WHAT'VE I BEEN UP TO?

Very simply, I have been working on a few freelance projects here and there--this on top of my "job" job. It's a never ending process and I am starting to get frustrated about projects that I WANT to be working on and those that are putting food on the table. That's another gripe for another post for another day...

Today I want to talk about the joys of daytime television. As a part time stay-at-home-dad, I sometimes have the television on while doing household chores or while playing with Leo. Usually it's something innocuous like "Frasier" or "The Golden Girls" and, yes, I have gotten addicted to "Days of Our Lives." I'm not proud of it. Long gone, though, are the days when Leo was an itty bitty infant and I could watch "Saving Private Ryan" while giving him a bottle... Now he actually watches TV when I have it on so I have tried to drastically limit the time that the TV is on during the day.

When I do have it on--and if Leo is awake and in the room, I will have it on PBS. Well, the other day this show called "It's a Big Big World" came on. It's kind of a "Henson-esque" show with puppets--animals that all live in a big rainforest tree. Chief among the "World Tree's" denizens is Snook. Snook is a Sloth and he spends much of his time hanging upside down sleeping--that is when he isn't consumed with the goings on in the tree. I actually started watching this show about a month ago, but now I am actually paying attention to it and there are some details that I have become aware of--mainly concerning the main character Snook. First of all, Snook talks like a lot of people I knew in college--people who also spent a lot of time sleeping upside down if you know what I mean. He talks in this sort of Dead-head, surfer drawl like, well, someone who spends a lot of time baked out of their mind. He's real easy-going--a little TOO easy going sometimes, very "Heey there duuude... What's going oooooon?" He is also very chubby--like he's been hitting the Lucky Charms and Mac and Cheese a little too hard, and when he walks it's in this kind of stoner half-step. Ive seen it all too often--like at the local Taco Bell at one in the morning. His hair is unkempt and shaggy and his eyes, well, you can't even make out the white parts. There's just a hint of red around them. There was also one epsiode where he was "drinking" from a long bamboo "cup" with a straw in it. The first thing I thought was, "That big ol' puppet's got a bong." Then I remembered this was a kid's show. That's when the big hairy bastard took a long pull off that straw and there came a bubbling sound out of that bamboo that sounded a little too familiar if you know what I mean (and I think you do).
Besides Snook, the whole show has a sort of "Phish-Widespread-Panic-Are-you-kind?" feel too it. There's lots of pull away shots of the tree that are a little trippy and the supporting characters are all a little out of their minds too. I mean, looking back at some of the stuff I watched as a kid, including Seaseme Street, I HAVE to think that weed was just everywhere back then. I don't know... This show though... I know there are some folks off camera laughing together at what they think is their clever inside joke. As the end credits roll, Snook sings the ending song which sounds a little like something we sang in the stairwells in college--bombed within an inch of unconciousness. At one point in the song, he invites the kids to "Give me five." It's like he sees through the screen!!

I do like the show though...

THE GRADUATE

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Originally uploaded by stymie924.

This past holiday, we were in Clemson visiting my family and my mom thought it would be fun (which it was) to watch my old high school graduation. She also was kind enough to put it on DVD for me--which is an added bonus since Leo will be able to watch and laugh for many years to come!

Seriously, this video was a real trip dow the ragged old path that some like to call memory lane. As I look at this picture I can think of how badly I would like to be standing next to this child as he prepares to be vomited out into the world. I would tell him which women he should steer clear of in the future. I would also tell him that tequila should never be "swigged" right from the bottle. I might mention also that it would be a good idea to lose the mullet RIGHT AWAY as opposed to keeping it for another year.

Ours was the last graduation ceremony to be held outside in the football stadium--due in no small part to what can only be described as horrobly inapropriate behavior on the part of the hundred and fifty or so graduates present that hot June evening. Stink bombs were set off. Beach balls were blown up and batted around. And, in what was the greatest stunt of all, a huge blow up doll in the shape of a male stripper was also smuggled in, blown up, and tossed back and forth during the valedictorian's speech. The many administrators, teachers, coaches and sheriff's deputies in attendence seemed either unable or unwilling to intervene--even when the huge doll was vaulted over the front row of graduates and landed right in front of the speakers podium, its large plastic ass sticking straight up in the air. Oh wel...

While the good times were certainly rolling onscreen, I couldn't help but be saddened to see the faces of some friends and classmates who have since either died or been beset by a tragedy of one kind or another. Still, they were smiling on that day. The sun was shining bright and everyone was happy and hopeful about what lay ahead. People cheered and shouted encouragement when your name was called and it felt good to be in the moment--to be happy in the moment. Everyone was a friend--whether you liked them or not.

I still wish that I had done something about that fucking mullet! The sad thing is, I got my hair cut that very day!!!

SOLD!!

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Originally uploaded by stymie924.

This painting, one of the first large canvases I attempted, sold this week at Gathering Grounds. This canvas probably held the most sentimental value for me--mainly because I think that it reflects more of the "child" in my personality, the child that loves old airplanes. I knew that I ran the risk of losing this piece when I put it up for sale but I felt like I would be okay with it as long as it went to someone who could appreciate it. Well, someone DID buy it and not only did they bbuy this one, they bought another of the pieces that had a lot of sentimental value--and, as it turns out, he's a good bloke with a little girl about Leo's age! So, anyway, that makes it a little easier to part with.