Well one thing this artist does not do it sleep well. Lack of sleep has all kinds of negative effects on the body and over all health. Which is one of the reasons you will see me make that up with a sense of humor. You can't cry if you are laughing. Good attitude maybe but it doesn't make up for the lack of sleep and exhaustion. Most important of all I need sleep to create. Its so hard to focus when your brain just wants to sleep on its own. What are your reasons for not sleeping? My issues are complicated. I have a lot going on. I have Asthma, Apnea, Allergies, Fibromyalgia, Insomnia, ADD, Hot Flashes, IIH, Complicated Migraines, Vertigo. Though this is only a partial list of what all I have going on, it is the particular list that keeps me from getting a good nights sleep.
You see because of all the issues listed earlier above I have a rather large tendency to do aerobics while I DO sleep. I spin clock wise constantly and bunch about 6 pillows into every shape I can to find a cool spot and a comfortable position. Based on this thought I knew a Chillow didn't stand a chance on top of a pillow. It would get buried or flipped upside down under the pillow. I decided the best bet would be to give it its own pillow case and use it separately. To do this a Chillow fits in half of a pillow case if you turn it vertical. I then just folded the rest of the sheet over it. I could now form it to any shape I needed it to squash under my hot neck to support it. This worked great. Sort of. There is a valve for the water and you can see that in the photo above. Its' a little red valve. When I would roll the Chillow up to support my neck I had to make sure the valve didn't poke me in the head or face. I also had read some people had issues with theirs leaking. Mine didn't leak but then I didn't own it long enough to find out. What happened? Well it did do what it said as far as keeping cool because even though the water would eventually reach your body temperature, it would be hours before that happened. Then all you would have to do is just move your head to a new area of the pillow and walla cool again. Great right? Well not really because you fight with how heavy it is, the pool toy smell and the valve. The next problem I noticed was the vinyl started to get crinkly and sort of crispy and not so soft anymore which I akin to me rolling it up to sleep on all the time. The mat inside the Chillow was getting bunched up and its uber hard to un-bunch it once it does that. This was about a week in to having it. Now the most non-predictable or should I actually say most predictable thing happened next. You guessed it and I am sure it had nothing to do with the adorable fluffy kitten photo on the right. Right? Well the kittens liked how cool it was too and decided to walk on it and poked holes in it with their claws. I briefly thought about patching it with duct tape but then envisioned it getting stuck to the pillow case or worse, my hair. I temporarily set it aside...for a month and it grew mold inside. and it was bunched up and it had holes. Thankfully it was only $12 or I would feel even worse about it. All in all what I did find out about this experience was that it helped a lot! I got some heat relief from some of my symptoms and got a little more sleep. So what to do now? If I were to build a Chillow how would I go about it. I would definitely make it out of gel so that I didn't have to fill it with water. The Chillow was like a mini water bed with the core inside that bunches up. Same concept. I would want it to be lighter. I would want to be able to roll it up so I can tuck it under my chin or my neck but also be large enough to keep areas of it cool. And what do you know after a little research I found it. Exactly what I was looking for. The Polar Gel Pillow. Gel filled. Can fold or roll. Can refrigerate. Sweet! It had a 4 1/2 star review on Amazon no one stars and nothing less then a 3 plus it comes with a free e-book for tips on better sleep. See that up above on the right (get yours while they last). I got Polar pillow yesterday. Leaking out the side seam. Great. Did someone clue them in that I am the lemon tester? Sending it back for a replacement today. The quest for better sleep continues. Imagine what I could do if I had great sleep! One of my regrets is to flood the internet with yet another reminder of this passing genius. But I must because the loss of a great artist in any form is not only heartbreaking but thought provoking. I remember all to well Robins' first break into Comedy television through Happy Days as the beloved Mork from Ork. Then to break into his own show Mork & Mindy. I remember eating a chocolate chip cookie while I was explaining to my mother how funny Mork was and demonstrated sitting on my head like he did in the show. This is when the chocolate chip cookie I was eating went up my nose. I will never forget the laughter we all had and the pain in my nose from the cookie now stuck in my nasal passages lol. It breaks my heart that his family suffers such a great loss. It breaks my heart that he wasn't able to find the help he needed and decided that the only help was at his own hand. It serves as a reminder for those like myself who suffer bouts of depression to seek help because this was not the answer. We have lost a genius in his own rights. This provokes me to reach out to those of you who suffer depression to please seek the help you need and keep those close around you closer. It seems that sometimes those who are as clever and talented as Robin may suffer in general because they are such genius the ADD in their mind probably drives them to distraction. I myself have this issue. Not that I am saying I am a genius, but I have so many ideas spinning all the time that even in my sleep I invent and create. A sign of a genius? Maybe. A sign that the brain is overactive? Definitely. The question is do you try to tame the monster or do you set the monster free. I think Robin knew how to set the monster free by trying to make others happy. By making them laugh. By making them think. But I truly feel that he did these things because deep down he didn't feel accepted or hid his true feelings to others by covering it funny faces and laughter. The character Hawk Eye Pierce from M*A*S*H was a lot like that and was accused of such in one episode. The reason I remember it is because I saw that reflected in myself as well and I have never forgot it. Being self aware is a great place to be but everyday is a struggle to remain positive. I challenge you as I ask you to always challenge me. If we challenge each other to find what is beautiful in the world today and everyday we will live life to its fullest. Godbless Robin Williams and I bid you adieu. I salute you as an artist, teacher, a father, a husband, a friend and inspiration to many. May you find the peace you were desperately seeking. May your family find warmth in your memory and the strength to understand that as in life you taught us all and in death you will continue to do so. GOOD morning VIETNAM! One of my worst habits maybe is watching TV while I work. Probably not a good idea because I have an information overload as it is. My mind is constantly thinking of what project to work on next. Not what I should do but which one. It would be safe to say that I have at least a thousand projects on the burner and its a matter of what where and when. Most artists focus one type of art and try to hone that art for years. Striving for perfection. Yet I look at some of these pieces of art and I am wondering what people are thinking. Why some people think certain pieces of art are great when what I see is a blob. Now don't get me wrong because I see beauty in every form but a blob versus say an Arabian Stallion well there just is no comparison for perfection versus a round bulbous mess. I suppose you could argue that the blob has beauty in its rounded postulating form but come on how do people sit and contemplate a piece of art like that. You could understand someone looking at the horse and contemplating did the artist get its form or movement right but why is it that some artists can draw a pen stroke and its a masterpiece? Well it has everything to do with the viewer and of course how famous that artist. For instance if I were a famous artist and people were collecting my paintings, I could squeeze a tube of paint onto a canvas and I would be able to sell this blob just on the name alone. Ridiculous but true. If an artist has some prime great pieces it becomes important to collect everything they do including the art they did in kindergarten because maybe there is an inkling of the genius coming through at that young age. What I have noticed is that art follows trends and its the people who determine whose really an artist and who is not. A really good example of this is Robert De Niro Sr. His entire life dedicated through his art and recognized for how brilliant he was but never to anyone's taste at the time because it didn't fit the current styles. I honestly think the sign of being a great artist has everything to do with ADD in one form or another. You either have the really focused kind where your are tuned completely into your work and see nothing else or you are like me one who moves from one room to the next and finds a new project to do before making it to the bathroom. I almost envy writers who get writers block. Why? Because they probably get some much needed rest. I of course don't understand how one gets writers block for more then a month or two because I even dream about my projects in my sleep. I really need to keep a journal near my bed side to write this stuff down. I hear Stephen King does that and has enough stories to keep a ghost writer busy for another lifetime after his death. Back to the TV. Sometimes I can follow a story but for the most part I put non essential stuff on because I only pick up bits and pieces of whats coming through. I keep it on for noise. I like noise in the background. It helps me think. I actually get ideas from commercials and shows but mostly what not to do HA! What happened to quality in programming? But actually I watch what is current. I look for color and ideas in the backgrounds of the shows and the commercials. They can show trends. With that I conclude. I have so much to do and no time to do it in because there is only so much time in a day and my pain levels seem to keep me running at a minimal sometimes well most of the time. However we will ignore the feeling that my left arm fell out of the socket because we still have another one that works almost as good LOL. So lets turn off the TV and get this day started. The Ballerina you see featured above is a concept digital drawing done in Corel. The actual will be painted in Acrylics on 3 Large 9X3 foot panels to go over a large fireplace. This is a commissioned work. I love doing commission work as it gives me the opportunity to try something new that is a little outside my comfort zone. However as of yet I haven't found a project that I couldn't do yet. I also get to meet new people and my world of exposure opens up. This will be the largest canvas painting I have ever done. I will take photos and keep you posted as we go!
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Life in general is an art and I will show you how to find the beauty in everything you see and do. Subscribe and receive a free weekly download and updates. Archives
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