5 airports from now, I'll be in China.

I'm looking forward to being there, but dude. I am so not looking forward to going. It's just such a pain travelling, you know? And I hate to be all whiny about it, because I know that only a few decades ago a trip like this would've taken a year to make, but still... whine whine. And I usually get sick on long trips like this. Last time I went to Asia I contracted this awful flu and had chills, sweats, and a raging temperature for the remaining 6 hours of the flight. No bueno! So, I just want to be there already.

It's going to be a busy week, too. I've got to get all the preparations for the new release in order, start/finish packing, do some last minute shopping, do a bunch of tax/bank stuff, and get my first employee moved in to take my spot for the next 3 months. Here's me feeling overwhelmed...

On a good note, I've finally finished purchasing all the little toys I had on my list - got the 32gb iPod touch, the Lumix compact digital camera, the laptop, headphones, etc. I feel very equipped to be thrown into a completely different life for awhile. And randomly, tonight, I got an email from a contact there that wants to know if I can help them set up a screenprinting shop. (No, I have no plans to start printing my stuff there) Unfortunately I don't know enough to set up a shop, but still, how random and great is that?

Sounds like it's gonna be one adventure after another. Stay tuned.

posted by Mr. Linty @ 11:59 PM, ,


February's Frequent Listens

So I finally got Department of Eagles' new album "In Ear Park", and it's pretty great. I'm glad to finally hear the full version of "No One Does It Like You Do", which is a track I've loved ever since I saw it performed acoustically on one of Blogotheque's take-away shows last year. (See video below)

It's funny, to watch it again, after all these months, and see them playing in New York's Chinatown. It all seems very appropriate for where I'm going. Only 10 days left. Crazy!

Also been listening a lot of Loney Dear, a Swedish band who opened for Andrew Bird when I saw him a few weeks back. Their opening song, "I Was Only Going Out" is still my favorite. (See below)

Finally, got the new Beirut and loving it. Epic and eclectic, as usual. See the video below.


#71 - Deartment of Eagles - Part 1
by lablogotheque




posted by Mr. Linty @ 11:27 AM, ,


An ode to inquiries

When I get new emails
I try to get back.
I think it's important
Connecting like that.

There's just one exception,
And it goes like this:
"Who makes your boxes?"
That, I may miss.

posted by Mr. Linty @ 11:18 PM, ,


Monday night dish

I woke up this morning thinking about what I wanted for lunch/dinner, since I finally ate all of the huge batch of tofu fried rice that I made. I put my query out to folks on Twitter and got a bunch of yummy recipes. But when I finally went out for groceries, I remembered that I had some frozen Italian sausage in my freezer, and decided to make a dish out of that instead. I hit the pasta aisle and found some delicious-looking sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce, grabbed a fresh loaf of Italian bread, and some pasta.

I sauteed some peppers, onions, and garlic with the meat, but other than that it was a really simple meal to put together. For the bread I decided to try something a little different than the typical parmesan-toast thing I do. I instead minced some garlic and microwaved it with a couple tablespoons of butter and about 2 teaspons of blue cheese. Then I just poured that over the bread. It came out REALLY good. Definitely gonna do this next time I make garlic bread!

The finished meal:
I'm gonna miss pasta and cheese in China

posted by Mr. Linty @ 5:13 PM, ,


A real update.

Man, leaving for 3 months is a big deal. Especially when you run a company that releases products each month and ships orders out daily, but even if not. I mean... There's just SO much. Stuff you don't even think about at first, like bills, pets, utilities... And with China, there are a ton of other little things that need to be accounted for. For example, deodorant. They've got antiperspirant, but no de-ODOR-ant. So unless you don't mind going natural for a while, you need to pack that stuff, and lots of it, because in China, you walk a LOT. And that's just one of many things.

To make life just a bit easier on myself I finally got an iPod touch. I would've gone with the phone, but free WiFi is everywhere in China, so I figured I'd rely more on that, and get a cheap $10-a-month phone plan if I need it. But yeah, I love the touch. For the longest time I've had a 2nd gen iPod and I'm blown away by all the stuff on the new ones. I feel kind of like an old person discovering the internet for the first time...

So yeah, it's been busy.

And on top of that, there's all the March release stuff that I'm trying to get out of the way earlier - getting the tee printed, getting my collaborator paid (wire transfers = robbery, which will be ironic when you see the tee), getting the cards done, etc. Add to that me trying to get a headstart on April since I'm sure it'll be hectic when I first arrive in China, and you've got an Eric with a blown fuse. But I manage. I stay up late, put on some tunes, and get it done. And I gotta say, this April tee is already looking pretty cool. It's very different than my previous stuff, and I haven't even handed it over to the artist I'm working on it with yet. Can't wait to see the end product.

What else... Oh, right: I got my cat neutered today. Feel pretty bad for him right now. He's really drugged up and keeps trying to jump up to the window. Poor little dude.

Finally: I tried cooking with tofu for the first time ever tonight! And I was pretty pleased with it! I've been trying to eat a bit less meat lately, since I've noticed that I'm pretty sluggish after I eat too much of it. Won't be able to avoid it entirely in China, but I figure this is a start to a healthier lifestyle.

posted by Mr. Linty @ 10:07 PM, ,


Hello Facebook!

Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple of days, I discovered Facebook over the weekend and have been combing over the site trying to get the hang of everything. Here's the official Linty Fresh facebook group:

LINTY FRESH + FACEBOOK

Join up and say hi!

posted by Mr. Linty @ 10:11 PM, ,


Kraftwork

So I just got in from a mini-show in Atlanta at a popular Boutique/Gallery, Young Blood. It was nice to be at a show after thinking that I wasn't going to be able to do another one before leaving for China. As my departure date creeps closer I'm beginning to think of all this stuff I'm really going to miss when I'm gone, and I think these shows are one of them.

It wasn't an especially profitable night, though. Not at all terrible for a 3-hour show, but still a little slow. Of course, with the cold spell we've been having here in Atlanta and the rough economy, that's to be expected. And that aside, my booth had steady traffic the whole time, so I shouldn't complain.

These shows, though, are really more than just making money and getting my name out there. I mean, that's the point and all, but there are a lot of other important factors that make it worthwhile, the most important of which is direct customer interaction. It's not just about ego-tripping (though that's a part), but about being able to read the customer's reaction and getting a feel for what people like and don't like. On the site it's impossible to determine those kinds of nuance preferences. And that kind of interaction is so useful in helping me generate new ideas by gauging what my selling points are and enhancing them.

On the way home from the show I got to thinking about some of these strengths I've got going, and came up with some interesting ideas that I'd like to try out this year when I get back... We'll see.

Another highlight was on my way out when I spotted a couple of original works from an old classmate and current friend Kelly McKernan. You can see some of her work in her shop here. Way to go Kelly!

Last night was awesome, by the way. For those of you who follow my tweets on Twitter, you know that I went to see Andrew Bird at a venue downtown. It was really different than the first time I saw him, but it was pretty mesmerizing.

posted by Mr. Linty @ 11:27 PM, ,


Hey guys, meet my cat

His name is Chips. (Short for Chipotle) He was a stray that kept coming to my window and watching me work, so I eventually let him in, and we got along pretty well. He's super friendly, but currently seems to have a cold (been sneezing all day, which I find pretty amusing).

Chips

posted by Mr. Linty @ 12:49 AM, ,


Eric teaches drawing!

So last week I was over at a friend's house for movie night, and a couple of the girls were saying that they wished they could draw, but could never be artists, blah blah, the typical stuff that people say when they've never been shown the basics. I told them that they were wrong, and that anyone can learn to draw realistically with minimal training. They scoffed, so I told them to come over my place and that I'd show them some basic drawing techniques.

So yesterday I pulled my couch away from the wall (so I could walk behind it and watch the students draw!), set up one of my tripod lights, put a few items out to draw (a contact solution bottle and a cardboard box, both flat white), put on some music, and ordered a pizza.

They were pretty timid about the whole thing at first, but after a rundown on the tools (6B-6H pencils and gum erasers) and a quick explanation on using your pencil as a ruler and angle approximator, they were eager to get started. Since perspective and proportions are most important to achieving realism, we spent 3/4th of the time on that, and I wouldn't let them shade until they had it down just right. But once that was down, they had already learned to really study what they saw and notice the minute details. I was actually pretty blown away by the final, fully shaded pieces. (Should've taken pics!!!) They were honestly better than a good chunk of the work I saw from classmates back in my college drawing classes! They were totally stoked on it too, and insisted that they would all practice at home and be back for a second lesson in a few weeks!

Anyways, forcing them to do a still life like that reminded me of being back in college with all the still lifes we were given, so I went digging in the garage and found a few pieces from 04-05ish. I uploaded a few to my flickr. I kind of would like to get back to it a bit.

Stuff

posted by Mr. Linty @ 9:24 PM, ,


LF Discount Bin

I've had these laying around for awhile and rather than just dropping them off at Goodwill I thought I'd try to sell them off at a super discounted price. Email me if interested!

I also have 2 Snurfing Iceman shirts that are perfect except for the fact that they don't have custom printed tags inside. They're both girls' smalls.





posted by Mr. Linty @ 2:42 PM, ,


A bit of gratitude...

A few weeks ago, while I was putting the finishing touches on Dr. K's Chemistry, I got to thinking about this old Chemistry teacher I had back when I was going to Homestead High School in California. His name was Mr. Nafrada and he was seriously one of my top 5 teachers from the entirety of my school days. Not only did he have his snowboard and other awesome paraphernalia hung about proudly on the classroom walls, but he'd always have music playing during our labs (I distinctly remember Weezer's Blue Album on the first day of class!). But all that hip stuff aside, he was a solid teacher and was always showing us new things about chemistry and its application in everyday life.

Anyway, I got to thinking that it'd be pretty rad of me to send him one of the shirts when they were printed, so tonight after getting the release out and posting hype on a bunch of sites, I tracked down his email on my old school's site and sent him this:


Mr. Nafrada,

Ok, so I'm sure you get these from time to time, and I imagine that with the hundreds of kids you've taught over the years, it's tough to remember any of them, but I'm writing anyway!

My name is Eric Terry and I was in your chemistry class back in 2001/2002 as a sophomore. If there was one thing you'd remember me for, it'd be the Simpsons periodic table I did...

I just wanted to thank you for being one of the raddest teachers I ever had. Although I live thousands of miles away (Atlanta GA) and it's been years since I was in Homestead, I still tell stories of all your awesome pyrotechnic experiments and interesting applications of the sciences. You made an impact on me, and I'm sure that's the case with loads of other students as well.

Now a bit about me: In 2006, in my second year of college I started a clothing line called Linty Fresh. It ended up growing pretty quickly, and soon I quit school, then quit my day job, and as of June of last year I'm doing LF full time. The tees usually have some sort of wacky story behind them, and are theme-based. Well, the latest tee I did was based on fictional chemistry. As a sort of thank you for being such an inspiration, I wanted to send one of these tees your way with some other goodies. Just tell me your size and where I should send it!

Thanks a ton, for everything!

-Eric Terry


We'll see!

posted by Mr. Linty @ 12:26 AM, ,


February tee!

Dr K's Chemistry!

Dr. K's Chemistry

Dr. K's Chemistry (at night!)

posted by Mr. Linty @ 12:07 AM, ,