Reacclimating After Three Years Abroad

It's been two weeks and I still catch myself at random moments, like in line at the grocery store, being blown away by the fact that I'm actually living in the States again. Forty months was a long stretch to be away from friends, family and the culture that resonates subconsciously in my bones, and now suddenly it's done. After learning how to numb the distance, it's been invigorating to not have to anymore. I guess maybe that's part of what they call culture shock. It's good f@#%ing awesome to be home.

Right now our actual home is an old warehouse building turned into loft spaces in the Arts District of downtown L.A., near Little Tokyo. I've gotten used to living out of my suitcases, which is a good thing since the cargo ship carrying the rest of our stuff won't arrive here until some time in November. Being forced to live minimally has been a good reminder that there's a lot of crap I don't really need (except for my books and art supplies. Missing that stuff for sure).

Re-immersing back into U.S. culture has been a trip. Little things blow my mind. Giant stores like Ralphs and Target that carry anything and everything. Cars yielding to pedestrians. Everyone speaking English. Then there's the food. After friends and family, food has definitely been one of the highlights since returning from the land of beef, especially since I'm not much of a beef eater. Mexican food. Sushi. Vietnamese. Thai. New York style pizza. Did I say it's good to be home?

One of the biggest adjustments since returning, besides going from spring to fall and losing a summer, has been transportation. Annie and I made the decision to get bikes and Metro passes, and roll car-free. Mass transit in Buenos Aires is cheap and extensive, and we had gotten used to living in the city without a car. In L.A. it's definitely more of a challenge, and I admit being skeptical of it working at first, but not only does it seem totally doable living and working downtown or near the Metro lines, it's been the bomb to be out shredding a city on two wheels again.

So yeah, after two weeks, I'm still definitely dealing with some culture shock, but the only really byproducts of it have been giant grins and an occasional dance when no one's looking, so I'm not really sweating it too much right now.

Above: One of my favorite moments since being back was Day 10. Battled city buses across L.A. just so I could touch the Pacific and tell her I made it home.

Currently Listening To:

Song: Home
Artist: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (official site)

Currently Reading:
Rant: The Oral Biography of Buster Casey
by Chuck Palahniuk

Homeward Bound

After three and a half years my time in Argentina is drawing to a close. In less than 48 hours I'll hop on a plane bound for the States. Bound for home.

It's been a wild crazy ride down here, full of ups and downs, like any good adventure should be. I would attempt to put what this all means into context for you now, but the truth is I still haven't been able to get my own mind wrapped around it. What I can say is that while one adventure is ending, a new one is about to begin. The Orange Gorilla, the mohawk, and I are bound for Los Angeles, where we'll continue our unending quest for world domination, and making cool stuff (not necessarily in that order).

Until then, I leave you with the last 4 things I made while living in Buenos Aires.

TO BE CONTINUED

20" x 34" (52cm x 86cm) | oil & acrylic on wood panel

BACK OF SUBWAY PASS #22

pen & pencil on subway pass

PHOTO: "One Day. 12 Trains"

I spent a day riding every line in the Argentine subway system. Check out the entire blog post here.

SUBWAY RIDER: THE LAST STOP

sketchbook | pen & pencil

Currently Listening To:
Song: The Last Goodbye (listen)
Artist: The Kills (official site)

The Buenos Aires Subway

Above: The entrances to the beginning and end of each line.

On a quiet Sunday morning, a day when the subway stations are relatively empty, I rode underneath the city for nearly 7 hours traversing the six lines of the oldest subway in the southern hemisphere from start to finish.

It is possible to do this on one ticket, which costs only one peso (U$S 25 cents), however I wanted to document the experience, so I exited each station at the beginning and end of each line and photographed the above ground entrance. Even after having to re-enter the system twelve times the whole trip still cost less than 20 pesos (U$S 5 dollars).

If you asked me why I did it I don't know that I could give you a definitive answer. Early in the experience, after realizing it would take much longer than expected, I wondered myself wtf I was doing. However once I stopped trying to rationalize the experience through the lens of a typical subway rider my time spent wandering subterraneously in the city that's been my home for the past three and half years started to make more sense. I wasn't aimlessly riding the train to "nowhere". I was taking it "everywhere".

Above: The doors of the 12 trains I road traversing the 6 lines start to finish.


Above: The "A" Line train.


Above: The wooden doors of the "A" Line train.

Click on map to enlarge.

Currently Listening To:

Remember Studio Alamo

It's my last day renting a room above a bar in Buenos Aires as my art studio. The room sits empty today, void of easels and brushes, looking more like its previous incarnation of a dry-humped old hostel room.



I suppose the art I created here will be my biggest takeaway from my 14 months in the space, although being above one of the city's popular (excessive) drinking holes definitely added a twist of lime and spritz of seltzer to my time here that I won't soon forget. Like the mornings when I'd cut through the bottom floors and was able to tell how crazy the previous night's clientele were by the degree to which my shoes stuck to the floor. Of course I won't miss the other days when a smell of barf hung in the air just a little too long, but thankfully that phenomenon was infrequent enough that other aspects of the experience like a presumably strengthened immune system or ability to sit at a bar "where everybody knows your name" easily canceled it out.

Above: Left behind on the windowsill

In the end the irony of it all makes me grin. The Gorilla and I made our final stand in Buenos Aires at an American owned bar called The Alamo. Thankfully though, unlike Davy Crockett and his comrades, in this demented version of the tale Jimmy and his Ape Army are able to survive the battle and have their deranged adventures continue on as they head back north across the equator pillaging and plundering towns and villages and leaving the Orange Gorilla in their wake. Or at least something like that. The ending is still a work in progress.

Above: Gorilla Sticker Sighting #158 - "Pillaging & Plundering"

Currently Listening To:
Song: The Great Escape (listen)
Artist: Patrick Watson (official site)

Cheesy Radioactive Crack

Recently I was gifted a packet of gigantic smile-producing Kraft Macaroni & Cheese mix from my friend Ryan. Now, I should say that if I was home in the States, even though I grew up on it and it sustained me through college (the spirals are my fave), it's highly unlikely that I would buy a box of processed mac & cheese at the store, and this little white packet would be as weird a gift as the yellow-orangish, powdery contents that are within it.

However here in Argentina, coming across this cheesy packet reminds me of the scene in the post-apocalyptic movie The Road where father and son wayfarers come across something neither had seen in years - a can of Coke. Instead of stumbling upon a can of carbonated sugar water, it was like they had discovered a coveted magic elixir that was to be cherished.

It was similar when I mixed my pot of noodles today with this rare and elusive Kraft Mac & Cheese mix bestowed upon me from Ryan. My friend didn't give me a packet of unnatural powder that makes noodles a frightening radioactive orange color. Instead he gave me a packet of "awesome" which made my noodles into cheesy euphoric crack that momentarily brought me home. And that is quite a gift.

Currently Listening To:
Song: Hometown Fantasy (listen)
Artist: The Wooden Birds (official site)

New Gorilla Stickers!

The new Danko Gorilla Stickers are officially here and making their way around the world! The original Gorilla Sticker first rolled off the press and began wondering the globe in 2003. After 8 years I figured it was time to give the orange guy a new face. (You can read the entire story behind the Danko Gorilla Sticker here.)

Click on the "G's" to see individual Gorilla Sticker pics.

View the Gorilla Sticker World Map on its own page.

View the entire album of Gorilla Sticker pics.

Below: The painting that inspired the new design.

Danko Gorilla Stickers are printed by Sticker Guy. Big props to the crew over there for always doing a kickass job on The Beast.

Currently Listening To:
Song: Man Must Dance (listen)
Artist: Johnossi (official site)

The Mohawk's First Birthday

My Mohawk turned a year old the other day.
These are 10 things I've learned in that year.

1. Even though it seems totally obvious, it took me a month to remember that after getting out of the shower it's easier if I put my shirt on first before styling it.

2. Like cat whiskers, it's kept me from banging my head on low-hanging door frames more than once.

3. The only hair gel I've found in Argentina that works is appropriately named "L'Oréal Studio Indestructible".

4. Old guys seem more scared of it than old ladies.

5. It does not fit well in the backseat of most taxi cabs in Buenos Aires.

6. It does not help keep my head warm during the winter.

7. It's name is Apollo Creed. (no legitimate reasoning behind that. It just feels right.)

8. After a year, Apollo's shadow still makes me laugh when I randomly see it on the wall next to me.

9. It helps to have a best friend who's a rockstar at trimming it.

10. For the first time in my life I blow dry my hair...and I'm ok with that.

Currently Listening To:
Song: On The Other Side (listen)
Artist: The Strokes (official site)

Currently Reading:
The Places In Between
by Rory Stewart