its black, its white...

So in my Friday morning web design class we had to adjust some old family photos, make them black and white, colorized them, fix any damages, etc. I've been adjusting photos for many years now so this project was really no bug deal. But what was fun and exciting about this was going through boxes of family photos, and seeing my grandmother and grandfather at a young age and finding relatives I never even knew about. Above are two before and afters, the first photo is my Uncle Chips, and the second photo is my grandfater.

Russian Hill Bomber...

About four and a half years ago a homemade bomb almost claimed my life! Seriously, this was when I lived in San Francisco in the Russian Hill district to be exact. It just a normal Friday night hanging out with friends drinking wine and playing some Atari. Around midnight we noticed that we were running low on wine so my friend Joe volunteered to run to the corner store to replenish our supply.

In the ten or so minutes Joe was gone we all had begun to notice the strong smell of gasoline, but thought nothing of it. During that time I decided that it would be a good idea to take a shower so I could sleep in a bit longer before going to work the next morning. Just as I had dipped my toe in the water my roommate was banging on the door yelling at me to come outside immediately! I threw on a sweatshirt and pajama pants to come inspect was all the commotion was. And what I walked out to surprised the hell out of me.

The front steps and entry area of our flat was completely doused with gas, as well as our front door and our neighbors door. And smack dab in the middle was a gallon jug of water filled with gasoline, a firecracker duct taped to the top with a light cigarette placed on top of the wick. Luckily the wick had gotten wet so the bomb never went off. We knocked on both of our neighbors' doors to let them know what was going on. Needless to say they we not pleased being woken up at midnight but that anger soon subsided with the fear of their lives being at risk.

I called 911 to get the police out to investigate this, and once they came out they realized that this was much more of a serious issue. Nearly three hours later of sitting outside in the freezing cold, watching SFPD ,bomb squad and CSI collect evidence. We were aloud to go back inside and collect some of our belongings, but were told not to spend the night due to the fumes, and the possibility of whoever did this come back and try to blow us up again. Which they did two days later! Touched by the hands of some Greek god, my neighbor came home and with a split second decision kicked off the cigarette and saved our apartment while risking his life. 

Needless to say that the next morning we began looking for a new place to live, and floated from one friends place to another. We moved out the following week and never spent another night in that apartment.

Looking back and remembering this experience I always find myself laughing about it. Not that this was scary, which it was. But I laugh at the idea of my friends and I trying to explain the situation to the 911 operator and answering the questions the police were asking all the while being wine drunk.

dance dance revolution...

Just a quick congrats and thank you to my dear friend Giselle and her daughter Chamilla. I recently sent Chami a few shirts with some of my screen prints on it for her third birthday, and I just found out that not only will she be featured in a dance DVD that is going to be distributed to preschools all over Texas, but was also wearing my shirt! So again congrats to Chami for being so talented and thanks to Giselle for making her wear one of my creations.

Driving instructions...

So I have had a total of three cars in my 10+ years of driving and each one with its own special characteristics. My first car was a 1987 maroon and white Astro Van. Which my parents bought when I was in kindergarten and was then passed onto me on my 16th birthday. Let me tell you that thing was a tank, but one of the best things about that car was the speedometer only went to 65mph. A true sign that the legal limit on the freeway was 55mph at the time of its birth. 

My Second car was a 1994 white Buick Regal, which previously belonged to my grandmother and was a my high school graduation gift. It was the most comfiest car to ever sit/ride in. The interesting thing about that car was the trunk opener was located inside the glove box and would only open if the car was in park. 

My current car is a white 1999 Ford Taurus, which belonged to my other grandmother. That car has the special power of not dying, seriously! But the best thing about this car is the driving instruction sticker located just to the right of the ignition, which reads, "to shift from park - depress brake pedal". Now I don't know about you but if you don't know how to go from park to drive, then you shouldn't be behind the wheel.

John McCartney vs. Mr. Slugworth

It has been a good 2 years since I've watched A Hard Day's Night and I forgot how fantastic it is and how hilarious all four Beatles are. I mean even Ringo and George are hot in it! My old roommate and I would watch it for hours and hours on end trying to decide which Beatle was cuter and which one was the better singer/songwriter. Now in all those years and hours of arguments I never noticed that the guy who plays Paul's grandfather "John McCartney" oddly looks like "Mr. Slugworth" from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. I'm not sure if the resemblance is due to the fact that they are both very odd characters. "John McCartney" is slightly crazy and makes Ringo runaway. While "Mr. Slugworth" follows the golden ticket finders into dark tunnels or staircases in a factory trying to get his hands on Everlasting Gobstopers.

I was pretty sure that they weren't the same person; I had to check it out on imdb.com, which verified that they were in fact two completely different men. However I'm still slightly convinced that they are the same person or long lost brothers.

come one, come all...

Welcome to SING Loud SING Proud! Named after my first screen print which was inspired from listening to a Dropkick Murphys album, titled surprisingly enough "Sing Loud, Sing Proud". Here you can find me showing off my latest sewing project, artwork or thrift store finds; as well as my rants and raves about the economy and collecting/dealing with the unemployment offices.