It's The Little Things...

It's Christmastime, so it's time to reflect on the past year. Personally, I'd rather reflect on the happy things than the sad ones. So, what are the seemingly little things in life that make you happy? We all have those small, innocuous events of daily life that snap us out of our stupors, what's yours? Is it the first time you light up the Christmas lights on your tree or in your home. Is it setting a certain ornament on your tree, or lighting the last candle on your menorah? Maybe, for you, your happy feelings don't necessarily come from a holiday tradition, but from something simpler.

For me, it's ice. I don't actually like ice, necessarily. Most of the time, ice merely waters down a drink and ruins it, in a sense. No, when I say ice, I mean a specific ice. The ice that makes me stop and smile is crushed ice; specifically, crushed ice in water.

I don't really enjoy drinking excessively cold drinks. Truth be told, I don't even really like drinking water (though, I drink it because I need to). But I love filling up a cup with crushed ice and a little water. I love listening to the ice as it cracks, which can from time to time be more pronounced than others. I love that with crushed ice, the water fuses the individual pieces together, forming a giant iceberg-like island of icy goodness floating amid the water.

I love breathing into the cup, seeing my breath as it gets trapped between the floating mass of ice and my face. I like to think of it as it's own small island, harboring perhaps its own breed of Lilliputians. (By the way, can you believe the travesty they're turning Gulliver's Travels into?). Sometimes, I just let the ice sit there, wobbling about in the water, for these reasons. I don't like to think of the melting away of their island homes. I don't like to think of me drinking their water, their homes. I don't like to think of them as being trapped, or like they are my playthings. No, because by then, I think they're gone, just like we will one day, when the sun explodes engulfing Earth in its wake. I certainly hope that when that day comes, no one is left; just like those little ice-bound Lilliputians.

Wiseau Fridays: On Planning Too Much

Click on the player below to hear the quote from the movie:


Well, it's Friday again (already?) and that means it's time for another installment of Wiseau Fridays. I won't go into detail about The Room here, for that you can read my post about it here. Maybe one of these weeks I will give the movie a proper review or synopsis.

In this drawing, and scene of the movie, Johnny (Tommy Wiseau's character) is giving advice to Denny, his neighbor and pseudo-adopted son. I can't recall exactly the relevance, but the advice is sound, "Denny, don't plan too much; it may not come out right!" Truer words were never spoken. Okay, maybe they were, but this is seriously sound advice.

I think sometimes people plan too much, even planning so much that they don't actually, you know, live. so live a little and when you are doing things you enjoy, don't stress about other things. Pay attention! When you're shopping (grocery or present) focus on that. Don't run down a litany of things you really ought to be doing instead. We've come to this stage in our lives where the world doesn't close. Everything is open twenty-four hours a day, we're in constant communication via Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and cell phones. You get out of work at five? Not really, and especially if you are a salaried worker. Lots of times they'll even get you a cell phone to inconvenience you at all hours of the day with, yes, more work. And that means more stress. Of course where I live, in Woodbury, once nine o'clock rolls around you can't even so much as get a gallon of milk or gas.

Even so, just because some towns may be a little more low key than others, doesn't mean that we don't still have dozens of people pulling us in dozens more directions; sadly, the more people you know the more thin you're spread. Personally, I need more than a thin layer of butter on my toast.

So settle down, don't stress out over every. little. thing. It's going to be okay if you don't I promise. Besides, no matter how much you plan, sometimes, no matter how sure you are, it just doesn't turn out right. And that, my friend, is the truth.


Click the image below to purchase the movie, it'd really good and only seven dollars.

Man Cat in His Man Cat Cave

mancatcave
Originally uploaded by Uke and Germ Photography

Pastel on Paper
This is an early drawing of Man Cat in his Man Cat Cave.

Some of you may or may not know, but Man Cat is a voracious hunter. He plays many roles, but the fact is, he likes to relax just like the rest of us after a long day. Seen here, Man Cat is lounging in his plaid lumberjack smoking jacket, blue pants and comfortably furry yellow (probably dog hair) slippers.

Man Cat loves T.V. Once, he was flipping through the channels and saw a show called Dog the Bounty Hunter. Sadly, he read it a little too fast and thought it read "The Dog Bounty Hunter" (or something) and was a little disappointed to see some grizzly, dirty looking guy in leather not hunting dogs; clearly Man Cat's excitement was short lived.