The Beginning of a Beast

I'm creating a monster.



Zoom out.



Zoom out a lot.



It's going to be a giant monster.

I'm calling it The Beast with 1,000 faces.

Misinghalikunish

Neat! Art of my very own! I sketched this creature based on a mask and description from a book of mine of a Delaware Indian god/spirit/figure called Misinghalikun, or Living Solid Face. I don't know where that book is, but here's some description from a quick Googling:
"The Living Solid Face is what it says it is—a mask, a living mask. When the Indians first saw Misinghalikun riding a buck, and herding the deer, it was simply a fur-clad figure with a wooden face, the right half red, the left black."
Here's a picture:

I love it when inanimate objects are alive, and I love masks, so I REALLY love masks that are alive! I'll be doing more research on this guy in the future.

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Whenever I base a creature or character off mythology, I like to shift or reinterpret things until it's a more original creation. My Misinghalikunish creature is still a baby in terms of development. As of now, he's a spirit in the form of a mask that has created a body from the hide and claws of a monster, deer antlers, and a bunch of rattles. This means he's hollow and makes a lot of plinky noises when he moves, two characteristics I love in spirits. I can imagine him standing on the back of a big ol' buck, hanging onto one of its antlers, leading a massive herd. Badass.

To avoid making him so similar to Misinghalikun, I may combine him with traits of another folklore figure named Eshu, the connection being a story about Eshu in which he walked down the middle of a street wearing a hat that was black on one side, red on the other. After he passed, the people on either side of the street came together to discuss the stranger and ended up arguing over the color of his hat. In some versions, Eshu comes back and teaches them a lesson on perception, but in others, the people end up killing each other and Eshu laughs. Ahh, the contradictory personalities of a trickster.

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I've got some pencil sketches of this guy I may scan someday later maybe.

friend time, the second

The "Grandma's Cooking" Syndrome:

knowing someone, often a grandmother, who cooks a certain dish so delicious that it defeats all other versions, leading you to compare all other versions of the dish to it and saying things like, "This shepherd's pie is good, but nothing compared to Grandma's!"

I'm always saying this. It's not just my grandmother's excellent cooking, either. Example: Whenever I see Philly Cheese Steak on a menu somewhere that isn't Philly, I don't even consider it. Living in said city for four years and visiting it regularly for six, I've found my favorite cheese steak, Jim's on South. I'm not really in a position to say it's the most authentic, but to me it's the best and most dependable. (There's the bit of life. Here comes the segue.) Last night, I had pizza for dinner, and the first thing out of my mouth was, "Jeff's is better."

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Here's another friend of mine. His given name is Jeff Nelson, but others know him as "The Outstanding." His pizza his top-notch. He says there are a couple of better places in NYC, but I honestly have not had anything greater. He's also skilled at animation and related activities, showcased in his new reel:

Jeff Nelson Reel from Jeff Nelson on Vimeo.

Jeff and I were perhaps fated to share quarters in the Pine Correctional Dormitory four years ago, as we have been friends ever since. Capers have included MacGuyvering booby traps from furniture, walking in drive-thru lines in the middle of the night on a quest for nourishment, a Pirate Adventure to Gonesville (with Justin Cassano and one Captain Blacksocks), and many lightning-fast Whole Foods raids, just to name a few. Our longest conversations have focused on the inevitable future his pizza has in a chain of themed restaurants under his name. I cannot give any more detail if only to make what lies ahead all the more amazing.
We once almost died from laughing. Really. I don't know about him, but that was the only time my laughter transitioned to laughing with tears to simply crying and clutching my chest. Good times.

I helped him create his website, jeffnelson.co, but he filled it with so much neatness. Ye who click, be entertained!

friend time, the first

Graduating college is weird. Suddenly, the vast majority of your friends aren't within walking distance. My advice is to have friends who are better at keeping in touch than you are.

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My first neat thing on this blog belongs to my friend Justin Cassano. He is my first blog follower, so he earns spot #1. He's funniest man I know. I have trouble keeping up with him on my best days. I consider the times he breaks and laughs before me to be little triumphs in my life. He's a talented animator but also has an excellent illustration style, especially when it comes to altering the human form, or any other, for his characters. Look at this:

Tomorrow's featured friend and I spent the weekend at his Fortress at Battlesville, indulging in fine beer and food and entertainment (117, unrivaled). Also, adorable dogs de tulear, the newest one being the Grand Pep Pep, himself. I got to see the physical copy of the above illustration and told him I wanted a print. Just look at this guy! All the other times I've wanted to be able to see a specific drawing of an eskimo every day fall short of this time!

He posts other things that are neat here: justincassano.blogspot.com

Go, and enjoy yourself.

(Justin, if you're the only one to see this, go to your own blog and enjoy it... 'MFF)

a blog of reasonable neatness is born

do this: make neat-o-matic on

...

result: it worked!

do this: blog restart

...

result: success!

do this: decide on blog goal

...

result: "to share things I find and do that I think are kind of neat"

do this: check Kyle Palmer OS XXII status

...

result: got some stuff!

vital signs = normal

# of band-aids = 2

confidence = inclined

creativity = inclined

current posture = reclined

current consideration = bedtime

current goal = get income

employment = entirely lacking

outlook = positive

overall rating = "not bad!"

do this: check neat-o-matic status

...

result: got some stuff!

cleverness = iffy

gimmickiness = sizable

humor level = waning

neatness = unsupportable

outlook = unsound

overall rating = "um"

do this: make neat-o-matic off

...

result: it did it, but it's sad!