On this page, two artists interpret one of the character portraits with a story or tattoo. Ken (the subject of the character portraits) in turn, created portraits of each artist.
Based on this photographic portrait, David Lipp wrote a story imagining that character's day.
The Alarm
The alarm went off at 5:30 in the morning again, and when I say alarm, I mean our new baby boy, who I've lovingly dubbed "the alarm." Where's the wife when you need a hand making sure the baby is all taken care of? She's in Argentina on business for the week while I'm here changing diapers and working from home as an architect. Surprise surprise, it's nearly impossible to get any work done when you're sharing the house with a newborn, but I guess that's what you learn when you have a child. To think that people have been doing this for centuries without a guidebook and I can't even set up the stereo system! Nothing's really easy in life I suppose but it would be nice if things were once in a while. The only good thing is that the daily routine always changes. You feed the kid in the morning, day, and night while sneaking in work and pray that you don't have to change diapers every waking minute, though that's where the routine is always different. Fact: Newborns crap faster than they eat and sometimes more. Never understood that.
It's funny, I always think about calling up my old friends to play music with but that damn guitar has been sitting in the closet buried under children's toys for so long that I may never find it. I remember a time when I couldn't put that guitar down. My wife loved that about me when I first met her. I would always write her songs and then we would make love. I guess that guitar is responsible for our child in a way. Now the noise from when I would strum it is replaced by the noise of our newborn screaming to have his diapers changed! Funny, never really thought of it like that.
Today's another day of no sleep. As much as I love "the alarm" and the wife, I really just want to go on a vacation alone for a few days, go for a hike or just get back in touch with friends for a beer who I haven't seen in a long time. Getting older, having kids, getting married. It's a far cry from the bohemian rockstar dreams of youth. When you get older, guitars are replaced by responsibility and vacations are replaced with stroller rides for coffee and baby formula when the kid starts crying . . . and speak of the devil.
David
Based on these four video stills, Dan Funderburgh drew a tattoo for that character.
Dan