Austin...Keepin' it Weird.

As I walk through the Austin airport I realize that I am the odd one out. I definitely do not fit in with the cowboy hats and leather boots. It’s in the mid 60’s and I am now wondering why I left those pristine beaches and sunny days in Hawaii as I freeze my ass off. But I have an adventure ahead that is just beginning...

I showed up to Rachael and Kevin's apartment and I was greeted by Basil, their victorian bulldog. I received the once over from her and I was cleared to enter. We started off by hanging out in the apartment and catching up while we waited for their friend Shannon,who is effing crazy, to show up with her dog. We went down to TacoDeli and ordered up some tacos and mexican Coke's, and for those that don't know mexican Coke's have real sugar in it vice the high fructose corn syrup crap we drink, way better then the normal American stuff.

After a tasty lunch we walked down to the Greenbelt and went for a hike with the dogs. After getting back Kevin headed off to work so Rachael and I both took naps. 5 hours later I awoke to Basil staring at me. I was rested and was ready to start my night. Rachael and I headed downtown. We ate at Chupacabra on 6th street and then walked to one of their favorite watering-holes, The Grackle. There we met up with a few more of their friends, Brendan, Pete, and Erin. A few Lonestar tall boys through the night and I was feeling pretty good. We concluded the night with a walk back downtown to catch a cab.

The next day Rachael had to work so Kevin and I took the bus up to the North University area to a place called Spider House. Dope spot! They had a very wide selection of food from breakfast and bagels to pizza with a well-versed coffee bar. I had the Garden Bagel with a side of chips and black coffee, it was definitely above par. As the punk music played, we talked for over an hour about our military jobs, baseball, music and just life in general. After that we headed about a half mile down the street to Clown Dog Bikes. I was asked by my good old friend Cuyler Yogi to stop in and drop off some macadamia nuts and beer to Mike and Bryce, the owners of the shop. We went in dropped the goods and talked story for a bit. After a few laughs we said our farewells and they threw me a shop shirt in exchange for the goodies! Kevin and I headed back to downtown and had a few beers while we waited for Rachael to finish with work. It was Tuesday so Kevin grabbed some tickets to Terror Tuesdays which is dinner and a old scary movie at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz. We met up with Evan and his girlfriend there. The Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973) was playing that night. We all stuffed our face with food while we watched bee girls screw the life out of the professors of the lab they worked at. It was interesting to say the least! After the movie we called it an early night and headed home; Rachael had to draw out a tattoo that was going on me the next day and we watched Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry: The Life of Norman K. Collins.

I woke up the next morning feeling better and not as jet-lagged but congested, I thought I was getting sick, but apparently cedar pollen makes peoples allergies go nuts. Just my luck. My high school friend, who I had just found out moved to Austin, was going to pick me up and we were going to grab some lunch and coffee. We went to this burger joint called Hut's. They had the widest selection of burgers I have ever seen and on top of that they had a veggie burger that was vegan, so you know I was down! After wiping the BBQ sauce off the corners of my mouth and catching up with Brittany we departed and headed downtown to walk around and get some coffee. We talked some more and in what didn't seem like any time at all it was time for me to get dropped off at Sideshow Tattoo to get tattooed.

Rachael tattooed me for 4 hours. I got a 'momento mori' tattoo which normally includes a rose, a candle, and a skull. With those 3 elements I also had Rachael include a cat. Yes for those who know me, you know that I absolutely hate cats. But, through the last few months I have been getting hurt a lot and had a lot of really close calls, seeing as much I probably should be dead. As we all know cats have 9 lives, so I felt it was appropriate to include in the tattoo.

I headed back down to the apartment to get cleaned up and take out the dog as I waited for Rachael to finish work. We headed back downtown to the Dizzy Rooster and met up with Kevin to have a few drinks. When we got there Kevin was completely wasted since he was drinking all day. I guess it didn't help that he is good friends with the bartender Justin. Drinks ensued. We were all hungry so we went to the Vegan Yacht which is a food truck in this lot of food trucks on the side, I ordered a 'freeto burrito'(veggie chili with fritos in a burrito and sorry for the crap picture, iPhones don't do well in the dark). It was the best food I had in Austin thus far...SO good! We ended the night at a few bars with a lot of drinks and a lot of people from the east coast. It seems like everyone they knew was from either NY or Philthy. Just imagine a bunch of people from the Tri-State area all drunk in a bar in Austin talking about punk rock and sports, we were loud and obnoxious to say the least but it was a blast! I went home a little early because I had to pack as my flight left early the next morning.

While in Austin I saw some very strange things and met some even stranger people. I feel like I barely scratched the surface due to the minimal time I had there and the buffer of my hosts and their friends.

On the ride to the airport I sat in silence and reflected on my 3 days in Austin as it passed by me in the window. Although I saw a lot of interesting people and experienced a lot of interesting things that I would normally not experience, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I guess thats the point of traveling right? To see friends, experience the new cultures and interact with new people you come in contact with. I will be back to Austin this summer, that's for sure.

Keep it weird, Austin, keep it weird.

Aloha `oe Hawai`i

I have spent the past 8 years of my adult life living in Hawai'i. I have met people from all walks of life and taken a little piece of each encounter to learn and grow upon. I have gone through many ups and downs in many different aspects of my life during these 8 years. From broken bones to Island Unstoppable rides to skateboarding down Mt. Haleakala on Maui to watching my friends bands share the stage with huge acts to being married and divorced to sitting on the roof of the Dollhouse watching New Years Eve fireworks to having Thanks'vegan' with close friends to being deep in the Kalihi Valley working with HIHO to preserve the land, I have learned to appreciate the people that chose to have me in their circle. I am also extremely thankful for having the opportunity to share these experiences with the people I love. Whether I have parted on good terms or bad, I want you know that there will always be a place in my heart for you. Along with the people I have met, I feel that I will always have a special connection with the islands and the land and not for a single second in my life will I forget it. I would like to say one more time, Thank You for making my time here in Hawai'i enjoyable and I look forward to seeing you in the future. Oh, and everyone is welcome to come visit me in New York and has a place to stay if ya need!

A hui hou kakou a aloha nui loa.

It's been over a year...

So here in my life I have not blogged for the past year...for what reason I do not know. The focus of this post is to catch up whoever, if anyone, is reading this and let you know what is in store for me for the next few months...

So here I go!

I will start about 6 months ago in October when I broke my arm at a hardcore show at a local venue here in Hawaii. A mainland band named The Devil Wears Prada (click for one of my favorite songs) was playing and I was dancing like I normally would and I threw my arm backwards during a breakdown and I nailed some dude in the forehead with my forearm... broken Ulna Broken Arm:) Me breaking my arm made me really think about how old I am getting and how I might need to slow down a little...and I did that. I started thinking things through before I did them and for the most part I didn't hurt myself!

Over winter break with the copious amounts of time I had off from the military during this time, I helped out my good friends Josh86 and Serps remodel this place they bought in

Chinatown and turn it into a Diner and Lounge called Downbeat (<-check out the website). Normally, I like helping my friends out but this was extra special for a few reasons: First off they are my good friends and who doesn't want to help out their good friends, right?! Secondly, this diner has a vegan option for everything on the menu, which tomy knowledge is the only eatery with such options besides being fully vegan. And lastly, in the bigger scheme of things, it is helping turn Honolulu's Chinatown area from the infamous red-light district that it is known for since WWII to more of a gentrified art and food district. I think the new businesses that are opening up in and around the Chinatown area are really supporting the cause and allowing Honolulu to be an even more beautiful place.

We worked long hours reupholstering the seats, painting the walls, and getting things ready for the December 31st opening. It was a success and they had their 'soft' opening New Year's Eve. Good times with good friends and a great feeling of accomplishment for my friends new restaurant/diner! I was going to post some pictures of the food that I took but just realized that they used my pictures for the website! Yayyy me!

Amidst the chaos of getting the diner together a friend of mine lost his life in a hit and run while he was riding his bike around the island with the AlohaFixed crew on December 17th, 2010. Zachary Manago was struck by a speeding car and thrown from his bike and landed in a grassy area where he died laying on the side of the road. I was awoken at 1am by a phone call from a friend that passed this news to me...I was deeply saddened by this. A few days later me and 4 other guys went looking for the car that struck Zach in the accident...and by some remarkable ridiculous chance after only an hour of looking for it, we found it. We immediately alerted the police and they arrested the guy. The case is still under investigation but we are hopeful that justice will be served R.IDE I.N P.ARADISE ZACH.

For more info go here:

Star Advertiser's coverage

Zach's Ghost Bike Memorial

Zach's Funeral Service

With the start of the new year it was almost like the start of a new life for me. At work I started training the guy who was going to replace me because in February I would be starting my separation process to get out of the Navy. This leads me to THE turning point of my recent life...After being in the Navy for 9 1/2 years I was finally getting out! I was having some hard times at work with these huge exercises we had going on and trying to train the new guy at the same time was just taking its toll on me mentally and physically. I tried to keep a positive attitude, P.M.A.!, and mostly just tell myself that it will be all over in a couple months... I made it! There were a few bumps in the road with the process of separating. This didn't surprise me in the least bit because it's the Navy and I knew how the Navy works. I was hoping I would get out with no bumps, but I wasn't surprised when the administrative people screwed up!

In the month or so leading up to me getting out I got really caught up in the separation process and forgot what I had told myself in October when I broke my arm and that was to 'SLOW DOWN'!

I was doing some filming of me and my friend James Ramsey biking with my GoPro cam. I had figured out this pretty sweet mounting spot on the fork pointed back at me and him to catch us both riding we started from his house and headed down the hill and this happened...

Yup, all with a smile, I crashed pretty hard afterthat dump truck cut me off and got some really gnarly road rash on my back! So, if I hadn't lost sight of what I had told myself a few months earlier, then I probably wouldn't have been in that situation.

A few weeks ago while I was riding my bike with a group of friends on our normal Tuesday Night Ride (TNR) route I was hit by a car. My friend who was right behind me said that right before the guy hit me I launched myself off of my bicycle, tossed it to the side and cartwheeled over the hood of the truck...didn't know I had it in me but I guess when your survival instincts kick in anything is possible! I came out of that accident a little shook up, some road-rash on the knees and a slightly torn MCL in my right knee. A couple weeks later I am good to go, back on my bicycle!

In between all of

my accidents I was still getting tattooed at 808Tattoo in Kaneohe by Jen Harden. I've been getting tattooed by her close to 7 years now. There are a ton of tattoo's that we had started and had yet to finish. So now that it is getting close to my departure from Hawaii we are trying to get everything finished!

Haha, okay, between my injuries, tattoos and whatever else I have going on in my life I have also been volunteering with this non-profit that goes by HIHO, or Hands in Helping Out. The way they work is they focus on the type of volunteering that you are good at, whether it is some sort of manual labor or reading books to kids. Organizations go to HIHO asking for a certain number of bodies and then HIHO goes into their body-pool and see who would work

best for the task. Pretty neat if ya ask me! After 50 hours of volunteering you receive the coveted HIHO t-shirt. Now, I have wanted that shirt and worked very hardfor it and I stand at 49 hours...so Ryan, the director of HIHO and good friend, has set up one last thing for me to get my last hour of volunteering to get that shirt! This coming sunday @ 6am I will be doing a photo shoot with HIHO to highlight their first 5 to 50...and I guess in the realm of volunteering that will count to put me over 50 hours ;)

As of March 8th, 2011, I am no longer 'Property of the U.S. Government'...I finished my tour in the Navy and will be steering a course for home, New York. I've applied to CUNY Brooklyn and Queens for studies in Art and Art Education. The reason I chose those schools was due to the fact that Brooklyn CUNY has a really good program for Art Education and Queens CUNY has a decent Art program as well. Me finally being out of the Navy has allowed for me think more on my own level and really give me some clarity. I have been WAY more productive when it comes to my artwork and sketching...

Me leaving Hawaii has been and still will be bitter-sweet...I have met so many good people here and made a ton of good friends and more-so, some really influential people that I look up to as people and artists; Kelli Mercado, A.J. Feducia, and Nicole Naone to name a few. At the same time I know it is my time to leave Hawaii and start a new chapter in my life and focus on my art and my career.

I fly off island on the 27th of this month, which is 10 days away...kind of surreal. As I sit here and type this I can only imagine what my travels have in store for me, what the future has destined for me...

Until next time... Aloha.