Here is a Christmas napkin from 2010 that I like enough to post again this year. Pretty simple – Act Christmas and it will be Christmas.
I will be mixing in some older napkins (with some new ones as well) over the next 2 weeks. This is because I am busy getting ready for an exhibition of my photo-collages at Living Arts of Tulsa. It opens January 6th at 6pm. The show is titled ‘Velveteen Women’and if you can make the opening I would love to see you there!
And the most important thing; he liked them. He didn’t hang out with all those odd people trying to convert them, feeling sorry for them, or feeling an obligation to ‘minister’ to them. If he had, they wouldn’t have trusted him. Even back then a person can tell when someone has an agenda for the relationship. What I believe is that he liked who they were. He didn’t spend his time figuring out how to appear to care for them. He just cared for them.
And guess what? He let them care for him too. I mean, after all, is there a greater outcast in history than Jesus? They liked him even with all his wild ideas and uber-serious talk about God and heaven. They stuck by their friend even when he acted really strange and seemed self-destructive (which he was when you think about it). They forgave what they probably thought of as his arrogance (Really, you’re saying you are the Son of God? Really?).
My Christmas wish is that, if you are an outcast, you will be given the gift of feeling both loved and liked exactly as you are. If you are not, then my Christmas wish is that you will tear down the fearful wall of judgment and bring the outcast in.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, An outcast lover since 1973.
Quote by John Ortberg, American pastor
It’s day #1 of Christmas week at The Napkin Dad Daily!
When I first saw this quote I thought it said, “…if you CAN’T follow in his footsteps.” That fit in well with my feelings about Jesus as a man who taught vs Jesus as a mythic figure who was a God Man who did superhuman miracles. I like Jesus the man, I can follow in some of his footsteps no and then. I don’t have much in common with Jesus the God Man, I can’t follow in his footsteps.
But, the quote actually says, “…if you DON’T follow in his footsteps.” That implies it’s something you could do if you only chose to do it. And to wonder about that question in the first place you have to take Jesus walking on water literally. You have to believe he really did it and, in addition, that he wants you to do it too. That brings the idea to a whole new area of exploration.
So, here are my questions. Do you think that Jesus really did walk on water or no? If he did, then did he really want us to attempt that same thing? And if so, for what purpose? If he didn’t really walk on water, then what does the mythical story represent? What are we suppose to learn and enact from that story?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, being a bad example of a good man since 1976.
Quote by Anonymous. Actually, since it is anonymous I could have changed it to “can’t” and know one would have been the wiser! hmmm…
I believe being open minded is a good thing. I use to believe there was a reason behind being open minded. It was so you could find the truth. Once you found the truth, whether in science, religion, relationships, etc. then you didn’t need to have that part of your mind open any longer. You could close that door while continuing to be open minded in other areas. And I still believe there is some truth to that at times. I just no longer believe it is THE reason. It’s just one of many reasons.
Another great reason to be open minded is so you can experience joy and wonder. No other reason is necessary in that case. You don’t have to have a plan or a purpose or an agenda to exploit the joy and wonder into the future. You can just experience it.
What reasons do you have for being open minded? What have been the results for you, both good and bad?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, the most talented left-handed man he knows.
Quote by Gerry Spence, 1929-not dead yet, American attorney and writer
The Story of Arm and Hand
Arm and Hand are at war with each other. Arm is lazy but Hand is not. But Arm find ways to stop the communication between Hand and her owner, Head. Head ends up thinking Hand is lazy too but it’s really just Arm’s message getting through, not Hand’s. Head feels like she can’t do anything since she can’t get Hand to do anything. Head needs help but Hand isn’t helping.
But one day Arm falls asleep and Hand gets a message through to Head saying, “I want to WORK, tell me what to do!” Head says, “OK! I want you to heal Mr. Sink.” And Hand goes and fixes Mr. Sink. Head then says, ” I want you to give Foot a massage” and hand does it.
Arm has woken up by this point but it is too late. Head and Hand have fixed the communications path and Arm must now obey whatever they decide to do. Arm is not happy about this but there is nothing she can do.
Head becomes very happy because she is able, for the first time, to see life through Hand. She likes the world she sees and lives happily ever after.
The End
Drawing and story by Marty Coleman, Publisher of The Napkin Dad Daily and Owner of MAKE Design and Photography Studio
Quote by Anonymous
Some things I escaped, for which I am grateful.
What have you escaped for which you are grateful?
Drawing and List by Marty Coleman, Publisher of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Anonymous
When my daughters were young they started a running joke with me. It was because of my tendency to exaggerate in my story telling or explanations. For example, I might be explaining something about sports and say, ‘Joe Blow was the GREATEST catcher who ever lived.’ or if I was talking about history I would say, ‘General YadaYada was the MOST brilliant war tactician ever!’ They started expecting my superlatives and would crack up or roll their eyes when they came. My eldest, Rebekah, was adamant that I see the movie ‘The Big Fish’ when it came out because it was about a father who was a giant story teller, exaggerating the stories to absurd lengths. Now, of course, I NEVER did that. But she thought it would be fun for me to see the movie anyway.. uh huh.
All that is pretty much in good fun – no harm, no foul. There is value in clarifying and refining an experience in story telling so it has more power. But going farther than that, as we have seen in recent years with reporters exaggerating events or authors exaggerating their memoirs, can lead to a real lack of trust and believability on the part of the audience, not to mention a career destruction.
So, crystalize it so it sparkles but don’t forget the story plainly told still needs to be able to grab the reader’s attention. Move too far away from that in your story line and word crafting and you might lose the essence of what makes your story great in the first place.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by William Safire, 1929-2009, American writer, columnist and speechwriter
I am finally back to the napkins! I took some time off to speak at and attend the BlogWorld LA conference for the first time. Then I headed south to San Diego to visit my father and sister. I am there now, finally with some time to draw.
Travel is much like a life education vs. a formal education. It’s important to never confuse the two. With a formal education and a regimented, organized travel experience, let’s say for business, you need to be sure of what it is you hope to accomplish and what you want to learn. It’s good to have it planned.
But in your life education and in all of your travels, business or not, there is another layer that exists, and that is the layer of not knowing why you are going somewhere or learning something. I don’t mean you have no idea at all, I mean you have to allow that you CAN’T know it all in advance. Your deepest experiences and lessons come to you without your prior knowledge that they are about to arrive. It is those things we couldn’t have anticipated that resonate the deepest.
So, don’t freak out if you don’t know every step of the journey ahead, whether in your education or your travel, If you did, you wouldn’t learn much.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily.
Quote by Yogi Berra, 1925-not dead yet, New York Yankee baseball player and manager
Whenever you go to a conference there is that dreaded feeling that you won’t know anyone, no one will befriend you and you will spend a lot of time roaming the cavernous halls of some center feeling alone amidst thousands of people. It doesn’t usually end up happening at that level but the anticipation of it is there and the reality of conference life definitely includes stretches of those times.
Luckily, I ended up with some great new friends with whom I was able have great conversations, pal around with from session to session, catch at lunch or a party and get to know. The anticipation of being completely alone was replaced with the anticipation of seeing my friends again shortly, even if I was alone.
Here are three of my new found friends, Leslie, Shanna, and John. I drew this during the last lunch. They were fun, happy, and friendly. They also happened to be fantastic encouragers for me before I gave my presentation and enthusiastic supporters after. It is very gratifying to have them as new friends. Many others became good friends as well, and I am grateful for all of them!
Blog World Los Angeles is now over. I tweeted to the conference participants to see if anyone was headed down south to San Diego where I will be visiting my sister, her family and my father. Sure enough I got a quick response and am now going to hitch a ride in exchange for gas. So, next stop the beach and a commissioned photo shoot on Tuesday!
Thanks again to all my Napkin Kin!
Marty
Hi Napkin kin! I have been pretty overwhelmed with the activity and preparation for this week at Blog World LA. Add a technical learning curve for doing it all on an iPad and i haven’t posted the way I was hoping to. But my presentation is over now and the technical stuff is all good so I will be back on top of it now!
Here are a few photos of me at my presentation at BlogWorld LA.
The presentation went great! Even had people want to take their photos with me, a first for sure! I have made some great connections and am very excited about the future of The Napkin Dad Daily.
Thanks to all my subscribers and friends who love the blog and support me! I will tell you all more tomorrow, ok?
Marty
