Life is incredibly awesome! I know that sometimes life and anxiety get the better of me and bring me down, but I pick myself up and keep going. Yes, the fear is sometimes overwhelming, like an elephant’s foot standing on my chest with me submerged under the water as I watch the bubbles float to the top to a surreal world blurred by the ripples. This will be true if I am an artist, and if I don’t like the narrative or the story, I pull the page out of the binder and start a fresh, worst case.
Not only did I have a trip back to Japan in 54 days, but the “long-running TV show “Two Brothers and an Apartment” is ending. The final season has been titled Wag the Dog, and we saw the three of us get a dog—my brother and his girlfriend and Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill. Talk about the best dog in the world, though. I mean, seriously, you couldn’t ask for a better dog.
Let’s say that I haven’t always gotten along with my brother’s girlfriend. If you were to describe our relationship, she would be my lex Luthar to my Red Sun. Being so opposed hasn’t always been bad, as it has pushed me to think outside the box and tackle issues I usually wouldn’t have encountered. The big takeaway is that everyone will go their own way at the show's end. With talk of a follow-up of holiday specials and other spinoffs, the show as we know it will be over.
I intend to pursue my art and travels and push those ideas as far as possible, making them everything I can by giving them everything I have. One reason for running with it is the incredible cost of making art and putting it into the world. We live in a time where we are limitless in the sense we can reach people around the world and touch the lives of many. The breakdown cost looks like this: $700 for Adoby Cloud, 200 for the website, and $200 for Epidemic Sound. Although each of them comes together to make for a fantastic experience and happening, the cost can be overwhelming.
More importantly, my motto in art is “Having a story worth telling and finding a way of telling it.” I love the idea of expressionism, that everyone has a story and is made up of the said story and the choices that accompany it. I know others are, too. Otherwise, we wouldn’t want to read books like “On the Road,” “Naked Lunch," or “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” I know that I am particularly fond of my story, as I keep trying to capture it down because people stop in their tracks and ask me “What?” after hearing even the slightest amounts of it, like the time when I wanted to be cosmonaut and got in a dryer only to have the hatch get stuck, and to have the heat shield fail.”
The other side of me says life has become banal, tripe, daft, and depressing. Everything has already been done, and it’s up to me to pick it up and break the stagnant rut we have all seemingly fallen into. The metaphor is this: like a motionless top that sits atop a table, collecting dust. As I pick it up, I put a revolutionary spin on it and set it in motion, making it a reality.
With life and art, I suppose you could ask yourself, what’s next? As for the trip, the happening of the journey, and everything along the way, I consider to be art. You don’t realize what a confidence booster it is to travel alone in a different country. Even though I will be going with a group this time, I am still excited to push myself as I will lead the group and be the one who will have figured out most of the trip. But the YouTube channel is another component, and now I will commission a friend for a set of bubble gum photos for the trip as my sort of new branding and new projection of art. I already have a set of bubble gum pictures from another friend, but I want them to be unique and original.
The other big-ticket idea is believing, loving, and having faith that everything will work out, disputing past mistakes, setbacks, and hurdles, and going out and doing a much better job than ever. For me, there are some ideas and beliefs that I have never given up on or stopped believing in, which has left me at odds with many people. This is the abandonment of the past and rebuilding with everything I hold as values worth preserving and carrying on forward. I will meet the challenges and opportunities and make the best of them all. In all honesty, I am going to use art to make the wonderful life I know real in my heart and in my mind.
The season is finally scheduled in a two-part segment, leading to two possible three-page spin-offs. In my show, my brother and his girlfriend and their dog, although their show might be the two of them and the dog.
My own story will be one of art, adventure, and an incredibly shared journey not just with the world, friends, family, and loved ones but also with that special someone. It is not a traditional relationship but a revolution.