Hectic times.

Playing catch-up with my accounting in preparation for tax-related paperwork which is absolutely no fun. I'm going to make it a point to get better and more efficient at this sort of thing over the next two years (which shouldn't be too hard given that I did go to business school and all).

It'll take me a few days to wrap up, alongside the assorted house things I need to do (few things to sand and paint, shelves to put up, etc.).

But even with all the non-artistic busyness, I have managed to get a handful of art things done...

That's one of two illustrations for an op-ed for Middle East Eye, which they retitled: The Fate of Egypt is with the People. That along with a number of other edits throughout the piece were all sound choices for journalistic purposes, but I might share my original unedited piece sometime down the line.

Here's the second illustration I did:

It was the first time for me to play around with water-color in many many years, and I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. This may be something I do more of in the near future. Maybe maybe combine it with digital in an intentionally juxtaposing way.

I also did a couple of posters for a friend's short films, and the cover art for one of Ramy Essam's forthcoming singles. Although I went in with a pretty solid idea in mind, it was the first time where I needed to do different takes of the same idea before settling on the one. I can't show it just yet, but I'm pretty excited by the results. The DNA of which will dictate the look for several other singles as well as the cover art for the album.

Ah, and WE ARE ALL THINGS now exists in the world.

In personal news, I've gotten into the habit of exercising regularly as well as adopting a keto diet. First week—as most anyone who's tried it will tell you—was rough as fuck, but since then I've never felt better in my life. I cook my own meals every day, and with the aid of an assortment of cookbooks, I have to boast: I've become quite the chef 😁 (I've gotten into the habit of sharing meals on my Instagram stories, btw.).

I've moved twice in the past 7ish months? With one of those moves being across states. Those who have dealt with moving before know that it results in quite a bit of upheaval. And it looks like there may very well be more turbulence in my near future.

But, I do have a feeling (hope) that it'll all be for the better. 🤞

(Also btw, I forgot to report that Ramy Essam and I were on NPR/Pri-The World with Marco Werman back in January.)

#journal

Today is a glorious day.

It's not that I've slept till noon, it's that I've lazied around till noon. I can't even remember when I last lazied around till noon. Sometime in my 20's maybe?

It is exactly 12:41 pm right now and I am just about having breakfast; Fuul Medammes, that is... Fava Beans prepared Egyptian style. I cooked up a humongous batch about a week ago (not even halfway through), and its such a great thing to have around, to quickly get a meal in.

One of the great things about Fuul Medammes is that it's very easy to avoid getting bored of, because its flavor profile can drastically change depending on how you spice it. And you spice it only before eating, post-cookage. You essentially just simmer a big batch of beans, sans spice, and have that around, and every time you decide to whip up a bowl, you can spice it quite differently from the next bowl.

Perhaps one day I oughtta make a little zine on all the possible variations of Fuul Medammes, from the most simple to the utmost elaborate.

Before breakfast, armed with my cup of coffee, I put in a large Amazon Fresh order. Two weeks worth of groceries to be precise. It should arrive within the next couple of hours, during which I'll be getting some laundry done, dishes, and some tidying up here and there.

Upon arrival of my groceries, I shall draft a menu of meals for the next couple of weeks, to save my brain juice from being depleted on thinking about food or any other chores for a while.

Because this week, I work 💪

#journal #houston

It wasn't my plan to disappear for a month.

In fact, my plan entailed the exact opposite: fully chronicling the tour with Ramy Essam (which ended up being more of an eye opening experience than I ever could have imagined), followed by the detailed chronicling of getting the newly acquired house (and studio) in order. The latter is something I thought wouldn't need more than two weeks at most.

I've been back in Houston since January 27th, and I shit you not all I've been doing since has been attempting to get the newly acquired house (and studio) in order, and I am still so not there yet.

One more week, I think. One more week and then everything should at least be in just about enough order that I can maintain a level of equilibrium that would allow for getting actual work done and back into a steady stream of online updates (not to mention reading, exercise, socializing, and y'know... life).

By the by, I'll be in New York again next month. March 26th to be precise, for the official launch (and signing) of WE ARE ALL THINGS at Printed Matter (231 11th Avenue, New York, NY 10001) together with Elliott Colla in a discussion moderated by none other than Molly Crabapple.

The book (or chapbook rather) is available for pre-order right now, by the way, directly from our admirably print-obsessed publishers Radix Media.

The great Seth Tobocman had this to say about it: “We Are All Things is the perfect collaboration between an artist and a writer. Words and pictures combine to show us what cannot be seen and to tell us what must remain unspoken. A tiny room in a contemporary Arab city becomes the gateway to an infinite horizon. The universal experience of desire and loss. A small, but stunning, work of art.”

#journal #houston #nyc #work #publication

I realize it's a little ridiculous to wait till the day of an event before announcing it, but I have a very good explanation!

#VanLife

I've been touring with Ramy Essam and band along the East Coast with very little time left in the day for internetting. My bad, but hey if you just so happen to come across this now and there's still enough time to pop in, come through. We only just arrived in New York last night, and I only just about woke up this very second. I'll be painting live for 5 hours straight, and y'know, it's not a bad idea to get a good dose of shut-eye before pulling that sorta thing.

Ah, and the painting will be followed by a panel discussion!

If you'd like to RSVP, hit this link (while noting that you don't have to RSVP if you'd like to show up, but some folks are more organized than others. ¯_(ツ)_/¯)

#journal #work #nyc #BeyondResistance #WeAre

Writing this from DC where I begin touring with Ramy Essam and his band along the American East Coast. Which sounds a lot more extensive than the four cities it entails (DC, Philly, Pittsburgh, and New York). Here's the poster I designed for it:

I only arrived just last night in time for the first of Ramy's performances, and I've already been asked more than once what my involvement with the tour will be, and well... I'm not quite sure, nor is Ramy quite frankly. But prior to the tour, we had been talking about a lot of visual stuff. Tour posters and merch aside, we've been discussing album art for some of his upcoming releases as well as potential approaches for the making of music videos, and even a bit of fashion. This was all over the phone; What's App calls keeping us connected across continents, me in the States and Ramy in Sweden. He figured his being stateside for tour was probably a good opportunity for us to hang on a day-to-day basis and have the opportunity to discuss and brainstorm things in detail, and I had to agree. On top of that, I'd actually never seen Ramy perform before, not even during the tumultuous times of Tahrir Square some nine years ago—where Ramy first started performing. We were both aware of one another's activities but our paths only ever crossed several years later in New York City, after having both been forced into exile.

I'm not sure enough people—“Western observers” especially—realize the tremendous role played by Ramy, not just back then and not just in Egypt, but even today and from a significant distance no less. Here's one of his songs effectively utilized as a “weapon” on the rebellious front lines of Beirut just last night.

All this to say, it's kind of a no-brainer that Ramy and I would collab. Aside from my tagging along giving us the opportunity to talk lots of shop, I'm also utilizing it to draw inspiration for some of the visual stuff. I'm not sure how that will transpire exactly, but for now I'm enjoying getting a first hand look not just at the performances themselves, but all the lead-up stuff backstage as well as the wind-down that follows.

I'm also enjoying taking the occasional photograph.

It should be noted that last night's concert took place at the Kennedy Center, which is practically the United States most official performance venue in existence. To have Ramy and his band rock out at the Kennedy Center's foyer (non-ticketed, unavoidable to anyone walking to and from any other performance taking place in the building), shaking the walls and columns with Arabic rebel music is pretty fucking badass. Love that they opened with “Age of the Pimp.”

Seated with Ramy in that last picture is TIMEP's very awesome Mai El-Sadany, who is clearly peering right through the man.

More soon.

#journal #travel #BeyondResistance #WashingtonDC #RamyEssam

In 2004, Hunter S. Thompson had this to say about Houston:

Houston is a cruel, crazy town on a filthy river in East Texas with no zoning laws and a culture of sex, money and violence. It's a shabby, sprawling metropolis ruled by brazen women, crooked cops and super-rich pansexual cowboys who live by the code of the West.

Which is to say; Houston is my kinda town.

(Well, to a degree. More pedestrian areas would be nice, and maybe lose the drivers who aggressively harass cyclists.)

I've only “lived” here for 6 months now, but take away the time it took to unbox shit and move in as well as all my travel elsewhere, then I've only actually lived here for 4-5 months. But I'm embracing it. In fact, the wife and I are due to close on a little townhouse in just a week's time.

Which means a week's worth of packing everything up to move again, followed by however many weeks it'll take to unpack and settle back in. Not looking forward to that part, but I am looking forward to finally living in a place I can call my own, a place where I don't have to worry about hammering a nail in the wall or unleashing buckets of paint if I felt so inclined. I'm ready to nest a little, rebuild my library and record collection and feel secure in where I live, and just get to work without having to worry about the forthcoming wind of displacement.

Granted of course the swamp this city is built on doesn't flood and sweep us all out to sea. 🙃

#journal #houston