The one, the only :

Robert Diaz

     I’ve known Robert since high school. We met towards the end of our sophomore year and were cool throughout our junior year but our senior year is when we got closer. We had English together with Dr. Sheridan but we spent most of our class time drawing on our worksheets. It was in this English class that the idea for RDZN was dreamt up. (RDZN is the art collective/design company formed and founded by Robert and myself. RD is Robert Diaz and ZN is Zach Norris, and it’s pronounced “Our Design”. It was basically a nickname or “crew” name for me and Robert to create art by. Hopefully in the future it will be the name of our art gallery.) Well after high school Rob and myself were in and out of touch. He was working at different places and going to school for nursing, and I was working at various places and living at various places so we only kicked it when we could make it happen. Well sometime last summer due to circumstances I’m not at liberty to discuss Robert and myself got very close. At one point we were spending all day of everyday together. I wasn’t working full time, and he wasn’t working at all so we had plenty of time to chill.

     Well this is when RDZN and other ideas came full circle. Since then Robert and I have become best friends and our working towards starting a clothing company. We want to own and operate our own art gallery, and have a retail store for our clothing brand IV The Taking. Robert just has to finish school and get some work under his belt, and I have to figure out my life up to that point. Easy right?

     Robert and I, like most other normal people, have had our fair share of setbacks and problems. Jobs, school, bills, lack of money, lack of time, lack of motivation (at times), and other problems have had me discouraged at many times. But I know Robert and I can pull through and make this happen. Robert is self-motivated, he’s dependable (when his cell phone works), he’s family oriented, hardworking, smart, handsome as a motherfucker (ask the 37,000 women who want to or have slept with him), he’s determined, he’s funny, artistic, and all of those other things that make a good person. He also has all the traits that make him a great friend. He’s responsible, reliable, loyal, honest, not afraid to tell the truth, generous, caring, and more. I’m blessed and honored to have RD as my homie, and comrade. If I could figure out all the little stuff then I would work harder to make our dreams come true, but until then all I can do is do what Rob has done for me: Be an awesome best friend. He’s my brother from another mother (and speaking of which his mother is awesome too. As is the rest of his family, I love them too). I love the guy. Go look at his tumblr, or check out his flickr, both user names are mnnqn.

     Like Logan’s, I could sit here all day and write about Robert and how much he means to me. But for the sake of my fingers and for the sake of your timeline I’ll resist. I just hope Rob knows how important his friendship is to me, and I wouldn’t be who I am without him (and others).

Blessings,

Zach

Zachary//Zack

So this week has been pretty up and down for me. I know that life is continuously full of emotional peaks and valleys but this one has been pretty tough.

My heart was broken when I found out my good friend CJ passed away. You guys saw the old posts so I won’t go too much more into that other than to say that CJ meant a great deal to me. Not only as a friend, but as a teacher and spiritual adviser. He was always there to talk to, and was always there to show me the ropes. His passing finally started to sink in about 2 days ago, and I broke down crying. Twice. I’m trying to live my life like I normally would but I don’t feel anywhere close to back to normal yet.

CJ’s passing had me feeling down, but also inspired. Inspired to step my game up and become the person that CJ knew, and I’m starting to know, that I can be. So in order to start this “rebirth” of sorts I have quit my job. I’m going to try to get another one, but more importantly I’m going to try and focus on getting into the Air Force. CJ being gone is not the only reason I’ve decided to ignite the fires of my life, but his passing may have been the catalyst. So again, I feel blessed and I am grateful that CJ was a part of my life and can still help me make good decisions.

Now as I said in the last paragraph I’m going to focus on joining the Air Force. I’ve been working on this for the last couple months now. I believe the Air Force can put me on the right path as a person, while also helping me live a more stable life. I plan on taking advantage of the health benefits, insurance, and school money the military has to offer. These things will aid me in becoming a stronger person, while also helping me jumpstart the plans for my life after my enlistment. This still isn’t a 100% sure things, as I’ve hit a couple speed bumps along the way. But I do plan on getting some serious progress done here in the next couple weeks or so, so wish me luck.

I know the above mentioned are either kind of bummers, or pretty neutral emotionally but there has been some good this week too. My homie James Pruitt (jamesdeandoestattoos) is moving to Yuma next month. I’m stoked on that cause I’ll have another friend who is a creative inspiration, and just an all around awesome guy to chill with. My friend Robert and I are working on a t-shirt design to print up as a benefit for CJ’s family to aid them in paying for his hospital bills, I can’t wait to get it done as a tribute to CJ and to help out his loved ones. Lastly, I wrote a review of The Devil Wears Prada’s Zombie EP and it was published on hardtimes.ca (I had a post about this yesterday I think). Hard Times is a Canadian based, metal/hardcore site that posts reviews, interviews, and more from today’s best artists of the genre. I was stoked to see my first review of a metal/hardcore band make it up on such a popular site. So big thanks to them!

That’s about all for tonight. Sorry this post is so long, just had a lot on my mind and figured where else to express it then on my tumblr for all of my 5 followers to see (Jk, thanks to those who do follow. You’re awesome).

God bless, and goodnight.

Zach