by Marty Coleman | Aug 23, 2013 | Gloria Steinem, Plan On It! - 2013 |
I planned this post for yesterday, which it is – if you read this tomorrow.
Dreaming your Plans
Are you allowing yourself a dream? I don’t mean the ‘I ate a cookie and it turned into a pink tutu in my stomach and flew out my butt and became a butterfly and talked to me about the African Lowland Gorilla needing cookies more than I do’ dream. I don’t mean that kind.
I mean the real life dreams. Do you allow yourself those dreams? Or do you think you don’t deserve one? Maybe you had your dream shot down and don’t want to dream again? Maybe you have been told so many times dreaming is for losers, just go and do your work and shut up about stupid dreams. Or maybe you fill your mind with other people’s dreams instead of your own. Remember, without a dream, very likely you won’t ever have a plan for anything. It all starts with a dream, so allow it.
Planning your Dreams
Are you planning your dreams? I don’t mean the ‘I dreamt I had a sock around my wrist and there was a baby alligator coming out of it with a bobblehead doll of my 3rd grade teacher in it’s teeth who was singing an oratorio in a Donald Duck voice while wearing a mankini’. I don’t mean that kind.
I mean the real life dreams. Are you planning those?
- Do you dream of downsizing and having less ‘stuff’? Are you planning on how you will actually get rid of that stuff?
- Do you dream of being a size 8 again? Are you planning on how to make that dream happen?
- Do you dream of making new friends who are more like you than the stuffy people you know at work or church or the country club? Have you joined that nudist rock climbing group yet? Have you auditioned for the community theatre yet? Have you taken that bow hunting class yet?
- Do you dream of contributing to your home town somehow? Have you looked into that school mentoring program you heard about last year? Have you called the hospice society who helped out your uncle in his last days?
What are your dreams for becoming who you want to be? What is your plan to make that happen? Do you think you will become it without a plan, without a dream? You won’t you know.
If you can dream it, you can plan it. If you can plan it, you can make it happen.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Gloria Steinem
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 22, 2013 | Michelle Linn |
I am starting a new series – The Napkin Dad Profiles. There won’t be a timetable for it. I will post them when I have the material, hopefully once a month. It will be someone I admire and think has lived an interesting life. Some will be well-known I suppose, others won’t be. But whether you have heard or seen them before or not, I think you will find them worth getting to know.
Michelle Linn
I drew this during a lunch I had with Michelle at Laffa, the awesome Medi-Eastern restaurant in Tulsa’s Brady district. We had just come from seeing the ‘Oh, Tulsa! Biennial’ at Living Arts, in which I had two photo-collages, one of which was of her. I created a variation of the photo-collage (below) in the background of this napkin drawing.
Michelle has been in Tulsa a number of years, anchoring the Fox23 Daybreak News show, having most recently having come from a morning news position in Columbia, Missouri. She replaced a very popular anchor here in Tulsa, which is always hard to do, but has succeeded in winning over the audience with a natural mix of curiosity and joy about Tulsa and Oklahoma.
We had a great lunch, catching up since the last time we spent time together, back when I did the photoshoot for the collage.
The Morning Anchor – Visual Poem #8
Open Mind, Open Heart
As you can see, Michelle was up for anything in the shoot, trusting me no matter what I asked. What I asked included having her contort her face in all sorts of ways, having her lay down on the grass outside the museum and let me stand over her photographing her up and down, letting me take photos of her feet with one shoe on and one shoe off, (see below) and most amazing of all for a news anchor used to wearing TV lights style makeup, letting me photograph her with no makeup on at all.
This willingness to put herself in my hands creatively told me she is open minded and creative herself. Which I learned is true when we sat down to eat. She didn’t bat an eye at trying food she had never tried before. She didn’t bat an eye at sharing her dish and trying mine. In the gallery she looked at many different art pieces beside her own. She liked some more than others, some pieces she understood easily, other’s not so easily. But it was her wonder that was apparent, not her judgment. It’s probably one of the main reasons she is such a good reporter and anchor, especially for a morning show, since it requires a genuine openness and curiosity about people, places and things.
Michelle, no makeup
Half and Half
So, here was the creative & fun part of Michelle coming out. She modeled a bit with no makeup on while I took a series of photos for my photo collage ideas. As you can imagine, I take a LOT more photos than I end up using in my collages, so it took a while for me to be satisfied I had enough ‘before makeup’ pics. She then went into the ladies room to put on her makeup for the second half of the shoot. I was just hanging out looking at art work when she came out quicker than I thought and said, ‘Hey, I thought this might be fun. I only put makeup on half my face so you could take some of me half and half.’ How cool was that?! And so I did.
Michelle, half and half
The Individual
Her personal life is sort of like this. She is a hard working anchor on a local TV station AND a mother of 4 young children. She has a marriage that works really well, helping her juggle it all. Her husband, Bud, is a SAHD (Stay At Home Dad), doing all things domestic. It’s an unconventional lifestyle in the midwest/southern area of the country and isn’t always understood by family and friends. But it works great for them, and that’s what counts. No matter the initial opinion, they tend to win people over by the happiness and love in their relationship and how well their children are blossoming within the family structure they have created.
When we were done with that set she went back in and put makeup on the other side. Just the fact that she could do that so well was pretty amazing.
Michelle, with makeup
Portrait
When I ask a person to collaborate on one of my art/photo projects I try to spend some time creating classic portraits that they can use for whatever purposes they have in exchange for their contribution. Perhaps it is a head shot for a resume and CV, or maybe something for a husband or wife. In Michelle’s case, she already had head shots done by her station so this was done just for her personal use, however she saw fit. It ended up as her Facebook profile pic. I am very proud of that.
She’d rather be in the sun
The Sun Worshipper
One thing to know about Michelle is how much she loves the sun. One of the reasons she loves the morning shift on TV is that she is off in the afternoon, ready to hit the pool with her 4 little kids all summer long. There was a time during this summer when the news cycle went crazy and she had to work really long hours away from Tulsa. She was ok with it because it’s her job, but when it looked like it might continue on throughout the entire summer she started to hyperventilate a bit! She really wanted that summertime time before the kids had to go back to school! She got the balance back just in time and a true crisis was averted.
And finally, Michelle is always the epitome of professionalism, but that doesn’t means she doesn’t know how to be in individual in her style. She likes her color!
You can see Michelle at work by tuning into Fox23 (channel 5) Daybreak 6am and 10am.
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Drawing, photography and story by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 21, 2013 | Darien - 2013 |
An Early Morning Run
Reunions are all about visiting the past while in the present. One of my most anticipated moments of the weekend was not about seeing my old friends. It was about seeing my old town. Yes, I was going to be driving around and seeing it. But what really excited me was to do a long run around it. I am training for a marathon and knew I would need at least a 10 mile run that weekend. So why not spend some time in advance planning out a route that would take me by some of the spots I wanted to see, even some spots I had never seen before. I planned it to start from my hotel using the Dailymile.com site where I record my runs. If I planned it right I would go by some spots I had never seen and some familiar places and get back to the hotel in time to greet my BFF from back in the day, who was coming down from Rhode Island on Sunday morning for the last day of the reunion.
At 7:15 I was out the door and ready to run. Beautiful morning air, the sun just up over the trees and I was happy.
One of the best things about running in a new place is not what you expect to see, but the joy in seeing the unexpected. My first ‘I have to stop and take a picture’ moment was a flock of wild turkeys meandering around a riding ring. I wanted to sneak up further on them to get a better shot but time and the road called me on.
I turned the corner from the turkeys and immediately found this 1850s tombstone in an even older graveyard. One thing that sets New England apart from much of the more westerly parts of the US is how OLD it is. Yes, we have graves this old in Oklahoma and California, but we don’t have little neighborhood cemeteries that are about 3 house lots wide (if that) being such an integral part of the present as you find here.
And then there is this scene. Can you ask for a more picturesque example of a Connecticut waterway? This is Five Mile River and somewhere along it (I don’t remember where) we had our boat docked for a number of summers. I ran along this little lane, stopping beside two local folk who were walking their dog (and also taking pictures). We talked for a few moments as we took some shots, me telling them of my fond memories for the area and being at the reunion. Then they waved me adieu and off I went.
But not before stopping quickly to take a shot of one of the beautiful homes looking out on the scene I showed you above.
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Julie
When I stopped to take the shots above I noticed a woman running up upon me. I started running as she passed and we struck up a conversation. If you know me, there is nothing I love more than meeting new people in unexpected ways and connecting to them. I love meeting people in airports, resorts, restaurants, stores, and on the road. It doesn’t matter where. The odder the place and circumstances, the better.
And so it was with this woman, who I found out was named Julie. As we ran side by side we told each other our running history. She had run in the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco a few years back with her sister. I asked her if she was in training for another race. She chuckled and said her reason for running now did not have such an exalted goal attached to it, “I am a stay-at-home mom of one & a half year old twins. I run to escape!” I understand what she meant.
We ended up running together for 4 miles. She knew the area and so I basically forgot my map route and just let her lead the way as we talked. I told her why I was in Darien for the weekend and she told me she had also gone to the High School, having graduated in 1999. That meant she was just a year older than my oldest daughter, Rebekah, whom I was going to be visiting a few days hence. Rebekah had just given birth to my first grandchild so Julie and her were in almost the exact same place in life. Knowing she had gone to DHS in the late 90s I asked her if my friend, Bruce Hall (see part 1) had been her principal at the time. He had been and she was happy to hear he was doing well. She didn’t know his mother Helene, but she enjoyed hearing me tell her about what a great woman she is.
I, of course, wanted to take her picture as a memento of our serendipitous run together. She wasn’t too hot on the idea due to her being in her ‘I just woke up and ran out the door’ look. But I loved that look, she was energized and alive and beautiful in the best sort of way, and she granted me permission to take the pic.
Funny coda to my Julie story. A few days after I returned I got an email from Bruce saying he had taken his dogs for a walk and had run into an old student of his out for a walk with her twins. She greeted him and told him about having a run with some guy who happened to know him. A small world indeed.
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Church and Girls
My parents didn’t go to church but my best friend Jim’s family did. I started going to the local Congregational Church with them in about 1969 or so. I wasn’t religious (I’m still not) but I love ideas and conversation and church is always a good place for both. Of course at my age then (about 14-15) I loved girls more than ideas or conversation. And Jim and I discovered two girls at the church that we liked a LOT!
Meridith became Jim’s girlfriend and Frances became mine. They were from the other Jr. High, Mather, and thus were ‘exotic’. We were cool to have girlfriends from the other school. We also incurred the wrath of some of the boys from that school, but we didn’t care. Anyway, the boys who hated us then became great friends in High School.
And Meridith and Frances? Well, Jim and Meridith dated quite a while, well into High School. Frances and I didn’t last all that long as BF/GF but we remained great friends throughout High School and beyond. They both turned out to be wonderful woman whom Jim and I are still connected to in the best of ways, as dear, dear friends.
Meridith, now and then
Meridith didn’t make the reunion, but I visited her in Seattle in 2011 and got this shot of her.
Frances, now and then
Frances was at the reunion and I got this shot of her at the Sunday picnic
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Home
The last stop on my running tour was my old home. I had already driven by it but I took a bit of time to really look at it this time. They had changed some things, it has an odd stucco siding on it, something that looks great on a Spanish or California style house, but looks very odd on a simple New England style box.
As much as the house was interesting to see, bringing back memories of sneaking out late at night (or as Frances told me at the reunion, the time Meridith and her snuck out and drove over in their pajamas to hang out with us), it really was the entire street that brought back the sweetest memories. Memories of walking our beautiful Samoyed dog named Vodka (we had alcohol troubles in our family, can you tell?) down the street and back. Memories of the woman who lived behind us and the cat she ran over that I tried to save as it bit my finger in a jaw death grip before it passed away.
Memories of various cars in the driveway, including a Volkswagon Campmobile with a fold down bed. Parents, it might not be the wisest idea to give your teenage son access to such a car. I’m just sayin’…
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Jim
I made my way back to the hotel, figuring I would be back right about the time Jim arrived from Rhode Island. And sure enough, as I ran up to the hotel entrance, Jim was walking up at the same time. He had even passed me on the main drag and figured it was me finishing my run.
Jim and I met when his mother forced him out of his house one afternoon, telling him, ‘Go meet the new kid down the street and don’t come back expecting dinner until you do.’ He walked down Shady Acres Lane and did. We were best of friends from then on. It was a great relationship. His family and home were a refuge for me during some trying family times. His parents were accepting and loving and seemed happy to have me around, even as I tried their patience with some of the mishaps I brought with me.
I am not sure what my house and family offered him, but I did have an older sister who, along with her bevy of best friends, were the hottest girls of the class 2 years before us. For a teenage boy, that’s a pretty good reason to hang around a friend’s house.
We went on spring break road trips together to Florida (during high school no less), spent summer vacations together now and then in Montauk, Long Island and Fire Island off of Long Island. We went on winter skiing adventures to Vermont, me learning nothing about proper skiing form and hitting trees left and right, him learning to avoid the trees with a bit more technique and by watching me. We, along with his older brother Michael, learned to fly airplanes together, yes real airplanes. We were members of the Sky Life Flying Club starting at age 13 and learned to fly little Cessna 150s and 172s. We took Transcendental Meditation together, smoked pot together, learned to drink together. We learned about girls together.
In 1979 we got married within 2 weeks of each other, both attending each other’s wedding. Within short order we had 3 kids each, not too far apart. I am the first to have a grandbaby but I suspect he will have one relatively soon and catch up with me.
It’s great to have an awesome friend like Jim throughout the years.
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You can read and see more of my trip to the East Coast here:
The Napkin Grandbaby
Rebekah and Vivian go to the Laboratory
The Napkin Dad meets the Napkin Mom
The Past and the Present – Reunion, Part 1
The Past and the Present – A Morning Run
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And finally…
I am trying to land a speaking gig at the 2014 SXSW Interactive Conference. I am in their ‘PanelPicker’ process. Meaning I proposed a photography workshop and now people vote on it. There are THOUSANDS of proposals so I need to rally my Napkin Kin to vote for me. So, would you be able to vote for my photography proposal for SXSW? Here is the link.
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/24603
You do have to register so that sucks but it’s painless at least. If you aren’t comfortable registering, perhaps you can amplify the link on your social media channels. That would be very cool, either way. THANK YOU!
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 19, 2013 | H. G. Bohn, Plan On It! - 2013 |
The Fitness Challenge
I am starting a 12 week fitness challenge with my wife and daughter today. Caitlin actually started it last week but I couldn’t get my act together that soon after my trip back east so I am starting a week after her.
Time vs Excuses
Having delayed it a week it was easy to start to think of reasons not to do it this week either. I have this run schedule. I have this weekend trip. I have this lack of groceries. I have this confusion about the program. Maybe I need more time.
But I don’t need more time, I need less excuses. I needed to measure myself. I needed to have pictures taken. I had to figure my goals. I had to read up on nutrition. I had to figure out what I have, and what I need, to make it happen. I needed to join the gym. All things that are not part of my daily napkin dad life and sort of a hassle.
But doing these things is a commitment. I am telling myself that I am implementing a plan by taking these steps. Without these concrete steps, it’s just a ‘one day’ plan.
What is your plan?
- Does it have a date attached to it? If not, it’s a ‘one day’ plan.
- Does it have real concrete steps to take? If not, it’s a ‘one day’ plan.
- Are you accountable to anyone? Have you told anyone of your goal? If not, it’s a ‘one day’ plan.
And a ‘one day’ plan is no plan at all.
Let’s hear one step in your plan. What is it?
Speaking of a PLAN
WHO WANTS TO VOTE FOR ME? I am wanting to share some cool stuff with the peeps at SXSW next March. I have proposed a 2 1/2 hour workshop on photography, an extended version of the presentation I gave at Social Media Tulsa earlier this year. If you liked that presentation, or if you just want to see me go to Austin and do something cool, vote for this proposal, ok? THANKS!
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/24603
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by H. G. Bohn, 1796-1884, British Publisher
The quote was found in a book (The Book of Positive Quotations’) given to me by one of the runners I coach. She came up to me with the book as a gift and said, “I found you online. I didn’t realize you were so infamous!” I thought that was the coolest thing. I like being infamous almost as much as being famous. The fact that I am actually neither is immaterial in my mind! hahaha
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 18, 2013 | Movies & Events |
Linda and I saw a really good movie last night, ‘The Way Way Back‘. It’s a coming of age story about Duncan (Liam James), the awkward teenage son of Pam (Toni Collette – one of my favorite actors), on vacation with her and her new and insufferable boyfriend (Steve Carell) at his summer home. Great characters abound, including Allison Janney as Betty, the boozy, cleavage showing neighbor, her sensitive teenage daughter Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb), Sam Rockwell as Owen, a very likable cutup from the local water park, and Maya Rudolph as his put upon co-worker, Caitlin.
Duncan is the most awkward teen you can imagine. He doesn’t know how to talk to anyone, much less girls. He doesn’t know how to express his disdain for the boyfriend and his pouty daughter. He doesn’t know how to tell his mother she is more of an adolescent teen than he is. He’s pretty much disgusted with the world and himself and lets it show.
He meets Owen playing Pacman at a pizza parlor and later meets him again at the Water Whizz park (where he shows up in button down shirt and jeans, completely out of place). The park becomes his secret refuge from the dysfunctional beach house and his first real foray into being a confident, happy teenager.
It has some predictable elements of a coming of age story, but not to enough of a degree to ruin it. The characters and the sweetness of the 2 teenage leads carry the movie and make it worth seeing. Since the cinematography isn’t spectacular or unique, it’s the kind of movie you can rent or watch on Netflix instead of in the theatre, if you are so inclined.
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On a related note
With 10 minutes left in the movie, an entire entourage of at least 12 people, all grown adults, and seemingly family related to each other, came into the theatre, stopped IN FRONT OF THE MOVIE, and started to talk about where they wanted to sit. They were big and loud and slow and sat all over the theatre, plopping down right next to complete strangers in the darkened theatre, all the while talking to those still standing up, telling them where else they could sit. With about 2 minutes left in the movie a usher came in and told them they had to leave, which they did, AS THE MOVIE REACHED ITS CLIMAX! To say it was distracting is an understatement.
We came out at the end of the movie and complained to a cop (yes, a cop) who was in the walkway. The whole crew of people were sitting on benches waiting to go in and they gave us the stink eye as we walked by. It was so absurd to think not one, not two, but at least a dozen full grown adults, could all think it ok to walk in and do that. Teens? I would be pissed but understand they are idiots who don’t know better, YET. But adults? One old enough to have a CANE? I mean, really. come on.
Anyway, AMC was kind enough to give us passes for another show, and we appreciated that. It still floors me though.
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