A Quiet Moment Amongst Friends

Jesus Died at Thirty-Three

I just turned thirty-three, the age when Jesus died. These lists compare my accomplishments with his.

Who do you think had/is-having the more interesting life? You wouldn't expect it, but maybe it's me?

Things Jesus did by age 33:

• Worked as a carpenter
• Slept in a manger
• Wore sandals
• Walked around
• Performed miracles
• Was tortured
• Rode a donkey

Things I did by age 33:

• Went to prom
• Graduated from college
• Ate pizza
• Ate ice cream 
• Started a blog
• Went to Mexico
• Rode a bike
• Had sex
• Watched DVDs
• Shot a gun
• Owned an iPhone
• Went surfing
• Took drugs
• Sat in a hot tub
• Got married/divorced
• Went snorkeling
• Watched sports on TV
• Flew on a plane

Three Christmas Miracles

Animated GIFs, 500 x 500 pixels, 2010

A Quiet Moment Amongst Friends would like to wish you and your family the happiest of holidays. If, however, you don’t have a family, then we’d like to send all of our holiday wishes directly to you. Additionally, if your holidays are already going so poorly that they can't be turned around by well wishes, don’t worry. You can bookmark this page and come back next year.

UPDATE: What's this!?! A fourth Christmas miracle! Tiny Tim has come to visit and he is so much tinier than I expected.

 

He wants me to pass along his famous quote: "God bless us, every one!"  

Thanks, TIm!

The Holy Mountain

Spiritual doodles, pen on paper, digital coloring, 8 1/2 x 11, 2009

I was home sick yesterday and these mystical landscapes came to me in a fever dream. 

The rainbow colored pyramids are houses inhabited by deities from outer space. The deities use lightning and energy from the sun as a mode of transportation. They came to Earth to spread a message of peace, friendship, and having a good time. 

I'm considering starting a cult around this mythology. I would be the leader. If anyone is interested in joining, drop me a line: [email protected]

UPDATE: The cult idea is generating a fair amount of interest. I've already gotten some great suggestions. Here is a summary:

The Cassini space probe's field recordings from the atmosphere of Saturn will serve as the cult's anthem. Cult members will subsist by collecting the rainbow sap that the deities inject into the trees as a gift. The cultists will then bottle the sap in baby food jars and sell it in the parking lots at music festivals. To sell the jars, signs will be printed in the Papyrus font listing the price and medicinal properties of the sap (eg. antiperspirant, cures cancer, quitting/starting smoking). All profits will be divided equally and spent on food, camping equipment, and musical instruments. Depending on their rank, cult members will live either in the tops of trees or in hollowed-out logs on the forest floor. Everyone will be required to wear the same tennis shoes, sunglasses, and smocks. 

I'm happy to incorporate any additional ideas, just so long as I am the leader forever (or until after we go into space and find the source of the rainbows). This is going to be a great cult! 

UPDATE 2: More ideas from the comments! The cultists will move about the mountain while doing the space-girl dance. This will also be the dance of worship. A portion of the profits from the sale of the rainbow sap will be used to "buy off" the local officials so they don't shut the cult down. And along those same lines, the cult will need to stockpile guns to defend its private property.

UPDATE 3: The cult will purchase a power generator and a DIRECTV subscription so all members can watch television deep in the forest. No one will fight over what channels to watch because everyone will have their own miniature television. 

Los Origenes de los Hebreos

Found drawing, pencil, pen and colored marker on paper, 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 2009

Cover translation: "The Origins of the Hebrews"

Panel One: "The road taken by the Israelites when they left Egypt."
Panel Two: "God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai." 
Panel Three and Four: "Drawing" 

I found this water-damaged booklet about Jewish history on the sidewalk in my neighborhood. The spanish-language fold-out tells the tale of the Exodus from Egypt and Moses recieving the Ten Commandments. Interestingly, the Red Sea is depicted as an enormous half-tomato, half-caterpillar monster.

As I have done in the past, I took it upon myself to restore the piece and help the original artist flesh out their concept. I started by giving the Red Sea monster a more realistic facade. I then used colored pencils to add depth and texture to the desert landscape. Moses and the Israelites were given nicer clothing and fun hairstyles. For the final touch, I wrote "Exodus" and "10 Commandments" in a cool, heavy metal font. You have to admit that this new version is pretty bad-ass. 

Click the images to view larger versions

49 Easter Bunnies and 41 Easter Eggs

Drawing, pencil and colored pencil on paper, 2009

I made this drawing to celebrate Easter, the sixth greatest holiday of the year. The drawing depicts an enormous family of bunnies preparing to hide colored eggs. With this piece, I posit that there are actually multiple Easter Bunnies working together rather than just one. It is highly unlikely that one Easter Bunny could hide so many eggs on one night without a lot of assistance. Why couldn't there be thousands of Easter Bunnies?

You'll notice that there are exactly 49 Easter Bunnies and 41 Easter eggs. There are likely multiple reasons for this, but the most obvious is the fact that if you multiply 49 by 41, you get 2009, which is the current year. 2009 is also the age of Jesus, give or take 10 years. If there are any numerologists out there, I'm curious to learn more about the meaning of the numbers 49 and 41 as they apply to Easter.

Update: This drawing may have subconsciously been influenced by the Art Garfunkel music video in Watership Down.

Update 2: This post can be enjoyed by the whole family.

An Albino Deer!

As part of my job, I get to look at a lot of blogs. Periodically I will share some of my interesting findings as well as the art that it inspires.  

A couple of weeks ago I came across the blog of Billy Ray Hearn, the Founder and Chairman of EMI Christian Music Group. In July, an albino deer was born on his property:

 

I've attempted to capture the magic in a quick pencil drawing:

7" x 7", pencil on paper, 2008

Update: It sounds like the deer is doing very well:

"People keep asking about the albino fawn. I see it quite often grazing around the property and last night it was bedded down with mother and sibling on the back part of the property when I returned from the BMI awards party about 11:00 PM. They have bcome [sic] a little more skiddish so I  haven't been able to get a picture. It is growing up fast."

High Society and Never Give Up

Two drawings, 8 1/2" x 11", Pen and colored pencil on paper

Seth L created these in 2008. He lives in New York.