Good Grief

I’m just rotting away. Rotting away. ROTTING AWAY!!

Oh, will somebody put me out of my misery. I’ve been sick and coughing and coughing and coughing and spitting and spitting and spitting; it never ends! My muscles are weak and I have to seriously do a ton of work before next week. Argh!! I feel like Charlie Brown when he tries to kick the football only to have Lucy remove it.

Will I ever get better?? Better enough to work on two shitty paintings, study for an exam, and write 3 essays?? Oh noes.

Woe is me, woe is me, woe is me.

I'm sick, Bird.. I'M SYCK!!

It’s Sunday night and after a nice mellow week in Laredo, it’s time to face the unforgiving glow of light that is reality. The final half of the semester is upon us. I have felt very crappy all day long and am in serious need of bucking up before the morning. I’ve been on the Dayquil for sometime, and I can only hope to get better.


So this past Spring Break I was mostly out and about from time to time. I got to see theSTART in San Antonio one Tuesday which was a lot of fun. I got to hang out with Aimee Echo (singer) and Chelsea Davis (drummer) most of the entire night. I got to talk to them about their music and their future plans for the group. (They even signed my Green Day bag.)

Since they have also been experimenting with their new project Normandie, I also asked them about where they were taking that band. Aimee said they really wanted to put out a full length album, which should be really neat. We can expect the collection of B-sides by theSTART to come out before the Normandie record, but it’s a for sure thing to expect the Normandie record before we get to hear a proper follow-up to “Ciao Baby.”

Expect some great photos of theSTART to appear on my various art accounts and websites throughout the week. I got some good shots and am eager to share them out. (Obviously, the photo above is a taste of what to expect.)

Anyways, this week is set to be a busy one. I’m going to have to really sit down and try to paint the new assignments for my Painting II class. One is a self portrait and the other is a photo of scenery that I took a photo of. I also want to break out of oil paints and try my hand at acrylics, which could very well be considered suicide. I don’t think experimenting so late in the game is a wise idea, but to be frank, I’m really disliking oils. They’re more of a pain in the ass than anything. I think what irks me the most about them is that they take forever to dry.

Well I’d like to write more since I hardly wrote any entries all week, but as I have mentioned, I haven’t really felt like myself these past two days. So I am going to call it a night. Thanks for stopping by and reading.

Before I forget, throughout the week I will be releasing each episode of the popular YouTube web series “Lowering Standards with Pedro” on my Facebook profile. So each day of this week you can look forward to the hilarious adventures of Lil’ Peter Pedro and his wacky friends. Currently, Episode 1 (which has long since been banned from YouTube) is uploaded. Expect another episode once a day, all week through Friday. Buh-bye for now.

Donut Hole

Here is an excerpt from my Appropriation homework assignment:

1. Is your identity relevant to your action of appropriation?

In some ways, my identity is in the style of how I appropriated the images and how they are drawn. My style or technique is often dominated with muddy and faded colors (mostly yellows, reds, and browns). Also aside from a bulk of my work being slightly political, the “torn” paper-like imagery is very dominate in my other pieces.

2. What symbol is appropriated? What does that symbol usually mean? How is that symbol interpreted by many people?

For the most part the two real “main” symbols I appropriated are the Statue of Liberty and a donut. The torn paper-American flag is mostly added to unify both of them.

The Statue of Liberty as it stands, is associated with the United States. It symbolizes freedom, democracy, and the dreams we as Americans have. Those all over the world would think the same thing even if they are not Americans or have never been to America. The Statue of Liberty is the most representational figure of the United States (far more than the bald eagle or Liberty Bell).

A donut is a tasty snack. It’s a kind of “junk” food that most like to indulge in every now and then. It’s sugary, fattening, and is definitely considered unhealthy if a person likes to indulge in many donuts periodically.

The American flag is just that; the official flag of the United States of America. Like the Statue of Liberty it is synonymous with democracy and freedom.

3. How did you go about appropriating the item? What activities did you do to aid the in the appropriation?

I became inspired to appropriate these items after watching a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial on television. While the commercial mostly focused on how Dunkin’ Donuts’ coffee is preferred over Starbucks’ coffee, the key factor that inspired me was their slogan, “Dunkin’ Donuts: America runs on Dunkin’.”

Inspired by Dunkin’ line and the “Big Boy” restaurant statues, I incorporated the Statue of Liberty as if it were “Big Boy.”

Instead of holding the iconic torch, I drew Lady Liberty holding up a giant donut as a way of playing on the Dunkin’ Donuts slogan.

4. In what way did you attempt to change the meaning of the symbol or society’s perfection of it? What is the overall message you attempted to convey? Were you successful? How did your audience respond? What would you do differently next time?

I didn’t really attempt to change the meanings of these items as I mostly tried to play with the images set around this particular corporate slogan. I tried to convey that line with what I felt to be as “appropriate” images that went along with that saying. My intent was to be humorous and funny and I believe I was pretty successful in doing so.

Other than a few pats on the back with how the shading and colors turned out (most if not all) those whom I’ve shown the picture too have laughed or found it to be hilarious. Which is good for me.

I think if I were to do this again, I wouldn’t have tried to make it as detailed as I did. I spent a really long time on it and I would have loved to also thrown in the Dunkin’ Donuts logo and slogan on the actual drawing as oppose to digitally putting it in on computer.

5. Why did you appropriate the item? Who is the intended audience?

As I stated on question 3, I appropriated the images as a take on the Dunkin’ Donuts slogan. I wanted to make a humorous drawing that appropriated the line in a slightly dark context.

My intended audience is anybody with a sense of humor. I don’t think there is anything really offensive about my piece, so I don’t think it anybody can get offended by it. Unless of course, one is extremely conservative and does not take kindly to those who alter the American flag or Statue of Liberty as I have done, in which I can understand.

Unlike my other works which are very political and highly religious, this particular piece is intended to be funny and for the post part be taken as satire.

Make like a banana.. and SHYT!!

I’ve been pretty busy these days. I find myself working a lot more than usual. I guess it’s because this coming week is all about midterms and mid-assignments, or something. I’ll be going down to Laredo during next weekend. Not sure what I’m going to do exactly, but I’ll be there nonetheless.

So I’ve got a few drawings currently underway. But it makes me think that I’m like some mentally retarded kid. I seem to really take forever with doing art now. Have I always been this slow? It’s not cool at all.

Ugh, my breathe wreaks of Vodka. Yes I see him too, Chelsea.

So, like.. I saw Watchmen at the midnight showing over at the Rave (which is like digital screen, or some shit like that) and I have to say it was pretty good. It’s not better than The Dark Knight by any means, but it’s pretty good nevertheless. To quote a stupid movie critic; “The opening credits of the movie said far much more than all three Spider-Man movies.” I have to agree with the stupid movie critic. The opening credits is jaw-dropping and amazingly emotional. You see it, and already you realize this isn’t going to be like anything else.

Unfortunately, as the movie begins to build up Zack Snyder’s typical BS comes out. (Seriously, that one sex scene. Come on!) I wanted to shoot myself cause the movie lost a shit load of credibility. Needless to say a few other scenes also become a little too tedious and at times “dumb.”

But, I agree with what Peter Trevers of Rolling Stone said about it. (The only critic that I give a rats ass about.) Oh, except for him bashing Malin Akerman’s performance as Silk Spectre II. Her acting was good and on par with everybody else. (Well, except for Jackie Earle Haley who fucking rocked it as Rorschach. He was in a league of his own.)

Anyway, I recommend the movie. But I know a lot of you won’t touch the thing simply because I or the vast majority enjoy it and that comic book superhero movies should disappear. Either way, suit yourself. I had a good time.

But a word of caution for those going in to see it. The movie is “dark”, very dark infact. It’s very mature, and I’m not talking about the graphic violence. It’s like Sin City’s darkness only a lot less sugar coated or glamed up. Watchmen it touches on things like pedophilia, one “superman” rapes a fellow “superwoman” member, and the political atmosphere within that world is much more heavy. Heavier than “V for Vendetta.” Oh, and the soundtrack (for a lack of a better term) “fucking rocks.” Snyder’s not Quentin, but he chose some really great classics. Seriously, nice job on the Simon and Garfunkel bro.

Mormons & Christians, As Seen On TV

Hm. These pretentious door-to-door Mormons are still trying to get a hold of me.

Now I’ve got to watch my back every time I leave and enter my own apartment. As I sit here, thinking about this I’m realizing that religious people really scare me. Infact you can even say they straight-out terrify the hell out of me.

Is it because they’re freakishly happy and insanely persistent? I don’t understand why these types of individuals really want to so desperately preach their misguided version of the past. Do they get merit badges for every person they get to talk too? I don’t know. It makes me shiver a bit.

Since society likes to put labels onto people, it’s no surprise to anybody reading this that I’d probably fall into the lines of an atheist. My problem with this notion is that the contemporary atheist these days can be just as judgmental and douchey as their Christian and Mormon counterparts. I choose to not worship, believe, or hail any kind of god because I generally side with logic and reason, which is why I also don’t go around preaching my beliefs onto people.

Like, at school, there’s this booth called, “Ask an Atheist” where you just ask questions and some Atheist guy will answer you. I haven’t tried asking a question, but I just think it’s silly. It’s almost as if it’s a joke and just really waters down these kinds of attitudes. It just turns me completely off when my like-minded peers still end up becoming the factors they resist.

I’ve always stated that there is nothing wrong with “faith.” Having faith is alright, go for it. If your religion makes you happy, by all means keep having your faith, but I ask you that you just don’t try and preach it on to me or anybody else for that matter.