The Universe

STOP SCREAMING AT ME!!!!!!!!
Okay, now to something a little less schizophrenic. To start off with, a little background, I am a believer in Augurism (spell check tells me this is not a word). It is something they last used (to my knowledge with the exception of current Wicca) in ancient Rome to tell the future, present past blah blah blah. Like if an eagle appeared in the sky the battle would be victorious; end of long explanation.
Been seeing a lot of signs, but because of the DISASTER that was my move to Portland, I have been ignoring things and letting other things stand in my way. Today, no less than half a dozen sign and one actually spoken to my FACE by someone completely out of character like she was possessed…. yeh.
I think God or the Universe or whatever… has been kicking me in the balls over and over and over and I am too engrossed in NOTHING to listen.
Hm… when I am sober tomorrow I’ll revisit these thoughts.

Little Victories

Since coming home from Burning Man this year I have made some promises to myself as previously noted. Chiefly, in my diet and my activity. I have been carrying about 50 pounds I want to get rid off.
Yesterday my friend Deb told me she lost 50 pounds herself and I was so impressed.
Mornings:
Get up eat something lite like a yogurt, fruit or whatever is light and metabolic.
Then take Tom for a long walk (high paced) going more than 30 minutes
Eat something for breakfast later, small and balanced with some coffee
Middle Day:
Small lunch usually a salad or wrap with healthy ingredients, non-fat bits for flavor like fat-free cheese or dressing
Gym time: Yoga or Cardio
Late Day:
Dinner around six and much like Lunch. Turkey patty or veggie patty
Often end up snacking on a little something in the evening… probably the worst part regards to my diet
Basically I removed milk and bread from my diet right now, not eating mets with a high fat content. I made beans, chick peas, and have these elements incorporated in my diet. I tried making a little hummus and there was so much fat incorporated into it it turned me off a little.
Funny, when you make the food and know exactly what is in it .. you might think differently how and when to eat it.
Still marching forward… good eats!

Now what?

Can’t say I can see the future… but after my last three entries I had hopes for something to go more positive. Now I deleted those three entries thinking I might be deluding myself once again.
I live life with a head full of pixie dust and dreams. For an artist who could support himself that might be a good thing, but a down and out loser who is making chump-change and can’t maintain a job it’s not so good.
Maybe dad was right about a lot of things, maybe he was just an asshole. None the less, there are times when his advice seems brilliant and his words take on meaning.
I feel stupid for believing in people and believing in myself. I’m stupid for trying to be
Meh… mom stop reading these stupid entries and and just delete the email login I sent you… you needn’t get wrapped up in my shit. I should have told you that already. When we talked on the phone earlier I had hopes that things with Adolfo and I were really going to go somewhere. I’m not so sure.
I’m a huge fuckup. I am the living embodiment of fuckup.

My Art Project

Me and Monotropolis at Burning ManThis is the final result of a lot of stress for months and I am already working on more for 2011 on art23design.com … so it is with excitement and anxiety I jump into the process once more.

I will have a posting out soon of a poster I am developing as a gift for those people who helped me get to the finish line!

Identity Crisis

Scott Aug 1966Since coming back from Burning Man I have made a lot of promises to myself, most of which I have managed to keep. These promises are all for my personal well-being and growth.
However, I have been left in this cloud where there is a distinct lack of direction and ability to latch onto something to get my life evolving forward.

  • I’ve made this promise of sobriety; not that I am a drunk or anything but I spent much of the last 2 years partying and doing things that were fun, but there is a point where one wants to take a step back and re-asses.
  • I’ve made this promise to eat food that is better for me; in fact I have been doing quite well. Fast food wrecks my internals parts and I feel bloated and gross after eating almost anything coming out of a drive-thru window.
  • I’ve set goals to create more and do more independent projects; I have 3 projects in the fire right now as seen on art23design.com

I am left without a sail right now and as I have worked to be a better person, both inside and out, I have found that something is broken.
Truth be told, I have been seeing a psychologist for a while talking about things in life and some of the baggage that I have been holding onto. A LOT OF STUFF keeps going back to the relationship between my father and I as well as my biological sister and I.

Family Shot: Me, Dad, and Uncle on my moms side

Family Shot: Me, Dad, and Uncle Chuck on my mom's side of the family.


My father and I had a very painful and disconnected relationship growing up and I was exploring some of it in a piece of art I was working on last night. His voice and his verbal abuse that literally sought to break me into something as loathsome as himself:

  • You are worthless
  • You are nothing
  • You are a mistake
  • You are not worth carrying my name

And a lot more items that still echo in my head and have reemerged while struggling with this unemployment situation and struggling to find my foothold as I march forward. At some point in my life Jack Kraske and Scott Kraske became passive/aggressive enemies and faith and love for this man was crushed.
He and my sister will never understand where I am coming from and there was a point about 2 years ago when I finally realized, my father has no faith in me at all.

  • My biological sister was always the one who could do no wrong, her pedestal was pretty high
  • She lied about a fight we had to the family and there is no way she can recant without looking like a fool
  • She has told her 3 absolutely beautiful children she was an only child
  • She is denying access for her kids to my mom and lies to her constantly

There is obviously a lot of baggage there too. I have had to come to terms with that relationship falling away because I do not think she and I have had a conversation in 25 years. There was something a couple years ago and she cowardly hid behind her husband speaking out of pure ignorance and stupidity… long story.
It’s all so very ugly and haunts me, because this is immediate family and is really filled with dysfunction and disconnection making “family” a four letter word. The people who are closest to you hurt you the worst. I feel like the black seed that has caused a cancer in this family that has gone beyond the immediate circle and branched up the chain enough that my mistakes are compounded by the history that began with my poor judgement. I refuse to be abused any more and I made another promise: To stop tearing myself down thinking it makes me humble… it just looks pathetic and hurts people that care about me.

Back from Burning Man

The trip to Burning Man is already detailed in the Burning Man section of my personal site.
In the final days of the trip I had time to do a lot of contemplating and deciding where to start moving in my life. I have been in a place of fantasy and delusion for a while and I am finding it is really time for action.
Sunday, I could not stop crying. I was a little sad bitch that got chocked up over the finality of it all … so I went away from camp to be on my own for a couple hours.
I can recommend to anyone that being completely broken away from society/comforts for a while is a good way to push that reset button.
There are some things I already decided on before going to BM that would be in place when I left; those are still active goals.
I was looking for some artistic inspiration that was missing and I found it.
A reaction to the situation previous was to move away from Vegas before October, but running away is not so prudent.
These are the different things I was thinking about while off planet.

To and From Burning Man 2010

The trip to and from Burning Man itself was a whole separate event than being at Burning Man itself. Nacie and I were traveling together again this year. I adore this girl and will go with her again.

My Ticket to Burning Man 2010 Nacie with her ticket to Burning Man 2010

So, I was looking for options to get us to Burning Man a cheaply as possible. Free sounded pretty good, right? The deal was that I drive a piece of someone’s art car to Burning Man, they pay gas, and we get there at no cost. Basically, they employ me to get their stuff up there.

Departure

We tell them we want to leave Friday morning on the 20th of August, which is why I wanted to pick up the van to be used on the Thursday previous.

Even with 5 days notice nothing is ready and I am told to be at their house at 6am to help clean out the van before I can begin loading our camping gear. It is at this point I am told we will not be able to leave until the middle to late afternoon. Stressed and sleepy, cleaning the van takes as long as it takes Frick and Frack to examine each piece they are pulling out. Meanwhile, Nacie and I are taking arm loads of shit and piling it into the garage.

He forward the guys who owned the art car will be known as Frick and Frack… but that will change in part 2.

Fast forward to 4pm when I have picked up Nacie, packed the van with our crap, and called to confirm the transporting trailer for their art car was present. Ideally, at least in my head, we could be heading north by 6pm.

Frick and Frack are still working on their art car so we are once again delayed and sitting around waiting… waiting… waiting.

Somewhere after dusk the train was ready to be loaded and we had been sitting their for hours and were losing patience faster then the ticking seconds on a clock… grrr. Frick and Frack decide it is time to take their car on a joy-ride through the neighborhood.

Soon the art car is loaded and all the nice things going along with it, which lands us somewhere around after 10pm. By this time I was completely at peace with the fact it will be a night long drive. Meanwhile, Nacie is slowing checking out psychologially on me. However, soon, we are on our way.

The first thing I do is clip a pole and we’re all back to the house for a long discussion about whether or not it can be fixed that night or not. Thankfully, Burner veterans and friends who made the arrangement appear convincing them we can still go that night if a repair could be made. An hour later the fender looks like was almost new again – a miracle… and by midnight-ish we were gone. Frack was a genius with a welder.

Return Trip

Frick and Frack arrived a few days later at Burning Man with the second piece of their art car and it was an amazing week. That is detailed elsewhere.

When preparing to leave Sunday, Nacie and I are informed that we will be departing Monday evening at 5pm. Which, according to the Burning Man guide is one of the worst times to join the Exodus.

We are also told that we, Frick and Frack, all have to travel back together. This is because their RV barely has any tread on their tires and broke down 3 times on the way up.

5 hours waiting to get out of Burning Man at a slow crawl meeting fabulous people on the way… 1/3 tank of gas to get me close to 100 miles in a pig of a machine. The refusal of Frick and Frack to acknowledge my concerns… Frick and Frack  was to become Drunk and Drunker! Drunk and Drunker drank from sun-up to sun-down and getting ready for a long road trip was nothing different.

5 hours of waiting, we only could imagine how many Miller Lites that Drunk and Drunker put down.

They skipped the first gas station and as we did I saw straps were loose on our trailer so I signalled Drunk and Drunker to pull over while we checked them… and off they went into the distance without a though.

We picked them up further along the way and explained what happen, but reminded them I barely had enough gas; Drunk and Drunker were unfazed.

The empty gas light came on 20 miles previous to the next gas station.

WE HAD to stop at Walmart in Fernley so Drunk and Drunker could get spark plugs because their 6 cylinder engine was working only on 4. They bought 6 quarts of oil, spark plugs and a new oil filter. Heading back out to the cars 6 hours after attempting to leave a place that was literally 100 miles away Nacie and I were starving. Hold on Frack says, whcile checking the engine oil and confirming they needed to get some work done further down the road. They urgently prepared for departure, but Nacie and I had to put our foot down demanding we be allowed to get some dinner.

We went to Jakes at the Silverado Casino that was across the way… the same place we ate at last year and loved it.

Upon returning the RV housing Drunk and Drunker is dark, but the door is ajar. “Where are they?” we wonder… after about 15 minutes we call inside seeing they were napping.

It is at this time they decide to install the spark-plugs instead of doing it the 1 hour we were eating close by… so more delays.

Then by 11pm we are back on the road once again.

30 Miles South of Tonopaugh, an hour in which I refused to look at a clock, we stopped to nap.

Sunrise: they decide to change the oil on the van I was driving. Theydumped the oil into the side of the road, Frick chucking the used oil filter into a close berm, and off we go.

The last miles back were just as painful and grating as the time spend at their house waiting for the art car to be loaded. We made it back though in one piece and no break-downs… we’ll call that a win.