Been a while since my last post… December turned out to be a pretty busy month. In fact, January is looking that way as well. What’s new, you ask?

I’m starting a new company: Graphic Art Unlimited. It’s graphic design in every shape and form. We will specialize in corporate identity, and in fact we’ve already had 3 clients. It’s a slow process getting started: Hopefully the website will be up by February 1st, and I’d like to launch a Facebook account around that same time. Possibly even a Google + account.

Hello? Is anyone at Google + home? … I didn’t think so. Too bad.

Anyways, back to the future: I’m soooooo excited about this new enterprise! Ever since I graduated in 2008, I’ve been itching to do some “fun” design for a living. I’ve really found my niche at Overdrive Marketing, and together we are determined to prosper with this new project. My boss calls Graphic Art Unlimited “my project”, and I’ll be forever grateful for his confidence in me. Here’s hoping! I’ll post the logos for our new clients as soon as I get them 100% completed.

The Mavericks suck. No big surprises there; they’re essentially a new team. I think that rather than let Chandler, Barea, and to a lesser extent Butler slip away in order to clear salary space for a free agent like Dwight Howard, they should have gone “all-in” to keep those guys and take a second run at a title with Dirk as the leading man. Ah, what do I know. There’s still a lot more to this season, though. And once they get it together, and they will, they will be a serious playoff contender. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’ll win the West. I’m calling it now, boys and ghouls: Thunder/Heat Finals. I’ll take it a step further: Mavs/Thunder and Heat/Knicks for the conference championships. I think the Clippers will be an amazing team, but I bet it’ll take a season or so to work out the kinks. Either way: The Lakers still suck! Ha! I love it!

Christmas went well. Even though I’m not religious, I love this time of year. It’s actually more of a capitalist experience than a religious one, but who’s keeping score. And the new year is here! This year I’ll turn 30. The big 3-0.

No sub-psychotic rants for this week. You’re welcome. I’ve been out of the loop as far as news goes, so I guess that explains it. Wow, this is a very anti-climactic “return” blog. I can plug the Noise Show though: This week I’ll be conducting a Jeopardy-like quiz for the gang, and nothing is sacred! Bwahahahahaha! It will be debauchery at its finest, boys and germs. Stay tuned.

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This week I turn 29 years old. (Thursday, December I’ve gotta say: I am completely satisfied with my life. Some of the choices I’ve made were certainly wrong, but they all made me who and what I am today. While you should never forget where you came from, it’s equally important to grow and evolve as a human being.

With that in mind, this week’s brain vomit (blog… I know, I’m a poet) will consist of milestones in my life so far:

1982 Born in Lincoln, Nebraska.

1985 Moved to Gainesville, Texas.

1988 First coherent memory of watching a movie at the theater: A Nightmare on Elm Street 4. Scared the shit out of me. LOVED IT!

1988 First (somewhat) coherent memory of watching professional wrestling: All WWF.

1989 Tim Burton’s Batman was released. I’ve been obsessed ever since.

1990 Got a Nintendo Game Boy for Christmas: Became addicted to Tetris.

1992 NBA’s first ever Dream Team got me hooked on professional basketball. WHAT. A. TEAM.

1992 Moved to Vernon, Texas.

1993 First monthly comic book series to follow: Robin III: Cry of the Huntress.

1993 Got back into watching professional wrestling after a year or so hiatus. Became obsessed with Bret “Hitman” Hart.

1995 House flooded twice during the summer… Crazy North Texas storms.

1995 Began Tae Kwon Do lessons. Quickly shifted to Kihido Karate.

1996 Spent every spare moment either practicing Karate or helping out at the dojo.

1997 Started high school.

1998 Earned my first degree black belt in Kihido Karate.

1998 Discovered music! Insane Clown Posse, Korn, Rob Zombie.

1998 First car: 1992 Dodge Shadow. Nickname: The Whoopee Cushion.

1999 First piercing: left eyebrow.

1999 First concert: Freaker’s Ball ’99 in Dallas, Texas. Megadeth, Coal Chamber, Sevendust, Machinehead.

1999 First time being drunk: 9 shots of McCormick vodka with my brother and another underage dude. Not safe or smart. Hung over for like 3 days afterwards.

2000 Attended WWF Fully Loaded in July at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas.

2000 Bought first porno movie (VHS!) on my 18th birthday from Foxxxy’s Adult Video. Proud of that one.

2001 Earned my way to the Texas State UIL competition for Editorial Writing. Landed 4th place.

2001 Graduated from Vernon High School.

2001 Joined the Army and began Basic Combat Training on July 11, at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri.

2001 Home for Thanksgiving and 19th birthday, then off to Mannheim, Germany just before Christmas.

2002 SOOOO MUCH: German bars, clubs, food, festivals. Army trips to the field. Came home for 30 days leave in December.

2002 Re-kindled the flame with high school sweetheart Monica Limon.

2003 First deployment to Iraq: March-October. Hell. Came home for 30 days leave in December.

2003 2nd car: (First to buy) 2003 Ford Focus. Still runs!

2004 Report to Ft. Hood, Texas… Find out they’re deploying to Iraq in March. Booooooooooo!

2004 Iraq again, March-March (2005). Indescribable emotional pain having to say goodbye to everyone AGAIN, especially Monica. (Love)

2005 Home from Iraq for the LAST time! Out of the Army in June. Life begins again!

2005 Moved to Garland, Texas in June.

2005 Started classes at the Art Institute of Dallas in August.

2005 Began professional wrestling training in September with the last Skandor Akbar (RIP).

2005 First pro wrestling match against American Anarchy in Garland, Texas on November 5. Lifelong dream accomplished. Cloud Nine.

2006 Mo and I moved into our first apartment in Dallas, Texas.

2006 Got to live out a lifelong dream: Proposing to the girl of my dreams in a wrestling ring at a TPWA show in Garland, Texas in November. Also won Cruiserweight Championship against Donny Davenport. The single greatest night of my life.

2007 Decided to take time away from wrestling to focus on school and career. For the first time in my life, I became bored with professional wrestling. It was a very difficult struggle that took me about 2 years to figure out. I haven’t watched WWE television since.

2007 Started painting.

2008 Began an internship at FastSigns in Plano, Texas that blossomed into my first real job.

2008 Third car: 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt. I named her Shelly.

2008 Graduated from the Art Institute of Dallas (with Honors) with a BFA in Graphic Design.

2009 Moved to Addison, Texas.

2010 Quit FastSigns, started working at competing sign shop in Carrollton, Texas in February. Back to FastSigns in July.

2011 10 year (!!!!!) high school reunion.

2011 Finally quit the sign industry and went to a marketing firm in McKinney, Texas (October).

2011 Met Wednesday 13 at a show at Trees in Dallas, Texas. He signed my Freddy glove! Again: Cloud Nine.

2011 Wrote this silly blog. Hope I didn’t forget anything important. Thank you all who have played a role in my life. And fuck you (you know who you are!).

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It looks like the NBA is giving us the Christmas gift of basketball! I’m very excited that (apparently) we’ll get to see a little over a half-season. Frankly, I think the shortened schedule will add more excitement to the game.

While I cannot sympathize with either side in the economic dispute (Owners vs. Players), I always tend to side with the union in a labor dispute. Yes, the institution of unionized labor can abuse the system, but I see it like welfare: It’s there because people NEED it. You don’t outlaw driving just because somebody runs a red light; you give that individual a citation and punish him/her accordingly.

TOP TEN REASONS TO GET EXCITED FOR THIS BELATED NBA SEASON:

1. DALLAS MAVERICKS REPEAT, BABY! What an indescribable joy it was to watch Dirk and the fellas kill it in June. In a season riddled with selfishness and Superstar-Player-first shenanigans, it was a TEAM that won it all because they played like a TEAM. And the one true Superstar never lost sight of that. (Nor has he endorsed any products this off-season. God bless you, Mr. Nowitzki.)
2. OKC When I watch this young squad, 1 word repeatedly comes to mind: FUTURE. I don’t know if there’s a better pure-shooter in the league than Kevin Durant. I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the Durantula play an All-Star charity game this month in Dallas, and I’m a believer. And don’t forget: The Thunder made it to the Western Conference Finals last year. Watching Westbrook and Durant reminds me a lot of Jordan-Pippen in the 90s. What an exciting time to be a fan…
3. CLASS OF 2012 It’s gonna be like last summer (2010) all over again with the Free Agency of 2012: Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, and Deron Williams will lead the charge. The big question is this: Will their respective teams follow the lead of the Nuggets last season and let each player go in exchange for another? Or will they repeat Cleveland’s mistake and gamble it all on loyalty? Let’s just hope these 3 have more integrity than a certain “King” (without a ring).
4. KNICKERBOCKERMANIA! There’s no good reason why the Knicks won’t dominate the East. I’ve been drinking the Carmelo Kool-Aid for several years, so I would love to see him succeed. And what about Stoudemire? I loved him with the Suns, and he damn near turned New York around on his own last season. Top it off with Mr. Big Shot (Chauncey Billups) and you’ve got all the pieces to the puzzle. But can Mike D’Antoni put it together? I hope so.
5. THIS SUN ALSO SHINES Speaking of the Phoenix Suns (My second favorite team, including my all-time favorite player Steve Nash), there’s not really much reason to believe they’ll be any better this year. At the beginning of last season, even Nash predicted his team wouldn’t make the playoffs. And he was right, of course. But I’m hoping against hope that Nash can find a way to rally the Suns to finally snag a ring in his twilight years. If not, I’ll support him regardless of where he lands (hopefully not the Lakers! Any team but them…).
6. DIE LAKERS DIE! While they proved themselves to be world-class jerks in their 4-game descent during round 2 of the playoffs against the Mavs, I have to begrudgingly admit that Kobe Bryant acted honorably. I can’t say the same for Bynum, Odom, or Artest (Oops, I mean Worldpeace). And now they replaced the Zenmaster Phil Jackson for Mike Brown? Can we finally see the Lakers SUCK? If anybody can knock ‘em down a peg, it’s Brown. Please, God, make them suck!
7. THE RETURN OF THE MIAMI HYPE I just can’t help taking a cheap-shot at the Heat. It’s so damn easy! Will “Season 2″ have as much drama, suspense, and flailing failure as the debut season? We can only hope. Just what professional basketball needed: A soap opera.
8. SHAQ AND SIR CHARLES I would watch these guys tie their shoes. Perhaps the 2 most flamboyant personalities ever to grace the NBA will be co-hosting games (for TNT, I believe), and it’s gonna be CLASSIC. Some of my fondest memories of watching basketball as a kid was seeing what Charles Barkley will do next. Remember the deodorant ads? As for Shaq: What’s not to love? His show “Shaq Versus” was the highlight of the 2009 offseason for me. What a character.
9. BLAKE F’N GRIFFIN What an athlete! If you can make the Clippers seem exciting, you are indeed a rare talent. The sky’s the limit for this guy, and he seems to have the right attitude. I put him on a pedestal with Kevin Durant. Class acts. The Future.
10. TIM DUNCAN I don’t even like the Spurs, but I have mad respect for this gentle giant. Any of these seasons could well be his last. Even though his playing isn’t near the caliber it was during his prime, we should all relish the opportunity to watch him do what he does. When he’s on, nobody’s better. (I’m looking at you, Shaq!)

That’s it for now. Sorry, nerds, for all the sports talk. I promise next week I’ll be back to comic books and pocket protectors.

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This is a monumental week for SpecialistBarton.com! I’ve officially launched my Google Plus page promoting my artwork, and I’m very excited. Before we get into it, take a look for yourself: https://plus.google.com/117945116868321929226

Heard of Google Plus? Don’t feel bad: many haven’t. It’s basically Facebook, but ran by Google. It began this summer, but last week marked the debut of “Business” pages. And that’s where it beats Facebook: The business pages are designed to give small businesses a platform from which they can promote their goods/services. It’s much more “spam free” than Facebook. Also, the main reason for businesses to get excited about Google + is the inherent SEO (Search Engine Optimization). (SEO is making your site more visible on search engines. Most websites achieve this through certain keywords in their text, or by outright buying certain search result positions.) Mind you: Nobody at Google has explicitly confirmed this, as it seems a little biased. But try this: Go to Google.com and search for “Pepsi”. Then go back and search for “+Pepsi”. Cool, huh?

Please visit my Google+ profile and tell all your friends! Maybe if I can accumulate enough “+1″s the page will show up when you search for “+Specialist Barton”. Let’s do this, maaaaan! (Also: There are some exclusive non-painting pieces of artwork on Google + that I haven’t posted anywhere else on the web. Can you really live with yourself if you don’t see them?)

I wish I could say that starting your own personal Google + page is a necessity, but the truth is that it’s really just another social media outlet to maintain. The only reason I’m on it is to promote my artwork, and to boost its visibility on Google. The personal pages are almost identical to Facebook, with the exception of “Friends”: on Plus, you separate friends into “Circles”, and you can isolate status updates, media uploads, etc. to certain circles. So if you’re into privacy and tired of Facebook, maybe you should give it a try. (They really should be paying me.)

In non-shameless-self-promotion news, I’m upset about the state of the 2011-2012 NBA season. I don’t follow many sports fanatically, but I do love basketball. And especially now: With our Dallas Mavericks as the defending Champs, this was supposed to be a landmark season. But the way it looks, there will be NO season. And I have no sympathy for either side. The best thing we, as fans, can do is to boycott the NBA once they finally get rolling. It kills me to admit it, but I’ll be right there watching and supporting them whenever they come back. I’m a sucker! (What’s wrong: Never seen a hypocrite before?!)

Rick Perry worries me for 3 reasons: 1) He’s a LOT like W, 2) He always seems drunk, and 3) (Shit…I forgot number 3…)

We recorded a damn good episode of The Noise Show on Friday. If you’re not already listening to us each week, what the Hell’s wrong with you?! Check it out The Noise Show now. Keep checking back this week for Friday’s episode: I participated in a segment called “True/False”, in which I tell 2 stories/headlines about myself and the rest of the cast guesses which is true and which is false. We decided to make this one interactive, so go to The Noise Show’s Facebook page AFTER you listen to it and vote for which one you think is true! (I know it’s not up yet, but keep checking back. It will be up SOON!)

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