Happy New Year from the Schmidt Kids

Watch the magic as I, once again, trick my sister into thinking we're taking a photo - in video mode. I've watched it almost 100 times I think.
May the new year bring happiness and success to you all.
Cheers!

Percussion Gun

I was fully prepared to write an entire piece about the trials and tribulations of 2009, but decided against it seeing as I'd much rather finish cooking my meatballs and fried spring rolls. End of the decade, blah blah blah. Lotta shit went down, and you don't need to read about it here.

I was actually surprised to hear that 2009 was an awful year for most of my friends. I personally thought it was fucking awesome, but only through the powers of circumstance.

Throughout the year I visited Poland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, England, New York City, New Baltimore, Detroit, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. I managed to dodge one of the worst Toronto summers (including the garbage strike) and hung around for the warmest November in over 100 years. I even broke a bone.

As in any year, most of you may know that, although I believe resolutions are bullshit and meaningless to a degree, a new resolution is to be made for myself.

After a discussion with a professor on the topic of promotion in the art world, he stated in clear black and white that nobody can begin representing your work but yourself. This is in fact true. I don't know what I was waiting for, but I have a studio absolutely full of work that could be hung at any moment. This is where the resolution comes into play.

Man of Action

This year is going to be all about progress. The word itself has always intimidated me. I get comfortable in some situations and find it hard to detach myself from it. However, I slowly realized that progress really isn't hard at all. It's just a matter of movement, motivation, and passion working harmoniously towards an attainable goal.

The other day I clearly, in my mind, mapped out what I want out of my life. Then I realized I'm 23 years old, and that there is still plenty of time. Yet why wait? Why not jump start things and showcase work at all times? - although I've been technically showcasing and selling work at Orange Alert for over two years.

Man of Action is all about, well, action. Making calls, finishing my website (the lack of it is fully my fault - digging up and documenting past work kills my soul), sending emails, getting work, and making connections. I'm ready, and I'll do it. Upswing, baby.

Happy New Day.

new year

Well, here we are again, together. About to jump headfirst into another year of our lives. I usually takes this night pretty seriously; I'll have my resolutions all set out, some girl to kiss, a strong belly full of booze and good times on the mind. But as I sit here now, listening to all the bustle outside of my window, I'm slowly realizing that tomorrow is just another day, and that tonight is no different than the last.
Coming off of one of the most radical and complicated years of my life, I am in the mood for setting radical goals for myself. One being, is a springboard that stems from one of my all time largest fears: bad news.
If I sense the smallest bit of disappointment coming my way, I avoid it and shove it to the back of my mind, right about where the Savage Garden lyrics sit. So I've decided to grab life by the nuts and face this fear. Procrastination is another good one, but that comes with the fear of bad news. I've decided to punch myself in the head every time I catch myself consciously putting off something important. Well, maybe not in the head, but something. Aside from those majors, I've set forth a bunch of miniature goals as well, but those are for me to know. But enough about my babying, I should also mention that I had an excellent 2008 and look back with some pretty great feelings.

Something else happened a year ago exactly that I'll never forget. I was out with some friends in Nathan Phillips Square here in Toronto, waiting for the fireworks to ignite and plowing through the thousands of people that fill the square every year. There was a large group of us, so we took the beads off our christmas tree and made, basically, an idiot rope for us to all hang on to.

Moving along, I ended up meeting this paraplegic guy who was trying to enjoy the night. We ended up talking for a while but I could see his head was really cold from all the snow, so I decided to give him my toque. Later, during the fireworks, this group of guys were passing this huge holiday joint around and some of us decided to smoke it. At that point, I offered some to my wheeled friend and he totally accepted. So there we were: freezing our cans off, attached to a glitzy rope, watching the fireworks and embracing, and spoon-feeding a paraplegic a massive bud.
I said, then and there, that this was to be the funniest story of 2008 (only minutes after the bell had struck twelve), and I concluded last night that it really was. Hopefully I'll see this man later tonight.
So friends, from me to you, have a great night and enjoy whats left of the year. I had a good year, and the economic recession was probably one of the highlites. Seeing suicidal Wall St. dicks flood the front page of every newpaper for almost a year put a true smile on my face, because when you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose. Don't forget your toque either.