Tuesday, December 11, 2012

O Positive Daddy

As a boy, I once asked my father what the "O positive" stood for on his dog tags.  He answered, "O positive is the blood type of real men!".  I thoroughly enjoyed this revelation.  It was pretty cool, but more importantly, I'm O positive.  However, some revelations did not flatter.

For example, my late great old man would accuse me and I quote, " You treat your friends better than your family!".  I recall scoffing at his observation because somehow my omnipresent mind trumped his empirical assets.  First, it's nearly impossible to quantify "better" but I respect my father's keen senses. Therefore I trust his measure. Admittedly, assessing the treatment of my immediate family relative to my friends was not a priority, at least not to my adolescent self.

So why the disparity between valuing the respect of friends and that of family? Actually, the explanations are apparent and forgivable.  However, perpetuating this behavior well into adulthood is unforgivable.  Well, that's not entirely true, is it? Forgiveness appears abundant in dealings with family. Well behaved friends rarely breach their relationships' tolerances in lieu of the promised forgiveness that blood regularly affords.

So if forgiveness is not readily promised amongst friends, the better behavior is more a symptom of preservation than a sign of greater respect.

Perhaps my father witnessed this phenomena and not a warped sense of priorities. However the fact remains that my father spotlighted an issue that should not be acceptable. Blood demands more respect and consideration because of its capacity for forgiveness, not the inverse.

Dad, I miss you & all the insights that we will never get to share.  But I promise to share them with others. So my friends, kiss my arse. Will you forgive me?

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Waxy is the new Sexy.

Infinity Sea Turtle Lockets

Perfume or Photo Carrier?
 Wax has been fantastic in executing these whimsical pieces.  So I'm excited about this mediums potential in future products. 

So my beetle (old pipe reference) has indeed turned into a herculean task, so I'm taking a break by revisiting earlier projects. I'm still not satisfied with the Trojan Turtle's design in terms of sturdiness, however it has provided exciting design tangents. A turtle dragon has been a fun experiment that may lead to a larger version. Ultimately these experiments are revealing the resin's potentials and limitations. However, I still feel as if I'm observing fragments of deliberate design amongst a hot mess, glimpses here and there, as if I'm clumsily combining components because they are shiny. It's still quite early, so I am just naive enough to believe these concerted efforts will reveal all of the "fill-in-the-gaps to keep it moving" - motivated design decisions.

Shine on your crazy diamonds.  Shine on.