They're my family
Keep me on track,
make me laugh Always got my back

I get in trouble
I'm sad, I'm happy, I cry
They still got my back

Stories keep growing
Each day is even better
And they got my back

illustration friday's topic: thanksgiving.
"the Pour"

This is my first year that I can drink wine at the Thanksgiving table without feeling like my grandparents, who love to drink, are upset with me being underage. I love wine to death. I can't wait to drink. Overall, I have a lot to be thankful for. Going around the dinner table saying what we are thankful for usually turns into more of a creative joke for us. So, I can't quite say anything that I'm truely thankful for in that atmosphere. But looking back on this year, I'm thankful:
1. my dad sends me money so that i can build my portfolio
2. my mother survived her pain
3. my brother didnt die
4. the amazing memories that my friends have made with me

Its true, I dont want to be in the passenger's seat of my own life. So far, at the age of 21, I feel fortunate enough that I am at least on the correct highway and I am in fact the driver. Maybe thats because my life currently has no road closed signs, its the most open of the roads I'll drive on ever. I decide my direction and I don't really have anyone argueing. I'm not tied down to my home, to my major, to a husband. Yes, its an open road, but there are still street signs that I have to apply to my life in order to keep me safe and out of trouble.


Red Light - When bad things come my way, I need to stop and regroup myself. The intoxication habbits that I consume to a dangerous degree. When my friends start getting hurt by the comments I would never say, when I start lieing to my family, when I black out for a week and lose those memories forever. I have to find that red light, get myself back together, and then go.

Yellow Light - when decisions come my way I have to think about what I ultimately want and I have to go for it before its too late. Dating, be careful to not run into guys who have hurt you in the past and when that happens, dont let them make you stop. Graduate school, should I go right into it and have more financial debts to pay back or should I wait and see if I can find a job that will pay for me. I need to remember to keep caustion with the decision I make.
this is the side road that takes me down to where i live now
I love walking along it because there are rarely cars on it.
There is a beautiful view of the baseball feild.
There are deer all over. And a view of the highway.
Green Light - there is nothing stopping me from doing the things I want to do that will benefit my life. Its a matter of me making the effort. Get my next tattoo, roadtrip to Atlantic City to see the Bouncing Souls in December, graduate in May. Its okay to just go, live.


Following these rules of stop, caution, and go will help me get to where I want to be safely. They are there for everyone's own interpretation of street lights. The driver is the only one who can control following their signals. I will try my best to use them so that I can keep from being a passenger in my own life, I will always be the driver.
this is the side road that takes me down to where i live now
I love walking along it because there are rarely cars on it.
There is a beautiful view of the baseball feild.
There are deer all over. And a view of the highway.

this is the side road that takes me down to where i live now
I love walking along it because there are rarely cars on it.
There is a beautiful view of the baseball feild.
There are deer all over. And a view of the highway.

I didn't know which story of my life I should submit to One Deep Breath. I decided on this one because its a subject that I haven't faced in a sober manner, maybe ever. I'm over the situation but parts of me have changed due to it.

Here it goes...

Your guitar, your voice
Told me your secret stories
Called me babydoll

I was comfortable
You made me laugh and smile
You promised good times

You came Friday nights,
Your lunch breaks, your shows, your car
Kissed me when we left

Something felt different
This one night I had to drink
Avoiding your truth

Your hug was a lie
Your friend ruined it for you
Go home to your wife

This is about a 15 second technical pencil sketch of IF's theme of smoke. I'm surprised I never caught the addiction of cigarettes because my mother, father, and one of my brothers smoke. My closest friends know that I should have stopped drinking hours ago when they offer me a cigarette and I take it and smoke it with pride. The next day they ask me if I remember smoking a cigarette and I say "ew no way." I used to smoke other things a lot but thats calmed down a bit and now its just on occasion. The one and only reason that I wouldn't mind taking up smoking is that I love the socializing that goes on during smoke breaks. Its comforting to me. But, I don't ever see myself smoking so I'll just stick to second hand smoking. Great...

So, you say it is morning. Prove it to me.
Is the sky getting lighter, the birds getting hungry? Have the construction workers blocked our driveway? Is Mom spritzing perfume and Dad ironing his shirt? Has Joe started brewing the coffee? Are the dogs waiting at the back door? Is the frost on the windows and the neighborhood houses black silhouettes? Is Maria begging for a ride to the bus? Are the infomercials playing on tv? And is Johns hair still a mess, his shirt backwards and rinkled? Has the milk already been spilt? Is nobody talking but the voice on the news? Then, yes, it is morning.