by Marty Coleman | Oct 31, 2010 | Sketchbook History Tour |
Welcome to 1988. We are still living in San Jose, California. All three of our kids are born and growing. I have started to draw a fantasy series in my sketchbook of various creatures in the act of worshipping other bizarre creatures.
Bet you didn’t know there was a God of People with their Thumbs on Wrong, did you? If you are an artist like me who sometimes forgets which ways thumbs go on hands, having Glurg around is very helpful. Makes me feel less guilty.
People find the help they need. Saint Mesh helps things run smoothly
Beware if the God you worship looks a lot like you.
Drawing © 2016 Marty Coleman | Napkindad.com
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 30, 2010 | Art, Pablo Picasso |
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A vintage napkin from 2002 that I put in my daughters’ lunches to bring to school.
Saying no to your child, making them feel embarrassed by their individuality, stifling their stream of consciousness in thought and play. Those will suck the artist out of any child before you know it.
Don’t let that happen.
Help them let their creativity out, don’t stifle it.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Pable Ruiz Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish artist. His baptismal name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 29, 2010 | Anonymous, Stress - 2010 |
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Day #5 of ‘Stress Week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily and it’s a piece of cake!
Clinical studies have shown that 9 out of 10 people who start to eat dessert are less stressed than before they started eating. I don’t know where the clinic is that did that study, probably in the home town of Betty Crocker, but who cares. Eat dessert, live longer.
By the way, it wasn’t long ago that I used this quote on a napkin. I usually don’t do that, but I was out a coffee house being photographed for a magazine article. I knew they wanted to have pics of me drawing so I brought my markers and napkins, but forgot a quote book. So, I just started with a ‘stress’ quote off the top of my head. I liked the cake I drew so I thought I would just continue on with it and make it my day #5 napkin!
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by who knows.
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 28, 2010 | Marcus Aurelius, Stress - 2010 |
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Don’t forget to VOTE for The Napkin Dad in the ‘aha moment’ project. Deadline is Oct. 31st so don’t delay.
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It’s stressful coming to the end of ‘Stress Week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily!
I remember arguing with my wife about something she was worried about, afraid might happen. I was trying to argue rationally, giving her all the reasons not to worry. She finally had to stop me and say, ‘MARTY, it’s not a rational FEAR, you can’t argue it away with rational arguments!’
So, if your fear, stress, worry, anger, etc. is irrational, you must be irrational in your response to it, right? Oh, heck if I know. But…
It’s only a spider.
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Drawing and irrational commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by my favorite Roman Emperor. Can you guess who that is?
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 27, 2010 | Stress - 2010, Thomas Carlyle |
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The pressure is on during ‘stress week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily!
Stress is bad. Stress is pressure that has no outlet, no direction. But pressure can be a good thing. What’s good about pressure? Pressure creates motivation. Motivation creates action. Action creates growth and results. The key is to take action.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881, Scottish writer
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 26, 2010 | Bertrand Russell |
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I am not stressed over doing a ‘stress week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily.
If this is you, think of this. Imagine you are getting ready for a big holiday. You are stressing out because YOU are in charge of it all. EVERYTHING depends on you for the dinner, the event, the guests, the EVERYTHING. No one else can do it, will do it, could do it, knows how to do it, wants to do it. You are the ONLY one!
Then imagine this scenario. Out of the blue, you HAVE to fly off to a very important event for your company in Fiji. You can’t miss it, you can’t get out of it, you can’t reschedule it. It falls right over the entire holiday week.
What do you think is happening back at home during that holiday? Is nothing getting done? Is there no meal, no presents, no events, no transportation, no planning? Did everyone just sit at home and cancel plans because you weren’t there?
No, the truth is that that holiday went on. It was different with you not there, it might have been a bit less organized. But maybe it was also less stressful. Your work, though appreciated, was not so absolutely essential to that celebration that the event ceased to exist just because you ceased to be there.
You are needed in this world, but you aren’t so needed and essential that the world ceases to exist if you are gone. Reduce your stress by realizing you are just one person and the rest of the world is functioning along side you, you are not alone.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, British philosopher
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 25, 2010 | Anonymous, Stress - 2010 |
Don’t freak out, but it’s ‘stress week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily
‘What’s below’ means what is happening in your body and your mind that isn’t obvious. You feel stress the same way you can feel an ankle sprain. But there are also elements of stress you can’t feel. Your stressed body is weakened, easier to get sick. Your stressed mind is cognitively vulnerable and it is easy to lose track of what is important.
Really think through what is essential in the here and now. Let the rest go. You will either come back to it when it is a better time, or it will pass and prove to have not been that important in the first place.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“Stress is like an iceberg. We see 1/8 of it above, but what about what’s below?” – Anonymous
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 24, 2010 | Rebekah Coleman, Sketchbook History Tour |
Rebekah, our oldest daughter, was born with ‘double elevator palsy’ in one of her eyes. What that meant was that the muscles on the top of her eyeball weren’t strong enough to allow her to lift her eye up to the same degree as her ‘good’ eye.
She spent almost 9 years wearing a patch regularly on her good eye so that her ‘bad’ eye would remain strong. We would have her play video games with the patch on to help this along. As a result she is now not only a neuroscientist getting her Ph.D. but a wickedly good video game player!
This was drawn in the offices of Dr. Jompolsky in San Francisco, 1987.
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 23, 2010 | Winston Churchill |
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Vintage napkin from 2004, drawn for my daughter and put in her lunch.
Since this has been ‘rights week’ I thought a vintage napkin that was on that same theme would be appropriate. Idealism is a good thing. Intolerance in the name of idealism isn’t idealism at all. It’s prejudice and ignorance, bigotry and fear, stupidity and hate disguised as idealism.
Those who practice that version of idealism are to be avoided, as should their brand.
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 23, 2010 | Texas, Travel Napkins, Waco |
I am down in Waco, Texas at the Baylor University homecoming. Our daughter, Caitlin, is a typical sleep-deprived, coffee-infused college student. Not enough time, too many obligations. Everything is hard and will end in certain disaster. Except it never does.
I really think college is much less about learning stuff and much more about learning yourself and your limits, and how many times you can go over that limit and still survive. So far, so good for Caitlin.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 21, 2010 | Are Your Rights Right? - 2010, John Wooden |
Day #3 of ‘Rights Weeks’ at The Napkin Dad Daily
I didn’t mean to start a series on rights this week. That’s why the series didn’t start until Tuesday. But after I did one and Wednesday rolled around with it’s purple push against bullying it naturally made me think more along those lines.
Here’s the thing about rights. True wisdom in morality and ethics is all about them. Knowing when you have them, when you don’t. When you can give them up and when you can’t. When you should give them up and when you shouldn’t. When to demand them, when to persuade them. When something, or someone, is more important than them, and when they are not.
I love this quote because it puts the other person in the forefront no matter what. That is the ultimate right, to choose our course of action. And the best course of action, just in case you are ever in doubt, is to always love the person in front of you.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by John Wooden, 1910-2010, UCLA Basketball Coach
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 20, 2010 | Are Your Rights Right? - 2010, Robert Ingersoll |
Being purple today means you accept all people of any and multiple colors every day. Not just color of skin, but color of mind, heart, desire and body.
Give yourself over to celebrating those people who are not like you. Who wear clothes you would never wear, who say things in ways you would never say them, who think about the world in ways you hadn’t thought of.
Instead of judging people today, just enjoy them.
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Drawing and Commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Robert Ingersoll, 1833-1899, American orator. One of the most well known social and political leaders of the 19th century.
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 19, 2010 | Are Your Rights Right? - 2010, Harry Weinberger |
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But are we free to command obedience to that ‘wrong’ from others in politics, society, religion? No, we are not.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Harry Weinberger, 1924-2009, German-born British artist
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 18, 2010 | aha moment, Anonymous |
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I am a FINALIST! You can vote for me again at AHA MOMENT. The top 10 will become national TV ads in 2011.
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I take WAY to long to get things done. I talk more than I do. Ironically, the fence I built last year was one of the quickest projects I ever completed. Had it all done in 10 days, working every day but one on it. Now if I could just do that with the guttering and a zillion other things on my to do list!
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Anonymous
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 17, 2010 | Uncategorized |
>I like my 1986 sketchbook so much I am posting 3 drawings from it.
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| Three Women Discussing the End of the American Empire |
This was drawn at the bar at Eulipia Restaurant in San Jose, California where I worked. The woman on the left was later divorced by the chef. The woman in the middle had a cool 80s hairdo, and the woman on the right had strong wrinkles that I liked quite a bit.
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| A Christian Coveting |
This is Susan Brown. I don’t remember her, but it say her name on the back of the drawing. We were at a friend’s house when I drew her. I think I added the gloves. And I don’t think she really was coveting me. I just got that vibe from the angle of her pose. I remember thinking she had great nostrils.
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| April Dancing |
And finally, what is probably the best gesture drawing I have ever done. It was in a figure drawing class I was teaching and I had told the clothed model to dance. The students’ task was to capture the feel of the dance. This was drawn as a demonstration while they watched.
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Drawings by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 15, 2010 | Memory - 2010, Venice |
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I am almost positive this is the last day of ‘Memory Week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily
I am not a big regret guy. But I do regret some things I did. I regret not treating my first wife better. I regret not working harder as an artist. But truly most of my regrets are about the things I didn’t do. Usually from lack of courage.
My daughters and I went to Europe in 2003, before I met Linda, my wife. We spent a few days in Venice, Italy and one evening we took a long water taxi ride. During the ride I went out back, away from my daughters, and met a couple with a third person. The third person was a attractive woman who was suppose to come with someone else but that person had bowed out at the last moment and as a result she obviously felt like a third wheel. She was funny, cute and endearing and I liked talking with her a great deal.
We had a very nice, animated conversation about all sorts of things; what we did, how we liked Europe, etc. They were going to a certain restaurant for dinner, we were going elsewhere. But the woman mentioned that after dinner she didn’t know what she was going to do. She didn’t want to hang out with the couple the entire time, wanting to give them some ‘alone’ time in the romantic environment.
I told her I wasn’t sure what we were going to do either. We continued to talk about this and that and then it was our stop to get off. I knew where she was going to dinner, and where she was staying. We got off, went to dinner and then walked around a bit until we went back to our B & B. It was an enjoyable evening.
But to this day, I regret not having made plans with that woman to meet up after our dinners and take a walk around Venice. I regret not telling my grown daughters I was going to take off for an hour or so after we got back to the B & B, and go and find the woman to take that walk. I don’t imagine a great love affair, I only imagine a nice walk with a new friend who I wanted to spend more time with.
Funny too, in the absence of actually having that memory, I have an imagined memory about what would have happened.
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Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Sydney J. Harris, 1917-1986, American Journalist
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 14, 2010 | aha moment |
>Hi Everyone!
As some of you who read my blog know, I am in the running to be one of Mutual of Omaha’s ‘aha moment’ ads in 2011. I was interviewed this summer during their 25 city tour and have become a semi-finalist. I am one of 75 in the running. The top 25 will go on to the next round and the top 10 in that round will be the 2011 ads broadcast on national TV. I would love your vote if you are so inclined! I would also love it if you would forward this email, post the link on Facebook, Twitter, or any other cyber place you can think of.
http://www.ahamoment.com/vote/marty
The deadline for this round is tomorrow (Oct. 15th) You are able to vote once per computer so if you have access to more than one, feel free to vote again and again!
Thanks so much,
Marty Coleman, The Napkin Dad
MAKE Studio | Marty Coleman
918.291.2404 – home | studio
918.760.0581 – cell
https://www.napkindad.com
napkindad@martycoleman.com
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 14, 2010 | Francois de La Rochefoucauld, Memory - 2010 |
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I can’t remember if I told you this, but it’s ‘Memory Week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily
I have great stories from my life and I like to tell them. So, as a service to mankind and to help you avoid the problem mentioned in the napkin today, I have this suggestion; if you happen to hear one of my stories twice think of it as seeing a rerun of your favorite TV show during the summer. See, wasn’t that easy?
My father, who is 92, is sharp as a tack mentally. For about 2 minutes. Then he forgets what I have told him and asks again how the family is doing; daughters, wife, etc. I will recount for him what I had just told him and about the 2nd or 3rd time it pretty much sinks in and he is up to date on things, for a while.
We should all have someone like that at our disposal so we can tell our stories as many times as we want and not worry about having told it before!
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Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily (I repeat this line EVERY DAY, have you noticed that?)
Quote by François duc de La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680, French writer
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| Snappy Dresser |
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 13, 2010 | Memory - 2010 |
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I have nostalgia for ‘memory week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily and it’s not even over yet!
I am wary of nostalgia. I think about the inclinations so many people have to think back on the ‘good old days’. They have what I think is a glossy hollywood version of the past in their minds.
They may have had a perfect upbringing, but the person who says ‘when I was young….yada yada yada’, who sends out chain email extolling the grand virtues of their self-reliant generation, who recount the idyllic American life they lived is being seduced by nostalgia.
They forget that:
- Their African-American friends, if they had any, couldn’t sit on the bus with them.
- Their mothers didn’t get anywhere near equal pay for equal work.
- Their father was not given any rights when their parents got divorced.
- Their brother was shipped off to Vietnam.
- Their sister overdosed on drugs.
- The Jewish kid down the street was called a Jesus killer.
- The Mexican kid at school was called a wetback.
- Their effeminate cousin was bullied mercilessly at school and his father disowned him.
- *Some of these things unfortunately still go on, and when they happen today we hopefully recognize it as negative.
Don’t be fooled by looking backwards with rose colored glasses. Each generation has its triumphs and burdens. Each generation has its shame and its glory.
Even the greatest generation had its weaknesses.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by George W. Ball, 1909-1994, American Diplomat
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 12, 2010 | Memory - 2010, Michel de Montaigne |
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Late yesterday I think I remembered that I hadn’t ever done a series on Memory yet.
A statement of logic and heart:
1. Most of the memories I can’t forget are about things I regret.
2. For every regret, there is a lesson learned.
3. I don’t mind remembering a lesson learned.
Thus: I don’t want to forget that which I regret.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
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| Quote by Michel de Montaigne, 1533-1592, French Essayist and statesman |
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 11, 2010 | Memory - 2010, Persia, Persian Proverbs |
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I am trying to remember if I have done a series on memory yet.
I have had some relationships over my life with people who have had long memories for slights and injuries. I know this because as I got to know them I found out all the places we couldn’t go and things we couldn’t do. We couldn’t go to this restaurant because a former boyfriend and she had gotten in a fight there. We couldn’t watch this old movie because it reminded her of a really bad experience she had as a child. I wasn’t suppose to call her by a certain pet name because her mean older brother had called her that. I couldn’t cook with this vegetable because she was forced to eat it as a child and now despised it. Something I said 15 years prior got brought up in an argument.
It can be endearing in a cute way, a little quirky element in the relationship. But it also can lead to having nothing but those negative attachments. If you want to be free to experience the positive, you can’t have your memory bank filled up with only negatives.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote is a Persian proverb
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| Persian empire around 500 BCE under the reign of King Darius |
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 10, 2010 | Sketchbook History Tour |
Look what I found! The first example of my amazing aptitude for drawing on napkins, haha.
In 1985 I was working as a waiter/manager at Eulipia Restaurant in San Jose, California. I had just graduated from San Jose State University with my M.F.A. and was in my first year of teaching part-time at the college level.
I don’t know who the top two people are, probably a depressed patron and a waitress. The bottom image is of Angelique. I spelled her name ‘Angeleak’ because I had recently completed a large charcoal drawing of her in which I included a visual pun on her name ‘angel + leak’.
Here is that drawing.
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| Woman with a Dream of her Mother, 1985 |
Here is a close up of the pun.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 8, 2010 | Fame, James Howell |
Day #5 of ‘Fame Week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily
What are you famous for? Fame at the average person’s level is fame among family, friends, co-workers. If those who know you were asked ‘what is ‘your name here’ famous for?’ What do you think they would say? At work, are you famous for your patience? Are you well-known for your sales ability? Is your reputation all about you being able to get things done fast?
What you are known for is your fame.
Another way of looking at this is ‘what is your brand?’ Your personal brand identity is really nothing more than your reputation. The key of course is that once you have built your identity and have a reputation for something, to not lose it. You see it all the time in businesses and personal lives. People say they are intellectual because they read deep books in college, but that was 25 years ago and they haven’t explored things intellectually since. The restaurant that has the great reputation, but now is mediocre and uncaring about the product.
Make sure you are being who you said you were years ago. Make sure you maintain your brand, your identity, otherwise it will catch up to you while you are sleeping.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by James Howell, 1594-1666, British historian and writer
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 7, 2010 | Fame, John Keats |
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Day #4 of ‘Fame Week’ at the Napkin Dad Daily
Have you ever witnessed (or maybe have been in the midst of it yourself) someone who is so desperate for something you just know it is going to slip between their fingers. It might be a relationship, a job, money, or fame. But whatever it is, you almost get the feeling there is a cruel joke being played. The person who wants it the most is not going to get it.
I watched an episode of the TV show Survivor last night. And in the episode there was one man who was seeking to be made the leader. He kept asking for a chance to be leader. He begged to be made leader. And the more he begged, the more people saw him as being too desperate and not likely to be a good leader. The very act of communicating his desire so fervently was the deciding factor in the other people not wanting to help fulfill that desire. He was not made leader. He was voted off the island instead.
Whether you become famous or not, in the end you will still be living with yourself day to day, every day. If you aren’t happy with that person, then being known world-wide is not going to help you. Being confident inside yourself of your own worth and ability is the most secure way to deal with whatever happens, fame or obscurity.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by John Keats, 1795-1821, English Romantic poet
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Oh, and don’t forget to vote for The Napkin Dad at the aha moment campaign. It will make me famous, I am sure.
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 6, 2010 | Cato the Elder, Death - 2001-2011, Fame |
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Day #3 of ‘Fame Week’ on The Napkin Dad Daily
We have time travelled backward from yesterday, this quote is by Cato the Elder, who lived right smack dab in between Marcus Aurelius and Socrates.
Cato was a bit of an over achiever. He was a diplomat, politician, historian and a farmer. He had seen many a monument to people whom he, no doubt, felt were unworthy of the honor but for their station and influence in life.
His point is simple. Better to let people say you should be more famous than to say you are not worthy of the fame you have.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Cato the Elder, Roman Renaissance man (before the Renaissance), 234 BCE – 149 BCE
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