Brandi Carlile Live at Interlochen
Posted by Troy | Filed under Music
Last night we took our 8-yr-old daughter to her first real concert… she is a totally right-brained kid who loves art and music so I knew she’d love it and I had been looking forward to this for a really long time.
Since I’d seen Brandi Carlile last summer I knew she’d be a great first-concert experience for my daughter… and of course I was right.
The evening opened up with a pretty decent performance from The Watson Twins. I’d have to say the highlight of their show was their two covers, “Ain’t No Sunshine,” and “Just Like Heaven.”
Of course those happen to be two of my all-time-top-ten favorite songs, ones of such magnificence that I’d get emotional even if Rosie O’Donnell was performing them.
The twins did much better than Rosie would though and their Neil-Young-Cripple-Creek-Fairy take on The Cure was pretty dang cool. (check out the not-quite-as-hippie version in my playlist)
But when Brandi took the stage it was like time stopped.
Tags: brandi carlile, concerts, Music, original illustration
Cancer Boy
Posted by Troy | Filed under Cancer, Self Project
When I was 21 I was diagnosed with cancer.
Testicular cancer actually, which was kind of en vogue in 2000. Celebrities like Lance Armstrong (hardly a celebrity before his cancer) and Tom Green (remember Tom Green?) were making national headlines enduring treatments and starting a very important conversation about the risk of testicular cancer among young men.
Turns out it really isn’t so glamorous.
In a lot of cases it is treatable though. If you can catch it early.
Of course since most guys that have this type of cancer are cock-sure college age guys who (like me) are in no hurry to get their balls checked out by the part-time nurse at the free clinic, it quite often goes undetected longer than it should.
My diagnosis and first surgery did kind of add to my celebrity around college. Whereas before I went pretty much undetected, I could now be recognized as “cancer boy.”
Tags: Cancer, original illustration
24 Words of Wisdom for a 17-yr-old Me
Posted by Troy | Filed under Self Project
Kind of hard to believe I’m nearly twice my age. If I could give my 17-year-old self some wisdom, what would it be?
- Be a friend to the weird kids. They have much to teach you.
- Don’t obsess about girls so much.
- Stop pretending you don’t obsess about girls.
- Raise more hell. Right now is your only chance.
- Don’t wait til you’re 21 to start reading.
- Save your sketches and writings.
- Your friends are also struggling with porn and also terrified to talk to anyone about it. Break the ice.
- You’ll never stop sinning. No one will. You’re totally missing the point.
- Your parents are going to be o.k. somehow.
- You are less o.k. than you realize. Get some help (you’re gonna have to be brave though).
- The truth really does set you free.
- You don’t have to be good at drawing to be a good artist.
- God’s will isn’t a mystery. You’re living it.
- Stop and ask directions right away.
- Don’t take your balls for granted.
- Riding the bench is a waste of your time.
- Have a small adventure every day. Have big adventures regularly.
- She’s not The One. Not even close. In fact she doesn’t even really like you that much.
- That Looney Tunes shirt you’re saving will never be back in style, not even in an ironic way.
- Take sports less serious. In fact, take just about everything less serious.
- Hang onto your friends. (spoiler: you actually do this and it is pretty amazing)
- There might actually be folks that don’t attend Calvary Baptist in heaven.
- Being a grown-up is kind of a drag sometimes. Don’t be in such a hurry.
- Don’t let fear get to you. The future is o.k. (and Saved by the Bell reruns are still on. aw yeah!)
This post was inspired by Andrea’s list.
Tags: original illustration, self
Taking a Work Break
Posted by Troy | Filed under News
I’m taking the week “off” for “work.”
Actually got some really great projects going right now, including something super-cool for the Traverse City Film Festival. The event starts in a week, so I’m putting in extra time (which means no time for Strong Odors.)
Which stinks because I’ve got cool stuff to share that’ll have to wait.
Check out some of this recent stuff you may have missed:
- Across the U.P. illustrations “Dogg” and “Smoking the Gun”
- All of the Self Project so far. (Kind of cool to see them all together)
- Goat Cheese Stuffed Burger with Traverse City Cherry Slaw
- Jump in the conversation with me and Thunderbeardo
- Robot Wolf-Tiger from Outer Space
Tags: original illustration
Dogg
Posted by Troy | Filed under Across the U.P.
Dogg was in front of us in line at Grocery somewhere near Marquette, MI.
All he had in his cart was like six gallons of milk and a case of whiskey.
I have no idea what he had going on that evening, but must have been fun and obviously without any lactose intolerance whatsoever.
Tags: art, Michigan, original illustration
Indigo Girls Tour Poster
Posted by Troy | Filed under Art/Design
While working on a post for the Indigo Girls’ new live album Staring Down the Brilliant Dream, I discovered that they were sponsoring a Creative Allies poster contest. My Creative Allies submission for the ReadyMade SXSW contest did pretty well, so I didn’t want to miss a chance to create what my be the tour poster for my wife’s all-time favorite music duo.
Tags: contest, creative allies, original illustration
I Went to Bob Jones University
Posted by Troy | Filed under Self Project
Most people are surprised when they find out I attended Bob Jones University.
“Why?” “Yeah, right,” or “What the heck were you thinking?” are pretty standard responses.
I was thinking it was God’s will for me to attend BJU.
Seriously.
Tags: Faith, original illustration, self
Becoming my Dad
Posted by Troy | Filed under Self Project
You’ll be hard pressed to find a teenager who wants to become like his parents.
I wasn’t any different.
While my parents most lovely attributes glowed in my eyes as a kid, adolescence brought their most unfortunate struggles into focus.
So I’d swear up-and-down that I’d never be that way. (just as any self-respecting teenager would).
Tags: forgiveness, original illustration, Parenting
Another New T-shirt Design
Posted by Troy | Filed under Fashion
What’s up with all-over-print, overcomplicated design and zombies?
It seems to be the only thing available from Design by Humans…
This design is my attempt to add some simplicity to the mix…
Came up with the flying wolf-tiger when I realized that absurd ideas seem to do well there… and “flying wolf-tiger” was the first thing that came out of my mouth.
So there you go.
If you could take a few minutes to vote for my shirt, I’d really appreciate it.
Tags: design by humans, original illustration
JAY-Zeezer: The Black & Blue Album
Posted by Troy | Filed under Music
Searching for some hip-hop today I stumbled across this…
You may be familiar with Danger Mouse’s infamous Gray Album… his mashup of Jay-Z with the Beatles and it’s subsequent wildfire movement across the internet was big news a few years back and catapulted Danger Mouse to the deserved iconic status he now holds.
This mix is definitely no Gray Album, but it’s kind of cool…
I’ve got a cousin who shares a lot of music tastes with me, but he has never been able to understand my love for Weezer… in the meantime I’ve tried desperately over the years to understand why Jay-Z is a big deal, but I just can’t get into it.
So maybe here we’ve found some common ground.
I’m not sure why I made everyone but Jay-Z “black and blue.” I think I just got distracted and forgot to go back… not implying that he kicked the butts of the weezer crew… although I’m sure his entourage would have no trouble if it came to that.
Tags: Music, original illustration, weezer
