by Marty Coleman | Sep 28, 2012 | Texas, Travel, Travel Napkins |
I went to Dallas, Texas for a few days this week to visit my daughter. I did this drawing while at Starbucks one morning.
Haley Being Drawn
I hung out at Starbucks yesterday morning and did a drawing of a woman having what seemed to be a mentoring time with someone who might have been a family friend, maybe a past professor, who was helping her talk through career ideas. I drew her as they talked. She stayed on to work after the gentleman left. After I showed her the drawing a guy came up behind me and said how good the drawing was, how beautiful she was and how the drawing didn’t really do her justice. He went on about her beauty and the drawing and I had a feeling the double attention was making her uncomfortable. Knowing a guy had been drawing her was probably awkward enough, but another guy coming along and focusing on her looks as well was a bit too much. I gave her my card, told her where she could find the drawing later and went on my way. As I went outside, the guy who had said something about the drawing came up to me and said ‘we have the same taste in women.’ I simply said, ‘She is beautiful.’ and went on my way.
Paying Attention
It bothered me though that he would say that. It’s like my deeper appreciation of her was sullied by his shallow response. Then again, his comment wasn’t offensive really, or tacky, trashy or rude. It was just a pretty average male comment. But it bugged me nonetheless. I sat down at that table because I saw her there and was hopeful she would be there long enough to draw her. She was interacting with someone so she had her head up and I wanted to take advantage of that instead of another person who might have been looking down and a book or computer. I also was hopeful I would have time to get the person she was talking to into the drawing, which I did, just barely. And yes, I thought she was beautiful and I wanted to draw her because she was attractive and well manicured in hair, makeup and dress.
How I See
So, why did that guy bother me? Were the two of us that different? Is the fact that I used my time viewing of her by doing a drawing better than the other guy just staring and doing nothing? In the end, what I love about drawing or photographing people vs just staring blankly at surface ‘beauty’ is that in my creative act I feel I am discovering the person to a much deeper degree. I am seeing the outer shell, true. But I am also investigating, paying attention to the tones, shapes, colors, expressions, style, body language, feelings, etc. I am interpreting and exploring who the person is and how I see them. I am making something of the encounter. Something that says more than just ‘she’s pretty’.
At least that is how I see it. What do you think? Do you think I am any different than that other guy?
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Drawing by Marty Coleman at Starbucks on Greenville in Dallas, Texas
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by Marty Coleman | Jul 12, 2012 | Gaylord Hotel - Grapevine, Texas, Travel |
This is the fourth and final installment of the story of my visit to the Gaylord Texan resort through winning the Grand Prize in a contest put on by Steinbrecher and Associates in conjunction with the publication of Susan Steinbrecher’s book, ‘Kensho: A Modern Awakening’. You can start at PART ONE here if you want to go back to the beginning.
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Break Fast
Day Three at the Gaylord started with room service for Caitlin, since she had to get up and going to work really early. Simple enough oatmeal, but they made it the right way and it was delicious she said. I often take sunrise pictures at home and post them on Facebook so I decided I might as well do it in Texas as well.
Simple and Delicious at Sunrise
Linda and I meanwhile had heard about a very unique Texas breakfast spot down in Grapevine, the town we had meandered through the day before. It was called ‘Out West’ and was the genuine article, pure Texas. How ‘Texas’ was it? It was SO Texas that the table we sat at WAS Texas!
Linda looks over Amarillo
Small Town Time
We hadn’t really seen one side of the street as well as we wanted the day before so we took another stroll through Grapevine after breakfast. We came upon a pretty witty name of a store.
Coffee and religious books - Pun divinely intended, obviously
The ice cream store, a shaded gazebo and a cute farmer’s market called to us after our walk.
Where's John Phillip Sousa when you need him?
Linda in the distance getting yummy peaches!
Meeting Susan
One of the most exciting parts of the holiday for me was actually part business. I obviously had read up on Susan Steinbrecher, the person who awarded me the prize. She turned out to be a pretty amazing person, successful business woman who had a very unique and individual approach to her chosen profession of leadership consulting and training. She told me to let her know when we would take the vacation so she might come by and meet me. What exactly that meant, I didn’t know. Would it be a handshake, hello then off she would go, or would we have time to sit down and talk a bit? I wrote her a week before the vacation telling her that we would be there and we arranged a time to meet on our last day. I wrote back and asked if she would be willing to take a quick look at my Napkin Dad presentation, ‘The Six Stop Signs on Creativity Road’ that I would have on my iPad. I thought it would be a good way to let her know what I do and maybe how I could help her in her business. If not, perhaps she would have some good advice for a newbie speaker/presenter. She was gracious in saying she would be happy to.
Susan Steinbrecher and me
She gave me great advice about how to develop my speaking career and offering to help by giving advice into the future. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I am now excited to read her books, ‘Heart-Centered Leadership’ and ‘Kensho: A Modern Awakening’.
Right as we were finishing up, a couple came into the Celebrity Services offices where we were having our conversation. Susan knew them and introduced them to me. They were Angela Mitcham, the VP and Hotel Manager and John Imaizumi, the Senior VP and General Manager, who had a broken arm. They were the ones who had put the package together at Susan’s request so really it was them I had to thank for the incredible attention we received. Linda came in right at that time and we all talked for a few minutes about John having taken a nasty tumble on his bike. Luckily it looks like he will have a full recovery!
Dashing for the Airport
Then it was off for a hopefully traffic free dash for Love Field for me to get a flight home. Linda was going to be staying the weekend with Caitlin at her apartment while I bachelored it for the weekend with the dogs and cat. Dallas, not known for light traffic, opened up it’s highways and byways and we made it at the speed limit just in time for me to get in line as the plane boarded. I was a bit winded from running through the terminal but not sweaty enough to worry about my row mates being overwhelmed by my lack of cologne. I ended up sitting next to a very cool woman who told a great story about the dreams she had, and actions she was taking, to one day open her own boutique, but that’s a story for another day.
The End
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Thanks so much for traipsing through the 4 part series. I really didn’t expect it to be this long but I felt very privileged to get the prize and wanted to give it justice in my recounting of it. I wish I had taken more photos (an odd thing for me to not take many) but I think I gave a good visual flavor of the trip nonetheless
Please consider staying at the Gaylord Texan (or any of their resorts) if you are in the Dallas area. They truly are an amazing company and the service was as excellent as one would hope for. I have not been paid or compensated for this series, beyond the initial awarding of the 2 night stay to begin with, which was not dependent on me writing or sharing anything about it.
If you are in business management and leadership, I hope you will consider Steinbrecher and Associates‘ services in developing custom plans for leadership training. Once again, I have not been paid or compensated for my mentioning of her company or services beyond the initial awarding of the contest prize, which was not dependent on any writing or sharing on my part.
Part Zero (the napkin)
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
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by Marty Coleman | Jul 10, 2012 | Gaylord Hotel - Grapevine, Texas, Travel |
This is Part Two of my story of winning the grand prize in the ‘Kensho: A Modern Awakening’ contest. You can read Part One here.
We are celebrities, uh huh
I won the ‘Kensho: A Modern Awakening’ contest in the winter of 2011 but the 2012 4th of July holiday turned out to be the perfect time to go. Caitlin was now living in Dallas and could either stay with us or at least hang out when she wasn’t working. The certificate said to call the executive offices to make our reservations. That was my first clue that this might not be your normal hotel stay. They in turn instructed me to go to ‘Celebrity Services’ when I checked in, not the usual reservation desk. This turned out to be a very good thing since the line for that desk was pretty long on the morning of the 4th.
Celebrity Services was behind a frosted glass wall in the lobby, with no signage. It looked like it might just be executive offices, or something like that. I suppose real celebrities would like that better than a big neon sign saying ‘come bug us, we have celebrities in here!’ In spite of my new found celebrity status I was not expecting a rush of autograph seekers.
Courtney and Tyler, our celebrity services peeps, insisted on having their picture taken with the celebrities.
I was grateful for them because most of the other patrons had luggage amounts like this to check in.
Note box fan: Linda was jealous!
A third Celebrity Services Peep (not sure if they have an actual title, their card just says ‘celebrity services’), Paula, brought us up to our room along with the Bell Hop and luggage to explain the details of our new humble abode, the 5th floor Presidential Suite. This was a good thing since Jed Clampett (me) didn’t really know where to start. This is why.
The lil' sittin' room
The one oversight was that she didn’t explain was the shower, which had about 14 knobs and a steamer that I didn’t figure out until I was in the middle of a ‘death by steaming’ James Bond assassination attempt. But I survived not terribly worse for wear. It made Linda laugh at me til she cried, so there’s that.
'Steaming Assassination Trap' off camera to the right.
One of the best things as we arrived was we got to taste the amazing treats Caitlin had made the night before for us. She loves doing holiday goodies so why not make them for the 4th of July, right? Check these out. They were SO delicious!
Patriotic Strawberries, YUM!
This was our view.
American Landscape
After we settled in we went to the outdoor pool (they also have an indoor pool and a waterpark). The pool was filled to the brim with kids splashing and having fun and I didn’t feel safe bringing my camera phone out but here is a pic of it when it is pretty and empty.
I, Octopus
Trust me when I say it was hot, fun, crowded and loud, just like it is suppose to be on a summer holiday. My exercise in the pool was swimming underwater from Linda and Caitlin’s dangling legs to the opposite side of the pool and back, my challenge was winding my way through legs and bodies. I did that again and again. It was fun and I only kicked one or two people. Really. I do think one lady thought I was an octopus or something when I swam by.
After we finished with the pool we went back upstairs and changed for dinner. We had originally made reservations for the Hotel’s Italian restaurant, Zeppoles, for that night but decided we would go into the small town of Grapevine and see if we couldn’t find a more 4th of July, American type dinner. We ended up at Pappadeaux’s, a cajun restaurant, of all places. It wasn’t exactly ‘all-american’ but it was really good anyway!
FOURTH!
As we drove back into the hotel area the roads were packed with people coming out to see the fireworks. Luckily we got a bit lost and took the road behind the hotel to get there, missing the main drag filled with cars. Mistakes happen for a reason, right? As we went into the lobby Linda and Caitlin decided they wanted to get a drink to bring up to the room. I don’t drink so I just went straight up while they went to the bar in the lobby. When I get upstairs, what should I find but that my new best friends at Celebrity Services (as Linda kept teasing me about) had a bottle of champagne and 3 Creme Brulee desserts waiting for us!
Sweet and Bubbly!
I immediately called the girls downstairs to tell them not to bother with the drinks, but they didn’t answer their phones. I arranged some chairs and placed the champagne and dessert cart near the window from which we would be watching the fireworks. I then waited and waited, continually opening the front door, hoping they would be up soon since I knew the show was about to begin. Finally they showed up, having gone to another bar in the giant atrium in the center of the hotel complex to find a quicker bartender. So much for that idea. Anyway, we popped the champagne right as the first fireworks exploded in the sky.
Bubbles and Sparkles
We not only saw our fireworks perfectly but we could also see at least 9 other fireworks going off in the far distance. See the photo of our view in the daytime above and you can imagine how easy it would be to see them. We turned on the TV and it had a fireworks show with great music on. It was a perfect accompaniment. After the music stopped Caitlin started singing every patriotic song she could think of and Linda and I sang along. Amazingly we knew almost all the words to all the songs! It really was a fantastic night.
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Part Zero (the napkin)
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
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by Marty Coleman | Jul 5, 2012 | Independence Day, Road Trip, Texas, Travel, Travel Napkins |
On the road, deep in the heart of Texas!
I was awarded a 2 night stay at the Gaylord Texan resort from Steinbrecher and Associates for a story I wrote about the ‘aha moment’ in my life from being the Napkin Dad. Linda, Caitlin and I are here now over Independence Day and enjoying ourselves immensely.
The drawing was done after breakfast. I stayed down at the restaurant while Linda went upstairs to shower. The waitress was kind and thoughtful and I liked that her tag said she was from Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
I will post something longer when I get home but had to get at least one ‘Travelin’ Napkin’ in while I was here!
Here is the drawing after I got home and was able to work on it a bit.
Here is the story of our time at the Gaylord, in four parts.
Part Zero (the napkin)
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
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by Marty Coleman | Mar 2, 2011 | Texas, Travel Napkins, Waco |
I came down to the dining area at the hotel in Waco. I saw a young woman with great, fun, spikey hair sitting down with someone who looked like her mother and a friend. I went and found a guest napkin & drew them. The mother had copper eyeshadow, and I love copper eyeshadow on almost anyone. Haven’t ever really figured out why, but I do. I know, the color of her eye shadow in the drawing isn’t copper, so sue me. This story has nothing to do with this drawing.
As I was drawing a woman asked if she could borrow one of the chairs at my table. They sat at the table next to me and I overheard them talking about the big Baylor Sing competition of the night before. My daughter was in the same event so I asked them what they thought of it.
We got into a friendly discussion about the various acts, which were good, bad, ugly, etc. It turns out their daughters were also in the competition (they were in acts that we ranked very high, so that was good). I mentioned that I was an artist and I didn’t think enough attention was paid to the visuals of set design, costumes, etc. in the judging. They said they noticed I had been drawing and I explained about ‘The Napkin Dad’, and told them about this website/blog. I gave them my card.
My wife showed up so I went to help fix a plate of food for our daughter, still upstairs getting ready. When I came back my new friends were laughing and cracking up about something. They had just gone to my site on their iPhone and said, ‘You won’t believe it, but Hilary, the girl with the wonderful eyebrows? We have known her since she was 6 months old, she is one of my daughter’s best friends.’
I brought out the drawing I did of Hilary and they took a photo to immediately send to Hilary’s mother back in Phoenix. I like this story. Life is good sometimes and it makes me happy.
Here is the link to Part One
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Drawing and story by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Mar 2, 2011 | Texas, Travel Napkins |
Today I am in Waco, Texas visiting my daughter. I am hanging out at Common Grounds, a coffee spot right off the Baylor campus. I am watching the parade of students come in, order their drinks and go back out to their next class. The woman serving, Hilary, has beautiful eyebrows she is not sure she likes. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t. I like them, and told her so.
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| Hilary, The Girl with the Wonderful Eyebrows, at Common Grounds, Waco, TX |
The travel napkin today is the paper towel that serve as napkins here.
To read about the coincidence that followed meeting Hilary, check out Part Two.
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Drawing © 2016 by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 23, 2010 | Texas, Travel Napkins, Waco |
I am down in Waco, Texas at the Baylor University homecoming. Our daughter, Caitlin, is a typical sleep-deprived, coffee-infused college student. Not enough time, too many obligations. Everything is hard and will end in certain disaster. Except it never does.
I really think college is much less about learning stuff and much more about learning yourself and your limits, and how many times you can go over that limit and still survive. So far, so good for Caitlin.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
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by Marty Coleman | Mar 4, 2010 | Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach, Texas, Waco |
Hello again NapkinDaddians, I am in Waco still, making things run smooth for my daughter as she recovers from a bad back.
This almost looks like a Christmas type napkin, with all the boxes, but it’s apropos anytime of the year. Take it from someone who knows, having a lot of stuff isn’t any more satisfying than having a little bit of stuff. There are conveniences and luxuries and sweets momentary satisfactions indeed that come with having nice stuff. But look at any child who goes out into the world starting out and see if the ones that have everything handed to them are any more satisfied with life than those who go the more usual route of having to start anew as an adult, with just a little.
All four of my daughters are in that situation now. Small apartments and old houses, going to college or starting over, borrowed furniture, thrift store bargains, iffy appliances. They are making their way in the world and I am excited for them. It’s fun to build up a life with old or new stuff, and I am all for it. I am a believer in stuff. But I am not a believer in stuff giving me satisfaction in the long view. My best satisfaction comes from relationships, from helping, from creating. It comes from using stuff to further love and further good. That is when stuff satisfies.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“To be satisfied with little is hard, to be satisfied with a lot is impossible.” – Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1830-1916, Austrian author and Countess
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by Marty Coleman | Mar 3, 2010 | James Baldwin, Texas, Waco |
Hola travelers! The Napkin Dad is on the road in Waco, Texas taking care of my daughter after her back went out. I thought I would take the opportunity to photograph (with my iPhone) the napkins in the situation I find myself in. This was taken at ‘Common Grounds’ a college coffee house near the Baylor University campus.
One of the things people forget is that treating other people well while treating your children badly is not very effective. They can’t just watch you as a witness, they need to see, feel and hear your direct care and love for them. Of course they do if you are a good parent, but even good parents have to make choices in response to childrens’ behavior and attitudes.
Are you the adult? Then prove to them you are one by responding as you would like them to respond to their children when it is their turn. There is no better and more effective way of paying it forward to the world than that.
Of course, the secret they can’t possibly know until they have a child of their own is that what they see as your ‘sacrifice’ or the ‘burden’ they are for you is so trivial compared to the complete and utter privilege it is to be granted the gift of loving someone so completely. They don’t yet know that good parents would rather take care of their children than do anything else in their life. Nothing else has the meaning, the value, the fulfillment of that.
“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders. But they have never failed to imitate them.” – James Baldwin
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