Love Stories

Everyone has a love story. Some will break your heart. Others teach lessons. Even still there will be the ones to cherish. Most of all, we need connection. We need to feel valued by another & to share our lives. Many people would rather not be lonely. So, it's a risk for all of us but love is a path taken anyway. Love doesn't always have to be romantic but it can be. Love is better without conditions. Love is valuable. It's a reminder to live & love others dearly. From the bottom of my heart, I hope everyone has a chance to experience love that transforms them & perhaps makes them want to sing. 

Today, I saw this music video by Justin Timberlake where he showcased love stories from his fans that he asked them to share with him on Twitter. Regular people taking a risk but most of all they are loving each other. I thought it was a beautiful tribute indeed.

#notabadlovestory

http://dld.bz/drDmu

Let's love! 

Letterpress cards pictured made by local San Antonio designers, Samantha Reich & Tina Leh. Printed by local printer: Superior Printing. (http://sanantonio.aiga.org/we-love-you/)

(post by Julie) 

Featured Blogger & local Musician, ARMANDO MARTINEZ, with a link to a song that saved a friend

About Armando: 

Armando is a singer/songwriter, teacher and a music therapy student. Has been playing for over twenty years but it's not until the last 5 years has been a full time troubadour/busker. Armando teaches @community centers NYA, commanders house, haven for home as well as SAM ASH. When not teaching Armando performs at different venues in Antonio.and hosts open mic Mondays @Sandras (1603 s Presa) and on Thursday @ Jnos cantina (1014 s Presa) Frombeyondo@yahoo.com.

Check out the song that saved a person from thoughts of suicide!  

Featured Blogger & Local Entertainer, CHRISTOPHER 'CHICKENFINGER' CHAVEZ, will have you laughing your ass off

About Christopher: 

 I have been making people laugh since kindergarden, it is the only thing that makes sense. I'm from The SouthSide of SA, kicked out of my house at 16, dropped out of high school at 17, and in jail by 18, After that I got my life together. I ended up being the only one in my family to attend a University. I was the Section Leader for the Tubas at Texas State University at 27 years old. I currently am a marketing director in SA and have fiancé, 2 little boys with one on the way. I host the ANYTHING & EVERYTHING Podcast on greenstarradio.com. I also travel all over Texas as a Play by Play and ringside announcer for a few independent wrestling circuits.
Still estranged form my family I hope one day they will be forced to see me on HBO and Showtime. By Demons Be Drivin....

 

Check out CHRISTOPHER 'CHICKENFINGER' CHAVEZ podcast here! 

Detour Ahead

Article by: Robert Kemmerer

One lesson Josie has taught me through our relationship is that life has some rather unexpected surprises. Don't be afraid to wonder from the path because you never know what you are missing.

Each time we leave our cave we set out on a path that was, for the most part, planned. Planned in the sense that we know where we are leaving from and where we have to be. Everything in between is the adventure.

Through our detours, breaks, and accidental turns i have discovered beauty not to far from reach that I have blindly walked by. Here are just a few.

The Sunflower Fields 
photo by: Josie V. Eclecticism

Located on Hwy 90 headed west towards Uvalde. Just as you have exited the city of good ol' San Antonio look for this treasure on the eastbound side. You will know it when you see it.

Even a weed has a heart 
photo by: Josie V. Eclecticism

Not too long ago we took a walk through a local park near our home. We have been through here several times during our "Texas Winter" months. This visit was a little different. The leaves were sprouting from the trees that were once bare and flowers began to bloom with such vibrance. Life had come back. We geeked out on the beauty and suddenly this little guy caught my eye. Reminded us of Dr. Suess. Can't help to wonder if this was a inspirational source for many of his iconic characters and landscapes. 

This was here the whole time?
photo by: Josie V. Eclecticism

I only recently began traveling to downtown San Antonio. It was to chaotic for me. Through a desire to move forward with my passion I took baby steps moving through out the downtown streets. Then Josie came into my life and that baby step process became a metaphorical rollercoaster plummeting down from its highest point. Exhilarating and life changing. I have lived in San Antonio for years. At least a quarter of my life and till just recently this was something I passed by on a weekly bases without knowing it was there.

My life lesson, take a detour every once in a while. It may just change your life for the better. I thank my love Josie for breathing life back into my soul.

Featured blogger & local artist: MINNIE HERNANDEZ, explains a photoseries & a recent project.

About Minnie: 
I am a self taught artist and mother. As a child I would always have a pencil and paper handy, so that I could draw to my hearts content wherever I was. My real skills lie in painting and sketching but I also enjoy exploring other avenues of creativity such as ; photography, jewelry/ accessories making , illustrations, cover designs for novels and most recently collaborating in giving new life to old furniture. My inspirations come from my surroundings, whether it be nature, culture or gazing up at the stars.

Current series: (a photo & furniture series)

The photos were taken while hiking on the trails at Raymond Rimkus park in Leon Valley

As for the bench it was a collaboration, I just added the finishing touches, Patrick did the dirty work of taking the old rotting wood boards and rusty screws off and replacing them with newer boards, He painted the frame and boards with discounted sample paints we were lucky to have come across. And I used some of those paints to add the vine and flowers to the backboard.

Check out more of Minnie!  
Support her at the next event she's in! 

Featured Artist: PAGAN GOLD || photojournalist for local blog [The Night Shift]

PAGAN GOLD is a local photojournalist for THE NIGHT SHIFT who spends his time at independently owned business, Espresso Gallery (529 San Pedro Ave. SATX)

The purpose of THE NIGHT SHIFT is to help make people aware of the scene in San Antonio. 

From the beginning to end, GOLD provides insight into his way of thinking, not just through the fluency in his tone, but in writing as well. He is a writer that shares a part of his soul to his readers. His voice echoes in the words he writes. 

"I want to be a martyr of what I believe in..."-- Pagan Gold

 an interview with Pagan Gold by Josie V. 
at Espresso Gallery

his latest work

 photographed by PAGAN GOLD

Check out an article about local artist, AMAZE on THE NIGHT SHIFT

The never ending pursuit of bettering oneself; Goal Managing by Josie V.

I have this problem which is also a blessing. The idea of bettering myself is always on my mind and reiterated when life throws those moments of clarity. Those moments when you are looking at something wonderful that it fills your body with energy, kind of like a helium balloon, and you feel connected. You don't just feel connected, you are inspired and forever changed. I recently had a wave of this. It happened when I was watching a documentary on Netflix about a couple who were building a tiny house. Apparently, there is this whole underground culture of people beating the system Henry David Thoreau style , sorta. If he were to be living in a traveling house decked out with amenities such as electricity & internet. The man who was building this house with his girlfriend was young, barely had any money, but clearly followed the internet. With the many tools one can learn through reading how-to blogs and watching tutorials on YouTube, as well as recruiting help from found items on Craigslist, within a year he had build himself his own house. What made this house much more than that, was he built it to be home and it was. Who doesn't want that? I have experienced some turbulence in this roller coaster life of mine. I am constantly trying to better myself because I know I deserve better. I always do. The problem with this is that I am constantly rediscovering ways to do so, leaving the many to-do lists I came up with during my last aha! moment. These to-do lists pile up! It's funny because if you were to look through my stack, you would notice that they are mostly very similar. It's hard for me to complete a task. The great thing about this though is that I am never bored, most of the time I am motivated, I discover something new about myself and I am constantly reminded that I am worthy enough to create the next masterpiece, or that Art is still worth making, or whatever. Life is a trial and error process. I found a couple of tips from the internet about goal managing. Whether you want to create a home, or the next masterpiece, these tips are useful: 

Featured Blogger and Local Artist, Brittney Langhorne, explains a current Portraits Series

About Brittney:
I'm a free spirited artist, Mom and Wife. Art in general keeps me grounded and has always been a necessary passion. I refuse to sweat the small stuff and positivity is key to a completely happy life.

Current Series:

This series, is a work in progress. I wanted to put my portrait skills to the test after not completing a portrait for roughly ten years. I have a passion for baseball and the San Francisco Giants. So, it was only natural for me to take a spin at the boys from the bay.

Find Brittney on Facebook now! 



More from this series: 

A Half Sleepless Night

I sat down to write and nothing came out. My mind was cluttered and I was apprehensive. It was a long day, a long week, and the hours dragged on. I was fret with worry and aghast at some current terrorizing events taking place in my beloved city. There was a threat made to the innocent. How can people be this way and do these things? I don't ever remember growing up in fear. Our children know this as commonplace now. Most people today, I think live in fear. We feel it in the pit of our stomach as it is where fear likes to pool and drag us into ourselves as we implode. How can we fight this fear? With our minds. The one thing that we can control is our mind, our capacity to think, to reason, to create. We must have a strong mind to carry on in this world that seems more and more to be out to get us. Violence begets violence and hate perpetuates this vicious cycle. There still is always a time to rise up and fight back. How do we balance this though? With our minds. We can make ourselves better and in turn make the lives that come after us better too. So, with the festering thoughts of the worst that can happen, I took an inventory of the things in my life that are beautiful and those which I love. I thought to myself that fundamentally speaking, terrible things can happen at anytime, and there is a tragedy in someone putting a set date on such a thing because it brings to light the fact that we are not so free as we tend to think, we're not as safe always as we like to believe, but this is the case all the time. I came to the momentary conclusion (I say momentary because we are allowed to change our minds, that's what they are for) that sometimes all we can do is be brave, be brave for us, the ones we love, for our children, and for the future. And ultimately we can live a life we love and let those that are in our lives know always, no matter what, we love them. I then fell asleep knowing that for that day at least I felt I accomplished that. 

Cognitive Manifesto is trying to make this world a better place through many different outlets and mediums. We will be having our first event at our new headquaters/studio in May paying homage and tribute to the origin of all of us, the beautiful, the powerful, the glorious and divine Woman. Just in time for Mother's Day too. Please like our page on Facebook. Also if you ever see one of the CM staff at our event or anywhere around town please come chat with us, especially if you would like to contribute because this is also an outlet for YOU 

Sincerely yours,

Nicholas Gomez

Tonight is the night of our last event at a venue!

I am overwhelmingly excited about the success of this project and the staff working hard to take everything to the next level. It's crazy. Robert Kemmerer and I (Josie V Eclecticism), when we first started, felt as though there wasn't much of an outlet for artists to self publish themselves. We came up with this project not just for our own Art, but for all of the artists in San Antonio looking for an outlet and people who want to be artists. Let this project motivate you! Now, we have our own headquarters located downtown near Hays Bridge in San Antonio, TX and are truly growing. Sky's the limit. Cheers! Can't wait for tonight. Hope to see you there--Josie.

I bet if Earth were attacked by an alien race the we would unify pretty damn quickly and forget our differences 

Unity is a glorious thing. A better place for this place wherever your place may be. Cognitive Manifesto is what we are doing to make our place better and inform you of how great it is already. A great thing that is happening on April 4 is our 3rd release party for our 3rd issue, which by the way if you would like advertisement and/or to publish your work in an issue just email us at cmanifesto210@gmail.com...we hope to see y'all at the next release party. It's gonna be the shit with CM quality music (that's fuckin seriously good music), live art, art display, comedy, merch, dancing, singing, drinking, floating, and making memories...cheers y'all - Nick Gomez

Ask for a Beautiful Moment

I happened to find and listen to a Ted Talk given by Amanda Palmer. It's called "The Art of Asking." http://youtu.be/xMj_P_6H69g

My thoughts were directed toward connecting with others & reminding me of beautiful moments I've cherished at times. I wondered what made them stand out. Had I made a connection with another person? Had I realized the value of the exchange we had? I'd like to think so. 

Other times I have different memories that derive from being afraid. Perhaps, I didn't feel good enough or completely talented to share what I wanted to. Amanda touches on these fears by relating her experience of how she felt when she heard someone yell "get a job!" Her mind told her she had a job but should she feel that it was "unjoblike" or "shameful?" 

The truth is as a creative individual what I enjoy doing most is more than a job. It's how I face my fear, face my memories and how to face other people. Through creativity, I give and receive. It's not so much of a risk but I'm holding my arms out saying (as Amanda did) "I trust you this much." 

As helping to start this art zine, Cognitive Manifesto, I am discovering that I have to ask, connect and receive an exchange in turn. Like Amanda did, I'm realizing "when we really see each other - we want to help each other."

Thank you for helping. Thanks for answering with your support when asked. You are a part of this!

Now, watch the video and see if it inspires you: http://youtu.be/xMj_P_6H69g

Lastly, What are you excited to see happen for Cognitive Manifesto? Let's hear your thoughts in the comments. 

(post by Julie) 

This past Friday we released our 2nd issue of Cognitive Manifesto at Limelight. The night was a resounding success with a good crowd, great art, badass music, and high spirits. There are many new and exciting things going on with CM. We aim to make each issue progressively better, as well as our live events we have coming up including our 3rd issue release on April 4th @ The Karova (107 E. Martin). We will have art, live music, vendors, and comedians and once again it's looking to be a great time so you don't want to miss it. You can purchase a copy of the 2nd issue by clicking on the paypal link. Oh yeah.....and thanks, we really appreciate it ;)

 -Nick Gomez

2nd issue is now for sale!

Purchase your copy today! Click on our PayPal button! 10$ zine 60 pages of SA local underground Arts

Come out this Saturday!

Come out this Saturday for ZINE RELEASE PARTY! (a cognitive manifesto production)
Buy a zine in person, have some drinks, buy Art, view live painting, jam to live music by MOONGLOW, Mr.Composition, Our Sleeping Giant
& live Art & vendors
3$ cover will help us produce more zines! Help out a great cause!
Buy a zine by mail (8$ local, 10$ out of SA), Bring your zine & receive FREE ADMISSION! Bottom Bracket Social Club
ARTISTS CAN STILL SIGN UP!

 

COGNITIVE MANIFESTO FOR SALE NOW! PURCHASE BY CLICKING PAY PAL BUTTON ON LEFT CORNER