more about me and my narcissistic self

God, make me a billionaire so I can give it all away...

"Why grab possessions like thieves, or divide them like socialists, when you can ignore them like wise men?"
~ Natalie Clifford Barney

la mia famiglia

i'm a son to Tina. a brother to Felisha & Michael. blood to Los Olivérez. fellow saint in the household of faith. and a friend to all. my mother is a little woman with a voice that can shake the heavens, a hand that can move mountains, a prayer that can move the hand of God, and a look that can cut you in two. and even after all the heartache i've caused her, she still loves me, my brother, and sister more than anything in this world.
my sister is kindalike a wacky, more outgoing, punk version of my mum. she thinks she's big and bad, but she'll always be my little sister ;
My brother is a big ol' giant little brother. he's a Divo. haha. a singer/vocalist and musician.

as far back as I can remember...

I always wanted to be a gangster. Okay not really, but since I was about two years old, I've loved to draw, paint, and do creative stuff. Cartoons after school and on Saturday mornings have a special place in my heart, inspiring much of my doodling throughout the years. But like all artists, my artistic enrichment comes from the work of many sources -- from the frescoes of the Renaissance to Banksy's bold commentary to the inimitable beauty of God's creation.

some artistic inspiration //

el greco, jan van eyeck, m. night shyamalan, michelangelo, caravaggio, keith harring, jackson pollock, frank lloyd wright, vasquez, bill watterson, matthew libatique, japanese paintings, clean watercolour paintings, greco-roman architecture, early christian art and imagery, nature, beautiful cinematography and photography, tim burton, alfred hitchcock, orson welles, darren arronofsky, joel and ethan coen, rich colours and lighting, justin bua, moving and handheld camera work(in movies), and other stuff.

"I don't think that writers or painters or filmmakers function because they have something they particularly want to say. They have something that they feel. And they like the art form; they like words, or the smell of paint, or celluloid and photographic images and working with actors. I don't think that any genuine artist has ever been oriented by some didactic point of view, even if he thought he was."
~ Stanley Kubrick

heroes //

There are bajillions of people today and throughout history who've done selfless, heroic things. Those who put God, their families and communities before themselves are heroes to me. But if we're talking specific word-association: my Mom (no man or woman impresses me more than she), David (the shepherd-king of Israel), and Superman (Man of Steel) come to mind.

movies //

The Fountain, the Passion of Joan of Arc, Macario, El Laberinto del Fauno, Unbreakable, The Matrix, il Postino, Angelitos Negros (1948), Memento, The Man Who Wasn't There, Chocolat, Requiem for a Dream, Citizen Kane, Habla Con Ella, Le Fils, The Return, Collateral, Kundun, Lola rennt, Napoleon Dynamite, Truman Show, La Cité des enfants perdus, Christopher Guest's movies, La Vita e Bella, The Sound of Music, minority report, Strangers on a Train, Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Harvey, magnolia, crash(2005), voces inocentes.

+ Wait a minute.
- Everyone says that. But I don't grant any reprieves.
~ The Seventh Seal

tv //

4 8 15 16 23 42. heroes. smallville. ugly betty.

music //

stuff that sounds nice to me. i don't know much about popular musicians, bands, genres, or the wannabe-obscure re-hash of a band on your tshirt.

books //

i read stuff that interests me: art history and criticism, urban art, street art, fashion illustration, cinematography and filmmaking, philosophy, christianity and theology, world religions, origins of life and Big Questions stuff, cultural/social/ethical stuff, other stuff.

i don't read much fiction. but i do like to read some comic strips and short stories. Check out Calvin & Hobbes, Stuff Sucks, or Bone. I recently read "Leaper" by Geoffrey Wood - that was an awesome book.

that's pretty much all there is to me, the end.

since i've basically summarized my entire being in these boxes, you need not ever meet me or contact me as there is nothing more to know. :p