Painting My Sistine Chapel

Growing up in a Christian home, there was always a stigma against tattoos and piercings. But I always wanted them. When I was 17, my cool uncle took me to get my ear pierced – and when I turned 18 I got my first tattoo. Of course, it was 2000, so I got the Chinese character for “dog,” the zodiac for my birth year. Being young and not knowing what else to get, my next tattoo was my own logo/initials, i.e., a D² of my design on my mid back. 

While I don’t regret those tattoos – they are part of my story – I do regret bad work. That was the case for the next piece. I wanted to get a Chinese character for “judge” since my name means “God is judge” (are we seeing a theme here?). I researched the Chinese symbol and even emailed and got confirmation from someone who could write Chinese that it was the correct choice. Then I went and stuck it on my shoulder with giant hotrod-style flames around it for some reason. The artist botched the stencil and missed the tip of one of the flames under my arm. When I asked him to fix it, he added a janky, free-hand point that wasn’t even properly aligned. Poor work and I was not thrilled. 

On to the good part. In 2017 I finally went back for more tattoos. This time, I found a good tattoo artist; I was moving away from black-only work, and I wanted some color. It was also our 10th anniversary, so my wife and I were getting tattoos together. On my right arm, I got a traditional swallow with a banner in its beak that read “Jen”. I know they say it’s bad luck to get your significant other’s name on you, but I don’t regret it :). 

Coffee Crusted Pork Chops, Collard Greens, and Savory Sweet Potatoes

Below you’ll find recipes on how to make an amazing meal, inspired by my trip to the Houston restaurant Dish Society. Pork Chops, Southern Collard Greens, and Savory Sweet Potatoes! Yum!

Back in December of 2019, my business partner Margarey and her husband, and me and Jen, all went to Houston to ring in 2020. While we were there, we went to eat at Dish Society, and I ordered the below meal. It was such an incredible meal, and I’ve wanted to cook it myself ever since.

I recently got inspired to go ahead and do the dang thing, and the results were everything I had hoped they would be — delicious food, enjoyable time with my kids in the kitchen, and amazing leftovers!

Please note: Collard greens take forever. I had to quickly come up with a workaround, and just boiled the crap out of them before cooking them with the onions and bacon.

Celebrating

Cheers! It’s about to be a new year as I’m writing this, and celebrating is what this day is all about. In fact, from Christmas through New Years, it’s a time of celebration and thankfully, my friends and family know that.

Sit down. We need to have a chat(book)

So if ya’ll have been using Instagram for awhile, you’ll know that you’re an amazing photographer when using a square crop. And the whole world (or at least your friends and family) should be forced to view every beautiful image you’ve captured throughout your Instagram life. But how can you do that when it’s all trapped in that tiny app?

Well sit down. We need to have a chat about chatbooks. Yes, you can connect your IG account to their app, and every 60 images will generate a new adorable little 6×6 book.

TLDR version:

  • Don’t waste your money on the paperback. They’re junk.
  • Deal with spending the $15 a book.
  • Just sign up for the 1 a month and eventually you’ll get them all.
  • Whenever you get a coupon email, use it! Works on the next book.

Since you probably take way less than 60 images a month (or you can exclude your 475 selfies you narcissist), if you subscribe to one book a month, for $15 a month you’ll eventually have quite a collection! And if you run across a really great coupon code, order a block of 5 then chat with them to put it back to 1 a month.

By the way, you’re free to use my incredibly clever title “Life Through a Square Lens” for your own books, just be sure to give credit where due ?.

USE MY CODE: P6R4WVHU when you sign up!

Pasito a pasito, suave Suavecito

So when Despacito hit the air in early 2017, the catchy line “Pasito a pasito, suave suavecito” had an especially clever ring to me, because I was already rockin’ my own Suavecito. I’d been using the pomade – named for the spanish word “smooth” – and I’m assuming it’s highly featured in Luis Fonsi‘s hair during the music video. (I mean, obviously. Look at that hair ↑ )

This is the stuff:

It’s pretty great. Got some shine to it, holds the hair solid, and looks good doing it.

Now, the price fluctuates quite a bit, and I refuse to pay more than $12 for hair goop. I use my favorite price checker, camelcamelcamel.com, to tell me what’s a decent price for this thing. Click on the image below for a current price chart, but at the time of posting, this was the prices and fluctuations.

Now get out there and get your hair lookin’ suavecito!