Around the Tree and Down the Rabbit Hole

A blog full of art as executed by an untalented artist

[doublefine]

We’re making Psychonauts 2! But we need your help! Back us here: www.fig.co

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

Why Do I REALLY Love Baja Blast?

It’s simple really. The memories.

Work at the school, eating lunch and watching Fresh Prince with the guys.

Taco Bell, with my brother, cruising around the Sunshine State.

All over the goshdarn state of Maryland, with an awesome girl, my car, and whatever was on the radio.

Here, in WA, at the coolest school in the history of school.

Anywhere, and any time I can find it, but only with the coolest of people.

Home is where the heart is, and my heart is where the Baja is.

So basically,

If there’s Baja,

We let the good times roll.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

Another Reason I Love Baja Blast

is that it contains an unreal amount of sweet, sweet caffeine. Great for staying up to start and finish English papers.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

Mountain Dew Baja Blast

is my favorite soda. For a wide variety of reasons.

First - It tastes like you’re drinking summer. Don’t believe me? Try it.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

Thinking Back to the Summer

Eating dinner with my three role models. The topic of superpowers comes up. Turns out they had them. For reals.

Guy 1 - I can see sound. Like with colors.

Guy 2 - I'm like an empath, and can also sometimes see the future.

Guy 3 - I can uh, umm, I can, eat food. Like a lot. Yeah.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

The Middle Pt. 1

Shards of glass surrounded his still form, lying there, in the street, as cars swerved around and people yelled and honked. They never did understand what he did, why he did it, or how they were so much better off because of it. This frustrated him, and he considered not getting up. He considered sitting there, still and lifeless in the road, waiting for the Salamander to finish him off. There was of course the question of whether or not he actually could be finished off. He'd survived worse than this without a scratch. His curse, or blessing, or gift, or power, or responsibility, or whatever you wanted to call it always kicked in, and put him right back into the middle of the fight.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

I Saw The Most Beautiful Hearse Today.

It was a truck, white with a red stripe. Or red with a white. It was old, but it shone and sparkled like it had just driven off the lot. It was soft, and rounded, not sharp and jagged like the trucks of today. It was a work of art, in design and decoration. It was covered in flowers, simple bouquets of wildflowers, gold and white, hanging off the cab. The bed carried a simple wooden casket, which carried a girl who died too soon. Perhaps that is what made it beautiful.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

Be Thou My Vision

Oh Lord, though I'm blind,

Help me to see your face ahead, and behind,

In this world of fog, and turmoil, and strife,

Be thou my vision, my purpose, my life.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

When I Was A Kid..

My dad had this Michael Card album. I don't know too much about Michael Card. I've gathered (and assume) that he was a contemporary Christian singer back in the early 90's, when Christian music was still lots of synth and Amy Grant and Michael W Smith and harmonies and stuff. So. Michael Card. He had this CD. And he always would play it when we drove around on Sabbaths. My mom was a visiting nurse, and she'd usually be working, so it was just my dad, my brother and I. And he would sing along with these CDs. Or maybe not. I don't remember. But I do remember one thing. The Job Suite. It was his favorite thing from all of those CDs. My dad went through some stuff when he was a kid, stuff that probably would have messed me up. But he made it through. And i'm POSITIVE his relationship with God was stronger because of it. And he shared that with me, through the Job suite. I remember him sharing the story of Job with me, saying that even through all of the horrible stuff Job went through, he held onto God, and God, God who knows the end from the beginning, and made the skies, and the seas, and the birds and the fish, and LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH, God held onto him, and in the end, it all turned out all right. I remember that now. Or something like that. Maybe I'm imagining it. But as I'm sitting here, at 1 Am, confused, and hurt, even though I have NO right to be so, I'm listening to the Job suite for probably the first time in over 10 years. I'm holding onto what my dad told me, and what Job tells me. So thanks for that Michael Card. No, thanks Dad. I needed it.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

If I Died Tomorrow...

What would I leave behind? How would you remember me? What physical evidence would denote my ever having existed? Sure I'll exist in the memories of those who knew me, and know me, but if I die, will I leave behind anything tangible? Anything that will be around when they die? Or the people after them die? Or the people after them? Do I NEED to leave something, anything, anyone behind? Also that leaving behind.. It implies that I'm going somewhere. Am I? Or am I just going straight into the ground? Who knows? I'm not sure I know. I don't know the answers to these things, these questions that are so suddenly on my mind. But i want them. And I want to leave something behind, and not behind as I move into the great ahead, but behind, as I move into the great tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, until my tomorrows are through. I want to leave behind everything. Or maybe I want to leave behind nothing? To be known deeply or widely. Which do I want? I don't know. Do I have to know? I don't even know the answer to that. 

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

My mind is as foggy as the air outside.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

Leaving the Hole (an original composition based upon my life and a Beatles song)

Not fixing the hole, where the rain got in,

Maybe I should care, but is it a sin?

I sat down and wallowed in my puddle of mud,

A mixture of dirt, tears, sweat, and my blood.

Some call it pity, some call it fear,

I don't know what to call it, but I'm still sitting here.

Waiting and

Watching and

Hoping and

Praying

That soon it will end,

Thus ending the staying.

  I'm leaving the hole, where the rain got in,

Maybe I got wet, but is that a sin?

A little water never really hurt anyone,

And now, it is time for my time in the sun.

The dampness, it taught me, taught me many a thing

It taught me to laugh, it taught me to sing

Whatever it taught me, I've still things to learn

So Learning and

Laughing and

Living and

Loving,

I'm leaving the hole, though I'm not quite yet whole,

Yes I'm leaving the hole and ending the staying.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

It really sucks when you wish you could just send a goodnight text, and tell someone you miss them, but you know that they don't miss you the same way. So goodnight. I miss you. 

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

the world is a pretty jacked up place.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

so i downloaded this edgar allan poe poem a few months back. maybe a year ago. stuck it on my ipod. listened to it. enjoyed it. forgot about it. starting using my ipod again for work. wiped it clean and put all new music on it. but i noticed the poe poem was still on my ipod. "that's weird" i thought "maybe i just missed that during the deleting". synced my ipod again today, remembered to check to delete the poe poem. but according to my computer, it's not on my ipod. furrow my brow.. check my ipod, poe poem is definitely on there. look at computer in confusion. jaw slowly drops in fear. name of poem? dream within a dream. as in not real. as in what my computer is telling me the state of this poem is. NOPE.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

Are you ever afraid to listen to your favorite song too many times? Like it'll lose its magic or something. I don't know. There's just something sacred about a truly good song. You gotta treat it with respect. I might just be rambling.

[aroundthetreeanddownthehole]

Because.