my sky…

my sky

There are days when it is so blue that you can easily get lost in it.  Those are the days where there are just enough white puffy clouds in the sky to match the mind’s eye picture of what a sky should look like.  Yesterday, the sky was so blue… bluer than other days.  The air seemed cleaner, and clearer… like the world all of a sudden converted to high definition.  I sat there, in the middle of that day and just looked up.  It wasn’t a long look.  Just a glance up at the sky… into a patch of blue between two clouds that never met.  I felt like I was flying… my vision was focused a head…nothing else was around me.  I didn’t feel like I was in front of it or under it, I felt like I was in it.

It was over 30 seconds later…and that was fine.  I had my moment…doubt the sky felt the same.  It was a chance to catch my breath, stop, re-evaluate and move forward.  Frank does it all the time… and wishes that he could stare up a little more.

Try and find that perfect patch of blue above you.  It’s a wonderful memory to add to your scrapbook.

dumb luck…

dumb luck

A picture is worth a thousand words… or in this case, three.  Dumb luck is probably the coolest thing that fate and all those other phantoms have to offer.  I’m not a huge predestination fan, because that means no matter what we do or how hard we work, the ending credits have already been written… so it doesn’t matter.  We cannot change the course of our path because it’s already been mapped out.

Dumb luck can get you out of a potentially horrible situation.  Dumb luck can get you into a potentially wonderful situation.  Dumb luck is win win.  This thing has gotten me out of so many bad situations that I briefly considered opening up some sort of worshiping center.  But as I thought more and more about it, dumb luck isn’t about being worshiped.  It can be there when you need it, but if you rely on it too much it will leave you colder than a freeze pop in January.  You can’t call it, you can’t depend on it, but if you need it and you are deemed worthy, it may just get you out of a jam.

The one bad thing about dumb luck is that after it saves your bacon, you have an opportunity to reflect on the past events that led up to its saving you.  That reflection more often than not reveals a nugget of truth and a question: “How could I have been so stupid?!”  This question is invariably followed with a self slap to the forehead and more thinking.

I’m telling you all this because it’s true.

 

embrace your inner squirrel…

embracing your inner squirrel

This is a cartoonist’s rendering of Bob the Squirrel embracing his inner squirrel.  This is a phenomenon that has never been caught by pen and ink.

Scientists and cartoonists alike have often hypothesized just exactly the moment would look like.  Theories were postulated and re-postulated over several decades.  Careers were bought, sold, destroyed and made with this moment as the center of the universe.

Finally, at 4:55 AM, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, the wait and anticipation were about to become a memory.  The world would finally see what was once thought to be a myth, a legend, a folk tale if you will.  Scientists whose years of study and following unleadable leads… over.  We will see what embracing the inner squirrel finally looks like.

Finally.  The moment….

…was a complete and total letdown.  It’s just a squirrel on a stool… and not a very nice stool at that.  The thing didn’t even have a padded seat.

To embrace the inner squirrel, all you really need to do is sit down and shut up.  That’s how I do it.

april fresh meaning…

underlying meaning of things

The vast majority of my life has me seeking out the meaning to things.  I can’t always rely on what’s there on the surface, sometimes I have to dig…in that instance, being a squirrel helps.  There are rare times when the underlying meaning, one that is supposed to reveal itself only after layer upon layer of crud, is just there.  Right on the top.

Those are good days…for the moment.

Then, I have to wonder, well, why was the meaning so easy to find?  Is this really the underlying meaning?  If so, are the layers that I was supposed to uncover on top of me?  Why can’t I see them?

It’s at those moment where I toss the underlying meaning and dive into a fresh bag of animal crackers.

pain in the…

pain

Pain is a great equalizer.  The main purpose of pain is to let you know that something just isn’t right.  Without pain, you can go through the day not knowing that something is very, very wrong.  Sure you get it done, but at what price?  I don’t like pain, I don’t think any sane individual does, but I understand it has a job.

That all being said, I think I’m going to take it easy today.

superhero image…

superhero image

Don’cha just love the idea of a superhero?  Strong, but flawed.  Conflicted but almost always doing the thing that is the least wrong at the moment it needs to be done?  It’s mythology.  It’s folk stories.  It’s a gigantic business.

A superhero does what we fantasize doing.  They act upon something with little thought (most of the time) about the consequences they could suffer in the process.  The bullets will bounce off, my body will make a big hole in the ground when I hit, but I’ll walk away etc.  Wouldn’t it be great to feel that way for a day?  Notice I said just a day.  I don’t think I’d want to deal with thinking about it…I just want to do it.  I helped thousands, but millions are still hurting.  The planet is safe for the moment, but something else is coming that I’m not sure I can prevent.  For every one thing good, there are probably five things bad.

Nah, I’ll wear the cape, I’ll suck in my gut for as long as I can… but at night, I’ll take that superhero cape off and just be a squirrel… and that’s okay.

Until the next batch of summer movies come through the chute.

bad decisions in real time

bad decisions in real time

Bad decisions, we all have to make them.  I’m thinking that the new, softer look is growing on me.  I’m actually starting to really dig the pencils without the ink.  I’m sure as soon as Frank reads this, the pens will get dusted off and the days of being penciled will be a blogger’s memory. In the meantime, I applaud his decision to keep it going while he did.  It’s like I was wearing a costume by wearing less than I did before… contrary to that whole makeup thing I went on about.

Maybe it’s time to hide some of the mistakes again…as well as they can be hidden on the internet anyway.  A big thanks to technology again… I will not disappoint you… that much.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.

While you’re online, be sure to check out the interview Frank did with Tom Racine on Tall Tale Radio.  The first two parts can be listened to here and here.

Frank Page interview on Tall Tale Radio!

Check out the interview I did with Tom Racine on Tall Tale Radio! It’s a three part interview where we talk about everything including the Yankees, the Mets, MFAs, pens, cartooning, Star Trek… they even manage to fit in a few words about me (bob). If you listen real hard during the first part, you can actually hear Lucy the Insane Jack Russell Terrier whimpering to get out of the studio!

Listen to the First Part HERE.

Listen to the Second Part HERE

The third part will be linked when it is posted.

of heroes and laughs…

heroes, laughs and cream puffs

I, like Frank would not be considered your “typical” hero figure.  I would never be a knight in shining armor.  I wouldn’t be in a shining anything really.  But from history and reality, we know that heroes come in all shapes and sizes and capable of gigantic acts of bravery, intelligence and kindness.

All that is good, but I want to go for the laughs.

Back to Top