Today I fulfilled somewhat my fantasy of replaying the travels of the Fellowship of the Ring. Started off this week with a hike at Red Rock Canyon. A place I forget in my industrialized habitat of Las Vegas. It was breath taking despite getting a few needles stabbing my foot from the cactus. Being there with Gregan and new friends, I am reminded that there is surprisingly really good people out there as we treaded on the decline. At times, I was struck with silent fear that I would just roll off a rock but there was a hand or two from people I only knew for a few hours. Retreating into nature reminded me how the world is so vast and beautiful. I am grateful that I made through the incline back to the car and got to enjoy it with such wonderful people as well.

so i hung out with a few teens yesterday and found myself learning the meaning of changing times and what my role is in it. i went to visit some old guam friends because two of them will be going on a magical military ball in may. as an ice breaker he proposed to have her family come over to his house for some dinner. i just so happened to be free yesterday night that they threw me in the mix. plus, when we were young kids growing up in Dededo, Guam we considered each other family.
but when i arrived it was very quiet unless i feel like sometimes i am naturally and uncontrollably boisterous. i did have lots of chocolate from work and two (exact!) sips of coffee. there were three young teen girls in the living room glued to their phones and the older parent/ folks in the dining area. we all hadn’t seen each other in 5 years even if we lived in the same town. you can imagine what an awkward transition from living next door to each other and seeing everyone on a daily basis over some street basketball and potluck dinners to this quiet, controlled, and rare dinner that was based on pairing off two childhood friends.
but my attention was not on this brewing but one sided romance for boy re-meets girl. my attention was targeted at the three teen girls. they were my project for the night. i thought they reminded me much of my young self. probably loud with my closest friends but when some older teen/adult comes in, i kind of hush and fall into the backdrop. in a present sense reflection of myself, i am also an extension of my phone and not the other way around. so after grabbing some grub i suggested we should karaoke. the guy kept picking songs that were supposed to translate his obvious crush on the girl and it wasn’t as effective as he hoped. but as the night waned, the singing became a chore and while the teen girls waited for their turns to sing, i watched them click like incessantly on their phones. and i proposed that they we turn off the karaoke machine and gather to talk. they looked nervous. oh no! real conversation! oh my!!
but we talked like we used to. reminisced about life after a typhoon and power outage in guam. we remembered how fun it was because we had each other after this dreaded storm and school was out for about a month at the beginning of the year. we poked fun at each other and threw in that bieber and twilight thang.
then one of the older folks decided it was time to go home and as i propped up from the couch a kind of disappointed but slight groan from the girls came.
talking to people was fun afterall and that loudmouth jean was leaving.
one of the folks spoke to me why i had not chosen to be a teacher when i had set out to.
but i learned last night, that although i may not be in a classroom there is still lots of this love to teach inside.

and i’m still learning to talk to others as much as i am teaching it.
so from one fellow internet junkie to another, turn off your screen and say hello with your mouth and not your text.

pg 2 of sophmore year story. i don’t like that slide show feature on tumblr when you put two pictures so i had to post it this way for more clarity.

pg 1 sophomore year story.

this still holds true in my adult life.

This was written on April 5, 2005. This week I wanted to try different panel work because I was beginning to feel restricted about the flow of plot. This was influenced by Mari Okazaki, the mangaka of Suppli. Also, my art teacher explained that I shouldn’t always try to fit the entire universe in each artwork. So here is truly a splice of life. Hope you enjoy. And I really really miss my gang.

This was written on November 11, 2008. This week I am still experimenting with negative space but trying to use less text and leave you the reader the message provided by space relations.

I wrote this on May 12, 2009 and have always been meaning to translate into comics. One of my friends mentioned the lack of risk taking in her art. It kept playing in my mind throughout the week. Sorry this one came late folks and hope that it was worth the wait and the wee hours of the night.

It was a reflection of my future post grad life.

I hope you take it as a very valuable metaphor.

-GreenMachine.