The Half-Finished Finisher

I stare down the longest yard.  The muscles for some reason do not want to pick up the slack to finish the job.  The project, be it a kids Halloween costume or a term paper, sits dormant.  I start projects with gusto, but for some reason, the ability to tighten that last screw, to put on the seal of approval does not come.
If half-finished projects brought half pay on the open market, I would make a decent living.  However, the world has no interest in seeing drawings that are not inked, hearing songs without second verses.  If I had a nickel for every thought I drew on a post-it that was crumpled and never dreamed to ambition, I would be at the Coinstar all day.
So many projects that I work on as an artist never reach fruition.  My mind judges what I am working on as wrong.  When jotting down new ideas, however, I find that my mind has a preconceived notion as to the way “The light bulb will work.”
Many of my favorite drawings, however, are completed by accidents.  A dab of red here and a dab of blue there, and a blah painting comes to life.  Something that almost went into the garbage can is now over the mantel.
Same goes with innovation- don’t be afraid to finish your projects, crazy as they may be.  Many of the world’s inventions were “stumbled” upon.  The X-Ray, the phonograph, and the telephone were all found on accident.
Give your projects a second thought.  Dust them off.  Time puts a new perspective and angle on jobs that once seemed to be going nowhere.  Did your curtains not work because they did not match Corian counters that you now want to replace?  You never know, maybe some idea you have in a drawer is a winner in today’s light.

http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/PARTHA/Columns/04-16-AccidentInvention.htm

Starting With a Lucky Penny

When I first got out of the car today, I found a penny. At the grocery store, I found a dime. At ice cream tonight, I found a five-dollar bill. What a lucky penny.

Pennies photo by Jon Sullivan

The Cone is Empty

Fill it with strawberry, or chocolate, or fudge ripple, or. . .

Sugar Cones photo by Jon Sullivan

Sunset-Sun’s Burning Gift

Into darkness we sail
Kiss the good day good bye
With a radiant dance of crimson
The horizon alight
When the sun touches the sea
Like the tip of a match
To the heart inside me
Sail away into the night
Carry me into the morning
When you rise again
Sun depart with a burning gift
Your sunset

Sunset photo by Jon Sullivan

Don’t Lose the Moment

My pencil dances across a drawing. Selfishly, I have the desire to send a ping out to the universe to get my blog recognized. Of course the internet clicks away at the pace of molasses. The mind insists, “Send out that ping.” This avarice stands to lose me the bigger picture of a drawing which wraps me up in bliss for hours, all for a chance to ping the rest of you. Boy, what we will do for greed.

I’ll eat anything on a pizza

Tonight at pizza, you could pretty much cut the tension with a knife in Mountain Mikes. There was a smartly dressed couple reading matching Dan Simmons novels while they ate pizza sandwiches hold the cheese. Then, from nowhere, two repairmen came storming in. One ordered a pitcher of beer for himself and said, “Hey buddy, what do you want on the pizza?”

His friend shouted back while getting some Sprite, “I’ll eat anything on a pizza.” I tipped a slice of pepperoni to that.

Pizza photo by Jon Sullivan

Iced Coffee

Someone spilled a cup of coffee on their leg

And sued because it was hot

Now the world charges twice as much for iced coffee.

Mountain Mike’s Pizza Tonight

The Davis Mountain Mike’s Pizza closed.  I went into the Mountain Mike’s experience about six months ago knowing it isn’t the best pizza in the world, however, you know how when something is a little bit off, you all of a sudden get a “gotta-have-it” taste for it.  I found myself in the Davis one, before it closed, quite frequently.  Now, with gas at $4 plus a gallon, I trek fifteen miles to Woodland, all for that “slightly-off” taste.  I guess that is the definition of crazy, huh?

Thirty minutes in the afternoon-micronap

There is a brief pause in the afternoon. The minds gears grind to a halt. I remind myself that the body does not always need to have something to do-I don’t always need to clean when I lean. Sit in the chair and think for a moment. Ah, the micro-nap. The world works better afterwards.

Find Your Rabbit Holes

I just went on the best vacation I have been on in ten years, if not my whole life.  Dare I divulge the name of my top-secret destination?  Sure.  It is Barstow, CA.  But there is a reason this destination created my perfect vacation; it is one of my “rabbit holes.”
I am a train artist.  I have drawn over 1000 of America’s trains, and my highs and lows come from blaring locomotives and heart pounding freight cars.  Barstow is located on one of America’s busiest rail-lines.
I live in Davis, about 400 miles to the north of Barstow.  I was feeling the need of the muse, so called a hotel down there, and made a getaway package for about $90 a night and $40 each way in gas for my little car.
To me, Barstow is a “rabbit hole.”  It is a place that calls to me.  It is a place that I find special for my own particular reason.  Because of this, I have a hunger to return to it.
We all have our “rabbit holes”-our favorite restaurants, our favorite vacation spots, and our favorite books.  Trying to explain the significance of these “rabbit holes” can often seem silly.  “Why do I drive four hundred miles to see a train track when there is a train track running right through the town where I live?”  I just do.
You may be in a greasy spoon and cannot explain why you like the cheesecake there.  Every Thursday night you find yourself drawn there.  Friends say, “There she goes again, eight o’ clock, going to Sullivan’s, all alone, to get her cheesecake fix.”  You can’t explain it.  But for some reason, there is more than just fork hitting cheesecake and more than cheesecake hitting palate.  The un-matted poster of Paris on the wall seems to do something special for you as you sit there all alone.  You don’t know why.  The world has rabbit holes.  Enjoy them.