I Choose Cheese
Posted by Troy | Filed under Books, Humor
Some men want fame and their name on marquees.
Some men love money.
I choose cheese.
From The Old Man Who Loved Cheese by Garrison Keillor, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf
Tags: cheese, illustration, quotes
Always Inspired by Colored Pencils
Posted by Troy | Filed under Art/Design, Kids
Feeling uninspired lately.
I’m not sure if it is because I’ve been focusing on work-related stuff… or because I’m waiting for cat scan results to see what’s the next step.
But for whatever reason, I haven’t had much to say lately…
and because I’m committed to Strong Odors being quality, not quantity…
I’ve decided to share this illustration rather than ramble on about something no one really needs to read.
Not exactly sure what’s happening here… but one of my favorites from my daughter (who did this one back in the first grade).
I can’t come close to expressing the creativity that she can unleash with a single stroke of a pencil. Take a few minutes to discover all the detail and emotion and story in this one.
She challenges and inspires me as an artist.
Also threw some Passion Pit into the playlist… lots of Passion Pit echoing around our house lately.
Tags: illustration, kids
Feed the Kids Cigarettes for Breakfast
Posted by Troy | Filed under Culture, Faith, Good, Thoughts
I have a great church and I like my pastor a lot. He is compassionate and loves to study and meets the needs of his congregation well. His words of wisdom on a Sunday 4 years ago altered my view of God for the better and are tattooed on my soul…
A few weeks ago though, I almost walked out of the service.
Tags: climate change, environment, illustration, original illustration
Why I Hate Weddings
Posted by Troy | Filed under Culture, Humor, Marriage, Thoughts
I did some work for an old friend recently…
He is a cool wedding photographer based out of Cincinatti. The best part about his work is that you can tell everyone in every photo is having a blast.
Perusing his recent work got me thinking about weddings…
I don’t really enjoy attending weddings as a whole… but the absolute worst, most obnoxious tradition of all (besides the bachelor party of course) has got to be the garter-removal.
Who is the moron that made up this tradition and why does everyone insist on including this as part of their celebration…
Ugh.
Tags: illustration, original illustration
Home School vs Public School
Posted by Troy | Filed under Parenting
I read an entertaining article today about choosing the best schooling option for your family and respecting the choices of others.
I’m not sure why this issue is so hotly debated among parents…
Quite honestly, I don’t really care how you school your kids and I’m not exactly sure why anyone else would care what option I choose for mine.
I do think he comes across a little hard on homeschooling in the article, but I don’t think that is his intention…
What he’s really getting at is how often parents of a certain persuasion will look down on anyone who makes a different choice. For him, it was homeschooling parents practically treating him like a child-abuser because he sends them to public school, never considering that he did so for some very intentional reasons…
I love my homeschooling friends. They are wonderful and fabulous and great and all those other positive adjectives, and I’ve never experienced this kind of pressure from any of them.
But I do know what this guy is talking about… and I have seen it.
I grew up in Christian school and I remember even as a kid looking ever-so-slightly down my nose at the kids who wallowed in the paganism of Siebert Elementary… I didn’t realize I was doing so, but I was…
and I don’t want my kids to ever think they are better than anyone else… luckier than some, maybe… but not better.
and every day I encourage them to be hope and light and love to the kids who have none…
Tags: illustration
Wild Things and Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Posted by Troy | Filed under Art/Design, Culture, Film, Music
This is me apologizing in advance for the randomness of all this Wild Things related stuff…
I’ve been a fan of Spike Jonze since the first time I saw the video for “Undone” 15 years ago.
It just got better too, as he went on to create some of my favorite music videos (like “Sabotage”, “Buddy Holly” and a bunch more) and movies (Being John Malkovich and Adaptation)…. and when he created (and starred in) a video for the Fatboy Slim song “Praise You”, I realized we have identical dance styles…
and that pretty much sealed the deal that he’s my favorite…
Tags: illustration
Thinking About Divorce
Posted by Troy | Filed under Marriage
I’ve been thinking a lot about divorce lately…
For so many years I spent in Christian fundamentalism the topic was pretty black and white.
And in so many years since, I’ve learned that most of what was black and white before… isn’t really at all.
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I’m younger than that now.
How can I best serve a friend in dire straights?
Does divorce even mean anything anymore?
Tags: illustration, original illustration
Obama Gives Speech
Posted by Troy | Filed under Culture, Thoughts
I’m really confused.
Why is anyone surprised when Barack Obama delivers a good speech?
The dude is an orator, man… don’t be surprised.
Tags: barack obama, illustration, original illustration, politics
Autism and Immunizations
Posted by Troy | Filed under Autism
I’ve long given up hope that a TV news magazine would air an honest feature about autism.
Somehow, I still manage to get my hopes up when I hear that a story like last night’s Dateline is coming up.
The feature was promoted as an “in-depth” look at the link between autism and vaccines and the doctor who first brought this debate to the forefront—Andrew Wakefield.
Of course this Dateline was exactly the same as every other TV news magazine feature I’ve seen…
Tags: illustration, original illustration
Death Almost Killed Me
Posted by Troy | Filed under Cancer, Faith
Since I was first diagnosed with cancer in 2000, I’ve had several occasions when I wondered if I might die…
If I’d be alive the next day, week, month, or year…
But only one time did I actually think, “this is it.”
It was around February, a very depressing time of year in northern Michigan… gray, cold, wet…
I was home with my family recovering from a round of chemotherapy and the long trip back from the Cleveland Clinic.
I came down with a cold.
When you’re on chemo, a cold can kill you… and the way I felt (physically), I thought this one just might.
I even snapped at my wife, who was dying a bit herself, trying to take care of me.
The next Sunday, we somehow dragged ourselved out of the house to get to church…
Tags: Cancer, Faith, illustration, original illustration
