by Marty Coleman | Jun 12, 2012 | Blog World NY, New York City, Travel |
My iPhone was burning down the batteries very quickly over the past week during my trip to New York. Something was up with it and it finally went kaput, really kaput, while waiting for my flight home from New York City. As a result I spent a lot of time observing and drawing, both on napkins and in my sketchbook. Here are some of the interesting people I drew and got to know.
Karen
On the way home from my week in New York City I sat next to a woman who reminded me a bit of Susan Sarandon. Her eyes were similar but it was really her voice, having the same tone and inflection, that made me feel like I was listening to the actress.
Karen had gone to the city for the first time to have a girl’s weekend with some friends. She is a world traveler yet had never been to NYC. She loved the city, could live there easily she said (I feel the same way after my stay). But after a weekend of eating, drinking, sightseeing and walking she was ready to get home to San Diego. She missed her cat. She was a very interesting person to sit next to.
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Jasmine
Before I got on the plane I spent 5 hours waiting at LaGuardia Airport (long story). I sat for 2 of those hours across from this woman, Jasmine. She slept in this position for a long time.
After a while we realized there should be more people around and found out the gates had changed. We traipsed over to the new gate together. Turns out she was also in NYC for a weekend of fun. She said she had a lot of it. She showed me some photos of her time in NYC, a lot of pictures of her and her friend mugging for the camera, a concert and more self-portraits. She wore bright red lipstick in some and bright pink lipstick in others. She was now very tired and very hungover and was also glad to be headed home. She was a very interesting person to wait with.
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Mother and Daughter and Dog
Before Jasmine showed up I was entertained by a mother and daughter sitting across and down from me waiting for a different flight. They had a teeny weenie little dog with bulging eyes who continually peeked out from under the mother’s arm.
The daughter had bright hot pink shorts, brilliant yellow socks and a big knee brace. She played on her iPhone for well over an hour without moving. The mother had on a lacy, Stevie Nicks type of black dress on. The dog blended in under the crook of her arm until it would open it’s eyes REALLY wide and look around. Then it would fall asleep again and disappear into the folds of her dress. They were very interesting people to observe.
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Drawings by Marty Coleman, who loves to draw when he travels.
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 6, 2012 | Blog World NY, New York City, Travel Napkins |
My first travel napkin of my trip to speak at Blog World in NYC.
I did the usual thing when you are alone at a social media conference and tweeted to the Blog World crowd asking who wanted to get a bite to eat before the opening party. Rzaz, Sus, and Apdo responded and off we went to find good Thai food.
We were all strangers so we told our ‘Why are you at Blog World?’ stories. When I told about me as the Napkin Dad Apdo picked up a restaurant napkin and exclaimed, so you could just draw on this one if you want, right? I took up the challenge and came up with this of Apdo in the city listening to a little bird.
After dinner we saw this.
Then we mosied over to the opening party where I introduced my new friends to some of the people I met at Blog World LA in November. They made some great connections and I met someone from Bulgaria.
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 4, 2012 | Blog World NY, New York City |
I am on my way to Blog World NYC to speak on Wednesday. My topic is ‘Overcoming Content Procrastination Start to Finish’. I am using the analogy of running races to illustrate ways to be productive and effective in content creation. I thought I would show one of the drawings I am going to have in my presentation.
Confidence
I am feeling confident about my presentation. Luckily I am also NOT feeling confident. What that means is I am being realistic. I know I could fall flat on my face and to lessen that risk I am doing everything I can to prepare properly. Could I still fall flat on my face? Sure. Just as in a race I can train and prepare properly and still have a lousy race. But preparing makes your confidence, though not 100%, higher and more assured than if you are just flying by the seat of your pants.
Some who could see my process of preparation might say I fly by the seat of my pants. But for me and my personality, I think I do pretty good to prepare. Let’s hope so!
Drawing by Marty Coleman, who is about to hit the Big Apple!
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by Marty Coleman | May 31, 2012 | Blog World NY, Ellen Degeneres, Procrastination - 2012 |
See, I told you procrastination was a good thing…Wait, I MEANT to tell you but I didn’t get around to it, sorry.
Type P vs Type A
It’s true, for all the angst and wringing of hands over procrastination it’s really important to discern when you are being a ‘procrastinating’ person and when you are being a ‘hundred mile an hour control freak type A Energizer bunny who is going to have a heart attack if you don’t slow down a bit’ person.
Seeing and Knowing
How do you know the difference? When you are the latter type you get injured. You get burnt out, you hurt yourself and others, you hate your life, you don’t see the big picture, you don’t see the small picture. You barely see anything at all. If you are the former type, a true procrastinator, then you see the world passing by and you are too afraid, too lazy, too paralyzed, to oblivious to your true self to take a step.
Be it Resolved
Be honest and look at yourself, you do know which one you are. Your world will not collapse if you admit it to yourself or others. All the others already know the truth anyway, you really just have to admit it to yourself.
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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who is Type P.
Quote by Ellen DeGeneres, who has to quit stalking me.
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by Marty Coleman | May 30, 2012 | Blog World NY, Franz Kafka, Procrastination - 2012 |
I know today will whoosh right by, but stop and smell the procrastination, won’t you?
Expect the Unexpected
As I have gotten older I increasingly am aware of how many things can go wrong at the last minute of a project or upcoming event. As a result I really do try to get organized and prepared with plenty of time. And even WITH that mindset I am always seeming to be down to the wire in my preparations.
I am expecting it to be the same with my presentation on procrastination and content creation at Blog World next week (Wed. June 6th). This is drawing #5 of the procrastination part, but it will include a lot more I still need to get together. I hope I don’t have too many interruptions but if I do I at least feel I have a strong foundation prepared. We shall see!
It’s about Respect
Here is what I am thinking about today to include in my presentation. The act of being deliberate in your content creation, working away at it as best you can, is showing respect to those you will give your content out to. It’s no different than arriving late for something and knowing in advance you were going to be late and leaving late anyway. That, to me, shows disrespect for those awaiting your arrival. Not preparing your work properly is the same thing, right?
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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who doesn’t like the sound of the whoosh
Quote by Douglas Adams, who wonders how much whoosh a woodchuck whooshes if a woodchuck would chuck whooshes.
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by Marty Coleman | May 29, 2012 | Blog World NY, Pablo Picasso, Procrastination - 2012 |
I put it off as long as I could, but it’s day #4 of the Procrastination series and of my journey to Blog World NY to talk about it.
Dying and the Worst Fear
When I think about dying my worst fear is that all the artwork I have done over the decades will be lost. That it will be so disorganized, so hard to find and sort through, that no one will want to do it and it will just disappear eventually. I have a lot of things I want to get done still, but I have done a lot of things so far and I want them recorded and stored in a way that others can see or hear about them later.
Technology
I have to leave things undone each day, and many days I leave them undone on purpose because I don’t feel like working so hard at it. But in the end I keep coming back to my tasks, both the current art creation tasks and the cataloging and organizing of my prior work. It’s not as if it’s going to end since as soon as I get everything organized on CD or DVD another technology comes along that demands it be done all over again. For example, I have been going through old family photos this past Memorial Day weekend and I came across a floppy disk full of images. That was modern and safe at one point but now it’s ancient technology I can’t access without spending money on it.
What is your greatest fear in dying and do you put off dealing with it? Why so?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, whose many scribbles are unaccounted for.
Quote by Pablo Picasso, whose every scribble is pretty much accounted for.
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by Marty Coleman | May 24, 2012 | Blog World NY, Procrastination - 2012 |
What do you see?
Can you see what’s going on here? It’s not about masturbation. It’s about waiting, hoping, wanting, dreaming, thinking, desiring, yearning, lusting, needing, fantasizing, pretending. It’s about dreaming vs doing. It’s about doing the easy thing, maybe out of habit, maybe out of boredom or fear or comfort instead of the hard thing.
Production vs Procrastination
Producing is working at a relationship, a job, a goal. Procrastination is avoiding it, paying attention instead to something you can control, but not really take advantage of. While fun, and maybe harmless, you can’t go anywhere with the object of your procrastination. You can only do that with the object of your productivity.
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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who has a cat.
Quote by Anonymous, who only looks at the pictures
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by Marty Coleman | May 23, 2012 | Blog World NY, English Proverbs, Procrastination - 2012 |
The journey to blog World in New York continues.
Anytime
This quote, ‘What can be done at any time is never done at all’ probably exemplifies my procrastination nemesis more than any other. I like deadlines. I fail at deadlines sometimes but not nearly as much as when I don’t have any at all.
Busy Boy
Another element that really helps me is to be busy. It makes for a certain amount of stress, but not so much as to be negative. When I am busy, like I am now, I think faster, I act faster, and I make plans better. I have to fit something into a smaller time slot and that helps me focus my time and my brain.
I am in the middle of helping my daughter move into her first ‘big girl’ apartment in Dallas. A lot of moving, truck renting, decision making, appliance buying, etc. etc. I have to fit everything else, my clients (who I am not ignoring if you are reading this, I AM working on that header), my dog who has a torn ACL and has to be crated and walked every few hours (not fun for her), my running group that I organize and lead 5 days a week, and my photo group I help lead by doing the library presentations (one of which is tonight and I just came up with the topic this morning).
Blog World here I come
All the while I am preparing for Blog World. And I am actually preparing better for it because I am so busy. At least I think I am. You be the judge when you come to my session if you attend, ok?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, busy boy
Quote is an English Proverb
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by Marty Coleman | May 21, 2012 | Anonymous, Blog World NY, Procrastination - 2012 |
Day One of my Blog World New York Journey
Blog World New York 2012
I am speaking at Blog World in New York in about 2 weeks. The title of my talk is ‘Overcoming Procrastination from Start to Finish’. I am going to document my preparation for the presentation from now until the day of the talk, Wed. June 6th.
As a result I am deep into figuring out the themes, graphics, words, images, napkins, schedule and organization of it all. I want to be prepared and I don’t want to procrastinate. I don’t want to make the mistake of thinking ‘someday’ will actually come. I need to plan it with real days not pretend days. I need to organize it so that by the time I am standing on the stage in front of the (put in hopeful large number here) people in attendance I will be able to give them something of value.
Something of Value
I can give them something of value in direct relation to how well I know the material and how refined that material is. That means I can only think about it so long before I have to actually practice the presentation. It’s in the practicing that I will learn what works. To practice I need to have the presentation lined out and organized at the draft level. I don’t need all the images and I don’t need every word in place, but I do need to have the basic theme outlined and organized. I find that even that will likely change but I start with something that way.
Since I am doing this as ‘The Napkin Dad’ the majority of images will come from my napkins. Thus, I need to prepare a good set of napkins that will illuminate the theme and the ideas. That means finding past napkins, which I can only really do if I have them named consistently and well organized in my electronic files. It also means creating new ones that meet the direct needs of this presentation and today is Procrastination napkin #1
Your Contribution
So, here we are. Day 1 of my blog journey to Blog World in New York. What I am looking for from you are your pearls of wisdom about procrastination. Why you think it happens, what you do about it, what is good about it, and what your favorite procrastinating activity is. Whatever other insights, references or resource you have I would love to hear all about them.
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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who tried out for the Procrastination Olympics that were never held.
Quote by someone too lazy to demand attribution so Mr. Anonymous gets the credit
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 8, 2011 | Quote Authors, San Diego, Travel, Yogi Berra |
I am finally back to the napkins! I took some time off to speak at and attend the BlogWorld LA conference for the first time. Then I headed south to San Diego to visit my father and sister. I am there now, finally with some time to draw.
Travel is much like a life education vs. a formal education. It’s important to never confuse the two. With a formal education and a regimented, organized travel experience, let’s say for business, you need to be sure of what it is you hope to accomplish and what you want to learn. It’s good to have it planned.
But in your life education and in all of your travels, business or not, there is another layer that exists, and that is the layer of not knowing why you are going somewhere or learning something. I don’t mean you have no idea at all, I mean you have to allow that you CAN’T know it all in advance. Your deepest experiences and lessons come to you without your prior knowledge that they are about to arrive. It is those things we couldn’t have anticipated that resonate the deepest.
So, don’t freak out if you don’t know every step of the journey ahead, whether in your education or your travel, If you did, you wouldn’t learn much.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily.
Quote by Yogi Berra, 1925-not dead yet, New York Yankee baseball player and manager
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