Java-Cakes

Ok so I normally don't post about places to eat or movies to watch, but I'm making an exception. I just tried Java Cakes here in La Porte and loved it. I got the owners choice frappe and a candy bar cheesecake. The frappe is English toffee, chocolate chips and coffee. It's delish! The cheesecake is super yummy as well. What I like about it is it taste like old school homemade cheesecake. It's dense, creamy, and you taste the cheese like you're supposed to. I highly recommend you get yourself down here to give this place a try.

60/365

I don't think I blogged about this. I got my finger caught in a miter saw about three weeks ago, and the scab fell off today. My finger feels a ton better, but now it's super sensitive.

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Lol today Desi, Face, and I took Lil Ms Ally to ikea. It was her first time and Face had only been like one time before as well. So it was a special day all around. In the end it was to much for Ally lol, poor thing got all tuckered out.

365

Ok so it's between a minute or two since I've posted anything. I'm not going to make excuses I just am going to start again.

This is today 5/19/12 as I was on the Crystal Beach ferry. This was the party island back in the day. I have many fuzzy memories of this island.

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I know I did one on MTG before, but this is hands down my favorite Magic card ever printed.

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I have many a good memories from this place. This is the Deer Park community pool. It was a big deal to get tags to go to this all summer, we were poor, I know that now. We could play at this pool open to close. I think I felt my first boob in that pool. It used to have a ten foot and twenty foot high dive. My buddy Robbie could do a swan dive off of that thing flawless, me I could do a cannon ball like nobody else. I really do miss that place.

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So your not supposed to be able to touch up a faux finish. It's to random of a pattern & you're going to overlap your layering. Your best bet is to redo it, start from scratch. I think I did a pretty darn good job. What do you think?

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How could you not love this face? My dog Petunia so sad that I'm leaving to work lol

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This  by far is my favorite MTG card of all time.

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This technically is supposed to be yesterdays post. I got them mixed up so sorry about that.
This is the booster pack that the doc gives me to get my gout flair ups under control. I don't like taking these at all. They work very well and get me feeling pretty darn normal in about 3 to 4 days, but they have a small side effect that I hate.  The side effect is violent mood swings. In my case it's more like I have zero patience. The smallest things set me off. I blew up on the Home Depot guy the other day because he didn't know the difference between trim and base. Yesterday I found out that I lost my Mac store gift card and got so upset I became furious while searching for it. I was so full of rage and anger I started to cry. I could barely control myself. It took me a little over two hours to calm down, and the rest of the day to feel normal. I've got about 3 more weeks for this stuff to work its way out of my system and I can't wait for that to happen.

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Do you like snow cones? If you are ever in the great little city of Deer Park there is a snow cone shack called Tropical Chill. It's been in business since I was a kid and they make the best snow cones hands down. I'm not being bias, I've tried many a snow cone and have yet to find one as good as theirs. I've found some that are close but none as good. So come on down and give them a try or let me know about your favorite snow cone shack and I'll see if they compare.
My flavor today was cherry with cream, it was yummy to my tummy.

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Today class we are going to learn how to do a "2 color rag" faux finish.
1st apply your base coat.
2nd mix your glaze. This is done to preference. Most people will say a 4 to 1 ratio, (4 parts glaze to one part paint) or a 50/50 mix. I say play with them both to see what you like better.  A 4 to 1 well give a more transparent layered look and is better if building multiple colors. A 50/50 will give a heavy vintage feel but you need to work it a lot more. This is usually for the more experienced.
3rd get a good sized rag and get it wet. Make sure to ring out all the water. Ball it in your hand and make sure it bunches up. The more bunches the better.
4th dip rag into glaze scrape most of the paint on the inner lip to remove excess, and pat surface. This technique is hard to describe. You want to pat the surface rapidly with small strokes. Pretend you're a drummer keeping a 2 beat per second ratio. Keep your hand moving and make sure to twist as well. (your hand, not your waist) Work in about a 2 foot square at a time. Glaze dries fast so step back to look at your area from time to time.
5th after glaze dries mix your metallic or 2nd color slightly thinner then the first glaze. If going metallic move fast and keep rag heavily saturated.
And there you have it you are now on your way to being a professional faux finisher.

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Well here we go again lol. I know it's been two weeks since my last post but if you've been keeping up I haven't  been well.
Sorry this is late g0bff
ha ha ha I literally passed out writing this
I was a typing this and fell asleep. It was late and I was tired so let me continue.
I was walking my dog this morning and I saw these bluebonnets. I'm not a fan of the bluebonnet like everybody else is, but because I'm from texas I love them. I had to grab a picture because I am a fan of flowers and these are pretty flowers.

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Sorry I didn't post this yesterday, I was a bit out of it. I wasn't feeling so hot. I had a headache so bad I thought my head was going to explode. I left work early and went home to take a nap. I woke up late and was hungry so this is my pic from there. Why is it when you're in a rush something always happens to delay you. Stupid drive thru. Anyways I'm still feeling kinda out of it today but I'll post something latter tonight when I get back home.

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This is a Captain Crunch Frappuccino from Starbucks. It's my new favorite drink. Ask for a strawberries and cream frappuccino with a shot of toffee nut if they don't know what you're asking for. It really is amazing on how much it taste like captain crunch cereal.

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Another late night of editing. I'm a bit of a purest with my photography. So many people use Photoshop to edit their pics. Take this and make them thinner, oh take that and make them younger looking, what's that.. Oh take this and let's get rid of it, dang I shot in the wrong setting... Well I'll take this thing and it'll fix that.
Nope, not me. I only do my editing in Lightroom 3. I have issues with digital photography in general. As much as I love it, I hate it lol. So if I do a shoot for you and you ask "Can you make me thinner so I'll look better?" My response is always "no buy I can make you look awesome"

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This is Carl Bounds. Tonight we will be observing the elusive mating rituals here at Big Texas.
First he drinks these strange elixirs called "beers" and another strange concoction called "shots"
He peruses the dance floor looking for his prey. After spotting one out he observes from a safe distance to insure that she is up to his standards and is indeed "available" He makes his move and pounces on her with the pre courtship ritual of asking for a "dance". After dancing with 3 girls he has failed to secure an acceptable girl. He passes a small flock or "group" of women. This could be a dangerous situation. Usually a group of girls will "cock block" any male attempting to court any in their flock. He makes his move anyway, the night is getting late and he's struck out 3 times already. He bravely moves in to make his move and....... Success! He dances with her and moves on to "small talk" and even "chit chatting". Unable to close the deal before closing he does succeed in attaining ten symbols called "numbers" from her in the form of a "phone number". Happy with this partial score he retreats for the night to hunt another day. 

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Today we made a lady so happy and she paid me for it too. 

Somedays I love my job and today was one of those day's. My customer had been unsatisfied with her kitchen cabinets for sometime now. They were old, chipped, and needed some love. That's were I come in. We sanded them smooth, deglossed them with a chemical etcher, primed the raw exposed wood, and applied a new top coat of Sherwin Williams ProClassic Alkyd semi gloss. Not to plug anyone but it's the best oil based I've ever used. It lays down so smooth. Once Mrs. Files saw her cabinets completed she was ecstatic. I love it when people are happy with my work. Well not just happy, but when the smile from ear to ear. They can't believe there eyes. They didn't think it would look that good. When they are truly happy that they can't stop talking about it. That's what makes my day.

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Take time people. Take time to look around and enjoy the beauty in life. It's a short ride and to many of us take it to serious to enjoy anything. We are all in a rush to get to work, complete or projects, be corporate monkeys, clean or homes, or whatever it is you do that makes your day to busy. Remember time stands still for no one. If you take it to serious what's the point? Relax and breathe a little. You don't have to take a day off, or a week, or even a month. Just stop, look around and realize something beautiful around you. A sunset, some flowers, kids playing in the park, a bird in flight. It only takes a couple of seconds, maybe even a minute. This is my couple of seconds from today. I was out in Clear Lake driving home from work and saw this beautiful sunset. I know this pic does it no justice but for a brief moment all my troubles in life vanished and meant nothing for one small moment in time. I just enjoyed that sunset my whole ride home and was trouble free. Take time everyday to find your moment.

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I love my Xbox. I really do. I watch Netflix, Zune, YouTube, and more importantly play games on it, like Skrim. Speaking of which, I'm going to get back to that right now. Y'all take care and have a good night.

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This is what my life has become lmao. I'm so tired. I think I've only gotten about 6 hrs of asleep in the last 2 days. I'm hooked on this game. Thank God for red bull.

41/365

Ok people, if I haven't told you already or you haven't guessed it,I am a nerd. I read comics, went to conventions, built and raced r/c cars, collected action figures, play video games, and all that stuff. For those of y'all that play the game you know exactly what this pic is. Theses are MTG cards, or Magic the Gathering. This crack addicting game has been a part of my life since I was about 19. My brother and I found it on accident at a mall. The got explained the game to us and we were board so we bought in. We had no idea what we were doing but luckily we had friends that knew how to play. I really do enjoy playing Magic. It's a fun game and it's different every time you play. So go ahead laugh of crack jokes, I've heard them all, but untill you play the game you won't understand.

40/365

This is my tire, well Cindy's tire. This is what you call an artistic point of view. The problem with this style is it tends to get a little overused. Don't get me wrong I like this style. The whole point of this style is to make you look and think differently about what you're trying to capture, but before you know it people are taking extreme closeups of their tire and calling it art. So keep shooting everyone. Keep looking for a better way to take your pics and capturing the moment. So do not settle for ok or acceptable, but always strive for amazing.

39/365

I'm so sorry I didn't post this last night. I went to get a game yesterday because I had some gift cards that were dying to be spent. I had my good friend Carl with me and before I knew it he's coming up to me with a bag saying "Ok I got it let's go" So I'm thinking he got himself a game. I didn't see anything I couldn't live without so we left. Then outside the store Carl says he for the game for me, it was The Elder Scrolls 5 SKYRIM. I've never played any of this series and I didn't want to hurt his feelings so I smiled and accepted. I started this game last night and man I'm hooked. It was awesome I can tell it's not going to be a short game. It took me a little over three hrs just to complete my first quest. I'm now a level 6 Imperial and my one handed weapon skills are growing fast, as are my magic skills. I think I'm going to enjoy this game a lot. Thanks Carl. You are a good friend.

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I hate the rain. Well hold on. I love the rain, but I hate it when it just keeps on raining for days and days.
What's worse is driving in the rain during rush hour.

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Ok technically I didn't shoot this today, but I did edit it today.

I don't know this lil girl, she was a group meet up shoot that I attended. Unfortunately I forgot to charge my batteries so my attendance was cut short. She was a cutie though lol a real ham for the camera. I love capturing all kinds of photos. I don't think I'll forget this one for a long long time.

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If you know me you know I love sunglasses. I once had a sunglass case like you'd see at the mall. I think I had like 30 pair on it. Oakley sunglasses are my true love. I owned my first pair back in high school and it was love at first sight. These are my newest edition to my collection. Desi got this pair for me for christmas, well actually a different pair but they were to small.  

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My father grew up in Rockport TX, well really in Aransass Pass. Rockport a great town. I love that place, but you either work or have people work for you. It's a hard place to come up from nothing and make it big. He is one of the few that has. When he was younger he was a captain of a gulf shrimp boat, The Captain ART and the Jan-Del and Alex. I grew up on seafood because of this. I grew up with a love of ocean most of all because of this. My father used to take me on trips with him when he went out shrimping. Some of my best memories are from that time. I've been in and out of fish houses and net shops. I've met some of the saltiest dogs you'll ever meet. He made his money, my father, and was able to see the market was not going to last. Today he owns a well respected, successful paint company. We still have strong ties to the shrimping industry, and more stories that I could tell. I love the sea because of my father.

34/365

When I graduated high school in 93 has was 99¢ a gallon.
This is rediculous.

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Now who doesn't know who this is? Ok Who hasn't watched the movies? Star Wars was one of my favorite trilogy series as a kid before I even knew what a trilogy was. Darth Vader was the ultimate bad guy. He was spooky, powerful, and feared. Now he's on a box of chocolate lol

32/365

This is my lil grand niece. Her name is Allyson, but she likes to be called Ally. We went to the park today for some valentine day shots and she is a hand full lol. It took 3 of us to keep herding her back to the wall. She loves to take pics, but loves to run like a crazy child too.

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Todays blog might start an argument or two, especially from my friend David.
One of the greatest bands of all time. What all other bands are measured by. That is what the majority of music lovers believe. I like the Beatles, but I don't think they are all that and a bag of chips. Elvis was a legend. He was young, good looking, and had a heart of gold. The Beatles were young and the equivalent of the team Edward team Jacob craze. I think that they became the sensation that they are because they were a good looking band that got on TV. I don't discredit there music but if you take away the media craze how good do you think they would have been. They were the first band that set the bar in branding. They had toys, action figures, lunchboxes, commercials. To me there music is ok, I think Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis,  Buddy Holly, that guy that sang la bamba (I never remember his name) were better bands and influenced the music world with a greater impact.
Oh the pictures were taken at a homeowners house we are working on. They are all original promotion posters from the appropriate time period of each album.

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I know this is my photography blog, but todays post is both about my job and my hobby that I hope one day are reversed.
This is Jacinto. He's one of my employes. I take pride in my company and Jacinto has been with me for a long time now. I needed a cool pic of us doing some work and he is the only guy I have that doesn't get distracted or start posing for the camera when I pull it out. I guess that's why I like him. He just does his job with a smile, and that really is all I ask of my men.

If you get a chance or are just curious about my company, checkout my page Angel's Painting on facebook.

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This is what I do. This is a faux sample I made for a potential customer. It only took 2 days to make this sample. Hopefully after she sees it tomorrow she'll fall in love with it and hire me.
I love faux finishes. If you want to see more send me a message and I'll try and make it.

Ok so I just noticed the pics are a little out of order. Top is my sheet rock textured and primed. The third one is with a base coat. The second has a metallic shimmer coat added. Finally the last pic is with a dark glaze finish coat added.