SELF PORTRAIT THURSDAY!
12.22.11
In Texas for the holidays. This means eating a lot of junk food, drinking more often than I do, and hanging out with lots of puppies—like this girl. (I woke her up from a nap to take this photo.)
Looking forward to some much needed QT and R&R.
xo
craig
In November 2007 I spent Thanksgiving with my father on Galveston Island in Texas. It was cold and rainy. And, because it was Galveston, there was nothing fun for me to do. So, I took a lot of walks by myself on the beach.
I took this photo of the Balinese Room, which was a famous historic nightclub in Galveston that people like Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope and Duke Ellington performed at.
On February 7, 2008 I moved to New York City.
Hurricane Ike hit Galveston Island in September of ’08. Galveston was underwater for awhile. And the Balinese Room was completely destroyed.
I went back (either in May ’09 or a bit earlier) to see where it stood and took this photo:
That’s where my head is right now.
With all the pieces of debris floating and decomposing all over the Gulf of Mexico.
Let’s hope the doctor takes these bandages off my hand this morning.
-craig
I have this feeling right now that is close to the nostalgia I woke up with on Monday. But this is more of a longing for family and loved ones.
I was talking with my mother on the phone this morning, and in her calm yet frenetic manner of speaking, she talked about how she misses me and wants me to be happy and how she’s proud of me and etc. You know, Mom talk. But it was a comforting discussion.
I needed it.
Being in NYC, far away from family and Texas, can be very exciting but also very lonely. My roots aren’t here. I often have days where I ask myself, “What the fuck am I doing?” (New York is a great place to live, but it is also one that is very indifferent about you. It will go on no matter what.)
I have always been a homebody. I love to be at home, and I love to be near people I care about. I also like to be comfortable. (Comfort is a main part of our design with Take Off Your Clothes. And even my knit bondage series is about comfort. And having more power, but that’s a different topic…)
So, I’ve put together a plan.
Should they (whoever “they” are) give me the power to restructure the United States, I’d make only light changes.
The first being this, combining New York and Texas:
It’s a good start.
But this would make it even better, moving Portland, OR to Texas:
That would be beautiful.
In a fantasy world.
One of my favorite Sonic Youth lyrics is from the song “Tom Violence”. In it Thurston sings “I left home for experience.”
So, whenever I am a little down because I miss my family and faraway friends, I think of this song and remember why I’m here and why I do what I do.
xo
craig
SELF PORTRAIT THURSDAY!
9.10.09
SELF PORTRAIT THURSDAY!
5.14.09
I'm home in Texas.
Just making sure my mother's couch doesn't float away.
I'm having a good time.
Yesterday I went swimming! =)
So, awhile back I took these photos of the Balinese Room (though I didn't know what it was called at the time) in Galveston, which is an island on the coast of Texas, about 45 minutes away from Houston, and my place of birth:
This is what the Balinese Room looks like now:
That building had been there since the early 20th century and had gone through many other storms.
Glad my father is still alive!
P.S.
Yes, I realize it's been over two weeks since my last entry, but I've been out of the state for a couple weeks.
And I forgot my laptop in NYC.
When my younger sister Windy left back to Texas, I wasn't as upset as I was the last time she came to visit because I'm not as alone/by myself here in New York anymore.
Luckily and coincidentally all (well, most) of my best and closest friends live here. We didn't plan on moving here as a group; it just happened like that. (I didn't want to move here in the first place. It's too far from home. Sometimes I think I'm a momma's boy.)
I didn't feel as empty when Windy left because I knew I was still in a place with people who love me.
So, I guess the bottom line is that I don't need my sister. =)
Jokes.
Anyway, here's a scarf I made for Windy months ago—and finally gave to her once she came to see me:
(The very awesome/nice yarn is made by Hobbledehoy.)
I made her take that right before I walked her outside to the cab.
It was so cute when she was here.
I taught her how to knit before she left. She caught on pretty quickly, and that made me proud. We even went yarn shopping.
Let's hope she sticks with it and gets to be very good at it.
Not better than me of course.
I have a very fragile ego!
Hurricane Ike hit Texas.
My family didn't die.
My father lost his truck in the storm. =/
And there's no power in a lot of places.
I'm sure it's all hot and sticky there.
And I'm sure mosquitoes suck.
Hopefully I can keep up with SELF PORTRAIT THURSDAY tho.
Some photos I got tagged in on Facebook. (That always makes me really nervous—getting tagged.)
P.S.
This post was originally going to be longer, but I pressed a button and lost all my text.
And couldn't get it back.
So, as I write this, I have an angry frown.
SELF PORTRAIT THURSDAY!
6.26.08
Sorry it's been awhile.
I've just been busy and preoccupied.
And that's the truth.
You should always be nice to your parents, I think.
You shouldn't act like a brat either.
I hate seeing children (especially children my age) be rude/snippy (snappy?) to their parents all the time. I mean, yeah, we all have bad moods that we end up taking out on other people. (Maybe I'm speaking for myself. But I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about.)
But being rude all the time?
No way.
That's lame.
You should also say "I love you" a lot.
And if you love your friends, you should say it to them, too.
I do.
I haven't eaten yet cuz I was broke and didn't have any money to buy food.
But I got a little bit of cash, so I went to the Fairway and got some pasta stuff. And couscous. And cereal.
Lillian G. (aka Lazy Susan) returned to Austin today. How sad.
And Meredith S. leaves on Monday.
(These are some of my good friends from Texas that I'm referring to.)
I liked having a sense of community here in NYC. But Meredith is moving here in May. And my friends Max and Sarah will be here on the first of April. And Lillian might be back in June or May for an extended stay. So, that should be boss, I hope.
Here's a shirt I made today:
K I'll stop.
Time to eat.
Buh-bye!
