Easter Day Owl Massacre

Easter Day Owl Massacre
04/13/09

So, I know my writing fell off over the Holiday, but I promise to get back in the swing of things this week.

To start it off I want to let everyone know about a tragedy that I bore witness to over this holy-day weekend.

We had what could be referred to as a reunion this weekend of sorts of most my best friends. The old high school buddies and budettes convened at our typical watering hole Erato Wine Bar in Edwardsville, IL. We drank, we laughed and there was a lot of man hugging. About 2AM the bar was shutting down, I acted as DD for my buddy Dustin, and we took off to get him home. About 400 yards down Glen Carbon Rd. our headlights illuminated something. Things. But what were they, we swerved and drove by to fast to really see?

After dropping Dustin off we came back by to see what they were. Three dead animals scattered across the road. Raccoons, Opossums, Cats?

Neh!

Three dead Owls were laying there. In the middle of the road.

Aside from a zoo or bird sanctuary, I don’t think I have ever seen three owls in one place at the same time. Let alone dead.

It opened up a lot of questions. “How” is the big one, but each answer I could think of lead to a “Why” or “Who” (No pun intended)?

I don’t know what happened, and I probably never will. But, it was just impactful to see these majestic and elusive birds in that state.

So in that spirit, I compiled a list of the top 10 songs that an Owl should die to. You know that scene in the movie when the owls are falling in slow motion, these are what should be playing.

Owl Massacre Playlist

R.I.P.

Fun work

Martin Luther King Tribute
06/1/10

I wanted to attempt this style  in February, and being Black History Month I chose the Rev. as my muse.

His face is made up of the words of his epic Lincoln Memorial “I have a dream…” speech.

Take a look. I am having it framed as I type.

Smoking Goat Branding
04/1/10

I like beer.

Beer high in flavor, alcohol and price. I brew at home, but wouldn’t consider myself very good at this point. I’m working on it.

We have friends in Louisiana who I would consider really good. I designed some branding for their forthcoming brewery down there.

The Smoking Goat will hopefully be amazing, especially if I get some good beer out of the deal.

Have a look. Then drink a beer and have a look again. Continue this process until the logo looks awesome.

New Poster
02/4/10

This is a poster I made for my buddy Dustin.

A classic quote from him as we drove by Effingham, IL’s infamous and huge cross.

I thought it would look good in his new apartment.

Sheltered Perceptions
01/6/10

I recently got the chance to work on a project for the Humane Society. Given the fact that every time I walk into an animal shelter I have to be talked down from taking home every animal in the place, I was happy to help in anyway I could.

With the majority of pet buying in the United States coming from breeders, mall pet shops and unfortunately mills, animal shelters (specifically the Humane Society) are left overflowing with pets that need loving homes. They are running into a perception problem however, and many misconceptions about shelter pets are accepted as fact, and often repeated as such.

To get past this, we decided to take the problem head on, and address the most common misconceptions individually.

Here is where we landed:

Lauren and Dan sit’n in a tree…
01/5/10

My good friend Lauren is getting married in July, and though I am extremely jealous of her fiance Dan (don’t tell my wife), I made their save the date cards.

I use VistaPrint to print these types of things. Though the quality suffers, and the rumor is that they are destroying local community printers nationwide, for the price they can’t be beat. Check them out next time you want to customize your own holiday card or invitation.

Here’s how Lauren’s STDs turned out: