Totally Tubular TWOsday!!

Well I'm in a giddy mood, if you can't tell by the title of this post...first I want to send a HUGE interwebbish THANK YOU to everyone who's been reading my blog posts. Thank you so, so much!! When I started blogging I thought, "This is silly, no one cares what I have to say and no one is going to even realize my blog exists," but according to my view counts, you do! And I promise (I really do) that I'm going to upload some new artwork to my Portfolio and I'm going to get the Etsy shop up and running (give me one more week, I promise!) And please feel free to share my blog on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, website, etc. Thanks again!! :)

Alright, so what else is motivating and inspiring me this week? I've got two things for you: MOVIES!! (Ok, yeah, I realize that's only one topic and technically there's a billion more than just two movies in existence, but I've become very inspired by two movies that I've recently seen):

1) The Hobbit (© 2012, New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, et al).

Peter Jackson has really outdone himself; this movie is so visually stunning...if you were to pause it at any given moment, it would look like a publicity still. I love the color palette, the lighting, the soundtrack, the action, the ability to adapt a movie so closely to the original book...it's just amazing! I've seen it twice now, and I'm completely blown away by it.  If you haven't seen "The Hobbit" yet, what on earth are you waiting for? Go see it...now...I highly recommend it! (Side note: now I want a hedgehog named Sebastian, he's so adorable! And I've even been called a hobbit--due to my big feet and short stature). Not only am I inspired by every aspect of this film, but now I'm motivated to create some colorful sketches. If you've noticed, my previous freehand sketches have been, well, for lack of a better term, gray. So expect to see some colorful drawings in my Freehand Friday post later this week.

2) Movie 43 (© 2013, Relativity Media, Virgin Produced, GreeneStreet Films, et al). 

Holy Lord! Talk about non-stop, inappropriate, completely politically UNcorrect, adult humor...I loved it!! This movie has to be my favorite of 2013; and yes, it's still only January. If you don't know anything about this movie, let me give you a little synopsis: So this all-star cast movie opens with Dennis Quaid's character trying to pitch a script to Greg Kinnear's character. The script Quaid's trying to sell is made up of several shorts dealing with some of the most raunchy and comedic topics thrown together in one hour and thirty-seven minutes...and it works!! If you're easily offended, you might be wound a little too tight, and you might want to steer clear of this movie. But if you have a sense of humor, you'll enjoy it...I highly recommend this one!

Now, for my bout of inspiration from Movie 43: I've worked in retail for the past 13 years (both full-time and part-time; morning, evening, and double shifts). I've dealt with all kinds of forms of crazy, funny, weird, and awkward situations, not just from customers, but from fellow staff as well. Last night, I went to see Movie 43 with a friend that I've worked many a-year in retail with (about 7 or 8 years total) and as soon as the movie was over, I brought up how I should make a movie based on my retail experience, showing little clips of "incidents" that have happened in the last 13 years. My friend and I spent about forty minutes sharing hilarious stories from the store. After nearly sending myself into an asthma attack and dying of laughter, I thought, "Huh...wouldn't it be funny if I wrote all these stories down and put them into a book or script format?" So now I'm motivated to do just that...who knows, maybe somebody will make "my life in retail" into a movie one day...well, I can dream, can't I? (Once I get some of these stories written down, I might even share some on here for your reading enjoyment...and yes, it's retail, so it's definitely funny and wildly inappropriate in most cases. Best thing about these stories, I couldn't make them up if I tried!)

Wacky Wednesday

It's surely been a wacky Wednesday for me. Most everything's cracked me up for some reason, and what hasn't cracked me up has terrified me. Sounds wacky, huh? Let me explain...

So the day started off with me running late; rushing to make it to work on time (I need an alarm clock with an extendable hammer to make me up)! And for no apparent reason, as I sped frantically down the interstate, I happened to look over at the driver next to me and this guy is belting--I mean BELTING--out an unidentifiable song. He had his head back, eyes half-closed, fist in the air, and with a mighty passion he was screaming the lyrics to a song I couldn't even begin to guess at. While I can't condone this frantic, wild display of one's vocal ability while driving, I couldn't help but laugh. Then I looked up at the vehicles in front of me and saw nothing but brake lights..."Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" I screamed, like a small girl trapped in a closet of clowns. Thankfully, I was able to slow down in a safe and orderly manner, but nonetheless, I had to retrieve my heart from the floor boards of my car, where it had fell in an attempt to save itself.

Throughout the day at work, I had to recover from several bouts of laughter that led to numerous mini asthma attacks. And just as I thought I'd make it out of work without yelping like a terrified elephant noticing a mouse in its path, a giant--no, that doesn't pack the level of terror I need to convey--a GARGANTUAN spider dropped from the heavens onto my nose as I meandered down the hallway. You think cats can jump when they get spooked? Dear Barbara! I clung to the ceiling like Spider-Man for a full fifteen minutes while I, yet again, watched my poor little heart escape and plummet to its demise on the linoleum floor below. Thinking surely that would be all anyone could possibly handle in one day, my heart's 563 bpm slowed to a normal 60 bpm and I cautiously pulled my claw-like fingernails out of the ceiling tiles and ventured home to do some much needed present wrapping.

Arriving home, I had almost forgotten the bipolar mix of events of the day as I was greeted by my roommate's two energetic pups. Knowing that I'm running out of time to get all these mah'velous gifts wrapped, I feverishly slung tissue paper, wrapping paper, scissors, gift bags, tape, and recently purchased merchandise into the air repeatedly until each piece landed beautifully in place as perfectly displayed presents (...too much? Yeah, maybe I embellished that a bit...maybe). Deciding to take a break to cure my latest episode of carb-craving, I went into the living room and was immediately distracted by the playful antics of the pups. I was sitting on the couch texting and apparently not paying enough attention to the pups because all of a sudden I realized I was not alone on the couch. I slowly looked up as I felt something on my right shoulder and that's when I saw the littlest pup out of the corner of my eye. I don't know why, but I gasped loudly which made li'l pup screech in terror and fly--yes, literally, fly--about four feet straight up and backwards, then she turned in mid-air and took off across the invisible ramp down the hall. After I realized what happened and shared a painful look of embarrassment with li'l pup, I was stricken by another laughing fit. Three mildly serous asthma attacks later, I still can't help but laugh.

As you can see, there's nothing "simple" in my life, I operate daily by a measure of extremes...livin' on the edge, you know? But that got me thinking about how wacky my brain's wired. Then I remembered a picture I had taken earlier today of my desk and using that picture as a metaphor for life--my life, anyway--all I could think to describe it, is "wacky."