$%#@!

Well I think that pretty much sums it all up.

I feel like I’m back in school. Pulling all-nighters, constantly flowing coffee pots, extremely loud and incredibly close alarm clocks, tensions running high, deadlines running late. But it will all be worth it when we are done.

We have been working nonstop for the past two weeks on our Kickstarter proposal. We finally had all the rewards finalized and wrote our statement and bios.
***Ughh I hate writing bios. They’re almost as bad as artist statements. Isn’t art supposed to express what words can’t? Why do I make it, if you insist on having me write/speak about it?***

Our video seemed flawless. In fact, after we had edited the video again and again and finally came up with something we both were pretty proud of, Valerie wrote me an email in which she expressed her sentiments:

“There will be a special crack in the surface of the earth’s crust from the artistic beauty of our proposal and video.”
I live in California. Next morning, I was woken up by my bed shaking from a 4.0 earthquake. GOOGLE IT. YOU CAN’T MAKE THAT SHIT UP.

After that sign sent from above, or rather below, we were even more confident about our endeavors. We filled out the forms on the Kickstarter website and then previewed our proposal before we clicked “submit” Once you click, you can’t do shit.
Oh no. Fuck. The video doesn’t sync with the sound. OF COURSE.
Valerie and I (well, really Valerie. She like the AV whisperer) have spent the past two days/nights trying different ways to compress and export the video so that everything works. Still doesn’t, but have no fear. We did not come this far to fail! FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION. (Don’t you just love Apollo 13?)

So long story short, we are so close, SO CLOSE to finishing our proposal. Valerie is currently taking a break and having some coffee. She warned me if she didn’t take a break, “I will have an insane screaming fit and have to go to an asylum. ” Artists are supposed to go crazy after they get famous, not before. But we have been known to differ from the norm.

We will post an exclamatory and celebratory entry when we’ve fixed the problem. Expect it and the link to our proposal in the next few days. Until then, keep your fingers crossed that Valerie and I do not become the newest members at the North Carolina State Psychiatric Facility.

-M

Balls to the Wall

Woot Woot 53!! Thanks guys! We did it! Now we’re going for DOUBLE or NOTHING!

Whats that you say? “Wait a minute you just wanted to get to 50, whats all this shit?”
You could say that we’re never satisfied and we continually push ourselves in order to achieve amazing goals.

Or maybe we’re just selfish bitches. You decide.

Along with thanking all 53 of you, we’d like to wish sincerest congratulations to arthash! They were the 50th person to follow our blog. And as promised, a yummy box of crunchy deliciousness is waiting for you. If you want the box, just respond with your address or a P.O Box where we can ship it to you.
If you’d like to decline the magnificent offer, no worries or offense taken. It will be greatly appreciated in an afternoon feeding the hungry bastard seagulls in the park.

Continue to read and we’ll continue to write.

 

-M

I can’t think of a creative title

3 MORE MONTHS!!!!

It’s getting closer! I cannot fucking wait. 3 more months and Val and I will be on the road.
Excited? You bet
Anxious? A little
Prepared? Not at all

But we do have 3 months, in which we’ll have put up our Kickstarter profile so all you wonderful, generous folks following us can donate some much needed $$$$
You get a bumper sticker with every donation. Need I say more?

On a side note, I know I’ve reneged a little on the “blogging everyday” post I made awhile back, but it’s been a stressful week full of unforeseen circumstances including Rocky-styled fights with cabinets, Nelly impersonations, Operation-Repo replications, and running from the law. Just a day in the life of.
Nonetheless I need to be better about it and here’s a little something to make up for it.
I noticed that I’ve posted no Atlanta photos here. *Gasp!* How can that be? I did put some up on facebook (you would know that if you’ve like our page, hint hint)
But here are some shots I took with a Holga to brighten your day!

The abandoned insane asylum we tried to get into. Can't imagine why it wasn't open. Doesn't it look inviting?

Here’s my personal favorite. 

Hmm, maybe these wont brighten up your day after all.

Until next time…

-M

Atlanta

I’ve put off writing my entry of Atlanta.

Now, I believe in honesty, so I’ll be honest: I was disappointed. Now, the food was great, the company was amazing, and I took some pictures I would not un-take for the life of me; but there were some images I wanted to capture that I could not. And that, my friend, is what keeps me up at night.

The last time I visited ATL I stayed for nearly a week, and my little group went to the Candler Mansion in little five points and I’d told Mary all about how cool it was and how everyone who met up earlier got to go inside and nobody would go back inside when I got there because they were too spooked by the two-sided mirror and other relics from when it was an asylum. I desperately wanted to go in, but I’m always hesitant to break from the group and trespass explore grounds that may harbor a dangerous entity. So, I didn’t go then, and this time the entrance was secured with bolts. I hate that. Pictures were not taken. But I did get more photographs of the grounds, which are amazing to say the least.

I got to see the ATL underground, which I’d been dying to see and didn’t get the chance to do so prior. There is a whole mall that is underground, built for trains to go through so that real estate could be used at maximum for the city during a growth spurt. The mall exhibits all the clothing you could want if your goal is to appear gangsta, slutty, or cheap (in the absolute best way possible, I love looking cheap from time to time). Then, get this, they have a ferris wheel and amusement rides. Does it get better than that?

Atlanta is dirty. She is fast. She isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She’s been around for a while, so she’s got a history (that everybody knows about). She’s hip, but doesn’t feel that she needs to be. Atlanta doesn’t take shit from anyone, but she’s friendly. She is Southern, and proud of it. Now that I’ve had time to absorb the experience, and sort through my initial disappointment, I think I can draw some inspiration from her.

-V

Hotlanta

Oh Atlanta.My-lanta. Hot-lanta. It’s such a beautifully dirty city. The people are real and unapologetic. There’s a wonderful clash of old southern style and new urban energy. Its like Gone with the Wind meets BET. It’s like the older sister who’s super cool and always gets away with the shit that you never do.

We were going to Atlanta for several reasons. One was to test out our road trip skills; have a trial trek if you will. It was a good way to sort of preview what things might be like this summer.
Will we work together after long hours of driving? Are we going to fight over what music to listen to? Are we prepared for any situation we might find ourselves in? Turns out…we weren’t.

After trying to gain access into a long abandoned insane asylum, we now know that along with a normal everyday emergency kit (the kind with Band-aids and Neosporin) we’ll need to put together an emergency photographer’s kit.
What might that kit contain you ask? Well, it’ll consist of, but not be limited to, film (of course), wire cutters, a hammer, pliers, a step ladder, duct tape, flashlights, and gum. (MacGyver  always uses gum)
We’ll need the kit for future instances like what happened in Atlanta. We weren’t able to get into the asylum due to dumbfuck kids. Apparently they had been breaking in and getting drunk or partying or some shit, so all the doors and windows were very well boarded up with wood and locked with chains.

Dumb kids. Didn’t they know we were trying to make art?? Why can’t you just get drunk and pass out in the back of a movie theater like normal people?

The drive down there was pretty uninteresting, except for a close encounter with a senior citizen who didn’t seem to know that you have to check the other lane before you merge into it. All I could say at the time was “No Grandma don’t”, very calmly. Valerie wont let me forget this.

So here we are…navigating Atlanta. GPS? We don’t need no stinkin GPS

 

And here we are having another truly intelligent and meaningful debate about one of music’s greatest songs.

-M