The Out Takes....

Now that "Jimmy Jack Gets a New Job" is out and a second printing is in the works I thought I would post some of the images that were not used.  I did a considerable amount of drawing to get things just like I wanted-I am particular or just peculiar.  These drawings represent maybe 2nd to 3rd generations of drawings done on trace paper.  I hope you enjoy.

 My Friend Todd Ivins will enjoy the one above-inside joke.

  I loved that TV when I was a kid, circa 1972.

  Ahhhhh

 Kathleen Choe's personal FAV

  This could be used again for sure.

I really like this one as it was one of the "new jobs" Jimmy Jack was dreaming of in anticipation of the job his Pops would assign him.

Stay tuned, In late February I should have the second story about Jimmy Jack ready to go. Keep your fingers CX'd and wish me luck.

HaPpY HoLiDaYs!

Ixmas Cards

I love making my own "Ixmas Cards".  I get tons of joy out of creating them.  I have stuck to a tradition of NYC based themes.  This is one of my FAVs but aren't they AWL.

Love to draw and paint/render, whatever you want to call it.  This idea of art came from my love of the "Peanuts" Comic Strip.  At one time as a young boy I started developing a dog like Snoopy as a character.  Well days have gone by along with the years and now I have a wonderful gift of joy to spread with my book "Jimmy Jack Gets a New Job".  I am excited about the many possibilities and blessings that might come from sharing my gift with you.  

I am currently working on this years Holiday Card.  Hopefully it will arrive soon in your mailbox or on FB.  But until then, spread the "glad tidings of Joy and Peace".   

Self Promotion…..?

Okay, I am not the most outgoing person (a bit timid) and for me to go into shops on Main Street in Spring Lake and meet strangers-well it took courage.  But you know, I began to feel really good about this adventure.  Eventually I went back to see if the posters were up and most were.  Some of the Shop keepers had to ask the owner, etc.

Seeing posters in the windows of "The Village Tweed", "The Variety Store" and "Jean Louise Candies" gave me a sense of real accomplishment.  I enjoyed the experience mostly because I rode my bike and I used my acting class skills to conjure a character who fit the scenario.  The most gratifying thing is to see my talent on display for all to enjoy.  You should have seen the clerk's faces when I showed them the poster.  Their faces lit up like children when they are most happy and content.  Maybe I transported them back to a time when life was easier and they might have had a dog like "Jimmy Jack".

I guess in a way I did my good deed for the day, being a former "Life" Boy Scout.  In the end I am promoting happiness and good feelings. Assisting those to find "happy places" in their lives to reflect upon. P.T. Barnum I am not, I am just Todd-timid-Potter but sure that I am doing something good on this earth while I walk and ride it.

(A BIG Thanks to Kathleen Choe for creating the Posters and the clip below-she has been awesome and so supportive.  Hey I cannot do all this by myself!)

What do I wear?

I am working on a job out of town, Springfield Missouri.  I have been painting, and tonight building parts of my set I designed.  I reacquainted myself with sawdust and shop dirt-not to mention "shop buggers".  And I am about to run out of clothes.  I am having the dilemma that my book character "Jimmy Jack" is having; although his is due to vanity.  "What do I wear?"  I am running out of clothes and no time to wash things.  Tonight I bought some Woolite and I plan to wash all my quick-drying things tomorrow morning and hang them up.  I just don't have the time in my schedule to go to a laundry-mat. And I hate running around smelling like the shop and general dust/dirt.  

I will resort to the bathtub like I do when out of town on a ride or race.  Put my wet clothing in  a towel.  Roll it up and then twist it to squeeze out excess water.  This works great and my kits and base layers dry fast.  So, in a day I will not have a fashion crisis like "Jimmy Jack".  He is worried about his appearance on his first day of his new job.  I am concerned about looking neat and clean; not homeless.

By the way, this past Monday I sent my book; "Jimmy Jack Gets a New Job" to the printers to create a hard and soft back version.  I will check quality and color matching.  If all goes according to schedule, I should have books by mid December to sell.  I am so excited.  I have worked on this on and off for 2 years.  Cannot wait!

"Potter Speak"-You know what I am saying?

Do ever get this look from a friend or your best furry friend, like Jimmy Jack above?  Those sad eyes and look of bewilderment with a dose of "what the heck are you talking about?"  I experience these on a very regular schedule from students and colleagues.  I guess I speak a foreign language at times-"Potter speak".  My friend, another Todd (the tother-Todd) says that is "Todd being Todd."  That is all good, but I want my students and colleagues to comprehend.  It is so important in the process of communication and task accomplishments.  If you have no clear course of action how can you finish with a sense of "well done".  Frustration sets in and then you follow a path that is not true and full of detours only to arrive at your destination in an awkward way.

Well I just want you AWL to know that I am trying hard to break it down so you can get the information and go about your business.  If I don't understand something I ask and I try very hard to transpose it into my thought process and "Todd speak".  But as I tell people, "you don't want to try to understand how I think and process things.  Take what you can and then develop your own process which arrives at the same destination in the completion of a task.  The way I learned how to read a scale ruler in Stage Craft Class was so backwards, but I still could measure and read the drawings.  The scenery did not suffer.  Finally my Brother asked me what I was doing and I explained.  He said, "try this" as he rotated the scale rule to the correct side/scale.  It was, like a HUGE light bulb went off in my head.  And a feeling like, why did I not understand that in the beginning.  As they say here back east- "you know what I am saying?  You know what I mean?"  Oh and it is about 12 times in 2 minutes they say that phrase.

So next time you do understand "Todd speak", let me know and I will try to break it down in a way you can understand and feel confident.  You know what I am saying?  You know what I mean?

Your Reward Points Need to be Redeemed

Well another email today about how many reward points I am stacking up.  But yet, it takes a life-time to figure out how to cash in these rewards on items posted on a website associated with the financial institution. Why is it so hard to actually obtain the items. Find the item in very general categories, then select it, go to your "cart" and then type in the points needed.  Oh then you need to give your mailing address and choose a shipping preference. 

And, the things you want most are just a few reward points away.  So you need to spend more money to generate  those points.  Frustrating to say the least and not even worth it in the end.  As I say "going broke saving money."

Life is simple with our dog. Treats are rewards and rewards are treats.  The Pupperooni is not dumb and she knows what to do to get her cookie (low calorie and healthy) or carrot stick.  Most of the time all I say is "what do we do?" She sits down like it is a musical chair competition.  And really it is not the words she understands so much as the tone and rhythm.

I would love if getting these reward points cashed in was associated with a simple command like- sit, speak, beg and give us your user name and password to your online checking account.  Because in the end, they have their hand in your pocket-Yikes!

So the next time you or I get an email about reward points, just ignore them and spend time teaching your pet tricks-it is way more rewarding in the end.

p.s. Jimmy Jack above understands the process, which will be fully realized in the book I am about to publish.

Theater Tech is an Endurance Sport

Boy am I tired!  Some of you know I work in the "thee-ate-ore" as a Set Designer; my REAL job. Oh, side bar-that is not how you spell Theater.  But back when I was a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Central Missouri University, a student stopped and asked me how to spell Theater; they phonetically said it like "Thee + Ate + Ore".  So I guess it is "re" instead of "er".  Anyway I love to say it that way-remember I am  "T" with and "Odd".

Back to being so tired.  I thought I was "really spent" after doing 2 days of the KMC Cyclocross Festival here in Providence.  I had no idea that Theater Tech was an endurance sport.  There are no places to find recovery; no long straightways and not many down hills.  It is ALL technical stuff that keeps you on the "gas" from 8:30 am to sometimes 12:30 am.  It is a combination of physical, mental and psychological.  In this sport the "fly-overs", barriers and short steep ascents are HUGE and demand much energy.  There are no intervals that can prepare you for such an experience.  Yet each day after so little sleep I wake up and head towards to the local coffee chop to get caffeinated and some "fuel".  I am then ready to take the new "course" on again.  

I would love to be able to sleep perchance to dream like my little friend above-"Jimmy Jack". Nothing like a good rest with your favorite things and loved ones near.  I am looking forward to that "sleepy-sleeping" time next week.  My recovery plan is eat well and get hydrated.  Because in 2 more weeks I will be doing it all over again in another part of the country.  So I better get rolling today, go to the hardware store and then enter the Stage Door for another day of expending energy.  I guess I need to inform those in charge of this production that Masters 55+ Theatre is only a 45 minute race, not 14-16 hours. WE all finish on the the same lap as the leaders.  So, Mr. Potter needs to get to "Werk" and endure until I hear the bell for "one to go".