Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

First of all, I've been neglecting Shawn, who's got this amazing t-shirt drawn by Wayde Dunn (brilliant scarification artist) for sale only for the next few days to help cover costs for Scar Wars, an important and groundbreaking event that he created and runs. Click the picture to jump to his page.

Speaking of mod-related clothing, I can't remember if I already mentioned it here (probably did), but BMEshop got larger printing facilities, so now when we do prints that can scale up (like the bmezine text on this hoody), they're much larger prints than we used in the past. It might not seem like much, but visually it makes a big change in the impact.

Anyway, on to the real entry…

My RAZR's screen died again. This is the second RAZR to break for me, but at least this one lasted longer… oh… maybe nine months or so. I have dropped it lots of times, but the display actually shorted out just from opening it (straw that broke the camel's back I guess). The phone still works, but since I can't see the display, calling people is a big pain in the ass! So if you want to talk to me, call me and don't wait for my call!

I'm super tired this morning because Jon and I stayed up late last night building the foundation for a new content management system for BME's experiences (basically sticking all the data into a giant customized WordPress setup). As well as better searching and organization, instant updates (so an experience would be posted as soon as it's moderated), new ways to read BME, it will allow better integration across BME's family of sites, will allow people to comment on experiences, will make it easy to edit experiences as needed, and most importantly:

I plan on making all of the textual information (experiences, etc.) on BME/HARD and BME/extreme free. I hope I'm not making a financial mistake (since the members section of BME is what makes the rest of it all possible), but I really believe that people need to have easy access to those stories before they do a DIY procedure and take photos, and I think so some extent it runs counter to BME's philosophy of education and documentation for the public good to keep those stories behind a lock if I don't have to! That said, if anyone thinks I'm making a mistake with this decision, please let me know ASAP.

I posted some cute photos of Mia More on ModBlog last night (click through for the set), and got jumped on for complaining I was single too much (which is funny, because I don't think I said a word about it in that particular entry)… But seriously, people should remember that I write ModBlog in a pretty tongue-in-cheek and exaggerated tone. Don't get me wrong, just about everyone I post I think is gorgeous and I'm sure having sex with them would be awesome (I mean that in a complimentary, non-perverted way), but seriously, I'm not desperate for every girl I post! And I'd say I'm too old for, oh, 99%. Here's my basic priorities these days (and other than Nefarious, this is how they've always been):

1. Nefarious
2. BME
3. Current Girlfriend
4. Art
5. Family/Friends
6. Getting a New Girlfriend

And the sad truth is that you can ask any of my past girlfriends and they'd probably give you a similar list (but they would leave out #6 since that only applies if I'm single). Don't get me wrong, I'd rather not be single, but I really hope I am not giving the impression that I'm just sitting here whining about it. As someone recently commented, the trouble with posting all these beautiful girls is that you don't know them. Hahaha, true. Oh yeah, and to keep this entry from being too male hetero: BMEboys.

See, what I really need (and I think what really needs me in return) is a smart girl that's a good driver and has a good head for new business ventures, taste in art, and as many technical skills as possible. Oh wait, I pretty much had that, messed it up. Oooooooops… Now I'm left with the possibility that I meet someone who can't drive and they wreck my car!

Well, today's a mix of #1 and a little of #4 I think… Like I said, I'm pretty tired, but I think I might mix a few jars of the base colors for the big new painting. Because I use so much paint, it's easiest to make batches of the core colors pre-mixed with the polymers I want to use, in advance.

I finally took a set of photos that I got from Jerome to be framed. It's pretty expensive getting stuff framed! Or maybe I'm just cheap. Anyway, while I was there I also asked what it would cost to have some of my paintings framed. To build something like the last frame I made (basically a 4'x4' square made of two by fours, painted black) would cost $450 to $1500 depending on my choice of materials.

One painting.

That's ridiculous — for that price I could buy a nice table saw to do the corner cuts, and a router to give the moulding I create form. It's insane. I never understand why people routinely have others do things they can do better themselves. I understand taking a load off every once in a while, like having help with chores, going out to supper occasionally even if you can cook better than the restaurant's chef, and so on, but I know for me, if I have to choose between buying an overpriced meal, or a stove and some raw food, I'll buy the latter every time.

This is just a rough first doodle, but I think I'm actually going to paint this but huge, on that 72″x54″ canvas I got last week… Please excuse my crayola marker coloring. It's kind of silly but I think it'll be a really fun painting when it's all done (if I do it). I really like doing children's style drawings (both in the style of and style for) at this size.

It's also kind of based on that famous painting of the dogs playing poker.

Other than that I got two pieces of crappy news today but I was expecting both of them…