A belated Happy Diwali to all. Yeah I know I’m a week late.
Tonight I am typing to you as Kristen and I are sipping 16 year old MacCallan scotch. I’ll admit that my eyes are filled with tears of joy.

To some, the unthinkable happened tonight. For me and many hopeful others, the next step in this country’s evolution happened – Barack Obama is the president elect! What this does to boost the self-esteem and level of dignity for all people of color… all people of the USA cannot even begin to be measured.

I look forward to a new and smarter foreign policy. For hopefully a new mindset of cooperation in domestic politics. I look forward to our soldiers leaving Iraq and dealing with those who actually attacked this nation 7 years ago.

Here’s a toast to better days ahead!

Well the Hindu festival of Durga Puja is winding down. It’s a particularly big deal for us Bengalis. The festival commemorates the victory of the Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishashura. This week I was inspired to create a stylized illustration of Her riding into battle. I don’t often work in this style and it was so much fun.

Also I’ve finally gotten around to uploading more art from this year: The 4 pieces I did for my gallery show as well as a portrait of my friend Julia.

(click for a better look at these works)

Today is of course the celebration of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday as well as International Day of Non-Violence.

I left work early today because I’m starting to get sick. Anyhow as Gandhiji’s struggle to free India resulted in people of different ethnic groups, language groups, castes and religions come together, throw off the shackles of their colonial masters and form the world’s largest democracy. It leads me to tonight’s debate between Biden and Palin. Please, please, please America – don’t give us a McCain & Palin administration. I’m begging you… I want a leader who inspires the nation to realize it’s full potential rather than continue on this downward spiral we’re on.

So enough of the politics. Where have I been? Why haven’t I been blogging? Well a lot has happened this summer. We lost Gung Gung. I had a gallery show and it got extended. My father-in-law retired. My mom retired and went back to India. We moved.
Work has been nuts.

You know what else is going on? Facebook – that’s what’s for dinner. For the last 4 weeks or so I’ve had people from my past pop-up out of nowhere. Junior high, high school and even college. A lot of these people I have not seen in 20 years! Oh yeah, almost forgot…I turned 35 last month. Awesome! No really! Life is good.

Now we’re all about redecorating and furniture. Remember these words: Mid-Century Modern. Otherwise I’ve got some art in the works. Stay tuned for another update soon.

Till then – let’s think about living in peace.

My gallery show “Through Immigrant Eyes” opened Sunday, August 3rd. And it was a blast! Check out the pictures at our collective’s site at: Immigrant Eyes.

I’m proud to announce my gallery show “Through Immigrant Eyes” opens this Sunday, August 3rd at A Different Day Gallery in Albany, California. The show runs through Sunday, August 31st.
Proceeds from art sales and opening reception tickets are being donated to UNICEF.

I’ll be showing with my good friends Michael Sacramento and JJ Jose – both are fantastic artists. I’m really proud of the paintings I’ll be showing. If you’re in the Bay Area during the month of August, please stop in and check out our work.

I’ve set up ImmigrantEyes.com where you can see a preview of our show. For tickets to thereception please visit: A Different Day Gallery

Last Thursday night my wife and I were by her granfather’s side in his final hours in this world. He lived to the age of 87 and a half. He was one of those old-school men – worked hard, sacrificed and took care of his family. He’s had a colorful life…coming from China to America & serving in the Army (during WWII) , being a butcher, rancher, running small businesses and being an almost magical gardener who could make anything grow. The man had an infectious smile and was always cracking jokes or doing something silly to make someone laugh.

My wife’s grandparents accepted me into their family without hesitation and always treated me as one of their own. My own grandparents were far away in India and I only saw them on a few trips back there. They’ve all long since passed away, and I am fortunate top have met my 3rd set of grandparents. How lucky is that?

I will miss him dearly. Rest in peace Gung Gung.

Rock guitar legend Bo Diddly passed away yesterday.

He was there in the beginning of it all with guys like Chuck berry, LIttle Richard, Buddy Holly, etc. The man was an innovator in terms of rock rhythms and in terms of guitar technique and sounds. He used to build his unique rectangular guitars and played with a lot of fuzz, reverb and host of other sounds. His use of innovative guitars and effects, and his brand of bragging lyrics about himself have labelled him the creator of psychadelic rock and as the precursor of rap music.

Kristen and I had an opportunity to see him perform a few years ago, and it was one fo the best shows I’d ever seen. The man was a master showman coming from an era where a performer actually made you feel good as an audience member. He would remind us all that he was there to work for us. People give the Rolling Stones flak for being in their 60s and still performing. We saw him live and he was about 71 and rocking hard!

As a guitarist, it makes me sad he’s gone. A lot of us have gone through that phase where we learn Chuck Berry and Bo Diddly riffs. Fun as hell to play! Thankfully the music is still here. I’m listening to his “Who Do You Love” right now.

RIP sir.

Hey, so I’ve been busy and stuff. How have you been? Everything going well? I sure hope so.

So where the hell have I been? Busy… mostly at work. So I’m thoroughly enjoying my work at Electronic Arts. Working on video games has been the most satisfying work I’ve had in my career so far. Last year I had withdrawal symptoms! I’m working hard and hoping to get my contract extended.

So since we last talked, here’s what been happening:

• March – Kristen and I celebrated our annual double anniversary. We’re now up to 8 years married and 17 years together total. I always say this but it’s true… It doesn’t feel like that much time has gone by at all.

• Been working on paintings. I’m a member of a little collective of artists working on original paintings for a gallery show in August. I think I’m 75% of the way there. In a few weeks I should be posting more info about the show. If you find yourself in the Bay Area in August come out and check out the gallery and our work.

• My former coworkers at the karaoke bar have started a podcast… it’s a wonderfully funny talk radio / comedy show they record every week from the bar after hours. I was in the original pilot episode (we used it as a test) and I will soon be sitting in as a guest very soon. A few weeks ago I built their site: www.kjboothcast.com. Be advised… you’re in for a lot of colorful language.
  

So I don’t usually do this but I’ve got some world events/political stuff to comment on. So here we go:

• OPEC – you SUCK. You love our money but you hate us. Yesterday on the BBC World Service, I heard a reporter ask the OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri if oil prices would come down at all? His response was, “Not likely as it is a crazy market.” WTF kind of response is that?

• Hillary Clinton – I used to not have an opinion about you either way. Those of you who know me in real life know that I can’t stand people with a sense of entitlement. Mrs. Clinton, I’m sorry but you’re not going to win. Stop dividing the Democratic party and help Mr. Obama win the election. If John McCain wins the presidency I will never forgive you. If you truly want to do what’s best for the country (and not for your ego)- you will gracefully step aside and go to work helping to repair our honor.
  

Ok, end of rant people.

I’ve got some stuff I’m working on, so stay tuned for the next update.

Well I just completed my 3rd week at Electronic Arts. I’m back in the game industry. I’m currently working as an User Interface Artist on the next-gen sequel to the biggest selling PC game title ever.

It’s interesting to be back in a corporate environment. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen “corporate” like this though. EA is doing a lot to keep its employees happy and I’m loving it.

Most of all I’m excited to be working on a creative project. It’s also great to be reunited with former coworkers. Professionally, I haven’t been this happy in a while.

Well, last night turned out to be my last night as a barman… at least for now.
I’ve been interviewing for several weeks now and I’m going back to the video game industry next week.

So I was thinking, it’s my last night at this bar…it’s a Wednesday ( my favorite night of the week at the Encore) what could possibly go wrong? Some of you may be quick to point out Murphy’s Law. Last night was perhaps a variation on that theme. The evening just started out with a strange energy. Most of the regulars weren’t there and the annoying hipster kids were about. Not to mention the “Fratboy-has-beens” walking in after working overtime at their corporate jobs.

My pal Brent has an interesting way of describing drunks. “Oh yeah, he was three-flavors of drunk.”

According to Brent’s parlance, I myself was two-flavors of drunk. That’s good enough for me. If you’ve ever partied with me, you’ll know that I am a happy drunk and can keep a steady hand, remember my place in conversations and in general still operate at a maximum capacity of 80-90%. Some of our coworkers had jumped up to the five-flavors range and as such were more of a nuisance as the night wore on. As for our customers, our irregular crowd was getting drunker and creepier. I believe that there is a state of being called “Creepy Drunk.”

Anyway, as per my usual M.O. I stop drinking around 12:30 or 1, allowing me to safely and coherently drive home after my shift. Thankfully Brent was hanging out on his night off because he ended up taking care of several of our associates who were so drunk, they couldn’t function. So thanks Bro, I appreciate you being there last night. By the time we managed to get out of the bar it was 3:30 and we managed to get into the Grubstake diner, to grab a burger for their last 30 minutes of business. All around, it was almost an anti-climactic end to my tenure. I’m still mulling over the events of the night… the things I won’t say here. Maybe I’ll add a follow up to this in time.

Overall I had a very positive experience working at this bar. As you may remember I hadn’t worked a service job since college. I learned a lot about the logistics of running a bar. Sometime in the future I may open my own bar. Who knows? I learned about the wide spectrum of the people who work in bars. People from all sorts of backgrounds and talents… Some of the finest people I’ve met, and in some cases some of the most immature and selfish. Most of all I learned the most from the customers. It was one of the best educations in human behavior.

I’ll be hanging out at the Encore on wednesday nights. I’ve met a lot of cool people and I intend to stay in touch with all of them. Who knows, you may end up having a cocktail or two with me.