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flawed cartoon wednesday

MASTER turtlenecks jpeg copysisu sue swore by them.  turtlenecks.  she has them in every color, every kind of weave and fabric.  she looks fabulous in them and wears adorable chic jackets over them.  she is one cool and trendy lady and i adore her.

having already started the hot-flasharama-period of my life when we were working together, i would ask her how she could stand having a turtleneck on; it was (and mostly still is) out of my realm of imagination being able to wear a turtleneck and not ripping it off in the middle of -say- the choir room or the train to chicago or in the car while driving.  this oh-so-wise treasured woman told me that someday i would understand.

THAT DAY HAS COME.

i look in the mirror, a few steps of days away from 59, and stare at (you might want to stop reading now) my NECK.  what has HAPPENED?  suddenly, my neck (and chin, for that matter) have become O-L-D.  where has the time gone?  where did my old neck go?  and where did that new chin-under-my-chin come from?

my sweet momma, at 93, looked at me one day and said, “i looked in the mirror and (in a horrified voice) i saw an OLD woman.”  “momma,” i reassured her, “at 93, you are an old woman, but you are a BEAUTIFUL old woman.”  personally, i thought my momma was striking.  every last wrinkle told a story.  every last thing she saw as a flaw.  but my words fell on deaf ears.  she just stared back at me.  probably feeling much the same as me.  delusionally thinking that time would stand still in our necks and chins and -yup- everywhere else.  time and menopause take their toll.

the next time you see me try not to stare at my neck (although i have likely set you up for that.)  i may or may not be wearing a turtleneck.  the ironic part is that a real turtle’s neck really does look a lot like mine.  sheesh.

TURTLENECKS ARE IN – a link to t-shirts, art prints, cards, throw pillows, phone cases

 

society 6 info jpeg copy

 

turtlenecks FRAMED PRINT copy

framed art prints, cards

 

turtlenecks COFFEE MUG copy

mugs, travel mugs

 

turtlenecks iPHONE CASE copy

phone cases

 

turtlenecks TSHIRT copy

t-shirts, home decor

 

FLAWED WEDNESDAY – ON OUR SITE

 

 

read DAVID’S thoughts on TURTLENECKS

don’t you know that turtlenecks are in?!?! ©️ 2016 david robinson & kerri sherwood


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flawed cartoon wednesday: eye to eye/i to i

MASTER we never see eye to eye jpegBIG copy 2i hardly know where to start. eye to eye.  i to i.  dang.

it’s easy to look at this and think of my own daily-life-eye-to-eye challenges.  but – i can’t look at this cartoon and stay away from the political climate in our country.  whether you prefer blue or red – or even purple – you have to admit, we are not in a state of blissful co-existing.  we have moved in together and have drawn lines down the middle of the virtual apartment, down the middle of the ever-increasingly important issues, down the middle of integrity, down the middle of people’s hearts.  and, with such strong big-thick-font-lines drawn, there seems to be no meeting ground, no where to go.  the “eyes” of wisdom and for-the-good-of-all-people have disappeared and the “i’s” have shown up, stronger and bigger and more powerful than before; superman without clark kent’s goodness.

where DO we start?  pstacey said the other day that we have to start in our own little corner of the world.  i agree.  how hard is it sometimes to see eye to eye/i to i in our own relationships, our own families?  ptom’s words “acts of radical kindness = building community”.  i agree.  in the middle of our own concentric circles, we make a teeny movement of goodness and the ripple spreads out.  there is no where else to start.  without our grounding in the breath-space we each take up in the world, we can’t make any progress, we can’t ripple out.

perhaps we all could work on seeing eye to eye (er, i to i) if we made conscious and generous life-giving decisions with every choice-we-are-faced-with that take into account a weighing-in of how it might impact others.  we don’t have to agree.  but we have to respect each other in the process, try to walk in another’s shoes, see another perspective, see what someone else’s eyes see.  see i to i.

EYE TO EYE  – MERCHANDISE /// I TO I – MERCHANDISE

yes!  there are two different product lines – each easily accessible by clicking on the “eye to eye merchandise” link OR the “i to i merchandise” link above.

 

NeverSeeEyeToEye FRAMED PRINT copy

 

NeverSeeEyeToEye square pillow copy

eye to eye /i to i pillows

i to i SQUARE PILLOW copy

 

 

NeverSeeEyeToEye Rect pillow copy

relationship pillows

 

i to i LEGGINGS copy

try to see i to i leggings

 

i to i coffee mug copy    NeverSeeEyeToEye mug copy

 

FLAWED CARTOON WEDNESDAY

 

read DAVID’S thoughts on FLAWED CARTOON WEDNESDAY

 

why is it that we never see eye to eye on anything??? ©️ 2016 david robinson

 

 


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flawed cartoon wednesday

Acrobats BIGcopy copy 2my name is kerri and i was a razor-flip-phone-holdout.  it’s occurred to me that i might have been the last person who ever had one; i went from having my own brand-new-razor to The Girl’s hand-me-down-razor to my friend’s hand-me-down-razor to my friend’s daughter’s hand-me-down-razor….you get the picture.  i would hold tightly the little screws keeping both halves of the flip together as they loosened and fought to cease and desist – just to not have to move on and decide on (read:  learn) a new phone.

The Girl and The Boy generously gave me my first iphone for christmas a few years ago.  it was an iphone 4 and it was groundbreaking.  all my fears of smart-phoning disappeared and i became a part of the 21st century.

if it weren’t for texting, there are few conversations i would have with my children-who-live-far-away-and-are-too-busy-to-be-on-the-phone-with-mom (i knowww you can relate.)  it was always remarkable to me how fast The Girl could text; i teased her with thoughts of entering her in national contests.  she rolled her eyes.  apparently, this is not an uncommon skill.  i have to say, i flipped out the day, some time ago, that my iphone deleted my string of texts from The Boy.  these text-strings are pieces of life.

i have graduated one iphone beyond the 4.  skipping the 5 i now have a 6.  well, technically, a 6s (there are varying opinions as to what the ‘s’ means.)  it still amazes me the kind of connectivity with the world i can have with this little device, how truly smart it really is.

text me when you land makes me laugh.  an absurdly funny cartoon, you have to admit, texting is alive and well in all places.

TEXT ME WHEN YOU LAND MERCHANDISE

 

Acrobats mug copy

 

Acrobats t-shirt

Acrobats Tote copy

FLAWED CARTOON WEDNESDAY

 

melange button jpeg

check out DAVID’S thoughts on this FLAWED CARTOON

text me when you land ©️ 2016 david robinson


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flawed cartoon wednesday #3

SNOWMAN BIG COPY Master copyi just asked david if he would illustrate a children’s book i wrote a long, long (did i mention long?) time ago.  naturally, he said yes, because, uhh, what else is he going to say?  so maybe one of these days you’ll see my snowflake-is-as-raindrop-does story in book form.  in the meanwhile, i’ll tell you the story…hopefully succinctly.

once upon a time (because all great stories start like that) there was a little raindrop.  after it had fallen out of the sky with a gajillion other raindrops it had a choice.  whether to drop-and-roll quickly down the street and be transported through evaporation back up into the sky to reform and do it all over again or – and yes, i am definitely personifying this raindrop – it could choose to roll over to a small plant or tree or blade of grass that needed sustenance.  the raindrop believed (had been taught by others?) that this sacrifice would end its journey…there would be no more going-up-into-the-sky-coming-down-as-a-raindrop-all-over-again if it made this choice.  but the little raindrop rolled over to a little flower anyway, curled up beside its stem and sighed.  what it didn’t realize would happen was this – that it still evaporated.  it still went back up into the sky.  it still reformed.  but this time it was chosen to reform into a beautiful, unique snowflake, an honor bestowed only on those raindrops who had made a difference, who had yielded to a different choice.

so you’re thinking, ok, what does this have to do with snowflakes and snowmen?  well, we just never know how our choices will impact our possibility or how we might be surprised by something different than what we perceive to be our intended possibility.  you have to admit, being a snowflake in a snowman with a scarf and goofy hat that makes people smile and children dance would seem way more satisfying than being a snowflake in a dirty pile of snow in a parking lot.  we learn to go with the flow.  sometimes the unanswered prayers -loss of the UNlimited possibilities- turn out to be the best.

A SNOWFLAKE WITH POSSIBILITIES MERCHANDISE

Flawed Snowman FRAMED PRINT copy Flawed Snowman MUG copy Flawed Snowman IPHONE CASE copy Flawed Snowman RECT PILLOW copy

FLAWED CARTOON WEDNESDAYS

www.kerrianddavid.com/the-melange

read DAVID’S thoughts on this FLAWED CARTOON

a snowflake with possibilities ©️ 2016 david robinson


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flawed cartoon wednesday #2 (duuuuude!)

claudine's making cow eyes THIS jpegevery time the girl texts me and says “dude!” i laugh aloud.  i have to say i prefer “mom” or “mommommommommom” to “dude” but i’m just happy to hear ANYthing at ANY time from the girl and the boy that ANY name goes.  i’m guessing AllMomsEverywhere get that.

there is a sweet bistro in town called wine knot that we love to go to.  our favorite spot is at the bar at the end in the corner, where we can people-watch or chat with andy or jeremy, awesome bartenders who, for the longest time, knew to order – wait for it – brian’s amazing meatloaf split and two glasses of merlot – the instant we walked in.  there is something smalltownish and heartwarming to be said about this.  kind of like one of the things we all loved about watching the show cheers with a cast of ted danson & shelley long, kirstie alley and woody harrelson, kelsey grammar and george wendt and other regulars who became a part of our living rooms and lives.  given our new dietary restrictions (gluten free/dairy free -more whole30 compliant and feeling good!) we haven’t been to wine knot as much lately; we are cooking more with glasses of wine on our counter.  but sometimes it is nice to just go and sit and visit on a stool in the corner.

this past saturday we were at the cedarburg winter fest, an annual trip for the up-north-gang, an unparalleled and beloved cast of characters.  we walk around town, in and out of fun boutiques and shops, laughing at merch together.  we watch the parade of firetrucks and snow plows and scurry to the frozen river to cheer for the bed races.  it snowed a bit and was very “winter-festival-ish” (as dubbed by dan) this year, as opposed to last year when it was, oddly, almost 70 degrees and forced the bed races to be on the street.  we – without fail – end our day together at the crowded pub the silver creek brewing company.  dark beers, gluten free ciders, wine and kettle corn are our fare of choice.  it’s a total blast.  everyone talks at once; the topics are all over the place.

this flawed cartoon wednesday  in the melange makes me laugh.  the “duuuude”, the (oh-so-wisconsin) “cow-eyes” pun, the bovines at the bar.  every opportunity to laugh.  it’s a good thing.  happy wednesday.

CLAUDINE’S MAKING COW-EYES MERCHANDISE

claudine framed print  claudine mug  claudine t-shirt claudine bathmat

FLAWED CARTOON WEDNESDAY

www.kerrianddavid.com/the-melange

check out DAVID’S thoughts on CLAUDINE

duuuuude! claudine’s making cow-eyes at you! ©️ 2016 david robinson

 

 

 


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flawed cartoon wednesday #1

wienerdogsledcorrectspellingJPG copywednesday nights in the trinity choir room are pretty funny.  is that because it’s wednesday?  is that because it’s easy to have fun singing or strumming the ukulele with a wholebunchapeople or playing handbells while talking about everythingunderthesun?  maybe it’s a little of everything.  wednesdays are like that.  we need the fun, the laughs, the rolling-of-eyes to get through the rest of the week.

FLAWED cartoon is also like that.  you may laugh.  you may groan.  you may roll your eyes.  but any way you look at them, they are good wednesday fare.

FLAWED cartoon was another run at syndication (which, by the way, is compared to winning the lottery, according to a friend of ours whose fun strip THE BRILLIANT MIND OF EDISON LEE runs daily and who said he felt like he had won the lottery.)  david and our dear friend 20 created this cartoon and i have handled all the technical blahblah of it.  we cackle every time we jot down a new idea.  ohmygosh, isn’t “cackle” a great word?!?

the wiener dog sled makes me laugh aloud.  we are pretty devoted life-below-zero fans and have great respect for andy and jessie on that show, both of whom run dogsleds.  john and michele next door have three wiener dogs and i just can’t imagine them pulling ANY sled.  and, although i don’t remember her well, i spent my babyhood years with a dachshund named shayne, who tells stories through my momma’s books of the same name.  wiener dogs rock, but as sled dogs?

and so, our melange of studio-created-stuff continues and FLAWED cartoon wednesday will hopefully bring a grin to your wednesday-can’t-wait-till-friday-face.

WIENER DOG SLED

FLAWED cartoon wednesday

www.kerrianddavid.com/the-melange

wiener dog sled ©️ 2016 david robinson & kerri sherwood