The Moment A Child Is Born

by | Apr 18, 2011 | Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Mother's Day - 2011 | 0 comments

It’s going to be a MOTHER of a week!



I like this quote. Made me think about motherhood in a whole new way.  The whole idea that a mother becomes this new creature, just as her child does when it is born, is a wonderful way to look at it, don’t you think?

Drawing © 2026 by Marty Coleman 

Quote is by me, a variation on one by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

Sunday in Sunrise – Prologue

by | Apr 17, 2011 | Marty Coleman, Sunday in Sunrise - A short story | 0 comments

SUNDAY IN SUNRISE – A Short Story

Prologue

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapters Ten & Eleven

Epilogue

Prologue

I am not quite sure how I ended up in Sunrise.  I can tell you the steps I took to get to here, but I wouldn’t be able to show you the path.  Sunrise, Oklahoma is a pretty small town, maybe about 2,000 people.  Some were raised here, but most found their way here the same way I did, unexpectedly.

I don’t know all that many people in Sunrise.  There’s the guy I keep running into at the post office.  I don’t know what he does but he’s friendly and wears an orange vest.  He always thinks he knows me from somewhere, but he doesn’t.  I know the person at the counter at the Post Office as well.  I know her because I have to bring mail that was put in my box by mistake back to her. I usually have to do this 3 or 4 times for the same letter before it ceases to appear again.  She seems a bit hassled at times, but I get the sense that it’s because she has this need to do a really good job.

People ask me why the town is named Sunrise.  There are stories that have been told; convoluted stories about colorful bank robbers in the 1910’s, an oil find in the 1920’s and even farther back, a mysterious Indian settlement in the 1890’s.  They all have some explanation for why this spot was named Sunrise.  But as with many great stories, they only point to the obvious, whether they are true or not.  The truth is it’s named Sunrise because of the sunrise.  The most beautiful, exquisite sunrises you have ever, or will ever see, come up each morning in Sunrise, Oklahoma.

Something small happens every day in Sunrise; very small things, very unimportant things.  That is how most people in town view what it is they do each day. Some, the oldest and youngest adults, can, on occasion, feel a bit of regret at not having gone away to do big things, but they don’t obsess about it.  If they were the type to obsess, they didn’t stay in Sunrise much longer than their 18th birthday.  Those that stayed were happy with their lives, the smallness giving them comfort and security.


© 2011 Marty Coleman
Sunrise while a death occurs

When A Man Is Wrapped In Himself

by | Apr 15, 2011 | John Ruskin | 0 comments

EGO AND THE UNIVERSE
 
I blew it today. I forgot the word ‘up’ in the quote.  I was going to start over, but then I read it a few times and thought it is perhaps even more apropos without the ‘up’ since it applies to more people.  I don’t see myself as obsessed with self and I bet you don’t see yourself that way either.  But nonetheless I often find myself unaware or unconcerned about things outside myself.  It makes me small when I am unaware and unconcerned, whether it’s about the neighboring field or the neighboring galaxy.  It also makes me ineffective.
 
As I was finding this quote about our egos and our place in the universe this morning I happened upon a time-lapse photography video that illustrated the same thing.  Thanks to Leesa Parker for posting it on Facebook.
 
 

 

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily

Quote by John Ruskin, 1819-1900,  English art critic

One year ago today at the Napkin Dad Daily – The Wrong Way Is Endless

Clothes Make The Man (or woman)

by | Apr 13, 2011 | Mark Twain | 0 comments

clothes make the man
Clothes make the man or woman shirt
Clothes make the man T-shirt by The Napkin Dad
(says ‘or WOMAN’ on the back)
CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN (OR WOMAN)

Mark Twain wrote this long before photos of naked people were the main traffic on the internet.  But even now, a bit of clothes influences more than no clothes.  

Men or women, do you think your clothes have influenced the direction or success of your life, or the society around you over the years?

Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily

Quote by Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American author and humorist
One year ago today at the Napkin Dad Daily – Ideas do not mature, only our courage to think them does.

Banquet of Consequences

by | Apr 12, 2011 | Robert Louis Stevenson | 0 comments


BANQUET OF CONSEQUENCES


You can call it Karma, you can call it the Golden Rule, you can even call it late for dinner, but it will be on your plate eventually.  

We usually think of consequences as something negative that happens. And there is truth in that. As mentioned yesterday, a bad and mean-spirited attitude towards life not only makes the present miserable for yourself and others, but you are also more likely to die earlier, much earlier, than someone with a positive attitude.

But it’s also true that there are good consequences.  Feeling and acting on the virtues of love, kindness, mercy, compassion, fortitude, perseverance, sympathy, discipline, giving, and more return good consequences.

I am not saying life is fair and if you are ‘nice’, only nice things will happen to you. That is not true. But if you are ‘nice’ then no matter WHAT happens to you, you always get to be with a nice person.  You always get to have that love, kindness and caring inside yourself.  That’s a pretty good consequence to your behavior if you ask me.

Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman

Quote by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894, Scottish author

Life is the Art of Drawing Without an Eraser

by | Apr 11, 2011 | John W. Gardner | 0 comments

I heard a report about aging today in which they discussed a survey and follow up that was done on people in their 50s.  Here is just a bit of that report by Dr. Mark Lachs, a gerontologist:
My colleague Becca Levy, a professor of epidemiology and psychology at the Yale School of Public Health, has studied the longevity of people in their 50s as a function of their perceptions about aging.

She asked if they agreed with statements like, “Things keep getting worse as I get older,” and, “As you get older you are less useful.” Even after she controlled for their medical conditions, subjects who agreed with ideas like these died on average 7 1/2 years sooner than their glass-half-full counterparts.

The rest of the report had one overarching conclusion. The people who lived the longest AND were the happiest, were those who were able to bounce back from stress. It’s what they called ‘adaptive competence’.

  • Are you able to recover and move on from stress or does it stay with you? 
  • Do you hold onto slights, hurts, betrayals, setbacks, mistakes and never let them go?  
  • Do you fret all the time about ‘what if’?    
  • Are you still pissed off that you don’t have an eraser?
  • Is it serving you well to be that way?

You can listen to or read the entire NPR report on adaptive competence here.

Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman 

Quote by John W. Gardner, 1912 – 2002, Secretary of  the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Founder of Common Cause,  recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Horse Sense

by | Apr 8, 2011 | W. C. Fields | 0 comments
I like horse racing, even though I have barely ever gone to the track.  When I was a kid my Uncle Bunny (born on Easter, thus the name) was a harness racer at the Del Mar Racetrack just north of San Diego. Even though I don’t remember it now, we would go out there and watch him practice once in a while.  

The most fun I ever had at the track was in 2008 when we visited Del Mar, California for my dad’s 90th birthday party.  We rented a house on the beach in Del Mar that just happened to be walking distance to the track. The opening day fell while we were there. It has a great reputation as being a fantastic people watching spot on opening day. A lot of crazy outfits, especially women’s hats! We indulged and went to it. 

We didn’t have much horse sense while wagering, but it didn’t matter, it was great fun.

Here are a few pics of that day.
This woman’s hat definitely felt like it had been collected
and made in a fairy meadow by little gnomes and elves.
Her voice and manner matched that feeling as well.
Caitlin tries her hand at hat posing.
The horses do a big parade into the track with hundreds of people at the
fence watching and judging their look to see if they might win the race.
I won the first race I betted on, then none others.
And finally, I have to tell the story of the day.  As some of you might know, I like taking photos of backs, especially if they have interesting tattoos on them. As we walked to the track that day this woman was walking in front of us. I saw her little back tattoo and when we caught up with her I  tapped her on the shoulder and asked her if I could take a photo of her tattoo.  She said of course and turned to face me.  While I was expecting to take a photo of the tattoo on her back, the one on her front made me, my wife and my daughters drop our jaw.  Take a look below.
Her back tattoo, the one I saw and wanted to photograph.
And here is the one we saw when she turned around!
This is definitely one of the all time most original
and unique tattoos I have ever seen.

Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily


Quote by W. C. Fields, 1880-1946, American comedian and movie star

One year ago today at The Napkin Dad Daily –
Shared Joy is Double Joy, Shared Sorrow is Half a Sorrow

The Power of Your Thinking About Power

by | Apr 7, 2011 | Alice Walker | 0 comments

ALCOHOLISM AND POWER
 
When I was young both my parents drank to excess frequently. Fueled more often than not by alcohol, there would be massive arguments with ranting, screaming, stomping, door slamming, etc. 
 
I used what power I had to escape into my room, my headphones, my car and other people’s houses.  But eventually my power was in standing up to my parents, as did my sister.  It didn’t cause them to make some grand transformation (that took a major catastrophe).  But it wasn’t about us changing them. It was about us changing our response to them.  We took hold of the power to state what we felt.  It took a lot of courage for us both to do it, but we did.
 
I also had the power to move away, which I did.  The post yesterday showed the miles I moved to go to various schools. They were all far away from my parents.  I didn’t hate my parents, I just didn’t want to be around that dynamic if I could help it. That was my way of exercising my power.
 
That is the thing about power. You don’t just take it and then always have it. You have to take it and implement it again and again and again.  You have to be constantly reminded that it is yours for the taking. But first you have to know you have it.
 
The catastrophe I mentioned?  My mother having a brain hemorrhage and spending 6 months in the hospital and another 3 months in an alcohol rehabilitation facility after that.  That, along with me being blown up in a boat explosion and almost dying during that same time, jolted my family out of many of those habits.  
 
From that moment on they took the power they didn’t know they had and changed their lives.  My mother and father both quit drinking. My father reduced his anger level dramatically.  And best of all they were able to be much better parents, especially for my younger sister, who was only 9 years old when all that went down. 
 
 
Drawing and commentary © 2025 by Marty Coleman 
 
Quote by Alice Walker, 1944 – not dead yet, African-American poet and novelist
 

Risk Taking

by | Apr 6, 2011 | Tim McMahon | 0 comments

RISK TAKING
 
Have you ever had a child leave home?  This is what my parents witnessed when I left home.
  • 714 miles away to college: FAIL
  • 909 miles away to another college: FAIL
  • 3,084 miles to yet another college: SUCCESS
  • 2,405 miles to graduate school: FAIL
  • 2,435 miles to another graduate school: SUCCESS
And that was just the first decade after high school.  What I gathered in education, wisdom, friendships, experiences and love were more than worth the failures that came upon me, whether of my own doing or due to circumstances beyond my control.  And my parent’s knew that would be the case.
 
Now, this is what I have witnessed as a parent myself.
  • My first daughter went 1,282 miles
  • My second daughter went 1,077 miles
  • My third daughter went 1,726 miles
  • My fourth daughter went 356 miles
And that was just their first move away from home. Most of them have moved many more times over many more miles since then.  They have had their share of failures and successes as well.  
 
I am obviously not one to tell my offspring to not take risks.  But don’t think a mistaken thought here, I worry over what is happening to them, whether they are having successes or failures and how I might be able to help them, no matter the distance.  But I also know, just as my parents did, that if they are to continue to become the strong, wise and joyful women I see them becoming, then they have to go down the path of risk.
 
Risk: It’s the only way to become who you want to become.
 
 
Drawing and commentary © 2025 by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
 
Quote by Tim McMahon

The Sacrifice of Understanding: What Volcano?

by | Apr 5, 2011 | Upton Sinclair | 0 comments

THE SACRIFICE OF UNDERSTANDING
Whether it’s religion,  governing,  corporate life,  science,  academia, war or any other area where people have their livelihood at stake, truth and understanding can often be shunted aside.  
 
The need to protect what one has is great and it can be a noble thing. But, when you are willing to sacrifice understanding true evidence that comes before you, in the name of protecting your little bit of turf, then something dangerous can happen.
 
People can rationalize any falsehood and avoid any truth when they have great fear.
 
What volcano?