’cause I like to.
I’m looking seriously into 19th century printing technology like gum bichromate. I think that’s my next step.
Oh yeah…and cheese. My wife and I are working toward a really smelly goat cheese. So far our feta is fantastic, our mozzarella is really great, and that’s it. My bees don’t make enough honey to taste yet but I’m going to split the hive in the spring and see if I can get a harvest this year.
Patrick Works
I love fag poets and those who hate them
ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG and a bottle of rum.
Eric Bacher! Were you the red-haired kid who went with me a couple of times to those para-military stores on University Avenue? There used to be like three blocks of those interspersed with occult book stores.
After years of clapping for Tom Clarke and assorted others in their garage days, I finally picked up a guitar myself. I’ll be performing the 2nd movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto in D on 2/22 (should be practicing right now). I’m also den mother and occasional lyricist/vocalist for Primitive Technology.
I write short stories and poetry (mostly of the fag variety). Here’s one partly inspired by some CheUnderground posters: http://www.briancharlesclark.com/?s=For+Randy+and+other+strangers
Eric you know I’m always here when “yo’ process takes a recess!” I cut men’s hair, poets or otherwise. We try to avoid cutting poet’s hair as it can make the shop feel very depressing.
Ahem, Kristen. Aren’t you the mother of an expressive 3-year-old? Aren’t you raising him away from the TV? That requires all manner of creative energy. And generally doesn’t get much applause. (Insert clapping here.)
i’m a seamstress….. at the San Diego Opera. (doing lots of period costumes and such) and in the summer i work for a swim/dance wear company (a totally different kind of sewing) i also
do screen printing, on t-shirts, yea, but onto fabric too, and then i make stuff out of it……
i read alot, but have never been good at writing, but i love poetry, old, and new, and poetry fags to…..
i can play the guitar but just barely, but i love music with a passion (all kinds) as much as i did punk rock as a kid.
was John Wayne really short…. or gay for that matter ? how funny !
I’m not sure if it’s a creative outlet but for the last three years I ‘ve been learning to fly helicopters. I just received my commercial pilots license in Rotorcraft rating.I’m very excited about it, but I pay the bills by bartending.Anyone interested in a Helicopter ride in May?
hey larry! could you fly me in your helicopter to the show from 29 palms? that’s where i’m going to be staying and WOW, would that ever be fantastic!
congrats on learning to fly. small planes (and doubtless helicopters too) are a ton of fun and not at all scary like many people seem to think.
Hey Karen!
( Hay como Chingas) You may remember that phrase from way back when. 29 palms is a military site if I recall correctly. Economically that long of a flight is not very practical,and I’m only rated to fly a small 2 seater Robinson R22 ,but I tell you what, I’d be happy to take you on a flight locally.Helicopters are way fun. Get back to me if your interested and I’ll make arangements.
My ridiculously talented spouse gets shout-outs from Nerve.com!
You can see her complere oeuvre on her site.
OMG, yes i do remember “hay como chingas”!!! wow, that memory sure made me LOL.
dude, if i can find my way to this show in may, i would totally love to visit and catch up with you! finances are tight, as with most of us poor unemployed ne’er-do-wells, but i will do my very best to get down there to see what all this fuss is about. and yeah, lots of marines in 29 palms but also some nice lizards, coyotes, border-runners, and other scrub-dwellers who make me smile. at the very least, GREAT to hear from you and i’m happy you’re enjoying pretending you’re a bird. very liberating, i’d imagine. do you spend the same on fuel for the plane that you would in a regular car or is it much more expensive than that? anyway, super duper rad! bless these internets for finding our old friends again, no? si. abrazos, amigo.
matthew, i checked out your wife’s work on her site and think it is really great. so much of it is bright and cheerful, and then there is some that’s got a slightly sinister edge, and all of it thought provoking. i tried hard not to have acid flashbacks when looking at some of the swirlier ones, but it was hard not to go down that tunnel. PHEW! i came back and everything’s ok now.
fondly,
karen
Hi Larry, Hi Larry. I’ll be there in May. hurray!