by Marty Coleman | Jan 4, 2011 | Stupidity - 2001-2011, William Gaddis |
One of my pet peeves is the deliberate bragging about one’s own flaws or shortcomings. You know, the ‘I am terrible at math’ type comments. They can imprison you in an identity you don’t want or need.
As a drawing instructor I often had new students sheepishly come into the first day of class with head bowed and voice low. The student would say ‘I am not sure you can help me, I can’t even draw a good stick figure’.
My response was: ‘OF COURSE YOU SUCK AT DRAWING, YOU HAVEN’T LEARNED HOW YET!’ You wouldn’t go into a piano lesson with that attitude, would you? You don’t assume you should know how to play a piano. It’s a big honkin’ mess of wires, wood and metal and well, DUH, why would you think you should know how to master that thing without some training. How is drawing any different? You have an instrument you have to master in drawing as well.’
At that point I would stop and raise my closed fist. I would slowly poke my finger into the bottom of the fist and out of the top would come a very small pencil for all to see.
‘THAT is your instrument to master if you are learning to draw.’ I would say to them. Then I would proceed to teach them about that pencil.
What are you consciously or unconsciously cultivating to keep yourself ignorant? No offense, but whatever it is, it’s stupid.
© 2025 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
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by Marty Coleman | Jan 3, 2011 | Stupidity - 2001-2011, Voltaire |
Welcome to Stupidity, my first series of 2011! In honor of all you returning to work after the holidays, I thought you might need some classic quote therapy to help you navigate among your co-workers.
Over the holidays our extended family took a long walk along the Arkansas River. We took our 2 dogs with us. We passed a jungle gym play area with a curvy slide and I thought it would be fun to slide wiggle dog down it. I attempted said maneuver but wiggle dog wasn’t happy with this idea and instead of going down the curvy slide, jumped over the edge of it down to the sand below. Wiggle dog got up, favoring one paw. I was worried she had broken something. But she was alright.
My wife and daughter (and others) saw stupidity in action. They weren’t happy to see it. I apologized to wiggle dog. I apologized to my wife and daughter. I went over to the men in the group and said ‘men sometimes do stupid things’. They all nodded.
Moral of the story, don’t do stupid things, especially to someone else!
© 2025 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote by Voltaire, 1694-1778, French philosopher and writer. Did you know his real name was François-Marie Arouet?
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by Marty Coleman | Jan 1, 2011 | Joey Adams, New Years Resolutions |
I drew and posted this last year on this day. I like it and it’s been very popular so I could think of no better comment to make than this one again. Have a Happy New 52 Weeks, 365 Days, 8,766 hours, 525,948 minutes and 31,556,926 seconds!
First, a caveat: If you are the type that actually makes resolutions AND sticks to them, then my 2011 blessing is this instead: ‘May your resolutions beat the crap out of your troubles all year long’. But if you are like most of us then this napkin blessing is for you.
Everyone’s life has them. Some are of our own making (more than we would like to admit). Some are due to who we are in relationship with. Some are random accidents and twists of fate. Some are biology and chemistry. Some of you would say it is all God. Some of you will say it isn’t. No matter though, you still must deal with your troubles.
Be it resolved for all of us that we will face them head on in 2011.
- We won’t make excuses
- we won’t hide our head in the sand
- we won’t enable others to continue in their troubles
- We will use our troubles to increase our love. We will use them to increase our understanding, our empathy, our giving, our tenderness.
- We will not use our troubles to build our resentments. We won’t use them to increase our anger, our prejudices, our hatreds, our meanness.
Keep these as your resolutions and they will beat the crap out of any troubles that come your way now and forever.
© 2025 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote by Joey Adams, 1911-1999, American Comedian
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 31, 2010 | New Years Resolutions, William Ralph Inge |
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Make your resolve in 2011 to be about what YOU can control. Don’t make a resolution for your husband or wife, your child away at college, your boss, your neighbor or your friend. Resolve to be, change, move, defeat, create, win over, help, build, enlighten and grow yourself. If in that process you save the world, great. If in that process you are just a better mother or father to your baby, then guess what? You have just saved the world as well.
Thanks to my Napkin Kin, my friends who have tuned in over the months and years to see and read what I offer. I appreciate you and your attention a great deal!
I am in the middle of some pretty big blog and business movement right now, (the header above is one indication of that change). Keep an eye out and as always, I would love feedback on my work and ideas, and feedback on what you think I could do to improve this blog for you.
Happy New set of 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,766 hours, 525,948 minutes and 31,556,926 seconds.
Marty, The Napkin Dad
Quote by William Ralph Inge, 1860-1954, English author and Anglican Priest
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 30, 2010 | Cavett Robert, New Years Resolutions |
Day #4 of Resolution Week at The Napkin Dad Daily
In this quote it’s obvious that character = discipline.
Although I think of myself as a person of good character, I am not a great self-disciplinarian. I try to focus, to have lists, to have goals and stick to them, to keep moving in one direction for a set amount of time, to plan. And I achieve those things regularly. For about a day. Maybe a week. Then I forget about it. Then I come back to it. Then I forget about it again. Then something else becomes the priority and if I go back to those earlier tasks it would be because I am distracted from my current ones.
You know how diets sell to the same people again and again? I am sort of that way with list makers and project planners. I am too cheap to actually buy any of them, but I get the free versions and think THIS will be the mechanism by which I will become organized! Only it usually doesn’t stick. But who knows, this is a NEW year and I am a year older and wiser so why not try all over again, right?
Hope springs eternal!
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Cavett Robert, 1907-1997, founder of National Speakers Association
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 29, 2010 | Mark Twain, New Years Resolutions |
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I am on the lookout for really old quote books, from America or elsewhere (but in English, regardless). If you have one you want to get rid of, or know of one that would be of interest, let me know, ok? email me at napkindad@martycoleman.com
So, I suppose in this case, intentions are just resolutions set at other times of the year, right?
A friend of mine, Jeanne C. , says she doesn’t make resolutions, she just sets attainable goals. What’s the difference? Feedback please.
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Drawing and questions by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), 1835-1910, American humorist
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 28, 2010 | James Agate, New Years Resolutions |
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It’s day #2 of Resolution Week at The Napkin Dad Daily!
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| Buy this on a Coffee Cup. Give it to a friend who suffers fools better than you do! |
I like this one, and I hope a lot of people take it up as their resolution for the year so they will be more tolerant of me!
Quote by James Agate, 1877-1947, British Diarist and Critic
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 27, 2010 | Anonymous, New Years Resolutions |
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Yep, you guessed it! It’s Resolution Week at The Napkin Dad Daily!
What do you think of resolutions? Do you make them? Do you keep them? What was your best and worst resolutions over the years?
Drawing and questions by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Anonymous
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 22, 2010 | Christmas, Jesus |
The second day of Christmas Week my true love gave to me…
Here’s the thing about ‘Christmas spirit’ – it is a cliche. It’s overworked, overstated, overused, overforced and over the moon. But it’s also true.
I worked in the restaurant business first when I was 16. I finished my on and off again illustrious career in that arena when I was 45. 29 years of serving people and I loved it. I also loved when my customers would inquire as to how I was doing.
Now, all year long, Christmas or not, every time I go out to a retail store, or a restaurant, I always make a point to ask the sales person, waiter, etc. how there day is going or how they are feeling. Something along that line. If they say ‘long’ I ask when they get off and if they will be able to relax. If they say ‘good’, I say great. If they say ‘it sucks’ I ask why. Then if they ask me in return I will tell them.
Christmas spirit has the cliche attached, it’s true. But kindness and thoughfulness do not. Be kind to the least powerful among you, be thoughtful and don’t judge those whom you don’t know. It isn’t hard, it just takes extending the reach of your care. You don’t know how your kindness may be needed right then by that person.
That was Jesus’s message, that is the Christmas message. And that is not now, nor will it ever will be, a cliche.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by W. T. Ellis, 1866-? (probably not still alive I surmise).
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 20, 2010 | Marty Coleman |
I was going to make this Jesusmas Week but I had a realization while responding to a post by my friend Crystal Andrus about blame and this quote came out of it.
Think about it, what do you learn when you make an excuse? You learn nothing. Excuses are way of getting out of trouble, or explaining away deficiencies & failures. They are ways of avoiding responsibility. One doesn’t learn anything from those things.
Here are two different explanations of the exact same event. One is an excuse; My alarm didn’t go off like it should have, that’s why I was late’. The other is a reason; ‘I didn’t properly set my alarm, that is why I am late’. One has a lessen attached; double check that you set your alarm properly. The other has no lesson, it’s said in the hope of not having someone get mad at you.
To learn lessons from life, both think AND verbalize so you are stating a reason, not making an excuse.
More differences:
The old saying is ‘Everything happens for a reason’ not ‘Everything happens for an excuse’.
You MAKE an excuse, but you HAVE a reason.
Nobody ever says ‘Reasons, reasons’.
When someone sneezes, they don’t say ‘reason me’.
What are some other differences?
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Drawing, commentary and quote by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
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