Me and Chris visit Artpools Abnormal Formal.

After a couple of months sitting around on my ass mooching off of unemployment I was delighted (to say the least!) to find out my old job was hiring back temporarily (which means forever cause they are to cheap to hire permanently) and I would not only be able to make a bunch of money very quickly in a short amount of time but also that I would be doing alot of hours working overtime on nights and weekends.

Feeling my free time was about to be pinched I had a jonesing to get out of the house for what could possibly be my last weekend of freedom for quite some time.

Normally this would mean drowning in liquor and oogling females before catching a cab ride home. But not this time, my cousin called asking if I'd be willing to watch her son Chris for the weekend. Ofcourse, I obliged and before I knew it I was celebrating an early October Halloween with the lil cuzzin.

Chris is a big horror fan for his age. Him and his brothers know the Freddy and Jason films like the back of their hands. So he comes over, we watch the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and its sequal The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 then decided to head out for a night on the town.

Our first stop was the soon to be demolished St. Petersburg Pier. This was a big deal for Chris since it was his first visit in years and a big deal for me to be able to share with him a place that was pivotal during my own childhood.

We followed that up with a trip to a Central Avenue pizza joint (I'm a regular there but the name escapes me), before heading up the road to the Artpool Galleries Abnormal Formal Art Party.

Readers of my blog know I was sold on Artpool some months ago when I attended with a friend to the I Love St. Pete show. This go around the gallery was packed with a halloween themed crowd and featured performers, musicians as well as a fashion show!

The price was a little steep this go around with an entrance fee of a whopping $20! But it worked itself out since Chris was free. My only complaint is that the DJ was locked up inside of the building instead of outside where most of the mingling was taking place amongst guest. This guy was pumping out some jams! Run-Dmc, Nas, the list goes on and on, I was actually pretty impressed.

When I wasn't snapping photos of Chris with costumed charectors I relinquished control of the camera to him and let him snap his little heart out. The kid had never been to anything like this before (hell, me either! I wish I had an older cousin as cool as me growing up) so virtually everything seemed to capture his attention.

All in all it was a great bonding experience and I was more then happy to have the opportunity to help stimulate the mind of a young horror fan.

I love St. Pete @ ARTpool

A couple of weeks back while loitering around the streets of downtown I stumbled across several advertisements for an event called I Love St. Pete. A showcase of local artistic talents and all around cool show featuring live music, held at the ARTpool gallery / vintage boutique on First Ave. Because of transportation issues and a lack of cultured friends I had all but counted out the event as something I could realistically attend.

As the Saturday of the event arrived, I had surrendered all hope and accepted the fact that my evening would be spent munching on stale store brand potato chips and flattened Jolt Cola. Thankfully at the very last second a moment of clarity shined down upon me in the form a instant message from none other then long time friend / high school chum Mindy Van Devin. We managed to arrange plans on short notice and before I knew it we were on our way downtown.

Being that I am a virgin to the ARTpool experience I was really unsure of what to expect and went in with very few expectations. With that said, ARTpool is simply amazing. Sort of a glorified thrift store that feels more like a nostalgic playground filled with retro clothing and knick knacks. Also available are hand crafted jewelry and artwork from local artist. There is so much going on inside of the store that the building itself begins to take on a life of its own.

I must say, ARTpool sure knows how to throw a shin-dig. Everyone in attendance seemed to be having a blast roaming the cramped isles of the store and snapping personal photos to commemorate the experience. The DJ, located above the main entrance, was a nice touch as were the creepy mannequins that seemed to be dressed up flamboyantly around every corner. Outside of the building in the neighboring parking lot a second party was taking place featuring live bands and various vendors.

Next month the folks at ARTpool will be throwing another event just in time for Valentines Day, for more info on that or anything else I highly recommend swinging by their website, http://www.artpoolrules.com/.