if you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all

job interview

i recently went in for an interview for a full time position. suit and tie type shit, sit in an office, jokes at the water cooler, everyday grind type shit. i got offered the job on the spot and really i don't even know why i went in for the interview because i knew that i would never take it. i suppose it was just an ego thing. validation. to say that i could do it. make a nice large steady paycheck. i'd like to think that the branch manager just liked the cut of my jib.

i asked her if there was any way i could take a part time. i told her that i still had my own things to do, dreams to follow, and that i couldn't commit. i feel like i've said this shit all before.

i'm just not ready yet, maybe i never will be.

sometimes if the front door is locked you've got to just sneak in through the kitchen window. i've recently been able to paint some murals at the facebook hq in menlo park. it's been fun, busy, hectic, and sometimes very intimidating. i'm painting in building 10, which is filled with lawyers. i've already had people coming up and saying my art is "scary",  "inappropriate". a female lawyer said one of my pieces was too risque and asked me to cover it up.

we are finishing up tomorrow and hopefully painting a new building in a few weeks. keeping my fingers crossed. hugs and keeses. 

d

cole and penelope

cole was a very tough boy. not to say he was mean or cruel or bad, but he was just tough and didn't take shit from no one. he kept to himself quite a bit and liked being alone to do his own things. he lived a very simple life and that's the way he liked it. sometimes he went out to have beers with his friends or went out to parties, but mostly he stayed home most nights. happy to partake in his own hobbies, away from the world because he did not trust most people and rarely let anyone in. it's just the way things were and nothing and no one was going to change his mind.

penelope was a very sweet girl. not to say that she wasn't strong or bold or sturdy, but she was just very sweet and smiled through everything. she was a social butterfly and liked to be out and about because that's where her charm shined through. sometimes she stayed in and read a book or dabbled with paints, but mostly she was out in the world. happy to spread her love into the lives of others, because that's the way she had been brought up. what made her most happy was helping others. it's just the way things were and nothing and no one was going to change her mind.

cole went with girls but he had never really truly been in love. he had said it or thought he had felt it before, but in retrospect he knew that he was merely just saying the words. happy to see them light up and going along with the motions. but it never lasted. he always got bored. because really he didn't know love. he never went that far to open his heart, to truly care about anyone else but himself. in the end, he always wanted to be left alone. to do his own things.

penelope went with boys and she had felt love before. she had said it and knew in her heart that it was true, at least there in that moment because sometimes love fades. she was happy to know that something so beautiful could be shared and she lived for it. she always gave what she could, but the boys eventually walked all over her and she always got burned. she always went for everything with an open heart because she had very much to give. in the end, she just wanted someone else who would feel the same.

cole and penelope met one day. it wasn't anything exciting or romantic or melodramatic. no sparks flew, it wasn't love at first sight. they just met and exchanged numbers. he invited her out later that week to a dinner party and really thought nothing of it because she was just a girl that he met. penelope showed up and all his friends liked her because that's the magnetism she had. cole was quiet and aloof and stern, because he did not like to show anything and at the end of the night he hugged her goodnight and walked her to her cab.

they went out again in a few weeks to a movie and held hands. he walked her back to her house even though he was late for work, because she lived in a bad part of town and he wanted to make sure that she got home okay. cole liked penelope quite a bit, not because she was a very sweet girl, but because he knew that beneath her very sweet demeanor was a very fragile thing. he wanted to her to be safe and strong. penelope liked cole quite a bit, not because he was a very tough boy, but because she knew that beneath his very hard shell he was a very sweet boy. she wanted to show him love and how to love.

they started going steady after a few months. he invited her over to holidays and they eventually met each other's families. their relationship grew and gained strength, like the foundation of a home. they made plans for the future and their dreams. they never said they loved each other, but penelope was teaching cole. slow and steady. cole taught penelope to be tough. and penelope cole to be sweet. they showed each other things that the other did not know. they were good together. they were in love but neither ever said it, happy to have the things the way they were. to feel love truly and deeply.

they had been going out for a little more than a year. friends saw the change in cole, he was bright, he smiled. not to say that he wasn't tough, but penelope had begun to break down his wall. friends saw the change in penelope, she was aloof, she held her ground. not to say that she wasn't sweet, but cole had shown her how to depend on herself.

but this is not a story with a happy ending. when two people love each other truly and deeply, there can be no happy ending. cole and penelope started to drift apart. their conversations of life and love dwindled. inevitably cole got bored. inevitably penelope felt walked all over. and you know how this story will eventually end.

cole was a very tough boy. not to say he was mean or cruel or bad, but he was just tough and didn't take shit from no one. but penelope had opened his heart.

penelope was a very sweet girl. not to say that she wasn't strong or bold or sturdy, but she was just very sweet and smiled through everything. but cole had shown her fortitude.

one day penelope packed her things from cole's and said that she had to go. what they had had faded and there was nothing else to do, but to end things. he was not going close the world off anymore. penelope had shown him to love. she was not going to be walked over anymore. cole showed her how to be tough. they hugged and cried and cried and kissed. but it was the end of things. a very beautiful thing. it's just the way things were and nothing and no was going to change their minds.

t shirt time

it's hard as fuck to sell paintings. at least it is for pissant artists like me and my boy hak lee. so i thought let's just make some mother fucking tshirts. affordable, sexy, and a free fucking billboard everywhere you go.

the t shirts are 100% cotton with the image heat transferred in full color. they are pre-shrunk and good to go.  they have been made in a very limited batch and once they go they're gone til forever.

if you would like a tshirt you can call me, text me, email me, or write me a letter. first come first serve basis.
















hak lee is a korean artist living out of the tenderloin. his studio apartment is his studio, love box, study, dining room, and lots of other shit all jumbled into one. all profits will go directly to him because really, he can't be eating instant ramen for the rest of his life.

jane

jane was a very smart and charming girl, but that's only when she really wanted to be. for most of the time she was very withdrawn and sullen. happy to dwell in her own little world. away from reality.

the truth is jane had very nice parents. they supported her in her times of self-inflicted peril. they supported her through trite and tumultuous meltdowns. they supported her when they did not know what they could do anymore to help.

i suppose it's not like jane was purposely being a bad daughter. surely, when she was happy and things were good she laughed and smiled and was able to light up a room. that was her magnetism. of course she had friends. for she was a very attractive girl.

jane's woes she could not even herself pinpoint. she went about her things and filled her days with trivial matters. she wanted no more in life and expected nothing. she went out sometimes and put her face on. smiled at boys and they were nice to her. they asked her out to nice places. they bought her nice things. they wanted her to smile because she was so beautiful when she did. but she always laughed and said thank you and that was that.

when she was young, her parents brought her into a psychiatrist to find out more. to find out why their beautiful child was so withdrawn. so sad. jane was vehemently opposed, but she went stubbornly. she answered things that needed to be, but she held her own. firm. solid. a rock.

the psychiatrist put her on some pills, but it made jane dull and listless. she took them to take them because sometimes these things can help.

jane was a very smart and charming girl, but that's only when she really wanted to be. for most the time she was very withdrawn and sullen. happy to dwell in her own little world. away from reality. and maybe that's just the way things are sometimes.