Friday, September 29, 2006

Nothing About Nothing

Father Forgets

I was directed to this while listening to a Dale Carnegie audio series on leadership mastery. Anyone who knows me knows I struggle with my role as "Dad". I am so thankful our Heavenly Father never forgets that we're just "kids".


Father Forgets
by W. Livingston Larned
________________________________________

Listen, son; I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.

There are things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.

At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, "Goodbye, Daddy!" and I frowned, and said in reply, "Hold your shoulders back!"

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road, I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before you boy friends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive - and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!

Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. "What is it you want?" I snapped.

You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.

Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding - this was my reward to your for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.

And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!

It is a feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: "He is nothing buy a boy - a little boy!"

I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Swazzle

Swazzle is a secular puppet team hailing from California. Twin brothers, Sean and Patrick Johnson, along with Anita Coulter, Victoria Lee and Tim Sweeny make up the Swazzle team. Their creativity, talent and passion are an inspriation and they share many insights and instruction in their various blogs.

Check out their new video broadcast. I can't wait to see more.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Here I Am!

It’s been a few weeks since posting an almost daily blog entry during August. I apologize for being so absent as of late. There have been several developments both at puppetminister.com and around the web I would like to make you aware.

Chobie & Sherb respond to LonelyGirl15
Youtube has a very popular poster know as LonelyGirl15 who has now been exposed as possible viral marketing for a movie. It’s all strange and weird so who better to set the record straight than Chobie and Sherb.

Puppetbuilding.com
Andrew Young of puppetvision fame has started a new blog/wiki on puppetbuilding. He has already posted some cool articles. His hope is for this to become the encyclopedia of puppet building. One of the coolest postings actually leads you to an animation blog and an online character building tutorial based on Preston Blair’s classic Animation books. I have this book. Its really informative. Check it out.

Projectpuppet.com
Our friends at projectpuppet.com have been building puppets for the highly anticipated (by me anyway) The Big Magic Book. Their blog contains wonderful behind the scenes photos of the puppet construction. They also have a new “simple series” pattern called The Roly.

Well, there you have it. I’ve been contracted on a project which is going to challenge me. I am also working on new skits and plan on doing a really neat blog project. More about that later. And it’s a continual battle updating the site. I’ll be working toward that also.

God Bless

Monday, September 04, 2006

Script Writing Update

I promised to post my result from the skit writing exercise in July, however I let it slip during my August Proverbs Challenge. Anyway, here is the skit in .pdf and .doc. (Right-click and Save As)

Cowboy Armor.doc
Cowboy Armor.pdf