I won’t lie, the past three weeks were a real creative drain because of all of the website updates. It’s just NOT our favorite thing to do art & design wise.

But now that the site is in a good “working” state per Saturday’s updates, Sharon and I both had a very productive Sunday getting back to work on our various projects in the studio. I executed an intricate die-cut on a new set of paintings, while Sharon split her time between 3 new bracelets.

It felt good to be working on physical objects again, and not on JPEGs, PNGs, and CSS. Web programmers, you have our sympathy. Unless of course, you love it and you make a lot of money, then you have our envy. But I digress.

Of course, most of our hard work to get Somrod Creative to another level is still ahead of us, as we’re trying to find ways to market and promote our art and jewelry to the world. But we’re taking the next step, and hopefully can make it all work out in the very near future.

Thanks for reading. More updates coming soon. Cheers.

Yes, we know it took us forever to update the website, but finally all of our new content is live. Check it out now:

http://www.somrod.com

Please feel free to peruse all of the different projects that we have been working on, and feel even freer to pass this link onto anyone who may find it interesting. Also, let us know what you think, and what you suggest we should make more of.

Thanks to all who lent their support and feedback over the past year. We hope that it’s all uphill from here. Cheers!

Once lucky, twice good? Let’s hope so! Yes, M.Sahm & S.Rod have been invited to discuss the latest episode (#10) of their eclectic podcast Magic Junk Radio tonight, May 29, at 10pm EST on the B-Sides Concept Album radio show, hosted by Josh Hathaway.

“I’ve come to preach the Gospel of Magic Junk to you uncultured bastards. You people need a little more remix in your life and I’ve got salvation hotlinked on this very page. Magic Junk Radio 10 is right here, just for you. I’m 9 minutes into it and I already love it. I’m almost ready to call this my favorite episode yet. They’ve really outdone themselves.”- Josh Hathaway – Confessions of a Fanboy

Here is the direct link to the show’s page. At the BSCA page, once the radio show is ON, there will be a blinking orange button that says “Click To Listen”, and you can open a window for the chat room as well.

If you’re having issues with the hotlink above, here is the full site URL for the show:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/stations/bc/bsidesconceptalbum

Hope you can tune in. It should be at least as humorous as their last appearance, or if Sahm & S.Rod get rolling on a random tangent, you never know. Cheers.

Yes, believe it or not, M.Sahm & S.Rod have been invited to discuss their podcast Magic Junk Radio tonight, March 13, at 10pm EST on the B-Sides Concept Album radio show, hosted by BC Magazine and BlogTalkRadio.

Here is the direct link to the show’s page. At the BSCA page, once the radio show is ON, there will be a blinking green button that says “Click To Listen”, and you can open a window for the chat room as well.

If you’re having issues with the hotlink above, here is the full site URL for the show:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/stations/bc/bsidesconceptalbum

Hope you can tune in. It should be humorous, or at least as humorous as the banter of Sahm & S.Rod can be. Cheers.

No, there will be no M.Rod or S.Sahm, but rather a merging of the two.

From today on, MagicJunk.com will become Somrod.com. I had started Magic Junk back in 2000, well before I met the lovely Ms. S.Rod. So it was only natural for the site to evolve into something more collaboratively named. We needed a fresh start after a hectic year, and this was definitely a good jumping-off point for us.

For now, outside of some cosmetic changes, the site is still the same. But Somrod Creative will be the launching pad where we hope to bring many new concepts to life. Like GE on ecstasy. Okay, maybe not that good, but we’ll try our best to be productive.

But we didn’t stop there. Blogimus Prime has served me well since 2005, but it was more playful than keeping with the current direction of our sites. However, we didn’t have to look far for a name— only back to a couple of previous blog entries from December 2006 and August 2005. Creative Psychosis fit the general vibe of most of the blog entries, plus it inspired a really kick-ass header graphic (as you can see above).

The only thing that remains the same is Magic Junk Radio, since the MJ name really catered to our podcast style. Speaking of which, we just launched Episode 9 today. Go check it out if you have the chance.

All in all, we’re happy to be working towards our creative goals again. It’s quite liberating to make a rocket of your rust and cobwebs, and launch that mothersucker into space! Cheers.

It would be safe to say that the 2007 cyberlife of the Somrod tandem was thoroughly squashed under the weight of reality. Or if you prefer, we are sarcastically proud to present our list of 2007 Excuses:

1. House hunting/researching and subsequent contracting/purchasing/moving to temporary housing/storage/moving in/setting up (MS & SR)
2. Major spinal corrective surgery and subsequent rehabilitation (SR)
3. Six months of clean-up, repair and renovation of 120 year old water leaking basement (MS)
4. Job change in May (MS)

Therefore, our 2007 Online Results are rationally explained:

1. No new art or literature produced
2. No upgrades or revisions to the main website
3. No podcasts released
4. Lowest number of annual blog entries ever
5. Traffic goal from 1/02/07 not reached

Despite that, we are in a better place physically, mentally, and financially than we were at the beginning of 2007— just without the fun outlets that makes us feel semi-complete. Nevertheless, anyone who knows us realizes we’re creatively itching like two dogs who crash landed on the Planet of the Fleas. Hell, people I’ve met this year did not even know I was an artist or a writer! 2008 will be the end of that, I assure you.

Anyway, even if we missed the goal, we still had a moderately better year of unique visitors to the site as you can see below:

Click to see a comparison from 2005 to 2007

Luckily, we’re already hard at work on the new endeavors. So even if the alarm bells are ringing, there’s no fire. I’m even feeling bold enough to set a goal for 2008 unique visitors of 130K. Yeah, dream the MF-ing dream, my friends… you’ve got nothing to lose. Cheers.

I always found that shadow boxes full of dead insects (like above) defeat their own purpose. While it might have some extremely rare specimens, they’re all dead, immobile, and lacking any thrill that might have been there when that bug was crawling along a tree trunk. I suppose it’s better for a rare bug to be preserved than consumed by a predator, smashed on a windshield, or eviscerated in the soothing blue light of the neighborhood bug zapper, but not by much.

The same holds true for a portfolio of your creative work. It preserves the ideas and concepts from your mind that have been executed as composition. But technically those compositions are no longer “alive” after they have been in the public domain for a while. Nevertheless, unlike a shadow box, the portfolio may just help me make a connection down the line that helps me reach my artistic dreams.

Thus, I give you: www.marksahm.com

Be sure to let me know what you think is my strongest section of the portfolio. I’m always trying to choose the one area within the five that I should invest 90% of my creative efforts. Until then, I will remain the sum of many creative pieces. Cheers.

Like a ray of sunlight shining into a gray cubicle from afar, we learned this week that The Quitstay had received a Track of The Day award for their electronic stomp “My One Ring”, from the independent music website GarageBand.com. The official day of this honor is October 10, 2006.

If you didn’t already know, the duo behind The Quitstay is also known as the husband-wife team of Mr. Sahm and Ms. S. Rod. Despite holding down respectable corporate day jobs, they thirst for something more out of life than being a 9-to-5 cubicle dweller. The Quitstay take their love of music, technology and composition and try to mesh it together to create something new for the masses to chill out to, or tap their foot to. Even if they only get to do it at night and on weekends.

“My One Ring” is a hard hitting instrumental mix of drum ‘n bass peppered with Middle Eastern riffs and vinyl scratches. The song itself is an interpretation of a soon-to-be married man’s struggle with losing the freedoms of being a bachelor.

The song’s GarageBand page can be found here:

After I made a sound composition talking about paint last month, maybe I was subconsciously trying to tell myself something.

I’ll be the first to admit that among my creative endeavors, painting has been the one that I’ve neglected the most over the last three years. While I planned out some concepts, bought supplies, had canvases stretched (or for the larger ones, cut out), most of them have sat around waiting like patients in an overbooked doctor’s office.

Call me naive, but I like to cling to the silly notion that things will always balance out. Sure, that goes against most of my pragmatic beliefs, but I also believe achieving balance is a self-determined thing. That even if I could not bring painting up to the high echelon of priorities right away, it would return in due time.

Now it finally has. With the website revised, a new MJR recently finished, a TAGB proposal sent, and Novel 2 on hiatus, the time was now to get back in the paint. It helped immensely motivation-wise that an opportunity to publicly display my work has presented itself. Since that’s something I’ve never done before, it brings me a new experience to absorb… that even if it doesn’t turn out all rosey, I can say I tried. And you know how important that is to me.

With that said, it’s time to head down to the subterranean studio with some caffeinated beverages, pump my Zero 7 and Thievery Corporation mix, and get to work on the future. Have a nice 4th of July weekend. Peace.

Relief is not spelled as Tums or Rolaids, but U-P-D-A-T-E. Well, at least today I do. Of course I know the nine month old HTM docs spell relief as spanking fresh modified dates!

Yes, as you may have guessed from the new masthead or tabs, Magic Junk has finally received a long overdue facelift and updating. Considering the past year I’ve had (getting married and changing jobs among countless creative projects), I won’t get on my own case too much though about the delay. I’m a busy man. And there’s only one of me. Although ten beers makes me twice the man, but I digress.

It’s certainly nice to see the site looking sharper… stronger… more cohesive… and it even has *hark!* an About Us page! Me and the lovely Ms. S-Rod show our mugs… well, maybe half a mug, and a sunglassed mug… but you get the point. There are real people behind the curtain. Even if we’re cubicle bound day laborers of the fluorescent light realm, we’re definitely real and appreciate your support.

Throw in the fact that there’s a lot of updated pictures, logos, structured tables, universal tabs, animated GIFS… and I might just shed a tear. Okay, okay, we both know I’m not the crying kind (except in that case where the novacaine hadn’t set in fully on that wisdom tooth extraction), but it’s almost worth it.

To boot, we’re not even finished yet… but more about that later. For now, I’m gonna do a little dance. U-P-D-A-T-E style. Cheers.

Stephen King wrote in his book ‘On Writing’ that he has a daily 2,000 word quota. Which is nice if you’re home every day! 14,000 words a week sounds stellar, but in reality such an amount would be exhausting if not totally improbable for me to do.

My quota for my first novel was 4000 words per week. It worked out well for the most part, with some bad weeks mixed in with a 10,000 week of vacation and a 7500 final week.

Since I have more experience under my belt, I decided to raise it to 5000 wpw for my second novel. On top of a full time job, I felt that was an entirely feasible amount. Sure, I could probably do more if I was really desperate to finish. But (a) I’m a medium paced writer and (b) that would most likely lead to burnout.

As it turns out, I’m at 25,000 words right now, but am 8,000 words behind the pace (because of a few bad weeks). So it looks like sometime in the next two months, I’m going to have to pull that 14,000 word week out of my ass, if I am to finish by my goal date of June 6.

Reality is without a sense of irony, eh?

Looking for a nice glossy 9×12″ photo to hang above the toilet in the spare bathroom? Of course you are!

That’s why we’ve fulfilled your wishes by offering original Magic Junk photos and images as prints, now available through the artist community deviantArt and their high-tech printing service. Yes, try to contain yourself. Find the links below:

Portal • To Enter The Turret • Spring From Within • Philosophers • Plastic Tongues

We promise to make even more photos and art prints available soon. It’s another part of Magic Junk’s multifaceted creativity, filtering into the atmosphere… one molecule at a time. Like laughing gas. Take a deeeeeeeeeep breath.

Thank you for reading. Cheers.

2005 was my first year as a web entrepeneur (Yes, that’s what those folder tabs up above represent, so feel free to click them ). Thus, it also marked the first time I’d have to represent such on my tax return. Most years, my taxes are finished in 10 minutes, but this year began as something altogether new and scary.

You see, I did some reading and learned that outside of the people who do bad math on their return, a great percentage of IRS tax audits fall down on independent artists, musicians and entertainers. As a result, I did the fearful ‘gulp’ noise after Tom stuffs Jerry in the top of a shaken seltzer water bottle.

Then I took a good look at my situation. I saved all of my 2005 receipts, either physicially or in e-mails. I had all of my needed W-2′s and 1099′s. Additionally, I learned that as a self-proprietor, I didn’t have to itemize; I just had to fill in all of my business expenses in a form called a Schedule C. As long as I didn’t count any expenses that I don’t have receipts for, I had nothing to worry about.

So, using the TurboTax program and guides, it was actually quite simple in the end (minus a few questions I simply had never encountered before). Sure, I had to do a little math on my end, but the big worry of being a targeted artist was quite silly. If the IRS comes knocking, I have my paperwork ready to be x-rayed.

I think it just boiled down to the fact that I knew I was due a healthy refund from the government. Part of it is my own devise though. Every year, I get an extra fee taken out of my paycheck. One year, a tax preparer told me, “You know, you don’t have to have this taken out of your paycheck every month.” But I knew the bigger picture. You see, if I get an extra $40 a paycheck, I’m likely to spend that on the monthly bills. However, if I get an extra $960 dollars back at tax time, I deposit it into my money market account to help me buy a home one day.

The other reason I had a high refund, and I’m not afraid to admit it, was because my business has yet to make up the intial investment of getting off the ground. While I’m not happy about this, I’d be a fool not to take advantage of the tax benefits if that’s how the government wants to run the show. But I’m not here to get pity cash for 3 years (until these endeavors are legally declared ‘hobbies’). I want to make something of my creativity, and not sit in a cubicle until I’m grey-haired and wrinkly.

Therefore, I’m making it a goal to break even in 2006, and turn a profit for 2007. I owe my art and my life that much. If that means I have to pay Uncle Sam back in 2008, then so be it. Nothing matters more than living the dream. Peace.

Don’t be fooled by the title. Today doesn’t actually have anything to do with sticks of minty chewing gum, or the straight man’s universal fantasy of a menage a trois with twins. No, today actually turned out to be an anniversary for two things in terms of my literary history.

First up, even though I kept an online journal from late 1999-2001 on one of my old sites, my first “blog” was today one year ago. Read it here. I find this amusing now, because I certainly never expected to still be blogging after a year. But even if you don’t have a definitive purpose for your blog, it’s good exercise for the writing mind and typing fingers, so I’ve stuck with it.

Then, not to take away anything from my little blogoverse, but the more important thing that happened today was I finished the first draft of my novel The Art of Getting Bent on 3/03/03. It seems like eons ago and I remember the elation I had that night, that sense of accomplishment. If only I knew of the atomic minefield of agents, editors, publishers and distributors that awaited me after that. But I’m still proud of reaching that day, even if things didn’t stick to the dream. Or anywhere close. But that’s cool. You have to get toughened up by experience somehow.

So now, for the sake of numerology, or really just because it makes for interesting life retrospectives, I’m planning to complete my 2nd novel (which I’m working on currently) by June 6, 2006. No, it has nothing to do with my religious preferences or lack thereof. Just a cool number for an anniversary… provided I keep to my word count! We’ll see.

It’s been a difficult road back. But at long last, I’ve hung up my announcer’s mic and returned to the game zone… to stalk the running novel.

Yes, after a couple months of constructing an outline skeleton, I began the principal writing for my untitled second novel last night. It was exciting to finally get cracking after almost a three year layoff from original novel writing (not counting editing, revisions, blogs, or short stories).

I’ve read other writers talk about how there’s this mysterious quality about getting into a vast universe of characters and storyline, and I’d agree with it being a total natural high… especially if your characters aren’t 100% sane! Imagination is a fantastic drug, and damn if I didn’t miss this type of fix.

Behind it all, I’ve got a lot more enthusiasm and focus this go-round than I did with my first novel. Of course, that should be a given, as I’ve totally evolved from the bleary eyed lad who started The Art of Getting Bent way back in late 2000. However, I’m reasonably certain this one will take me a fraction of the time to write. There will be no laboring over this. Brothers learn from their mistakes.

Of course, the hard work has barely started, but it’s all good because I know I’m in the zone. Nothing but self-fulfilling prophecies lie ahead. Peace.

Thankfully, 2006 is finally here. Every year, I have to bite my tongue and keep my poison pen on the desk. For I can rest assured that as we celebrate the annual changeover of our calendar, all of the same clichés would emerge to haunt the masses. Since it’s a by-product of our fast food relationship with time and pop culture, it seems that there is no escape.

Someone will undoubtedly quip, “See you next year!” in a moment of pseudo-cleverness (and I heard it three times this year). Dozens of editorial cartoonists will scribble out the same old gag of the old man 2005 and the baby 2006 walking past each other. News programs, websites, and of course blogs will lay down what they thought the high and low lights of the past year were. Top ten lists, year in review, resolutions, blah, blah… blah. I welcome my chilly January with open arms. Let’s get back to the grind, shall we?

But while this righteous spew has its truth, I will not totally alienate myself from reflecting on 2005. If nothing else, this year has given me some hope, no matter how infinitesimal. Aside from getting married (an event that I can only imagine has triggered a cosmic imbalance in the universe), I watched my online universe grow and expand exponentially.

As you can see in the graph below, MagicJunk.com started out with very tiny beginnings. I remember feeling like my work was for naught when I did not get more than 20 unique visitors a day in the first three months. But I kept working, writing, tweaking the site, and launching new creative projects. Each month became the “highest yet”, only to be outdone by its successor.

Considering I have no funds for advertising and have not received any link referrals from a big cat website, these numbers are pretty good. Obviously, in showing this though, my point is not to brag. If most online businesses had these numbers, they’d be laying off employees. But since Magic Junk is totally self-sufficient, the only way it’s going down is if I pack it in, die, or get abducted by aliens. Fortunately, I don’t have plans for any of those.

Therefore, my point is simple and two headed: for you, the reader, the graph illustrates that meager beginnings are okay, as long as you don’t lose focus on your goals; and for me, it has helped me set the goal of 50K for 2006, which would almost triple the total unique visitors from this past year. Yeah, I have my work cut out for me. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Just as the marriage-honeymoon high was beginning to wear off, we received some good news regarding our miniature art project, Acyrliture: Bite Size. Since its launch back in late March, the creative fusion by Rodriguez and Sahm has made its way into Art-O-Mat vending machines in 12 states.

But none was more desired than the machine housed at the Whitney Museum in New York City. So when the news came to us, we thought it was too good to be true. Thus, a visit was necessary. As the pictures show below, Acyrliture: Bite Size had indeed arrived. With the purchase of a token from the store cashier, the machine operates exactly like the classic cigarette machine it was salvaged from— pull the handle and a piece of hand-made minature art is yours.

If you’re in NYC, be sure to check out the Art-O-Mat located in the Whitney Store on the lower level. If not, you can also get an Acyrliture: Bite Size online exclusively at Magic Junk. Makes a great stocking stuffer or pollyanna for the holidays.

Click here for the large hi-resolution version.