shameless! (pomp and circumstance)

Return of the Shark with Sunglasses! (Plus, I Wrote a Thing!)

2012-01-21T20:45:00.008-05:00

Websites! I made them! I'm the greatest!

Here are a couple of screen shots for the websites I made for my buddies/friends in comedy, Josh Gondelman and Jason Cordova. Working for fellow comedians is one of my favorite things, especially since they are always cool with anything funky I want to do. Since I designed Josh's album as well, I decided to bring back our friendly old shark with sunglasses. Art! It's a thing I do!

You can find Josh's site here:
www.joshgondelman.com

and Jason's site here:
www.hardcordova.com

Also, I wrote an essay about how dumb and immature I am and the Women In Comedy Festival blog was nice enough to post it. Check it!

http://womenincomedyfestival.blogspot.com

Cheers!
Christa

....and in case you were wondering, this is what I'm doing next week.

Fody's Nashua, NH 1/26; 8pm
O'Hara's, Dracut, MA 1/27; 8:30pm

Comedy! T-shirts! Bacon! You get all 3 at the Boston Comedy Festival!

2011-11-09T09:35:00.007-05:00

It's that time of year again! That's right kids, the Boston Comedy Festival is upon us. For those of you that don't know, the BCF brings together tons of fantastic comedians from all around the country to compete in a battle royale of awesomeness. It's running all this week (Nov 5-12) with the final show this Saturday. It's kind of like the Hanukkah of Boston comedy, except there's a winner at the end. (Although, arguably if someone could figure out how to win Hanukkah that might be equally as awesome.)

Anyway, a bunch of my close friends/amazing comics are in the competition this year and as to be expected, I designed this year's t-shirts (...and yes, that is a piece of bacon riding a flying pig wearing Groucho Marx glasses.) Come, check it out and support the future of comedy as we know it!

Cheers!
Christa

Also! Josh Gondelman's album is now officially available! Buy it!

....oh yeah and here's what I've got the rest of this week:

11/9 The Rosebud, Somerville; 8pm
11/10 Nick's Comedy Stop; 8:30pm

Everything's the Best! or The Friendliest Shark in the Land! (errr..ocean)

2011-11-03T09:21:00.012-04:00

Hey guys! Guess what? I just finished designing my good buddy and kickass comedian Josh Gondelman's new album. This one's been a long time coming and I'm super stoked that it's finally available. Josh is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met and is indeed both hilarious and polite. The fact that whenever I work with Josh I'm either creating anthropomorphic food or marine animals with sexy eye wear makes me happier than you can possibly imagine. You can pre-order his album here from RoofTop Comedy and check out his website for dates and such at www.joshgondelman.com.

Also! I am finally capable of creating non-embarrassing websites myself. It's true! I just graduated the BU web design program and am currently awaiting a mound of student loan bills. Hooray! (Sob.) Anyway, I finally revamped my portfolio site which you can check out at www.shameless-design.com. Believe me, it is significantly sexier than websites past. I also created comedian who does not appreciate me, Ted Pettingell's personal website. You can check it out at www.tedpettingzoo.com and catch him in the Boston Comedy Festival this week.

Do you need any graphic and/or web design for any reason? Do you know that I am broke about to weatherproof a cardboard box so I can live out the Boston winter in relative comfort? Hit me up so I don't end up on the street with scabies and a nasty meth addiction. High fives forever!

....Oh yeah also, here's what my November's looking like:

Improv Boston, Cambridge 11/6; 9pm
The Rosebud, Somerville 11/9; 8pm
Nick's Comedy Stop, Boston 11/10; 8pm
Mottley's 11/17; 8pm
IB Nightcap, Cambridge 11/18; 11:30pm
The Comedy Club, Rochester NY (Holy crap! Comedy in my hometown!)
11/23; 6:30pm
11/25; 10pm
11/26; 7:30pm & 10pm
The Rosebud, Somerville 11/30; 8pm

Cheers!
christa

An Attempt to Defend the Life of an Artist: A Message of Mostly Failure (plus some design work)

2011-06-28T09:22:00.020-04:00

First things first: I did a shiny new logo for UnScene Comedy, which you should go to. It's pretty much the greatest. Also, I did a couple of logos for awesome comedian, Kyle Ploof's new podcast. Listen to it and be amazed. Now, here's a thing I wrote, because sometimes I just need to write things.

An Attempt to Defend the Life of an Artist as Written by an Unemployed Loser: A Message of Mostly Failure

You tend to settle down a bit with age, right? I went from being an angsty, fiery, angry punk rocker to an angsty, fiery, jaded, sad person. I removed punk rocker from the equation because back in the day, I used to think everyone was stupid except for punk kids, but later in life, I begrudging realized that I was indeed incorrect. Everyone is stupid except for me. (For the record, I still think boys with tattoos and good taste in music are super hot, I just don't respect them.) I've come a long way, baby!

I suddenly seem to be "at that age" where every single one of my friends has decided to get married at the same time. It's been making me think...About them, about me and the state of my life in comparison to theirs. Seeing all my old friends all dressed up and dapper except 10 years older almost reminds me of a sort of twisted school dance...it was the prom, the Prom of Broken Dreams. Lots of people settled down and no one really got what they wanted, but they seem to be okay with it. A lot of them are genuinely happy. I'm happy for them, but I barely know where I fit into the equation. I don't even have a job right now.

It's an odd feeling when everyone is moving forward and you are standing still. Honestly, I didn't even know that's what was happening until everyone I knew got married at the same time. I was busy being misanthropic, tortured artist or what is more commonly know as, a drunk. I look back and think, did I do something wrong? It feels like this is the only probable course that life could have taken me. I tried to want and do the things I was supposed to, but it turns out normalcy is just not my strong suit. Who knew someone with a massive rubber duck collection and a wrist watch made of Legos wouldn't have their life together by 27? Go figure.

Maybe it's a bit defeatist, but I sort of feel like a failure most of the time. I know I'm not. I'm doing cool things and have had some amazing experiences. I've had a chance to work with people who I greatly admire. I did design work for bands I was crazy about since high school. I slept in an abandoned apartment on a hardwood floor when I was traveling with my friend's band in NYC. I smoked a joint with the dancing guy from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. I've gotten to perform with some amazing and talented comedians, and have been subsequently made fun of by those same amazing comedians. I've gotten away with some really illegal things and gotten in trouble for some really dumb things. All in all, a good portion of my life thus far was really fucking cool and totally worth it. In short, my 16 year old self would think I was amazing.

How do I feel about myself now? Terrible, but that's usually just as a result of consuming enough 5hour Energy and shitty herbal mood enhancer to kill an elephant. I'm just a person, trying to do some things. I hope they work. The whole life of a creative person is not so glamorous once you're on the right side of it. It sucks. It's hard. All your old friends sort of just fade off into things that are more reliable. Your parents become more and more frustrated with you with each passing day. Then they start to insinuate things like, maybe the neighbor's pregnant daughter who still lives at home with them had the right idea, because it least now they'll have a grandchild...that's when shit starts to get real.

For the long time I wouldn't call myself an artist. I feel that it's a thing you have to earn. I didn't think I fit into any specific category, so whatever I did, didn't count. Now, I don't really know what else to call myself. I just hope that somewhere being an all purpose creative counts. That or I should just admit that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with my life. Is there a word for confused aspiring comedian/designer/illustrator/writer/food blogger/media whore? I imagine that would be a lot faster to say than the aforementioned. That's why I love the German language. They just smash a bunch of smaller words together into one giant word. It's more efficient. Also, they invented the word for my favorite emotion, which is schadenfreude. Look it up. It's the best.

I digress. I've realized something about myself recently. Being discontent is pretty much the only reason I ever do anything. And drive, I guess. Actually, it more like I'm driven to keep my self from feeling discontent. Also, fear. That's a good portion of it. I never really feel like anything I do is quite good enough. Unhappiness is what fuels me. I couldn't give a damn of how I do in the corporate world, but as far as anything creative, I'm never quite satisfied. Contentment breeds complacency and since I'm rarely content (in truth, I'm a big fat baby,) I'm driven to try for something better, or at least less bad that I used to do.

My life isn't quite the way I thought it would be right now, but I don't regret anything. I'm still fucked up and confused but, regardless of my situation, that type of thing will never really go away for me anyway. I know what my personality is like. I'm a miserable bastard. I know if I went the traditional route with things I'd definitely would have been significantly unhappier. So that's it. I guess I've made my choice. Sorry, Mom and Dad! I'm never gonna be an astronaut! In the end, it really doesn't matter anyway. We're all gonna die of cancer.

<3
christa

Kitty Cat Clocks are Pretty Much the Best Invention Ever

2011-06-27T14:35:00.014-04:00

Holy crap guys! I did a thing! For reals! I finally finished the cover for Hey Stranger's new album. I really liked doing this illustration. I've always have a lot of fun working in that whole punk rock pseudo 50's sort of style, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Also, it gave me an excuse to draw a kitty cat clock, which I was totally into. (Actually, screw the illustration, I just want a cat clock. I keep telling myself I'll buy one, maybe for some kind of special occasion or if I won something or something but then I realized that I'm not good at winning things or doing things that are worthwhile....so I'm just left with this drawing. Anyway, if someone has an extra cat clock lying around, I'll gladly take it. Is that a thing people do?) I digress.

When I first looked at the finished product I thought, "Wow, this looks exactly like it should be an album cover for a ska band." Which is good because that's exactly what it is. My job, she is complete.

Also! You'll notice that I changed the design of the site. Kinda. Then I got distracted and didn't quite finish it. I need to update my design a bit because I guess this is not quite just a sketch blog anymore. It seems to be more of a design/illustration/comedy/journalish blog thing. All and all it's just a venue to give people new and interesting reasons not to like me. So yeah! New design! I'll finish it. Eventually!

What's next? I'm just starting to design my friend and awesome comedian, Josh Gondelman's new album. All I can say is that it's going to involve a shark wearing sunglasses. Basically it's going to be so awesome it's virtually indescribable. Also, I was going to post another stupid rant thing, but I realized it makes me sound like too much of an unbearable asshole, and generally I try to only do that type of thing in small doses. I'll rewrite it when I'm feeling like less of a jerk. Ummm yeah and I've got some shows and stuff...That's pretty much it. Peace kiddies!

christa

In an act of sheer desperation, I have decided to become a web designer.

2011-05-31T08:43:00.014-04:00

Bah, what am I doing with my life? In case you were wondering, I finally went back to school. So far it's been relatively enjoyable. Lucky for me, my current institute of learning is quaintly nestled between a dollar store and a sex shop, so I'm really learning the fundamentals. The thing about going back to school the second time, is that if you fuck it up (again) you look waaay dumber than you did the last time. The first time you were young and stupid, the second time you're just stupid. That's not quite my problem though. I did well in college, but admittedly, I was fucked up for a good 80% of the time. I was in school for art and design so being on various controlled substances was one of the key methods used to actually get anything done.

The reason I'm going back to school is that back in 2006, when I graduated, I had this cute little notion that the internet was a passing fad and that I could make a living as a print designer. HAHAHAHAhahhahah (sob). Now it's 2011, print is dead, Mark Zuckerberg stole privacy, Steve Jobs made it impossible to like anything before it was cool and I sold my integrity when I created a Twitter account.

So...I'm going back for web design. This time school is different. This time I'm coding. This time I actually have to be able to think. This time I have to (gasp!) pay attention. I seem to be the only one who has a hard time staring into oblivion for 8 hours a day. Maybe I have ADHD, you say. No, this one isn't my fault. I don't have a learning disability, I'm a monkey. More specifically, we're all biologically programmed to be hunters and gatherers. Running around, getting chased by saber tooth tigers and beating our potential mates into submission, etc. I could be into that. Foraging for food, sleeping outdoors, drinking Listerine because they won't let me in the liquor store anymore... Shit. I guess I'm more okay with being homeless than I thought.

When I went to my orientation the president of the school managed to mention Justin Beiber within the first 5 minutes of his opening speech. Let me tell you, there is nothing that will cause you to question your investment more than that...but that's just it. This world is made of idiots, a good portion of which are frequently on the internet and most of them want websites. So fine, idiots. You win. I'll build your damn websites and then I'll die a little inside...and maybe, if you're cool and I like you, I'll build you an awesome website, and maybe I won't hate myself that much and maybe I'll fill the void that's been eating away at my soul all these years, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Being a hobo still seems like a pretty attractive option.

....Okay enough of that bitchfest. What I've got here is sweet little flyer I whipped up for my good buddy, awesome comedian and founder of UnScene Comedy, Shawn Carter. Also, I was drunk on one of his podcasts. Anyway, he's putting on a kickass show with some amazing comedians at the end of June. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will rock your face clean off! You should go. Seriously.

Signed,
the coolest person you've ever met to potentially get drunk on mouthwash.
- christa

There's Nothing Sadder than a Toast-less Toaster

2011-03-29T14:24:00.011-04:00

Hello friends, foes and uhhh...fishes? Yeah, that'll work. What I've got here today is a fantastic immortalization of the mundane that I did as part of the Self-Proclaimed Rockstars new album, Postcards From Purgatory. The final artwork just got sent out to print, so I figured I'd give you a sneak preview of some of the illustrations I did for them. This project has been in the works for a long time and I'm totally stoked to see it finally see it in real life, (plus I got to draw things like toasters and people in a purgatory-like misery, both which I happen to be a big fan of,).

ALSO! The Women in Comedy Festival was amazing! I had an awesome time, met a lot of cool lady comedians from all over the country and my show went great! The highlight for me was seeing a the panel discussion with Rachel Dratch and Kristen Schaal, (from SNL and Flight of the Concords/the Daily Show, respectively) and Morgan Murphy and Jen Kirkman, two amazing stand-ups. They were not only hilarious, but super informative and it was awesome to be able to see them in real life. It felt like a dream, or like I had eaten a two-week old bologna sandwich that had been rotting in the sun, and the resulting fever dream had included a panel discussion about women in comedy. Hells yeah!

In other news, I have finally submitted to Twitter. Yeah, I know. I swore I'd never join, but in the name of shameless self promotion, I have become a total media whore. You can follow me at @christaweiss or just click the button on the sidebar. You know you love it. Admit it.

Self-Proclaimed Rockstars Album Release Extravaganza!
April 23rd
Middle East Downstairs

See my attempts at hilarity!
The Burren 3/30
10pm

Awkward Compliment
The Somerville Theater
8pm

Cheers!
christa

Comedy! Festivities! Ladies! What could be better?

2011-03-11T17:21:00.009-05:00

Well hello there! I just thought I'd take a minute to shamelessly self-promote! My constant and unending search for validation has finally lead me to Boston's Women in Comedy Festival, and I couldn't be happier. There are tons of kickass comedians doing shows in town this week, including Rachel Dratch from SNL and Kristen Schaal from Flight of the Concords...(and oh yeah, me and a bunch of my friends,). Check it, see a few awesome shows and support the ladies!

Cheers!
christa

In a rare burst of creativity, I complain about being in an airport.

2011-02-28T08:25:00.006-05:00

Hmm, I seem to be struck with the urgent, undefinable urge to write. This may have something to do with the fact that I am in an airport right now, and this is pretty much the only way I can legitimize being awake since for 4am. Seriously guys, that's usually my bed time.

So what have I experienced so far? Lets work backwards. I just got a delicious breakfast sandwich for free...and by free I mean I did not pay for it...and by not pay for it I mean the cashier was really backed up and forgot to change me...and by did not charge me I mean that before she realized she had made a mistake, I ran like hell. That's me, I'm classy. Seriously though, that might have been the best breakfast sandwich I ever had, and not just because it should have cost like $40 becuse I bought it in an airport. It was geninely tasty. It almost makes me wish I had actually paid for it. Almost.

Before that I got the lovely opportunity to experience the fully body scan. Painless yes, humiliating, kind of. (I like to leave that kind of thing to the bedroom.) Anyway, apparently a stud in my jeans looked surprising like a NUCLEAR BOMB and I had to get molested...I mean frisked, anyway. The airport security person thought it was funny when I kept rolling my eyes and I told her I usually get paid for this sort of thing. She laughed, and I died a little inside.

All this was a result of me visiting my parents this weekend in what I'll call my..."Oh god, I have no idea what I'm doing with my life, freak out" visit. Was it productive? Mildly...after I got that speech that all my dreams were a waste of time and everything I value is ridiculous, things went great. I assured them that I would fail them in every way they had expected and if they really wanted a normal kid they should just adopt a new one.

In short, I'm going back to school. I think. Generally that's what people do when they have no idea what they're doing with their life, right? Getting into debt sounds a great idea to me! Massachusetts has already fucked me out of most of my severance because of the stupid mandatory health insurance I have to pay. I'm going to break my legs on purpose just so I can get the most out of my health insurance.

In conclusion, I'm fucked. Yeaaaaahha! Obviously, I'm still going to continue with comedy, design and all of my random projects. I was pretty okay with not really having much direction in life but everyone else seems to be pretty pissed that I'm not really interested in the whole going into debt-terrible soul sucking office job-horrible marriage-horrible children-horrible divorce-cancer-death route. Fuck em, at least this will provide me with some good material.

<3
christa

Oh yeah and in case you didn't already figure it out Supper Sanity Club now has a logo, made by me, obviously. Wooo!

And I was like, "Damn the Man!"...and the Man was all, "I never really liked you anyway!"

2011-02-17T10:43:00.011-05:00

Hey remember last post when I talked about all the things I would do if the world was really going to end in a year? Remember when I mentioned quitting my job? Welp, it turns out I didn't have to actually do that myself. Yes friends, in a great fit of what may or may not be the irony of the universe, I got laid off. YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS!

Ok, admittedly, this is fucking frightening...but it's given me the amazing opportunity to do WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT. I'm not being immature about this either. At this point I have about 50 different projects going that may or may not yield me some income, and/or a way to make a living that is not in an office. Yeah, I'm going to be poor, really poor actually, but if it's between that and having my insides slowly rot out of me in the hellish purgatory that is an office, I'll take poverty any day of the week.

Anyway, with this extra time, me and a couple of my lady friends have started another blog called the Supper Sanity Club. Basically all of us love to cook, drink and are completly vain and self involved...(okay, the last part might just be me). We meet weekly to have a kickass dinner party/get wasted and we thought it would a sweet idea to share our recipes with the universe. Check it! suppersanityclub.blogspot.com

Another thing that's great about unemployment is how great it works for comedy. I can actually sleep now! Lucky for me, I also just got into the 3rd Annul Boston Women in Comedy Festival. Yeeeha!

Oh yeah and obviously, I've got a few freelance design projects headed your way soon for Hey Stranger and the Self-Proclaimed Rockstars. And yeah, I painted that baby head. Maybe I'll sell it or something. It's the sister to this little guy. Would people buy a baby head painted like a skull? Yes? No? Maybe? Fuck, I don't understand kids today.

Shows!
Comedy Studio 2/24
Women In Comedy Festival 3/13

Excited, mildly frightened,& incapable of sitting still,
christa

The Apocalypse don't seem so bad if you ask me...

2011-01-07T15:19:00.005-05:00

Ahh, Armageddon. It sounds fantastic. Yeah, I know a bunch of stupid birds fell out of the sky and now all those bible belt idiots are upset. They are also the same people that said the people in New Orleans deserved it because they were "sinners" when the hurricane and flooding destroyed everything, so their opinions don't count. I approach 2012, the same way I approached Y2k...with a stunning degree of apathy. Both require that you need to subscribe to some ridiculous religious concepts, be it a bearded man in the sky that unreasonably judges you* or dude that requires you to routinely rip people's still beating hearts our of their chest and honestly, I can't really get behind either. Also, there's the whole issue of Nostradamus, who was just a crazy guy who spoke in riddles. If I knew what the actual future would be you'd better believe I'd tell people exactly what was going to happen. "Ya'll fucked in 2012. Make 2011 count!"

In accordance, I present to you a list of things I would do if I knew the world was going to end next year:

- Quit my job and start doing standup, design, illustration and various other creative projects full time
- Stop being nice to people I hate
- Lots of drugs
- Rob a bank (even if you get caught, it's still a limited amount of prison time)
- Eat only candy corn for the entire month of October
- Spend my entire life savings** to build an extension onto my apartment that has room with a trampoline floor and Velcro walls
- Buy a pet tiger

Predictably, the doodle above was something I sketched in a meeting. You can tell I take my job very seriously.

Anyway, aside from the whole possible end of days thing, 2011 is looking pretty good. I've got a bunch of good shows coming up and some really exciting design commissions headed my way. Stay tuned, and either way make 2011 count!

Cheers!
christa

Shows!

Comedy Studio, 8pm, 1/9

The Burren, 10pm, 1/12

*In the Christian faith, thinking about adultery is the same as actual adultery, which makes absolutely no sense. Fuck it man, you might a well just go for it.

** I have no life savings to speak of, but this is a fantasy scenario, so deal with it.

....and then the Evil Snowman Army Saved Christmas

2010-12-16T16:20:00.006-05:00

By now you've probably noticed my penchant for drawing anthropomorphic inanimate objects, particularly the evil sort. Today, my friends, is no exception. I present to you, in the Christmas spirit, an evil snowman army for the Self-Proclaimed Rockstars. They've got a kickass shindig this Saturday and all benefits from the show go to the House of Blues Foundation. To be honest with you, I have no idea what this charity actually funds, but it should be umm nice?* Yeah.** Anyway, the last time I thought about making any donations was when I had the note $ 4 Charity written on my hand. It looks innocent enough, until you find out that Charity is the name of my drug dealer. I'm reveling in the irony I tell you, reveling.

Anyway, I've got a kickass show coming up in a couple of hours and a bunch of others in the coming weeks. Check em (out)! Then go to SPR's show and donate cash to a charity that you know virtually nothing about. You can feel good about yourself with out actually doing anything except getting drunk and watching a great show. My kind of goodwill!

My Shows!(comedy)

Nicks Comedy Stop 12/16, 8pm! (tonite!)
Awkward Compliment 12/30
Grandma's Basement 12/31
Improv Boston 1/1
The Comedy Studio 1/9

Friends Shows (music)

The Self-Proclaimed Rockstars
12/18, 8pm
House of Blues Foundation Room

Continental (opening for the Street Dogs!)
12/18
The Paradise, 7PM

12/19
TT the Bears

Cheers!
christa

*Be sure to read my public apology when I later find out the HOB Foundation actually funds the New Hitler Youth of Afghanistan. Word on the street is that it's full of communists and pedophiles.

**Okay I just looked it up. According to their website, this is what the HOB Foundation actually does:

IHOBF reaches thousands of students, teachers and others annually nationwide with arts and cultural educational programming that promotes cultural understanding and encourages creative expression. http://www.ihobf.org

...definitely something I can get behind. I still prefer drugs though...

From Regrettable One Night Stand to Toddler (Happy 2nd Birthday, Blog!)

2010-12-08T11:42:00.007-05:00

My blog is two years old today! Holy crap! I've wasted a lot of everyone's time! Thanks, 10 followers for being cool enough to truly understand the breadth of my genius. You and yours will be spared when when I send a plague of locusts upon the earth and blood rains from the skies. Consider yourselves lucky.

This whole thing is not quite what I thought it would be initially, (basically just a place to post design work because I'm too lazy to frequently update my portfolio site) but I was, and am still having fun with it. I love to be able to show off my design work and it turns out, I've been deemed to be a relatively entertaining writer by my friends, who would definitely not lie to me in order to protect my feelings. Heh.

Anyway, having this thing has really facilitated getting me into comedy. I realized that for some reason, people seem to be interested in what I have to say, regardless of my lack of any sort of credentials and the fact that I have nothing interesting to say. It's safe to assume that basically everything that comes out of my mouth is pretty much tongue-in-cheek...which is great for comedy, but terrible for personal relationships, office politics and pretty much every other area of life.

So thanks guys! I'm stoked that you like my artwork and continue to commission me for things. Also, thanks to all my friends who've supported me in comedy, given me advice and helped me make the transition from fucking terrible, to terrible, to not that great. I hope one day to make it to mediocre. Ya gotta have dreams, folks!

Upcoming shows
12/9 Fody's, Nashua, NH
7pm doors, 8pm show

12/16 Nick's Comedy Stop, Boston
8pm

Cheers!
christa

Note:
The piece up top is a commission I did for my friend and awesome comedian Josh Gondelman. It's a fake album cover, based on an inside joke he has with his girlfriend. It will most certainly get him laid...and that my friends, is what life is about.

Addicted to Bad Ideas

2010-11-10T11:45:00.008-05:00

Hey kids! Lots of stuff happening here at Shameless Design (and by that I mean my shitty apartment and the pile of papers I happen to be typing this on)! Anyway, I did a quick flier for one of my fabulous comedian friends, Laura Crawford for her show Screwicide: Laughter in the face of Sexual and Romantic Failure. If dating and suicide don't go hand in hand, then I don't know what does. This may delve a bit too deep into my current view of relationships, but lets just say there's been more than one time I've wanted to throw myself in front of a subway train as a result of one. I'm not saying that every time I've considered dropping off the planet, it's been about a dude, but my consistent romantic shortcomings combined with the constant and crushing meaninglessness of existence...well, it has a tendency to get to me every now and again. I once told my mom that the reason I have trouble dating was the fact that I needed someone with a deep inner monologue but yeah, I got called out on that bullshit pretty quickly. I just want another high functioning alcoholic. Is that so much to ask?

Anyway, to bring you up to date on the rest of what's happening, one of my logos finally made it on to a large metal thing that makes noise (the SPR drum kit), somehow I made it on to public access television and last night was the first time I've gotten more than 4 hours of sleep in weeks. Yeha!

So go to Screwicde, its on Veterans Day. Celebrate your failure as functional breeding member of society while also remembering a bunch of people that died as a result of someone else's small penis and bad decisions. The two fit hand in hand. (insert obvious sex joke here)

Screwicide
November 11
10pm-1am
tix $8
The Lilly Pad
1353 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA

Cheers!
christa

Just in case you needed someone to twist your arm into drinking on a Thursday...

2010-10-14T10:20:00.006-04:00

Hey kids! I sort of spaced on this last week, but looky here! I did a poster for Boston's one and only, Self Proclaimed Rockstars (We've got lots of other rockstars, but these guys are the only ones that are self referential,). Anyway, they've got a residency at Precinct this month and the kickoff show brought the house down. In addition to music, Mick has started a late night comedy showcase after each SPR show, starring some of Boston's most awesome comedians...and by that I mean of course, that I am on one of these shows.

Tonite will be SPR's new album preview extravaganza along with a few other kickass bands and comedians. Check it tonite and every Thursday this month!

Interested in seeing me waste my time on stage, in a vain and misguided attempt for attention? Next week you can find me here:
10/19 The Varsity Club 7pm
10/21 The Precinct with SPR, music at 8pm, comedy at Midnight

Cheers!
Christa

Self Proclaimed AWESOME!

2010-09-17T10:56:00.006-04:00

He's a little logo rework I did for the Self Proclaimed Rockstars. I met Mick the guitarist/vocalist/self referentialist at an open mike I frequent. In addition to being an awesome musician, he's also an equally awesome comedian.

Oddly enough, the worlds of comedy and music have many parallels and often intersect (sometimes disastrously so) in the world of open mikes. It's funny how intrigued most of the musicians I know are about comedy, since our worlds are essentially the same. We both stay up all night, hang out in shitty bars several nights a week, drink too much and have family/friends/lovers (ha!) that are deeply deeply disappointed in us.

Most comedians and musicians stories are the same...I tried school/work/relationships/attempting to act like a normal human being and well, that shit didn't work out so now I tour all the time/have a drinking problem/hate myself. What better way to spread your personal sadness through the world of performance art? I dare say, there is no better outlet.

Anyway, I've got more work for SPR coming up, in addition to a myriad of other things. Stay tuned!

Some plugs!
SPR every Thursday in October at the Precinct, Somerville
Tix $5

PIZZA MONSTER Open Mike Hosted by Mick Greenwood
6B Lounge, Boston
comedy/music/whatever
8pm

Keep spreading the sadness!

<3
Christa

SATURDAY! SATURDAY! SATURDAY!

2010-08-30T09:34:00.003-04:00

Hey there kids! I've got a nice little flyer I whipped up for the boys from Far From Finished. Their album release party is this weekend, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be the greatest thing to happen to anyone, probably ever. They will be playing with the Have Nots (one of my personal favorites), the Burning Streets (I haven't seem them but I've heard great things), and Lenny Lashley (of Boston punk legends, Darkbuster).

I encourage you all to be in attendance, or ya know, face a lifetime of regret. The choice is yours comrades!

Cheers!
christa

Saturday, September 4th
Middle East Downstairs
Far From Finished
The Have Nots
The Burning Streets
Lenny Lashley

$10 adv
$12 doors
$15 all day pass

So where the hell are MY free government opiates?

2010-08-17T16:08:00.005-04:00

Well hello! I've finally got around to finishing my travel sketch journal thing...and yes, I ended it with a shit joke. Clearly, I am far less mature than I previously thought.

What's new? Lots of things, I've got some new band stuff coming up, plus I think I might be donating one of my pieces to the American Heart Association for an auction thing. Ironic because in so many of my sketches I draw myself without one. Apparently, people need those things. Weird.

Also! Stand-up. I seem to be not terrible at this. I've sort of gotten addicted to it, even though its frequently painful and demoralizing. Sort of like doing heroin, except minus the cool track marks and free government methadone. (I hear it comes in watermelon flavor now! Greedy bastards.)

Anyway, to those interested, I've got a show this weekend:

Improv Boston
Sunday, August 22, 9pm

Cheers!
christa

When I get bored I get self referential

2010-07-29T10:59:00.003-04:00

Another crazy trip to Wyoming with work. What this basically translates to is about 12 hours of doodling/contemplating the meaninglessness of existence while sitting in a 2 day meeting that has nothing to do with me.

During this time I:
drew small caricatures of almost everyone I know, complete with descriptions
drew a chick with antlers
wrote some jokes about failure, an area which I am an expert
wrote some jokes about Skymall, the Walmart of the noveau riche
drank about 50 cups of coffee
got embarrassingly wasted with some of my coworkers at the dinner afterwards and stole a pie and a bottle of jack

So yeah, pretty much the usual.

I've posted some of my better doodles for your scrutiny...or something.

Cheers!
christa

If you're dumb enough to blow yourself up while lighting firecrakers you probably deserve it...(this does not appy to children, just idiots)

2010-06-29T16:04:00.007-04:00

Finally! I'm almost done with my travel journal comic. This whole life thing tends to get in the way of anything I do that's fun. Laaame. One more page to go!

In other semi-related news, I've got a show at Improv Boston this week! Holy crap, Imma be famous!...and by famous I mean, not famous at all, with the added bonus of the possibility of making an ass of myself in front of a crowd! Actually, scratch that, I'm fairly certain I'll be awesome...and if I'm not awesome, there will defiantly be other comics there that will be awesome, so win-win, really.

Have a kickass July 4th weekend! Celebrate our country's independence by blowing up a small portion of it.

(clicky to enlarge comic)

cheers!
christa

...and if you're really interested, I'll be at Improv Boston's nightcap,
Friday July 2, 11:30pm...

Edit!

A meditation on my walk home, in haiku, for you to enjoy:
majestic blue jay
takes a crap on the fence post
meh, still majestic

...art imitates life, amiright?

Having a severe medical condition in the 1900s must have been awesome, and by awesome I mean terrifying...

2010-06-08T11:36:00.011-04:00

Okay admittedly, I haven't been paying attention to umm, much of anything art related lately. I kind of half assed it for awhile but I've got some t-shirt design rejects here. I actually like them a lot, so I think I may use them for myself, or make some prints of them.

The source images are actually from this creepy old German medical book from the 1900s that I found at my grandparents house. The book may smell like mildew and give me a headache, but it's got a wealth of amazing images...some kind of make me want to vomit though...(make it a point never to look up anything involving undefinable skin rashes or congenital deformities..ggaaaah) There were some amazing pictures of that weird hair overgrowth syndrome that causes you to grow hair over 98% of your body and some weird shit with people in iron lungs...so I'd have to say it was worth it.

In slightly more upbeat news, I have a few more comedy shows coming up that I may or may not post the dates of, depending on my level of confidence.

Oh yeah, aren't I supposed to say something funny at some point in this blog? Hmmm...me and a few of my friends decided to create a drinking game based on one of the several Muppet movies I own. Any time there is something with googly eyes is on screen you have to drink. Alcohol poisoning and/or hilarity is sure to ensue.

Peace out cub scouts!

xta

Every post menopausal women's worst nightmare, revealed!

2010-05-21T10:44:00.004-04:00

Hey Hey! I've got lots of stuff in the works, but nothing I can really post today. I still haven't finished inking the last couple of pages of my vacation sketch journal either, so you'll have to wait until next week for that as well. In it's absence, I bring to you another edition of Random Things That I Have Crafted.

So yeah. It's a baby head that I painted like a Mexican sugar skull. More specifically, it's a Precious Moments doll head. Remember those cutesy little statues that your mom and/or grandma would collect of a little boy down on one knee giving a little girl an engagement ring or I dunno getting caught taking a piss or something (all in delightful pastel colors, of course)? Yeah, it's one of those...well not so much anymore. A women I used to work with had 2 entire china closets full of them...gaah.

One of my friends found them at a thrift shop and called me immediately. The conversation went something like this:
"Hey, I just found a bunch of creepy ceramic baby heads. You want some?"
"HELL YES I DO!"

I'm fairly certain that I'm one of the only people in the world that could a)actually receive this type of phone call and b) be as excited about it as I was.

It takes all kinds friends!

cheers!
xta

I'll blame Jesus instead. That guy hasn't done anything in like 2,000 years.

2010-05-14T14:25:00.010-04:00

Hey kids! Amidst the insanity of my commissions (new stuff for Far From Finished soon!), my unstable living situation, and my general malaise and misery, I bring to you the second page of my travel journal comic!

It has come to my attention that apparently, I am incapable for drawing a straight line much less am able to letter anything that is legible. I really like the look of hand lettered pieces but since I've been getting some complaints I'm reverting to type. Laaame. I'll fix the first page at some point as well.

I'm not quite sure why my handwriting is so bad (what you see in the comics is great compared to what it normally looks like) since I'm at least a halfway decent illustrator. My only excuse is that I get sort of bored when I write, to the point where I start leaving out letters or combining them. Basically, I can barely read my own handwriting. I blame Obama.*

As always, have fun, be safe and don't do anything I wouldn't do!**

(clicky to enlarge)

Cheers!
christa

*Naaaw I'm just kidding buddy. I love ya. Lets get brunch.
** This is probably not very good advice.

I would seriously live in the rainforest forever if there weren't bugs there the size of my face

2010-05-07T14:44:00.009-04:00

Hey kids! I'm back from Costa Rica and surprisingly, not dead, infected with some crazy jungle disease or a coke mule! Mission accomplished.

In all seriousness though, the trip was an amazing experience and I had a great time with my friends. The rainforest is a beautiful place (aside from the giant, scary, aaaaangry bugs). I was pretty much in a constant state of awe the entire time. Look to the left...majesty, look to the right...majesty, look behind you, still more majesty. I could go on, believe me.

Anyway, in order to remember the trip I kept a little travel sketch journal for you all to enjoy. Here's part 1! (clicky to enlarge)

cheers!
christa

I was going to put a song quote about the beach here but then I realized that most the bands I like are from cold, frightening places...

2010-04-22T10:13:00.012-04:00

I just finished up a couple more t-shirt designs for Hey Stranger. Yeeeha! To their credit, I did not come up with the concept for this design...but oh man, I wish I had. If only I was a drummer, or had any kind of musical talent (occasional merch girl doesn't count,),I too could become a sex symbol/cymbal. Alas! I will have to rely on my good looks (idiotic overconfidence) and charm (ability to sound like I know what I'm talking about when I really have no idea what the hell I'm doing)in order to get me through life. It's blasé, really.

Anyway, I'll be in Costa Rica for a while trying to absorb some culture, some sun and some alcohol...and hopefully, not making an ass of myself attempting to recall my high school Spanish. Don't worry kids, I've still got plenty of stuff on the way!

If I don't come back it's because I ran away with a hot Costa Rican dude (awesome) or I'm in a hot Costa Rican jail (probably more likely). I'm hoping for the former. Wish me luck!

Cheers!
christa

Something clever about double mint gum and twins and those old 80's commericals that in retrospect didn't really make much sense

2010-04-09T14:29:00.006-04:00

Yegads! It's been a while hasn't it? I'm in the midst of doing my nautically themed zodiacs for Tall Ship Sexy, so I thought I'd give you a peak of what I've got in the works. I'm trying to make this a little different from the traditional versions of the zodiac. Gemini, of course, is by far my favorite. I'm a Sagittarius, so I've been trying to make that one super-awesome, but to be honest, it seems a bit lackluster to me. I was trying to go for centaur-pirate, but he ended up just looking like an English dandy, which is decidedly not piratey or manly or um... enticing in any way. Give me a centar with some muscles, that's what I say! Rawwr!...um actually...ewwww. I take that back. I need to stop faux lusting over mystical creatures, it's ruining my cred (and my ability to be taken seriously by the opposite sex).

In completely unrelated and unimportant news, my stand up grad show went really well! I got a bunch of laughs and everyone seemed to have a great time. This may be in part because a bunch of people were really drunk, but hell, I'll take what I can get. I'll be hitting up some more opem mikes in the area now that I'm slightly less busy. I'm still buried under a stack of commissions, but my family obligations are taken care of for the time being (my parent's care to visit, then my bro came to visit, then I went home for that bunny holiday,etc.). Man, if only I didn't have a full time job I'd be totally set with all the stuff I've got going! Ya know, except for the whole paying rent thing. Fuck it, I'll sleep when I'm dead.

cheers!
christa

...and give me back my black t-shirt!

2010-03-18T15:02:00.008-04:00

Ahhh, how I love to see my stuff in print! This is a shirt I did for Hey Stranger a little while back. This photo was posted as a fan pic on my Facebook page so I'm not quite sure who is wearing it...but lets back up a sec. I have a fan photo! Truly, I have achieved greatness. I mean sure, it's not the kind of world changing greatness like that of say, that of Gandhi or Jesus or the guy who created that toaster thing that cooks both the hot dogs and the buns simultaneously (takes up space in your kitchen & will take a thousand years to rot in a landfill! Buy now!)...but people are paying attention to me, and in the end, isn't that what's really important? Yes, yes it is.

It's always a little weird when I run into someone who's wearing something I designed. Usually, I'm at a show or a bar and one of my friends notices and brings the person over. After I tell them I designed it, we sort of stare at each other awkwardly for a few seconds and avoid eye contact for the rest of the night. Oh well, not much different from when I'm attempting to hit on someone. Seriously, I should be used to this by now.

Anyway...in case you're wondering, the other little thing I've got up here is a business card that I did for one of my friends. Now, I don't know anything about consulting, or business or any computer program involving the two, but supposedly he kicks ass at it. So you should totally use him. Seriously.

My final show for my standup class is Friday at Improv Boston. Let's hope the produce they throw is fresh. I freakin broke!

<3
xta

I'll take the top half

2010-03-05T13:42:00.005-05:00

Hey hey! Some actual finished work! Rock! This is a modification of my reverse mermaid print that is going to be used as a t-shirt for, you guessed it, Tall Ship Sexy magazine. Woooo! I've also got some nautical themed zodiac signs coming up for them as well. This project is a lot of fun because it incorporates all my favorite things...tattoo flash, giant squids, and the possibility of drawing some more titties.

So the thing is...with all these projects I have going on, plus the stand up, my life has been reduced to tiny scraps of paper that make absolutely no sense, to anyone but me. For example: I have a single post-it not reading bestiality. Yup, that's it. It's an idea for a joke I just wrote, that let me tell you, is incredibly classy. That and all the half scribbled ideas I have for my commissions, basically make me look like a schizophrenic. Now, not like I'm not used to people thinking I'm crazy, but usually it's that kind of "maybe that last drink was a bad idea" kind of crazy, not the "you need to be sedated and put into an institution" kind of crazy. The former, my friends, is significantly cooler...plus I'm being a productive consumer. Everybody wins!

I'll probably hit up a couple more open mikes this week (just did my first last Monday)....but I'm not posting where they are yet until I'm convinced I don't suck. Now, I'm not saying that I'm the greatest comedian ever, but I think I could give Carrot Top a run for his money....but mostly that's because I still have the ability to make facial expressions. I gotta say though, that guy's eyebrows are waxed beautifully.

Peace out cub scouts!
(Stay away from big black vans and men with candy.)

<3

christa

...Not that there's anything wrong with that

2010-02-26T14:58:00.007-05:00

A short and sort of crappy comic for you all! (I drew it in like 10 minutes during a meeting.) Needless to say my hair is almost exactly the same. Oh well.

I seem to have this problem where I'm pretty sure everyone in my extended family thinks I'm a lesbian. I guess if you're not really into the art/punk/whatever scene short/weirdly dyed hair, facial piercings and the occasional donning of combat boots makes everyone think you're into chicks. That coupled with the fact that I never really discuss my relationships with any of my family members puts the nail in the coffin for me. To be honest, I never mention anything because my love life is a ridiculous comedy of errors more than anything else. I don't talk about that stuff on the blog either (obviously) because, well, I’d like people to continue to want to date me. I'm not gonna go bad mouthing exs in a public forum, it's just immature. Besides, that's why I'm doing standup…(Just kidding!...Really!)

Anyway...the next thing I’ve got here is kind of Mardi Gras inspired. Fun Fact: Mardi Gras was not originally all about showing your tits for shitty plastic beads, getting wasted and waking up in a ditch covered in your own (or someone elses?) vomit, with a midget, a strange old Creole man and an alligator. It was the celebration before Catholics fasted for Lent (the 40 days before Easter). (Catholic school kid guilty as charged! )Now, I’m defiantly an Atheist, but come on man. Some of that shit’s gone too far. Also, it’s always on a Tuesday which blows. How am I supposed to get smashed and wake up with a midget when I have to work the next day? Laaaaaame.

Alas, I must get my drink on/carousing for midgets done during the weekends!

Cheers!
xta

My most embarrassing post to date!

2010-02-18T14:36:00.010-05:00

Hello all! In an effort to remind you guys that I am not, in fact, deceased, I have decided to post out of sheer force of will, with absolutely nothing of value. Huzzah! (Sorry I've had a bunch of work but nothing I can post yet...)

Anyway, did anyone realize that I AM A GIGANTIC NERD? Yeah, I hide it pretty well, but it's true. As evidence, I have posted my version of a couple of characters from my most favorite graphic novel/the amazing literary masterpiece, Scott Pilgrim. To all you who are not involved in dork circles, drawing other people's characters is pretty common practice.

Scott Pilgrim is a great graphic novel if you're dually a music/comic nerd like me. It's about a dude who's kind of a loser that's in a band and has a mysterious and kind of aloof girlfriend....also he has to battle all of her evil ex boyfriends...ninja style! Awesome? I think so! Additionally, the writer uses the word "awesome" pretty frequently, which just happens to be my favorite word (as evidenced by the previous sentence).

My apologies for nerding out on your for a minute there, but to my own credit, I like waaaay dorkier things, that right now, I am keeping to myself.

Next up: A real post with real work...eventually! I promise!

As a side note, Scott Pilgrim is being made into a movie directed by Edgar Wright (cool) with Micheal Serra as Scott (lame) and will be out sometime this year. If you are interested in the SP series, go to the author, Brian Lee O'Malley's site.

http://www.scottpilgrim.com/

<3 xta

His head full of legends of dungeons and dragons and pirates and stuff...

2010-02-05T15:53:00.006-05:00

Hello friends! Sorry I've been AWOL for a bit...but Huzzah! I've got lots of cool new stuff on the horizon! Along with a couple new commissions I've got coming up, one of my pieces that everyone seems to like will be featured in a magazine...in print, with like words and stuff. Goddamn, I just thought art nerds, punk kids and general delinquents appreciated my work, but apparently real people with like opinions and stuff think I'm alright too. Nice! Anyway, the magazine is Tall Ship Sexy (think pirates, except umm sexier?) and the piece is of course, my reverse mermaid. I might be doing a few illustrations for them in the future for them as well. Can I get a hell yeah?

Yes...yes I think I can.

http://www.tallshipsexy.com/

Note: The illustration here is absolutely not a political statement...It's more of how I've been feeling about life in general lately. I've had a weird couple of weeks to say the least...but no worries! Everything worked out :)

<3
christa

Like vampire bats deprived of blood (into the New York city night we crawl)

2010-01-21T15:52:00.010-05:00

Hey kids! Here's a logo I just finished up for Hey Stranger, a great ska band that I met while I was in New York city. I'm actually from New York state. Oddly enough, now that I live in Boston, I actually live closer to NYC then I did when I lived in New York state. I'm pretty sure most New Yorkers don't think there is anything above White Plains and well, they're pretty much right. The rest of the state is basically no mans land aside from Rochester,(my hometown, sort of boring), Buffalo,(horrible, but the wings are good), Syracuse(even more horrible) and Albany, (so fucking horrible you'll want to stab your eyes out with a dull pencil...I mean Jesus, have you seen the bus station? It's like the place where hookers,heroin addicts and rats go to die, also every time I go there someone either asks me for money or drugs). Fun Fact: Albany is also the New York State capitol!

Anyway,...umm where was I? Ah yes, Hey Stranger! They're a great group of guys and I really enjoyed working with them. Check their stuff out here:

heystrangernyc.com

cheers!
christa

I am kind of a masochist, as evidenced by every decision I make

2010-01-11T16:32:00.006-05:00

I may not believe fairy tales, monsters or human decency, but I am damn good at drawing them. Above is my example. Seriously, I'm like Norman Rockwell except not dead and significantly less talented. Also I'm not famous, I've never worked for Life, or any other magazine and I am terrible at drawing puppies. Okay, I'm actually not like Norman Rockwell at all. Maybe I'm more like Edward Gorey, except not asexual and less talented and none of my illustrations are about dead children and....

Enough of that. For those of you who don't know me very well and need further evidence of my penchant for masochism, I'm taking a stand up comedy class. My reason for this being, a)I need more attention and my tits aren't big enough to get on girls gone wild and b) I hate myself.

I hope for myself that I'm either really, really awesome at this, or conversely, really, really, really terrible. I'd hate to be mediocre. I rather go down in a fiery blase of glory then just be okay. If you had the option to choose your death, would you rather take a bottle of pills of jump into the grand canyon? If I'm gonna die either way it's grand canyon all the way, baby.

Here's to one of my first (of my already accumulating) bad decisions of 2010!

Cheers!
christa

Edit: I almost forgot! I saw someone wearing one of the Far From Finished t-shirts I designed at the Hudson Falcons show I went to this weekend. Wooo!

I've got 100 resolutions, but I've got no solutions...

2010-01-01T12:36:00.007-05:00

Ahh, 2009: the year of dead celebrities that have virtually no impact on my life. Also, some other stuff happened...

This time of year I like to reflect upon all the glaringly stupid things I've done coupled with remembering all the intense and painful regrets I have. So, in honor of the new year, this 2010, I call this sketch the ghost of bad decisions past.

I personally apologize for the the stupid things I've done, am doing and will do in the future. I don't make resolutions. Heh.

On a far more awesome note, Throwdown, oh man. What a way to start the punk rock new year! I had my doubts about seeing at the House of Blues, but aside from the $6 Pabst everything was an amazing, awesome and unifying experience.

Cheers to everyone and lets try not to fuck up 2010 too badly!

You scumbag! You maggot! You cheap lousy faggot! Happy christmas your arse I pray god it´s our last!

2009-12-24T21:13:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas friends, foes, facebook stalkers, jealous lovers and random acquaintances! I've never been big on the whole jesus thing but the whole concept of being nice to people for absolutely no reason other than it's snowing out works for me! Eat too much, drink too much and get some cool shit!

<3
xta

Holy lord, I've wasted a lot of everyone's time!

2009-12-08T16:32:00.006-05:00

Jesus, do you know what? I've have this ridiculous blog thing for exactly a year. Whoa. Man, that is far more time that I intended on wasting for anyone. My apologies!

In all seriousness though, I'm pretty stoked about it. I actually never really thought I'd go much of anywhere with this whole designing for bands/artist gig I seem to have going. Basically, my whole business approach was (in addition to knowing a lot of awesome people), look cute, get drunk and hand out business cards. Apparently, I can walk the line between charming and drunk well enough to actually drum up some business. Fuck man, I am surprised. I'm really grateful that somehow this is all working out right now. Working with musicians I love and selling stupid pictures of my doodles is waaay more fulfilling than anything else I could be doing right now.

So, thanks to everyone who commissioned some design work from me, anyone who's bought any of my artwork, and everyone who reads this blog and somehow finds me mildly amusing. You guys rock my metaphorical socks off! Happy birthday, blog!

Cheers!
xta

Oh yeah and in case you thought I forgot...
Shameless Design on Etsy!

It my box social and I will weep if I feel that it is necessary!

2009-12-04T15:34:00.009-05:00

Hey! Hey! Amidst the holiday insanity I have have almost nothing of value to post! Wooo! I've got a couple of sketches here that I've had hanging around for quite some time. Once I color them and clean up some things they will eventually become prints.

It was my birthday this week, which was awesome, although, any birthday you have past of the age of 21 stops being a giant celebration and starts becoming a reminder of the cold stony face of impending death. It's cool though, I have lots of awesome friends to celebrate with and honestly, I'm surprised I even made it this far considering the frequency with which I do very, very stupid things. I'm not dead, a drug mule, or in a Mexican prison, so I think that's a pretty big accomplishment for me.

I hitting up Westbound Train tonite at the Middle East and as always it should be an awesome time. On Sunday my buddies the Stress will be playing an awesome afternoon show which should kick some serious ass as well. Check it (out)!

Sun 12/6
The Fad, Interrobang!?. Brunt Of It, The Stress - All Ages $10 – NOTE: 1pm Doors

ALSO! I'm poor and you need Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Winter Solstice presents. Solve both of these problems by going here!

http://www.ShamelessDesignRocks.etsy.com

<3
xta

Capitalism Don't Fail Me Now!

2009-11-20T14:13:00.008-05:00

I think the reason why I get along with musicians so well is that our lives sort of follow a similar path. Specifically, trying to hold down a job while putting a lot of time into something you love, being really tired, doing a lot of work with little or no return, drinking excessively aaaaaannnnd being fucking broke. It's cool though, no one ever said being an artist of any kind would ever be easy and every single minute of it is totally worth it.

....That being said...My Etsy page is finally finished! That means it's time for you to buy stuff! A lot of it! Woooo capitalism! New prints (like the ones pictured above) and more! The Holidays are quickly approaching and it's time to get to it. Who wouldn't want an awesome original print by a semi-talented local hack such as myself? They'd be crazy, I tell ya, crazy!

I make it a point to keep the cost of my stuff as low as possible, because I know that most of my friends and peers are in much of the same financial situation as I am. This stuff is for everybody, not just people with a lot of cash to throw around. It's always hard to find a unique gift for someone, especially when you are in dire straits. Not to worry friends! That's where I come in!

Anyway, I didn't post all the new prints/accessories* I've got up today so I might tempt you to hit up the site...

I promise, if I can manage not to stab my eyes out for the rest of the Holiday Season, more band stuff will be forthcoming....

http://www.ShamelessDesignRocks.etsy.com

<3
xta

*Thanks to my lovely and talented roommate/best buddy Emily, for letting me borrow her head to model my hair pieces. I tried taking pictures of them on myself and it was almost impossible. You know how hard it is to take a picture of the side of your own head? Gaaah!

I'm not sad, I just live in Boston

2009-11-13T14:10:00.005-05:00

Hey guess what? Mark Lind's album is now being sold at Newbury comics. Awesome! This is the first album I've done that's made it into an actual store. Go me! Even though I already have a copy, I sort of feel like I want to go visit it there, just for the hell of it. Does that make me insane or narcissistic or both? My guess is both.

In other news, I'm still doing a bunch of back-end work here, getting my Esty site all shiny and pretty for the holidays. In addition to doing some hair pieces (which I'm sure all the dudes who read this are are incredibly excited about) I'm also doing a new round of prints and I must say, they kick some serious ass!

Also, I updated my portfolio website. Woo! Initially, I was going to change the entire format, but in lieu of my job/other job/social life/need for sleep, I decided against it. It's finally up to date though and I don't have to keep telling people to go to my Myspace page like an teenage girl with an absentee father and a webcam. I'm a professional!

What I've got up today is a random doodle from my sketchbook. I like it a lot, so I think I'm going to sell it as a print. It's kind of a pseudo self portrait.*

Disclaimer: I know this looks really gothy but, I am not, nor ever have been a goth. This specifically references back a few months ago WHEN IT RAINED THE WHOLE GODDAMN SUMMER. If you live on the east coast I'm pretty sure you can feel my pain. I had to wear that raincoat every damn day...

It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses

2009-11-04T13:43:00.005-05:00

Uuugghooooooohhhmannnsweetbabyjesusgod!* Yup, that's how my weekend was. Per usual everyone played an amazing set on Friday and good times were had by all.

What I've got posted today is something I've had sitting around for awhile but kind of forgot about. In addition to the Unloved's new album, I also created a quick logo for the name Mark's using to put it out under, State Line Records.

Anything else else coming up on the horizon? Hell yes! It just so happens that I'll be gearing up for the holidays, just like all those other miserable corporate bastards, to sell some shit. (Eloquence is my forte, folks.) Anyway, I'm expanding my Etsy site! I'll be putting up a few new prints soon and (drum roll please) accessories! Woo! (Look, I'm pretty sure mostly dudes read this thing, but seriously, Christmas/Hanukkah/whatever is coming up and I'm sure you've got some fine ladies at home. You can bet your ass they'll want some high quality handmade items by a local artist, such as myself. Also, I saved a puppy from a burning building once...you should mention that as well.)

Okay, enough asides. I'm starting to feel a little schizophrenic. More to come soon!

<3
xta

*Translation: I had an awesome/insane/unforgettable weekend. Also, who's clothes am I wearing? I'm pretty sure they aren't mine...

El dia de los muertos! (celebrating dead people in style)

2009-10-28T10:54:00.007-04:00

If any of my friends are wondering where the hell I've been lately, the answer is cranking out fliers like nobody's business. I really wanted to do this in color but I ran out of time. I might start selling a print of the skulls at some point.

I've always loved Mexican art, especially sugar skulls, those awesome shrines/ religious paraphernalia and basically anything to do with el dia de los muertos. Seriously, it sounds like Halloween times 5. I've love to make it down there at some point for the holiday, but at this point the best place I can afford to vacation is South Jersey...so yeah...I'm stayin at home. A girl can dream...

xta

Remember that Garfield Halloween special with the ghost pirates that we used to watch when we were kids? Yeah man, that shit was awsome!

2009-10-22T16:02:00.005-04:00

Well hello there, cats and kittens! A little pre-halloween awesomeness for you all! Just like before, I will be hitchin' a ride with the Stress down to big ol' NYC for what is sure to be an asskicking(ly?) good time...PLUS we all get to be in costume! What's better than dressing up like an insane person, having an excuse to gorge yourself on candy corn (I think I might have a problem...) and listening to some amazing ska bands? Not much friends, not much!

<3
xta

Being Unloved isn't always a bad thing...

2009-10-13T16:50:00.008-04:00

Guess what! Your favorite scrappy* little designer and Boston punk legends Mark Lind & the Unloved (members of the Ducky Boys...etc.) have teamed up to make your life more awesome! (Of course by teamed up I mean Mark tells me what to design and I design it...) Anyway, as you have probably already deduced, I'm just finishing up the artwork for thier latest album Homeward Bound. I'm not gonna lie to you guys, I am pretty stoked about this one. Of course, the album is going to be awesome so it's not like I really need to tell you to grab this...but dude...I designed it, so that means if you had any small inclinations about say, not grabbing this album immediately upon its release, they should instantly be quelled by the fact, that if nothing else, the album artwork will be nothing short of amazing. (Did I mention I am a narcissist?)

There you have it, shameless self promotion at it's finest. It's called Shameless Design for a reason kids!

<3
xta

*this is the first and only instance I have described myself as scrappy, although it seems appropriate this time, I hope to never have do this again.

These boots are made for stompin!

2009-10-06T16:39:00.008-04:00

All right kids, I admit the posts have been lackluster as of late. Look, I've been busy. And not that kind of "busy" that translates to "I haven't done shit and this is my excuse" kind of busy...like I actually have legitimate reasons, mainly that people keep commissioning me for stuff. This is a good thing...more than a good thing, it's an awesome thing... buuuuut it also means that I can't really post too much until the actual project is finished. Word on the street is I'm workin on some pretty kickass album art, for a pretty kickass album...I'm also working on some new prints and did some buttons for the Stress with the help of the lovely Jenny Stench.

In completely unrelated but equally awesome news, I hitched a ride with the Stress this past weekend to their show in NYC with the Void Union and the Hub City Stompers, where I was a wussy ass roadie and a decent merch girl. I tried my best to bat my eyelashes enough to coerce young impressionable boys into buying shit but seeing as I was not an actual band member, it makes me significantly less cool, then um...everyone. Le sigh. At least I got a decent pair of............
......doc martins.

Anyway, I met a bunch of awesome people and everyone was super nice and played great, so indeed it was a successful venture for everyone involved. Good times, were in fact, were had by all.

cheers!
xta

I remember a time when we were almost innocent...

2009-09-30T10:25:00.005-04:00

I'm not quite sure how to start this...I'm not really good at these things...but here goes.

I found out yesterday that one of my friends from back in Rochester died last week. No, I didn't know him that well and I hadn't seen him recently but he had a significant impact of my life. His name was Brian Oster. He was the organ player for the Blackouts, a popular ska band in Rochester. My first show, my first real, show, not a warped tour or something was with the Blackouts and the Toasters. I can't even describe to you what that was like. Instantly, my friends and I fell in love. The unity, the togetherness, the feeling that those of us who never really belonged, had a home here. The scene, the lifestyle, the music. All of it. It was ours.

Through the years we followed the Blackouts to almost every show, being the cute little scenster kids we were. Soon they came to know us well and Brian always had kind words for us. Brian was truly a steller musican, and to date it's hard to say I've seen a better live show.

With out Brian and the Blackouts, I doubt I'd even be the same person I am now. I moved to Boston primarly for the music scene, the Rochester scene having long since died. I moved here to make something of myself and do what I loved more than anything: design for musicans...and holy shit I'm actually doing it. I can't even really fathom how I managed to pull all this off.

So thank you Brian, thank you for everything. In your short life, you had more impact than you will ever know.

Etsy: The website for people who shirk their adult responsibilites and make macaroni art instead

2009-09-21T14:05:00.007-04:00

That's right kids, I finally got my lazy ass in gear! I just joined Etsy, the handmade enthusiasts website where stupid hipster girls try to pass off plastic crap as earrings and bored housewives try to “express themselves” by “starting their own business”. (Okay, there are actually a lot of really talented artists on Esty as well, but it wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t unnecessarily cynical…)

Anyway, if you never got a chance to purchase anything at my showing or something you liked was already sold, go to my Etsy site. I’ve reprinted a few things and am in the process of doing more. Plus, if you’re socially awkward, you get the added bonus of not meeting me in person, as I will be sending these directly to you.

You know the drill. Go buy some shit. Supporting independent artists is cool! Really!

www.shamelessdesignrocks.etsy.com

<3
xta

I always wanted more than 50 hours every week and a paid vacation (on the Jersey shoreline)

2009-09-14T16:21:00.009-04:00

An exercise in futility: because just like just like Jesus, I can resurrect myself from the dead and my blood is made of alcohol.* (clicky to enlarge)

Every word of this comic is true except the part about getting on the train at 8:15am...that would mean I actually get to work on time.

*My apologies on the lettering and perspective. Although people tell me I am am artist, I can barely read my own handwriting and have a deathly aversion to rulers...

Ride the waves! (of apathy)

2009-09-11T10:40:00.012-04:00

Ok I'm not gonna lie. This thing sorta sucks. I drew it in a meeting. heh. I'm working on about 8 million projects right now and they are all about a quarter finished. Gaaaah. I'm not complaining of course, I love getting work. This just happens to be a convient excuse for my slackerdom lately.

Anyway, enjoy! (or not I don't really care, this blog is free ya know, so quit your bitchin imaginary people who I believe read this thing...)

<3
xta*

*I started abbreviating my name like that waaaaaaay before christina aguilera did by the way. I think she has that tattooed on the back of her neck or something. Why the hell would you tattoo your own name on yourself? Do you think she forgets?...and if she did, is the back of her neck really the best place to put it if she has such significant memory loss issues? Laaaamme. Anyway, I'm brinin it back. Fuck that bitch. Shitty pop stars ain't got nothin on me...**

**Unfortunately, I also happen to share my birthday with britney spears, which I find equally distressing.

...And the shark was all 'I'm gonna bite your face off!' and I was all 'Not if humanity destroys your natural habitat first, BITCH!'

2009-09-02T14:33:00.007-04:00

And then I punched the shark in the face. True story.*

This is a tattoo I designed for one of my friends a little while back. Where exactly it will end up, I'm not sure, but sharks are sweet so it really doesn't matter.

What else do I have going on? Well I've got 2 half inked comics, an illustration that hasn't been colored yet, 2 tattoos and a few random band things. Also Shameless Design now has a facebook page. That's right kids, my internet whoredom is complete. You should totally be my facebook fan. Seriously, I'm really insecure and am in constant need of validation...oh wait maybe I'm thinking of those girls that post half naked pics of themselves on various social networking sites. Yeah...them.

*20 years later, when the icecaps have melted and I am living on the top of the Hancock building in a fort, in a scenario not unlike Waterworld, said shark finds me, laughs because humanity destroyed its own habitat while expanding his, and proceeds to swallow me whole.**

**Thus concludes my lecture on why global warming is bad.

A message to you rudy

2009-08-25T14:28:00.011-04:00

Hello there cats and kittens, dudes and dudettes, sailors and umm...chicks the sailors bang! Okay that sounded bad, lets start over...

I did a t-shirt design for the Stress, an amazing ska/reggae/soul band out of Providence, RI! Interested in some good old fashioned rude boy deliciousness? Lucky for you, you can download some of their stuff for free here:

Muk!Muk! - The new EP from the Stress

And of course the tour dates:
8/29/2009 The Blackstone w/ The Agents, Pawtucket, RI
9/19/2009 All Asia Cafe w/ The Allstonians, Cambridge, MA
10/3/2009 The Knitting Factory, New York City, NY

Note: This design is based off a ridiculously awesome photo that the bass guitarist took while in Malawi visiting friends (who were in the Peace Corps). I just realized I didn't even know how to spell Malawi until he mentioned it. This means 2 things: I do not know enough about global affairs and while they were being all altruistic I was probably drunk or doodling. Cest la vie! At least I spent my time constructively.

Use your cobra skulls

2009-08-21T14:10:00.005-04:00

Once upon a time I drew a vampire chick...Then I drew one of her friends. Then I decided to draw a whole party. I haven't quite finished the whole thing yet, but I figured I'd post a sneak peak. The end result will be in color with a few other monsters aaaaand of course booze. If I was dead I'm pretty sure I'd want to be wasted every minute of it.

Note: Yes I'm aware that although the dude on the right has a skull face, he also happens to have tattoos, which means he has skin, which means I fucked up. Ooops. Sorry kids, just like in real life, these tats are permanent.

Malt liquor tastes better when you've got problems

2009-08-19T15:20:00.006-04:00

This is a panel for a comic that I may or may not decide to finish. I like it, but it's taking forever to ink and I just got another idea for a much funnier and significantly less depressing comic. I have millions of half finished comics lying around on random sheets of paper but on top of all the other design stuff I have to do I never quite get around to finishing them. I might try start drawing them a bit simpler just so I can get them out. Perhaps then I my attempt at not looking like a complete wuss will be a bit more successful. A girl can dream...

Also... on occasion I have been known to do work that does not include skulls, tattoos, crushing self deprecation and/or punk rock. This is one of those times (at least for the second pic). My buddy asked me to do a logo for his consulting business and thus, this logo was born. I don't know anything about consulting, but word on the street is that he kicks ass at it.

http://www.eustaceconsulting.com

I hear skeletons make you appear tough and cool...as I am both of these, this drawing is rather redundant

2009-08-10T15:31:00.007-04:00

I've got a bunch of random projects going on but nothing I can really post yet. I can garuntee you this though: more naked ladies.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Anyway, in the meantime I colored my skull thingy.

Enjoy!

I'm not that cool, but some people think I'm ok

2009-08-03T11:02:00.004-04:00

Holy crap! Guess who was featured in Public Radio Kitchen. Me! Kind of! Heh.

So, short story shorter, Public Radio Kitchen (as heard on 90.9 WBUR)did a photo essay for their website about Mr. Crepe, the coffee shop I had my work up in. Along with a behind the scenes look at the shop, Public Radio Kitchen mentioned that Mr. Crepe features local artists, so my work got a nice little shot in the story's photo gallery.

Yay! Here's the link:
http://publicradiokitchen.org/2009/07/28/a-day-in-the-life-of-mr-crepe/(in case you were wondering my stuff is featured on the 7th photo in the gallery)

I took all my work down this weekend to make room for the next artist. If you bought something from me you should be getting your piece ASAP! If you are interested in buying something, drop me a line. I've still got a few left.

On a completely unrelated note (but mostly because I can't seem to steal that photo from the gallery for myself,) I present to you an old timey fish I drew, while once again, in a meeting. It was on the ceiling of this fancy old hotel that I didn't feel rich or classy enough to walk through. It sort of sucks. Sorry. You can't expect a winner every time, kids. Life lessons, that's what I'm about.

Today's post inspired by people with pulminary disorders

2009-07-30T13:09:00.010-04:00

I was in Wyoming for work this week. Wyoming? Yeah, I dunno man, I'm not the boss. I got to hang out with some cowboys though (one guy said my hair made me look like a wolverine) and I had a random conversation with a giant native american dude about tattoos. Weird right? That's Wyoming.

Anyway, I was stuck in meetings most of the time, thus, once again I bring to you Random things I draw while in meetings that have nothing to do with me.

Enjoy!

A Match Made in Heaven (if heaven was a sweaty rock club where your feet stick to the floor and everything smells faintly of booze and despair...)

2009-07-16T15:38:00.010-04:00

So, obviously I've taken a bit of a much needed break. But now I'm back in the saddle and ready to go! I've sold a bunch of my prints so far...plus some awesome news! I will be working with Punk Rock Buttons (and the lovely Jenny Stench)to help design, that's right, buttons!

These babies are $20 for 100 buttons, which is retardedly cheap. If you don't have any artwork of your own to put on said buttons...that's where I come in. Designs are $15 per design, which, by the way, is also retardedly cheap. We here at Shameless Design and Punk Rock Buttons like to help out the little guy (and also, we are just as poor as you!).

Soooo, if you need some buttons, order them! If you need some kickass artwork, I'll hook you up! Everybody wins! Then puppies and candy rained from the sky! Hooray!

I'm not narcissistic, really (except for today)

2009-07-06T09:01:00.012-04:00

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I am awesome!!!!!!

Hmm. Okay enough of that. So after many grueling nights of matting and rematting, printing and reprinting, getting high on spray mounts fumes and getting high on...other things I finally have all my work up and for sale at Mr. Crepe in Davis Square. I'm really happy with the way everything turned out, my prints are sexy as hell and I've already gotten a good response from people.

If you're looking to pick up something of mine, now would be the time to do it. Mr. Crepe doesn't take a commission on the art they sell so I'm selling everything as cheap as I possibly can. My philosophy is that art is for everyone not just people with a good deal of disposable income, plus I just like having my work out there as much as possible.

I'll probably be setting up an Etsy page and selling some of my prints to some local crafty type stores, but for now you know where to go. I have a Paypal account, so if you're interested in something, just e-mail me.

Here's the address:
Mr. Crepe
51 Davis Square
Somerville, MA 02144

Edit:
So I've had a few people ask, and just in case you want to know, here is the price listing:
- Lurk; Carnivorous Plant, Fishing, Evil Mushroom, Tentacle Lotus; 11x14 framed
$30ea

-Baby Giant Squids; 5x7 framed and matted
$15ea/ $40 set of 3

-Cheeseburger Tree; 8x10 framed
$20

-Scally Cap Girl; 8x10 framed and matted
$20

-Gypsy Girl; 8x10 framed and matted
$20

-Mermaid/Reverse Mermaid; 8x10 framed and double matted
$25ea/ $45 set of 2

- Heads or Tails; 16x20 framed and matted
$55 SOLD (but I can make another one)

- Sphinx; 16x20 framed
$50

Grab you hat and come drinking with the band!

2009-06-26T11:02:00.004-04:00

I present to you, the last piece of my series, Lurk. I was going to wait until my show thing to put it up, but then I realized I have no self control. In light of my new found self awareness, I figured I'd just put it up now, ya know to umm...celebrate.

I'm not gonna lie to you guys, this weekend is shaping up to be a shit storm of awesome. Okay, maybe shit storm isn't the right word for it...but anyway I'm planning on partying my ass off. Slackers booze cruise tonite and of course a full day and night and probably also morning of the Sprained Ankles. So obviously, you should go. All the cool kids are doing it.

Hey man, I don't make this shit up

2009-06-23T11:12:00.006-04:00

Jesus christ finally! My shit for Far From Finished got printed! For the most part this stuff is only gonna be available on their European tour, or if you're really motivated to grab something of mine, their distributer online. I've got a couple more that have yet to be printed and I think they're using the tattoo gun thing I did as a sticker.

In case you were wondering, this is just another filler post as my life/money is being sucked away by my showing at the cafe in July. I should have my prints back soon and hopefully they will be awesome. (If they are not awesome, I shall weep the tears of a thousand souls, a thousand damned souls...Seriously, it'll be that bad)

Anyway, here's the link!
http://www.myspace.com/farfromfinished
(my t-shirts are on the 2nd slideshow)

https://shop.trashmark.com/index.php?lang=en
(go to search, type in Far From Finished)

Oh yeah also, a kickass show at Bull McCabe's in Somerville tomorrow with...
New Alibis
Scars
Burning Streets
Sprained Ankles

Xs for eyes

2009-06-17T12:02:00.007-04:00

It's time for another edition of: Random crap I found in my sketchbook that I'm putting up in order to waste time.

The skeleton in this drawing based on (completely ripped off from) a gravestone in Granary Burial Ground. Now, I'm not a goth kid, but some of the art on those graves kicks some serious ass, plus I walk by it almost every day. I figured I'd snap a few pictures to get some inspiration for a tattoo I was designing.

As a site note, the people taking pictures that day were as follows:
- Harried looking tourist, trying to keep track of 2 screaming kids
- Mopey indie rock "real" photographer guy
- 400lb goth girl looking like everyone else around was invading her space
- me

Man, if those dudes back in the day knew all the ridiculous people who traipsed through that place, I'm pretty sure they would have just dumped everyone into the harbor. Heh.

Shameless Design: now slighly less punk rock

2009-06-12T10:34:00.005-04:00

Here at Shameless Design we (me) only cater to the finest of musicians and artists. This means of course that we (I) design for a variety of genres provided that the music is awesome.

I work with the fine man who produces Tunez and when he found out what I do he asked me to help him out. I, of course was happy to oblige him. I took a look at the club that his event is being heald in and man, that place is fancier than me...(and I'm pretty fancy.)

I'm too tired to care and too busy to think (so sit back and laugh and watch the ship sink)

2009-06-05T10:45:00.008-04:00

Gaah. I'm busy! Here's something that's been sitting in my sketchbook for awhile.

I originally designed this as a tattoo for myself until I realized that I don't really have the real estate to put it anywhere on my body(except for my lower back, and there ain't no way I'm getting a tramp stamp). I really like the design, but alas! It will go unused. I still might use the hourglass at some point, but I'm not sure where/how and there's the money issue, so yeah, no time soon.

Oh and in case you were wondering, it's a Lawrence Arms tattoo (the hourglass part, that is). They tell me band tattoos are a bad idea, but I've been into them for about 8 years, so I feel like they've earned it.

Question to my Boston people: I'm looking for a printer to do my prints for my cafe gallery showing thing that isn't Kinkos. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Oh yeah and a shout out to anyone coming over from BSC/the sock drawer. I know you're out there, since my hit count went way up when I started posting there. You guys are awesome, lets do lunch.*

*lunch is euphamism for your sexual innuendo of choice

You know, the fun kind of sprained ankle...

2009-06-01T11:40:00.003-04:00

The Sprained Ankles CD release show, flyer designed by yours truly. This show is shaping up to look pretty crazy/awesome/awesomely crazy, so of course, you know the drill. You should go. Seriously...but don't worry about forgetting because I'll be plugging the hell out of it later. heh.

In completely unrelated news, I seem to have a knack for meeting really bizarre pseudo celebrities. On Saturday night we called a cab to drive us out to the city. Who's driving it? That dude from the Biggest Loser*, who lives in Somerville. I suppose meeting him was sort of inevitability's because of the frequency which which I call cabs, but you get the idea...Anyway, he was a really nice dude and told us (surprise surprise) that most of the people he was on the show with gained a lot of the weight back. Also, for a while people would follow him around in the grocery store and constantly comment on what he was buying. Moral of the story? TV will solve none of your problems and achieving minor celebrity status seems to be kind of a pain in the ass.

*Note: I never watch that show, and only saw it a few times, because of those dudes are from my town.**

**Note2: That was my desperate attempt to retain my coolness. Successful? Probably not.

Psilocybin is a hell of a drug

2009-05-28T20:13:00.010-04:00

Due to the fact that I just got a bunch of work and nothing I can show right now, I once again present to you another edition of Random Things That I Have Crafted (aka what I do when I'm not drawing, going to shows or getting drunk...scratch that, sometimes I do this when I'm drunk...okay you get the idea...)

The first thing I've got posted here is a patch that I made for a hoodie. It was from my old job, which I have no interest in advertising but the hoodie was free so I figured I'd spice it up a bit. The second thing is a result of bordom, vintage fabric that I stole from my highschool costume room a billion years ago and an overactive imagination.

I just realized everything crafty thing I have posted here is a mushroom. Why? I'm not sure, other than mushrooms are pretty awesome. I've got another part of Lurk that involves an evil mushroom but it's still in pencil...hopefully I'll have it done in time to put up in July...

Also...If you live in the Boston area my buddies the Sprained Ankles will be playin at Church (the bar..heh) with the Allstonians and once again, I encourage you all to attend. In my opinion, going to shows is pretty much like going to church anyway, and this way, you can do both, and you wouldn't even be lying to your mom when she asks you what you did on Saturday night. Ba-zing!

I don't need no rhythm but the beat of my...

2009-05-22T09:20:00.006-04:00

Heart Failure. Get it? Get it? Oh man I am so clever I can't even contain myself. Next flash design: benign prostatic hyperplasia (not as sexy as it sounds)

I seem to draw (semi) anitomically correct hearts all over the place but I just realized I've never posted one. Yes, it's true, I can draw things besides naked ladies...although naked ladies seem to be pretty popular now a days. Sex sells? Who would have thought!

Other words I thought about putting in the banner but didn't:
(heart)beat
(heart)attack
(heart)worms...eww

...oh and don't worry kids... monster babies/hot chicks soon comin to a flyer near you ;)

What's the deal with me and things in immediate peril?

2009-05-18T11:12:00.005-04:00

I had this piece sitting around for a while but I haven't quite finished it yet. It's part of Lurk, the series I'm doing. I think I might add some kind of graphic element in the background before it goes up for sale.

I've got a lot of random things in the works right now...but I'll give you something to wait for. Monster babies. Well, one monster baby. Also it might be the anti-christ...oh yeah and there's a hot chick too. Enticed? Let's hope so, although I suppose it doen't matter...so ya know, screw you guys. heh.

That booty don't stop giiiiiirl

2009-05-11T15:20:00.006-04:00

I'm not quite sure how it started but somewhere along the line I took an interest in giant squids. Maybe it's their sheer size (giant), association with cryptozoology (excriptid?), or just the fact that they can beat the crap of the whale, I've always found them intriguing.

Anyway, I'm going to be doing a few more of these guys in different color variations and selling them when my stuff goes up in July. They will be pretty small (4x6?) and thus will be cheap for me to produce, which in turn makes them cheap for you to buy, which I encourage you to do. Again, win-win.

On a completely unrelated note, I went to see a Found Magazine event over the weekend. If you don't know anything about Found, it's a great publication that puts together notes, lists and random things of all kinds that readers, umm... find. The show was hilarious and we ended up meeting them afterwards. Great dudes, and man, they party like rockstars.

Found is doing a nationwide tour right now so if you haven't seen it yet, it's defiantly worth it.

http://www.foundmagazine.com/

Forever ain't that long when your smile's stuck in your head like a pop song...

2009-05-08T11:02:00.005-04:00

An Exercise in Futility, now brought to you in (very small amounts of) color.

Man, I need to stop drawing comics that make me look like a loser. Next one I'll win the nobel prize, solve world hunger, cure all diseases and save a kitten from a tree...because really, what's better than living viciariously through yourself?*

*Note: Yes, I completely ripped that line off from the Dos Equis commercial. Who can argue with the most interesting man in the world?

Holy crepe you guys!

2009-05-05T09:28:00.006-04:00

Ah, Somerville, the land of hippy artists. And me who is not really a hippy and only sort of an artist. (I'm not quite starving and I haven't cut of my ear, but I am pretty miserable, so I think that counts for something.)

Anyway...on one of my frequent travels to Davis Square I went to grab coffee at the crepe place near the T. Long story short, they were looking for artists to put work up in their cafe, I sent them some of my stuff and they were happy to oblige me. So officially, for the month of July my prints will be for sale at Mr. Crepe in Davis Square. So you should go there and eat some crepes (they are awesome by the way), drink some coffee (which is also awesome) and buy one of my prints. This gives you bragging rights because you supported the Somerville Arts Community (aka my sorry ass) and a locally owned business.

Really, it's a win-win situation. You look cool, I look cool. Everyone is happy.
Peace is restored to the universe.

Oh yeah and I drew another pinup girl. Enjoy!

Myspace, Smyspace?

2009-04-29T09:57:00.007-04:00

Here's another Rxbandits t-shirt design I did while biding my time until I finish my new site.

In other news, Shameless Design is officially on Myspace! Yes friends, I have officially jumped on the bandwagon and only 5 years too late. To date I have a personal Myspace and Facebook page, my Shamless Myspace page, this blog and a website. Man, I feel like such a pop culture slut.

Anyway, my Myspace page has most of the work I have on this blog plus a fancy slide show! So yeah, you should be my friend. All the cool kids are doing it. Faux reals!

http://www.myspace.com/shameless_design

Oh and by the way, I'm never joining Twitter. Ever.

And all the breakers and new wavers, and the rockers and the preps would all be in their places on the front lawn or the steps

2009-04-27T11:40:00.012-04:00

While I'm working on my website and other things that have nothing to do with this blog, I present you with An Exercise in Futility.

I showed this to my parents before I scanned it in and got some hearty laughter from them both, which makes me think...either this probably isn't that funny or I'm an incredible disappointment to them. Both are entirely possible.

Fun Fact 1: I went to Catholic school for 13 years (k-12), hence the uniform. This might explain my current condition.

Fun Fact 2: The reason I depicted myself in the uniform was because the only thing I wore other than that was sweatpants, until I was about 11 or so. Yeah. I was pretty cool.

I ain't got no status

2009-04-21T09:32:00.005-04:00

I jumped on a bandwagon a little late with this one. I found out that the RxBandits were having an open call for t-shirt designs. Even though I figured it was too late to submit anything, I would hate myself forever if I didn't try.

Somewhere, in an alternate universe maybe, someone is wearing this t-shirt.

The truth is that I'm overrated

2009-04-17T10:27:00.002-04:00

Another episode of the adventures of a neurotic self absorbed 25 year old...err An Excericse in Futility. Whatever. Same thing.

This one is for the ladies and by the ladies, I mean the men

2009-04-12T18:33:00.004-04:00

So I'm officially one holiday behind. Here's a little piece I got from a Valentine's Day figure drawing session with Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School. Most of the things I draw there I just use as an exercise, but I liked this drawing so much I decided to scan it in and color it. Oh and by the way...in case you were wondering, she wasn't levitating, she was laying across a couple of stools. I figured since she had the cape on anyway, I might as well give her some super powers.

For those of you that don't know about Dr. Sketchy, its good for people who like to drink beer, draw burlesque dancers/other performers and ummm drink beer. Also you have to be okay with a little bit of nakedness. (Not too much though, they're not getting paid that much...)

Fine by me! I say, bring on the pasties!
If you are interested, here is the link: http://www.myspace.com/drsketchysboston

Oh yeah and happy eat shitloads of baby animal shaped chocolate day! Jesus was a nice guy (...so was Buddha but I'm pretty sure he doesn't get a chocolate eating day. Enjoy it Christians!)

Next thing you know I`m down to just my socks and you know when I`m down to just my socks what time it is, it`s time for business. It`s business time.

2009-04-08T09:45:00.009-04:00

I've got a bunch of things in the works right now but nothing I can really put up yet. In the meantime here are a couple new business cards I made.

I've decided that since my portfolio site is woefully out of date and I've been getting a lot of work lately, it's finally time (shudder) to update it with a new design. I really need a better site, but oooh man I hate html/dreamweaver/anything involving knowledge of computers beyond design programs sooooooooo much. As an artistic person (or maybe that's just an excuse) I hate math, anything involving numbers, logic or sequence. So yeah, programming, right up my alley.

Anyway enough bitching. I think the site design will be along the same lines as the business cards. I can't decide weather to use red or green. Red is my favorite color as evidenced by everything in my closet, my bedroom, cell phone, and chevy cavalier (now deceased). Lime green does come in a close second though and I'm afraid the red looks too bloody.

Thoughts?

...oh and for the record, although I deeply appreciate the comedy of flight of the concords, socks off please ;)

Beantown is pretty sweet, allright?

2009-04-03T09:30:00.005-04:00

I now present to you my final (I think)t-shirt design for Far From Finished. I believe on the actual shirt it says something like "get drunk, play records" (which was added after I sent it out). As getting drunk and playing records is pretty much my favorite thing ever (aside from going to an actual show), I didn't mind one bit.

Anyway, Far From Finished as well as a host of other awesome bands (Mark Lind and the Unloved, the Casualties, Flatfoot 56 etc.) are playing this weekend at Harpers Ferry as part of the Boston Rules, Ok! festival.

I strongly recommend that you attend this function. It will be, as the kids say, fucking amazing.

I am incapable of portraying happiness in any realistic way.

2009-03-26T09:38:00.004-04:00

I sketched this awhile ago but I finally got around to coloring it. And yes, for those of you who know me, I have a dress just like that. When I'm drawing people I usually just draw them in something I already own/someone I know owns because it's easier then coming up with something myself.

Fun Fact #1: That's the dress I wear when I want free drinks.
Fun Fact #2: It works.

Heh.

And now for something completely different...

2009-03-24T10:22:00.011-04:00

Occasionally, I have been known to do crafty type things that have absolutely nothing to do with pens, pencils, paper and design programs. This this one of those times.

A little while back I took a glassblowing class that was totally amazing. I get sick of being stuck at a computer all day, so playing with, what essentially is molten lava on a large pointy stick, was right up my alley. I'd like to keep up the hobby, but alas! It is super expensive.

It's too bad, my mom is in desperate need of some lumpy, weird looking glass bulbs (not pictured) and now she has no where to get them. Sorry Mom! A macaroni picture will have to suffice this Mother's Day.

Btw, if you are interested in glass blowing, here is the link: http://www.diabloglassschool.com/

All the true things I am about to tell you are all shameless lies

2009-03-20T11:49:00.009-04:00

This is a pretty quick sketch (I actually did it during a meeting in sharpie marker...heh) but you get the idea. It still needs a bit of work. This is a Kurt Vonnegut tribute tat I'm doing for someone. As Kurt Vonnegut is my hero, I was happy to oblige...

Also, because I'm a fangirl I threw an hourglass with wings in there for good measure. Aside from being the logo for the Lawrence Arms, it's a pretty common symbol found on really old grave stones. I walk by them every day on my way to work and it always makes me smile. (Is that morbid? I think that's morbid...)

By the way if anyone ever asks, I would say I'm a Bokonist. (a fake religion Vonnegut made up in Cat's Cradle, hence the quote in the title)

A double dose of awesome

2009-03-13T13:57:00.007-04:00

Soooo I'm almost finished with my Far From Finished t-shirt designs. Wait, did I mention that? I think I did...sort of ambiguously. Anyway, I've still got a few more on the way but here are a couple of the finished ones. I think these will be available in Europe, I'm not quite sure yet...but when they get printed I'll link to store.

FYI, for those of you not familiar with the art of the tattoo, the top image is a tattoo gun kind of morphed into a real gun. I actually came up with this idea, while being tattooed myself. The more you know!*

Good luck to everyone this St. Patty's Day weekend! I will be in Southie, trying not to get trampled by giant Irish dudes...then I'll be at Less than Jake, trying not to trample little (possibly Irish) preteens. I can never quite find a happy medium. heh.

*Dear "The more you know" public service people, please do not sue me. I am but a useless pawn in your crusade to passive aggressively save the world.

Sacrifice the liver!

2009-03-04T11:09:00.008-05:00

This post could also be entitled Christa has no self control or Self-medication is the key to happiness. The drawing was done partially in honor of my good friend beer but mostly because I didn't feel like doing any useful work and I like drawing naked girls.

C'est la Vie!
(I do not speak French)

Self deprecation isn't just an artform, it's a lifestyle

2009-02-25T09:48:00.002-05:00

I went to the Extreme Beer festival this weekend with my brother (which for the record, was amazing) and I ran into one of my friends who I hadn't seen in awhile. This might more sense in context but is just as true without...

Shamless plug

2009-02-19T10:20:00.006-05:00

I was gonna wait on this one but I wanted to post something and I couldn't help myself...I will leave out the specifics, but this is one of a few. Right now we're still thowing stuff back and fourth.

For those of you in the Boston area, Far From Finished is playing a show at Great Scott in Allston on Sunday which I encourage you all to attend. While I'm at it, the Unloved are playing at the same place on Saturday, which I also encourage you to attend. Shameless plug, I know. I just thought I'd let you know, in no uncertain terms, that I know bands and thus I am cooler than you. Yup. I'm an asshole.

Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.greatscottboston.com/

I have this feeling inside that I wouldn't like me, if I met me...

2009-02-12T16:03:00.004-05:00

Journal comic time! Since I randomly ran into Liz Prince over the weekend, and had an otherwise insane weekend in general I felt it was time to make another comic. By the way if you don't know who Liz Prince is, you should check out her stuff here:
http://lizprincepower.com/
http://comicnrrd.livejournal.com/

I'd been following her work since before I moved here and had a sort of vague notion that she lived in the area but sort of forgot about it until I almost walked into her. Heh.

Also, I am excited to note that I will be making cookies tonight so I'll be able to test out my kickass new oven timer. Woooo!

Note: Ok, to my own credit I wasn't totally hitting on the dude in panel 5. I noticed that he had a Frank Kozik tattoo, who I happen to be a huge fan of and I got a little over excited. I didn't happen to be recieved too well as he was more concerned with his girlfriend than me, which is understandable.

If you don't know who Frank Kozik is, check his stuff out here:
http://www.fkozik.com/

I have spent entirely too much money on his cute little smorkin' labbits, but I just can't seem to help myself...

Yes we can! (waste my time)

2009-02-09T11:30:00.007-05:00

So these images have nothing to do with anything but I had to go to Washington for work and this is what I did when I wasn't running around the hotel or fixing people's powerpoints.

On another note chandeliers are really hard to draw.

Beantown

2009-01-30T15:12:00.003-05:00

Soooo I've got a lot of neat things coming up but no time to post right now. In the meantime, here is a graphic I did for this poster thing I made for work. Stay tuned...

The mermaid problem, solved! (kind of)

2009-01-23T16:32:00.006-05:00

Wooo! I finished my mermaid mural. Okay, so there isn't that much of a difference, but I changed the typeface and I ghosted a poem in the back. What poem you ask? (actually no one is asking me this, and I pretty sure I do not have esp, but in case you were wondering...)

It's the chorus of Mermaid by Shel Silverstein, which goes a little something like this...

Don't go swimming with the mermaid son
If you don't know how to swim
For her hair is green as seaweed and her skin is blue and pale
And I tell you now before you start you can love that girl with all your heart
But you're just gonna love the upper part you're not gonna like the tail

You can see the rest of the lyrics here: http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=8562

Who knew Shel Silverstein had an album? That blows my mind...I thought he just wrote kids poems. Good for him!

Note 1: If anyone reading this has the rights to this song, I will gladly remove it and the picture immediately, as I do not have the money to be sued. I assure you I am making absolutely no money off of this.

Note 2: It took me an unbelievably long time to figure out what to write in the banner. I actually had Sink or Swim in it until right after I posted it and then suddenly Heads or Tails just came to me so I reposted everything. Holy crap! It seems so obvious!

The moral ambiguity of a meat growing tree

2009-01-21T14:06:00.005-05:00

Ya know what would be the best thing ever? If cheeseburgers grew on trees....and while I'm at it, I'd like world peace, and the end of disease, starvation and ignorance and win the lottery. A girl can dream...

The cause of and solution to all of life's problems

2009-01-12T11:17:00.006-05:00

My younger brother turned 21 last week. This is the card I made him. I feel that this equation is only true in certain instances, (ideally, I would like to have both cake and beer) but since I got him tickets to a beer festival and was too busy to buy a cake, I felt this was appropriate.

Here's looking at you, kid

2009-01-07T16:03:00.005-05:00

Sketch brought to you by boredom, bad luck and the gaslight anthem.

Please drink and draw!

2009-01-05T11:35:00.006-05:00

About a month ago I discovered the wonder that is Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School. Holy crap! This is the best thing ever. The original was started in NYC but now they have chapters all over the world. It's a basic figure drawing session except that instead of regular models they have burlesque/other performers in funky costumes. Also it's at a bar. Ya know where you can drink…booze. Did I mention this is awesome?

Anyway, as you can see there was someone taking pictures there and lo and behold, I ended up on the website. (Just to clarify, I'm the one in the striped shirt, not the one in the platform heels)

The second picture is one of the sketches I got from the session. Unfortunately, there were no actual unicorns there, but it makes for a nice touch.

So that's right kids, my advice to you is drink and draw. (just not so much that you can't see straight...in college I tried to do my 2d homework after a party once, with less than satisfactory results.)

http://www.truthserum.org/ (Boston area)

http://www.drsketchy.com/ (general info)

The ice of Boston or give my regareds to Somerville

2009-01-02T11:36:00.008-05:00

Useless, pointless, mundane diary comic #2. I think it's official name will be An Excercise in Futility, just to hammer in the point in a bit further. (Click to enlage, my apoligies on the lettering)

This was drawn during my my hellish trip out of Boston for the holidays. I actually did see this dude running in the snow that day (remember before Christmas when everyone's flights got cancelled due to the gigantic snowstorm? I was caught in the middle of it). This guy is either really dedicated or COMPLETELY INSANE. I'm guessing the latter.

On another note: onomatopeoa is awesome!

THROWDOWN!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-29T17:17:00.003-05:00

Guess who's seeing the Bosstones tonite? Ahh Boston, how I love you.

Random update: Holy crap! As expected, Throwdown was amazing. Another amazing thing was this: a couple of my friends who work the shows got engaged with the help of none other than Mr. Dicky Barrett. Now, I'm not the type of girl who has had her marriage planned since she was 6 years old, or has names for her children that do not even exist yet, but oh man, this is the greatest possible engagement, probably ever. Congrats Amy and Mike!

If god came down on christmas day, I know exaxtly what he'd say, he'd say: oi! to the punks, oi! to the skins, oi! to the world and everybody wins!

2008-12-25T14:38:00.002-05:00

This was a Christmas card that I created for a company I worked for a few years back...later I sent it out to some of my relatives (and replaced happy holidays with merry xmas...they have a thing about that) Anyway...even later than that I sent out what I like to call, the diagram of a pc Christmas card to a bunch of my friends. Unfortunately, I believe the last (and funniest) version was lost when my computer died, but I still have the origional.

On another note, I was at least able to recover the files for my portfolio site. I'll actually be able to update it now, instead of recreating the whole thing. It's a Christmas miracle! heh.

Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannakuh, Happy Kwanza and umm...Merry Winter Solstice? Yeah, I think I got everybody. Best wishes to all!

Like a plane crash that never hits the ground

2008-12-20T18:00:00.004-05:00

UUUgghh....I have been stuck in the airport since 8am. I am going to kill myself. On the upside I had a chance to (almost) finish my mermaid mural. I'm not quite sure what to put in the banner yet, and that's not quite the typeface I want to use...but you get the idea.

2008-12-20T16:29:00.006-05:00

This is a cd cover/cd that I designed for folk guitarist/hippy dude back home. It's in my design portfolio but I figured I'd post it since I haven't done that in awhile. I have lots of new work to put up but the holidays have made my scheldule kind of insane.

The mermaid problem revisited

2008-12-17T09:20:00.011-05:00

This is my first official journal comic. I think I'm going to try to do one of these a week and take things from there.* Sorry about the size, you'll need to click on it to make it readable.

*Disclaimer 1: I've have not, nor ever intend to make out with my cat. He has this habit of standing on my chest and looking at me while I'm asleep, so more often than not, I am woken up by smelly fish breath.

*Disclaimer 2: I do not fantasize about mermen. I have trouble enough with regular guys than to waste my time with imaginary ones.

*Disclaimer 3: Shit. This whole journal comic is a lie and I only just started. So it goes...

Christmas spirit and our inevitable demise

2008-12-16T13:19:00.008-05:00

This illustration is actually meant to be a card. The top image shows what the card looks like closed. The bottom image shows what the card looks like open (the card folds down). I wanted to send this out to a few of my friends for Christmas but I'm pretty crunched for time right now, so I won't have a chance to print them. If you are my friend, this is what you would have received in the mail.

Just another reminder of my vindictive nature and the harmonious circle of life. Huzzah!

Post-mortem

2008-12-15T11:16:00.006-05:00

As of late twist the knife has become one of my favorite sayings. Here I present it to you in illustrated form.

...maybe I'll turn her into a zombie later.

An apple a day will probably kill you or misogyny at it's finest

2008-12-12T09:29:00.003-05:00

This one pretty much speaks for itself. (Naked ladies! Wooo!)