joe randel's art dump

I hope everyone has a great Zombie Jesus day weekend!  I think I prefer this holiday with sexy bunny girls hiding eggs and chocolate for me to find personally. ^_^

What was your first pet?  Mine was a bunny I bought at the local fair when I was about eight or so.  My mom wasn’t impressed since I bought it with out asking.  Three days later the bunny went back to the farmer and we got my money back.  In my defense, it was my cousin’s idea at the time.  I later got some hamsters, but I quickly found out that I was allergic to them.  It wasn’t until some time later (after college) that we got Beagles, which I found out that I adore.  I ask the pet question because we recently got some gerbils and while they are far from our first pet, the books we’re reading all say they make great first pets.

Maybe you’re someone that’s never had a pet.  Any reason why?  I probably wouldn’t have gotten our Beagle at all if it wasn’t for my wife.  I wasn’t really a pet person at the time.  I’m still reluctant to get a pet now, but I love them all the same once we have them.  Currently, we have a Beagle, some fish and two gerbils.  We’re such a happy family. ^_^

I saw this license plate in a parking lot after I dropped some one off this evening.  I can’t decide if it’s just a coincidence of letters and numbers or if it was intentional.  What do you think?  Does the Tinkerbell on the rear window sway your decision?  I should also mention the parking lot is at a retirement building and the vehicle is always there so I believe the owner lives there?  Old lady loli or dirty old man.

I’ve totally given up on The Walking Dead.  I really enjoyed it in the first season, but now I find it so uninteresting and slow.  I feel like the show was just going no where, back and forth or around in circles.  I was also tired of characters dieing only to have another take his place, just so he can die several episodes later!  Ugh…  Not fun.  I don’t usually give up on shows.  I try and stick it out till the end, but it does happen.  Usually if there is something better on or if I feel the show has run it’s course.  This time though, I’ve actively abandoning it mid way through a season and I don’t feel bad.  Was anyone else out there watching it?  Are you still, or have you gotten fed up like I have.

Over at Threadless, they’re having a contest with Mickey Mouse and Friends as the theme.  I would love to get one of my designs printed, but in order for that to happen I need help getting votes.  I’ve put up four designs and if you dig any of them, I would super appreciate it if you voted on them.  You can sign in to Threadless with your Facebook account now, so you don’t need to sign up.

Just click on the shirt pic and it will take you to that entry.  Thanks everyone!

As I’ve stated before, Disney was wonderful.  There is an interesting aspect of it though that made it enjoyable.  The human interaction.  Let me explain… when I was there, I wore a Happy Birthday pin with my name on it.  This isn’t strange in it’s self, but what it does is lets the employees know that I’m celebrating something.  The result is that for the next ten days,  just about every Disney employee I passed by wished me a happy birthday.  At first it was a little odd, but then you get used to it and soon you’ll  even quite enjoy it.  It’s becomes sort of ridiculous really.  So much in fact that you’ll start wishing strangers with birthday pins a happy birthday too.  Because you know they’ve heard it about 50 times already and it’s not even lunch time.

Disney employees almost always talk to you, even if it’s not your birthday.  They are outgoing, happy and very friendly.  This too at first is sort of a shock, but you adjust and realize how nice it is to talk to… people.  Soon you feel comfortable talking to just about anyone when you’re there.  You’ll even start up conversations with other guests for no real reason.  You all share this commonality, and that is to have fun, relax and enjoy your time there.  It really is a wonderful feeling having simple conversations with others as you go about your day.  Even simple a simple “hello” or wishing someone a great day is awesome!  What’s really jarring is when you come back to the “real world” and you find that no one really does that.

When I got back this time I was saddened that that level of interaction with people was just not there.  Most people will usually go out of their way to no have any unnecessary conversations with others.  You know what I mean.  Keep your head down, don’t look at anyone, avoid talking with strangers…  It kind of sucks since we are all, by nature, social animals.  Since I’ve been back, I’ve been making a conscious effort to be more upfront and friendly with those I come in contact with during my day, and you know what, it’s great!  I obviously can’t do it on a Disney level, but being friendlier and not being so concerned that I might have to talk to someone (or that they’ll talk to me) has made me happier.  True story!

Now, I do realize that Disney employees have to be that happy and friendly.  I have no doubt that this is part of their training and they will probably loose their job if they’re not that way with the guests.  But most of those people are probably outgoing anyway.  Otherwise, I doubt they would have even got hired in the first place.  But you know what, who cares!  It has to start some where.  Being nice and friendly is infectious.  Being around Disney people makes me want to bring that home to my own life, and try to spread that around!  I know others will think I’m strange, but what I’m doing isn’t bad or wrong, it’s just something that most try to avoid.  I hope, at the very least, I can make someone’s day a bit brighter through my interaction with them.  I know it helps me. ^_^