Indieguy

Your network is your net-worth! (Just ask Paloma)

// October 24th, 2009 // Comments Off // Leadership / Productivity, My Team

I’ll be the first one to admit it’s easy to get caught up in the hype, believing you’re all that people say you are, especially when you’re confident in your skills.

The problem comes because we have to think independently and figure out how we might like to do things vs the rest of the planet but once it’s time to act, independence is not the way of the world, INTERDEPENDENCE rules all things. With that said I would like to thank everyone who was, is, and shall be in my life.

My current group of friends has grown from people I’ve met only this week (Annalee Penny, Chris Macias, Jon Affonso) to people I’ve known for months and years that I’ve just never gotten close to until more recently (Ben A., Anand, Estella, Kirk, Britt) the list goes on and on and this doesn’t even count the endless list of people whom have supported me through my life.

People float in and out….sometimes they only around for a season never to enter your life again….while others have always been there even when you didn’t think they were. There are still others are friends for years and stay solid while others come in and out of your life a dozen or more times. Never the less they are all important to your success and should never be taken for granted.

I have alot to accomplish but I want to say that NO ONE gets there alone. If you haven’t learned to give to the people around you and do it willingly and without regret how can you plan on receive from hundreds or thousands or millions without being seen as faking it.

Thanks to everyone in my life past, present and future for giving me the strength and confidence to take big risks in the hopes for greater rewards. Keep in touch…. there WILL BE more deposits in your friendship account soon.

My set up is just like kc!'s

// March 10th, 2009 // Comments Off // My Team

So if you don’t know I have a friend from college named kc! He’s the guy that did the orginal logo for the magazine which looked like this:

Needless to say we’ve been doing things on and off ever since. Kc! is your designers designer. He can do all the new school trends styles whatever they maybe or he can go clean and cold on you with some information design (his fav). But above all kc! is the kind of guy you just want on your team. Your design team, your dance team, your friend team, your go out and eat team, your music team or any other kind of team you could put togethere.

Him being my design mentor my new set up looks just like his (minus the mac book pro and 32 inch flat screen). Thanks for keeping my design prowess on point kc!

Meet Capone!

// January 17th, 2009 // Comments Off // My Team

Capone doin b'ness!

I’ve been doing “business” with Capone for a long while. Capone is a business guy and a really cool dude. When I stayed in Sacramento for 3 and half years I met ALOT of people. Capone is one of the few that stuck.

I had a magazine and he owned a store. We had never really engaged or talked about anything until I was in his store one day and we talked. We just clicked from day one. We’re both pretty straight forward guys and we also have a nack for thinking highly of ourselves without thinking we’re above others (even when it doesn’t come out that way).

We threw some events out in Sacto and they were REALLY DOPE! I mean we had everyone involved and people just loved it and the buzz was insane. I mean we had people on LA and NY blogs writing about our Sacramento party. Now that’s hot.

Skip to now and well we’ve met back up and decided on doing some bigger things together. I’m really excited because there aren’t many people on the planet who I like to partner with as much as I like to partner with Capone.

I mean his name is Capone, can we really go wrong?

My Dream Team, the men who will take me everywhere!

// December 8th, 2008 // Comments Off // My Team, raimonnemar

Everyone needs mentors. People whom you believe to be smarter, better bigger then you are and also have qualities you believe you posses or would atleast like to. I know alot of great people and have known alot of great people, however I have always thought of myself as a big brain kinda guy. I know that when it’s all said and done we’re all just a big bag of flesh and bones and that being said it’s what you’ve done with your flesh and bones that matters most.

I have recently begun to identify people with whom I really identify with. The more I learn about their stories the more I want to learn and believe I can learn about my own.

The first three with whom I have settled on are Bruce Lee, Albert Einstein, and Malcom X. Not to go into detail about any one of them, for me they all have very similar stories. What strikes me most about each man is that they all wrote their own rules. It was never enough to live by what other men had wrote or believed or achieved nor live by what all those men THOUGHT to be possible but to rewrite what is possible.

Bruce Lee rewriting what was acceptable in one of the most ancient art forms known to man (Martial Arts), Einstein challenging those whom he worshiped (Newton) to be worshiped himself, and Malcom X and man bent on emancipation and truth so much that he also challenged his teacher and then transformed himself.

It is a comfort to know that atleast two of these guys had loving families (Albert Einstein was a ass to his wife), it is even more comforting to know that the women in their lives where just as much a drive in their lives as anything else.

I believe it to be important to surround yourself with the ideas of those who are great, those who don’t see the world as others do, and chose to shape the world in an image they see. I think it is the key to being all you can be and for me, the key to living the life I do so desire. One of independence.

note: Because of my strong lean towards teams and specifically towards basketball I’m thinking of finding another two (to round out my starting five) but we’ll see how that goes.

Amanda Lopez taking pics one shoe at a time.

// November 25th, 2008 // Comments Off // Art In Yo Face, My Team, Plumtreepr, Uncategorized

Artifacts Presents: Amanda Lopez “True Story: the Vans Shoe Series”

From its chance origins in a small Davis skate park, Amanda Lopez’s True Story: the Vans Shoe Series took the Sacramento born artist across the world. Working in the medium of photography, the exhibition thematically juxtaposes iconic images of Lopez’s own Vans black and white checkerboard shoes against the captivating cityscapes of Los Angeles, Pinar del Rio, Mexico City, Havana, and Teotihuacan.

Camera shy, Lopez represents herself and personal experiences through the lived in shoes accompanying her to highly recognizable cities and largely obscure locales. Thus True Story: the Vans Series becomes both a figural self portrait of the artist as well as a diary, commemorating each destination. Like a name painted on a building or signature forever set in cement Amanda Lopez’s shoes prove she was there, in that place, at that time.

Artifacts is proud to feature the exceptionally talented Sacramento born artist whose extensive photographic experience ranges from publications in Rolling Stone Magazine, VIBE, and XXL to gallery exhibitions in 111 Minna, San Francisco City Hall, White Walls Gallery, Corazon Del Pueblo and Sol Collective.

The opening reception begins at 7PM until late in the evening featuring local deejays, food, and refreshments. Centering on Amanda Lopez’s intimate and iconic photography the evening will serve as the premiere social event for Sacramento’s contemporary gallery goers, casual art enthusiasts and fashion forward individuals.

What:    Artifacts Presents: Amanda Lopez True Story: The Vans Shoe Series
When:  Opening reception: December 13, 2008 at 7PM. Show dates: Dec 13, 2008- Jan 3, 2008
Where:  Artifacts 905 K St. Sacramento, CA
Cost:    $0.00
Info: Artifacts hosts the opening reception, celebrating a new exhibition True Story: the Vans Shoe Series by Amanda Lopez. The event begins at 7PM on December 13. The exhibition can be viewed until January 3 during normal business hours: 11AM-7PM Monday through Saturday and 12PM-5PM.

Check out LEGENDmag 22

// October 23rd, 2008 // Comments Off // LEGENDmag, My Team

Get your own – Open publication