So, after a needed many-month break, I return to the studio, coffee cup in hand, to start publishing the HUGE backlog of artwork/stories when suddenly, a project pops up on the radar that totally demands clearance to buzz my desk...
Indeed, "...the pattern is full." (love the quote, hate the movie).
But this one* must go first. Frankly, it's one of the top-5 Great American Moments** of the 20th Century and that's why it sends the rest back to the stagnant hold-pattern over my desk.
So. Have a look at the pencil-sketch above. The most extreme Wing Nuts and History Geeks will know exactly what's going on. But if you're not one of them, let me digress.
*break break*
Have you ever wondered where Character comes from? Have you ever wondered what Character means? Just recently, the family table fired up when the topic of "What is character?" came up among four generations of participants. And boy, did it get hot!
Gay marriage. Fatherless children. Divorce. Generational dynamics. The Vietnam War. Rock'n Roll. Even buying vs leasing cars (really!) were offered as arguments for one way or the other. In the end, all faces were red, all blood pressures high...but thankfully we all kept our cool and no one threw a punch or hollered an awful epithet (though one—a highly educated academic-type— came close).
Yet, in the end, we settled on this sort of understanding that we have hope for the future that they will be better than "us." And they will embody the character in which we all hope will prevail. Who is they?
The future generations.
And again, what is this "character"?
No one could define it.
(deep breath)
In the meantime, look at the progress-shot below. Are you a teacher? A CEO? A shift-manager? A department-head? A housewife? A student? An Instagram Influencer?
Look below.
This indistinct shape you see represents everything you (hopefully) want to be.
*You should SEE the stuff that's coming up! F-100 combat gun cam footage, a tragically glorious Avro Lancaster, a TBM story that's the stuff of gut-busting pride, "MiG Killin'," a loooong overdue AC-130...and then, along comes a project that stops them all, fairly demanding a flyby.