by Marty Coleman | Nov 18, 2010 | Henry Ford |
As some of you know, I am a runner. I started a few years ago and am now about to run my second marathon.
I was not destined to be a runner. I was a swimmer growing up, we lived at the beach and I body surfed constantly, we had pools and I swam on a team when I was in elementary school. I wasn’t good but I could swim. Swimming was my thing.
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| This is the beach where I was raised. |
When I went away for my freshman year of college my roommate turned out to be a runner. A crazy, long distance runner. I didn’t have one iota of interest in running. I was not a runner. I couldn’t do that, even if I wanted to.
When I went to my next college (I went to many) I had a roommate who was a runner (and a cocaine fiend). I had not one iota of interest in running. I was not a runner. I couldn’t do that, even if I wanted to.
When I went to my next college I saw a lot of runners (the college was on the beach). I was not a runner. I couldn’t do that, even if I wanted to.
Then for the next 20 some odd years I continued to be not a runner.
Then I got a divorce and went to the gym. I lost weight, got fit. I saw people run on the track. I tried once or twice. But I was still not a runner.
Then I had an office mate at work who wanted to get some exercise, she was a runner. I joined her, for the first 100 yards. Then I walked. I was not a runner, after all. I ran a longer distance a few times, I got a little better. But I still wasn’t a runner.
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| My first running buddies, leaving me in the dust. |
Then my wife thought it would be fun for the family to join a running training group. It was starting very slow; run 1 minute, walk 3. I could do that since it wasn’t really running, just jogging a little bit. I knew I would be able to run any distance, and I was right.
Then the training led to a race. A 3.1 mile race, a 5k. That is running. But since I couldn’t do it, even if I wanted to, one of two things was no longer true. My belief about what I could do had changed, or…well, there was no second thing. My belief changed. I could run. I did run. I ran that race.
Then I trained some more and ran twice that distance. Then I ran 3 times that distance. Then I ran 4+ times that distance. Then I ran 8.4517 times that distance and I had run a marathon, 26.2 miles.
It took me 2 years. I am now a runner. I used to believe I couldn’t and I didn’t. Now I believe I can and I do. What changed Believing I could do it.
Who do you believe you are? Who do you believe you are not? The not is what is holding you back, not the are. Untie that NOT.
Drawing and photo by Marty Coleman
Quote by Henry Ford, 1863-1947
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 17, 2010 | Richard Brautigan |
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I saw a report yesterday about the newly engaged British Prince William and his fiance, Kate. The reporter was talking about how eccentric the royal family was and how she would have to get used to their odd ways. Then they proceeded to list some of the hang ups they have. After they were done listing things I thought to myself, they certain don’t sound any more eccentric than most families. What family doesn’t have odd quirks to them. Big deal. I would hate to be in a family with no quirks, what a bore.
How many people do you know who DON’T have any hang ups about something? If you know someone, I bet you don’t know them really well, because if you did you would find that hang up they have.
Unless the hang ups are destructive or harmful, it is just a brain waster and hassle to judge them all the time. Celebrate that people are different and quit trying to hang someone for being different.
Quote by Richard Brautigan, 1935-1984, American writer
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 16, 2010 | Anonymous |
I think most people would say I am not this type but in truth I tend to be this person. I have a bad habit of waiting for something to happen, for someone to contact me. It’s not that I don’t put out effort to find opportunities, I do. It’s just that I tend to slide back into waiting once I put out that effort. I don’t always push it further. At times I am afraid of bugging people. Other times it’s fear of rejection. It’s also often the situation where I don’t know what next step to take; who to call, where to write, what to submit, etc.
What I do to combat that tendency is simple, it’s just to put it out there all over again. It’s in fits and starts, it comes and goes, I forget then I remember. But no matter how or when it happens, I get back up and put it out there again.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by anonymous
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 15, 2010 | Aleksander Fredro, Stupidity - 2001-2011 |
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People believe stupid things. Why is that?
- People kill themselves so they can meet up with a UFO behind a comet.
- People send money to a Kenyan who has $50 million bucks to give them.
- People believe Hitler and the final solution will lead to a thousand year reign of peace.
- People think anti-aging creams really work.
- People believe the world will end in 2012.
- People believe that a tortilla with an image of a face on it has spiritual powers.
- People send money to religious leaders who will pray over a cloth swatch and send it to them.
What other stupid things do people believe, and why? Leave a comment!
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Aleksander Fredro, 1793-1876, Polish writer
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 12, 2010 | Leonardo Da Vinci, Simplicity - 2009-2014 |
Yes, it is.
Drawing by me, quote by Mr. Da Vinci
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 11, 2010 | Anonymous |
Many thanks to Erin Patrick for her FBing of this quote this morning!
Who don’t you think you are? I can guarantee that you will have to change your mind about that if you are to become it. YOU MUST UNTIE THAT NOT.
Do you say, ‘I am not the fitness type’? If you want to be fit, you must first untie that not.
Do you want to be artistic? Then you can’t keep telling people that you aren’t. You have to decide that that can become part of your identity. You have to untie that not.
Are you not the happy type? Do you say ‘I am just not that type of person.’? Then you have lassoed yourself and are tied up tight. You can’t change until you untie that not.
How does one do that? By action. You want to be an artist? Then create art. Do you want to be a runner, then run. Do you want to be happy, then smile and love someone. Do what it takes to make those things happen.
And whatever you do, do NOT brag about what you are NOT!
My new clarion call: UNTIE THAT NOT™
…………………………………………………………………………..
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by anonymous, found via my friend Erin Patrick.
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 10, 2010 | Mike Barfield |
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We have a set from 1978. Don’t use it much. I dust it once in a while. Sometimes I will bring out a volume and read something, usually when I am dusting.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Mike Barfield
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 9, 2010 | Marty Coleman |
Good and bad, not to think about what others think about. Bad if your child wants to hold your hand and you are oblivious. Good if someone thinks your hair is too blue and you love your blue hair.
Good if you are a creative sort and your career, well-being, success, etc. is wrapped up in you being original in your creative production. You can’t be original in production if you aren’t original in your thoughts. Bad if you are aren’t paying any attention to the desires and intentions of your clients and so miss the boat in your creative endeavors again and again.
Good if you are focused on a goal you really want to achieve and you are able to ignore what the naysayers are thinking and saying about your efforts. Bad if wise and trusted people are trying to tell you truth and you are escaping reality and not facing the truth.
Whenever someone says to me ‘I don’t care what anybody thinks’ I usually come away with the impression they are fighting VERY hard to not care but in fact they do. Everyone does to some degree. What they really mean is ‘I don’t care what CERTAIN people think.’
Thus, a key to maturity, wisdom and peace is knowing the difference between those whom you do care what they think and those whom you do not. Find that out and admit it to yourself and you are on your way to being a true individual in the world.
Drawing, quote and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 5, 2010 | Art, Oscar Wilde, Photography |
I should take a pic of day #5 of ‘Photography Week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily
In photography or any other medium an artist is the one who is not trying to copy. They have in their head a vision, an idea, a concept, an attitude that compels them to create something out of it all. Something that is not just a news record of a person or event or place.
If they don’t have anything in their head when they start the process they know how to find it. They find it by being curious and fearless, by going places not easily arrived at, looking at things not easily seen, asking questions not easily asked.
What they come up with may start with the scene or person in front of them but it goes well beyond that to include who they are as well.
Quote by Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer and raconteur
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 4, 2010 | Ansel Adams, Photography |
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I am making this day #4 of ‘Photography Week’ at the Napkin Dad Daily
There has been a debate within the photography world ever since the advent of the digital camera and software such as Photoshop that can be used to work on photographs.
The debate is between ‘purists’ those who believe what comes straight out of the camera is the final product and any manipulation of it after the fact is a no no. If one does manipulate the image, then it is an indication of them being an inferior photographer since they should have been able to get it right while taking the photo. This is true for cropping, color, tonal range, hue & saturation and most any other element within the photo.
The other side has the ‘manipulators’. They believe that there is nothing wrong with working on an image in a software program. Any and all things that can be done to a photo is allowed, all that matters is what does it look like in the end. The method by which that end result is achieved isn’t important. The photographer that settles for a boring photograph out of a principle that says it has to stay in it’s ‘natural’ state is missing the point of image making.
So, I can guess you probably realize that I fall on the side of the manipulators. I have good company, by the way. The author of this quote is THE single most famous photographer, EVER. He was a master of the utmost degree. He is so popular that he has become a cliche. And to be honest I disliked his work for many years for that exact reason. All I saw were the cliche, famous images that were so over publicized as to have no visual value to me at all. I thought of him as the easy listening photographer. Boring.
Then I saw two exhibits of his work and read up on him and his efforts over many years. I was utterly and completely blown away by his range of images, his work ethic, his philosophical progression and his character. In my investigation I realized that this person who so many saw as the premier example of ‘the purist’ was actually the master manipulator.
He worked in film, not digital, but his manipulations were no less extensive. His ability to bring out the essence of a scene came not just from his taking the photo at the right time and knowing his technique, but in working within the darkroom, dodging; burning, picking the right developer, the right paper, the right temperature, the right timing.
I am glad to have Ansel Adams beside me in the manipulator camp.
Here are a few of his less well known images.
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| The Tetons and The Snake River – 1942 |
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| Freeway Interchange – 1967 |
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| Sand Cove – 1944 |
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