letter to thai

i friend posted the following on her facebook this morning...

"So sick and tired of kids saying something to Thai because she wears superhero shirts to school! Teacher getting a call! She cried about it this morning."

>:( 

this is not acceptable.  this is downright rage-inducing.  messing w/ this girl?  because of SUPERHERO TSHIRTS???  this is like messing w/ my own child.  we go to cons w/ her & her family.  we hang out at kickboxing class.  shoot, we have more pix of her on our fridge than we do of our own son.

i know kids can be stupid & use a strange logic that we grown people just don't get, but this needs to be nipped in the bud.  i remember once upon a time when self esteem wasn't an issue for me.   i mean, every kid coming into the world has unlimited potential to do great things...until they are told by someone else they can't/don't/shouldn't.  i use to be the fastest runner in school & queen of the monkey bars (i had the blisters on my palms to prove it).  then 6th grade hit & i was made fun of because i didn't play quiet games during recess.

& it didn't quit there.  i withdrew further into myself when in 8th grade was told i was suppose to draw flowers instead of dragons.  & then in high school i was 'weird' because i read (for fun, not for homework) at lunch instead of gossip, didn't wear make up, didn't go on dates.  &, oh yeah, i didn't care for new kids on the block.  i know, ole weirdo janet.

it wasn't until i hit my mid-20s before i realized i was tired & unhappy of trying to fit in & hiding the things i liked, all for people who i never saw again & did not matter whatsoever in my life anyways.

a girl doesn't have to wear pink or draw only flowers & unicorns or wear hannah montana shirts or like princesses to be a girl.  

she can dress up as her favorite superhero.

best black canary EVER!

she can be in ballet.

graceful.

she can whoop some tail in kickboxing class.

she's smiling because you think she's cute & can't hit hard.

she can learn to play violin. 

country fiddlin' or classical.

she can have taekwondo family fun time, too.

choke him out!!!

 

oh yeah, & she can read a comic book whilst wearing a SUPERHERO tshirt.


in yo faces, haters.

so here's my words of encouragment to this multifaceted young lady.

dear thai:

i know sometimes it's hard being 10, trying to figure out who you are & where you fit into this world that can be full of people who, at times, are rather stupid & slow to realize that not everyone's a cookie cutter clone. 

you are an individual.  you are ok to like the things you like and enjoy the things you do because those things make you happy.  and too bad if it bothers someone else so much that they feel they need to make fun of you.  those people need to find a hobby, like knitting, if they really don't have anything else going for them.

keep wearing batman tees.  keep playing w/ star wars legos.  keep reading comic books.  one day you'll understand that you are an AWESOME kid.  everyone who love you already know your awesome-osity is boundless.  :)

love <3<3<3,
~~me
 

that's right.  wear that superhero tshirt, miss thai.

superman celebration 2012 & 10yr anniversary

2 things happened over this past weekend.

the 1st was superman celebration. 

each & every summer we look forward to attending superman celebration in metropolis, il (or as 1 friend calls it, "the trop".  seriously.).  this yr was no different, except...it was...different.  this time, the boy came w/ us!  (dun dun duuuuunnnnn!!!)

because of this, i had to trade in most of the MAW Productions booth time for mommy duties.  which was ok, except for the times anakin got a little too excited &, well, let's just say he got into more trouble this past weekend than in the whole 3 yrs of his life.  :/  but it's ok.  he's only 3 & has the attention span of a cat.  there were times i had to take him away from the celebration & go to a park down the street so he could run around & get it all out of his system.  as long as he had fun, rt?  rt!

but we were all happy to see old friends & hang out & eat deliciously bad consession stand food & appreciate all the cool costumes & get sunburns.  let's take a gander @ the festivities, shall we?

the boy & i @ lambert's, on the way to "the trop".

outside lambert's. put more quarters in it! it'll go faster.

an updated pic on the horsey. in 2009, anakin was on this same horse. i'll have to find that pic...

yeah, i don't know either...

the riley's w/ george perez.  gotta love his seizure inducing shirts.

richard, superman, & Turra.  1 of these things is not like the others...

Super Mule!!!  in front of the MAW Productions booth.

marco, choppin it up.

kevin & a sketch for a fan.

eating artery clogging consession stand pizza. mmmmm.

w/ wonder woman (margie cox) & green lantern (michael cox).

w/ green arrow.  this guy's the BEST green arrow i've ever seen.

you know we had to be in front of the huge superman statue.

& what about the 2nd thing that happened?

antone & i celebrated 10yrs of marital bliss.  that's rt.  on june 8th, 2002, @ around 2:30 pm, me & the flavor o' my life sealed the deal in a hot church (ac broke down) in front of family & friends.

& how did we celebrate?  on june 8th, 2012, at around 2:30pm, my husband & i were performing in a Super Mule puppet show w/ the guy who should've been the best man 10yrs ago, kevin williams.  that may sound corny & strange to some, but i thought it was perfect.  we were together (how many couples can even boast THAT, huh?), we were happy, we were doing something we liked doing, & we were w/ friends.  & bam, there ya go.

06.08.02 - "i promise to love, honor, cherish, & ink whatever it is you pencil."

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!!!

so aside from may 5th being cinco de mayo, it was also what's known in the realm of comic books as FREE COMIC BOOK DAY.  yes, that magical time of year where comic book fans bumrush their local comic book shops & score free books, maybe meet an artist or 2, & make geeky purchases.  :)  it's almost like christmas, except there's not pesky wrapping paper to keep you from your stuff.

mr. wade & i were invited to lexington's collectibles etc for their fcbd event.  we got to hang out w/ Action Lab Comics' very own shawn pryor (always fun) & met w/ some awesome fans.  well, here, i'll let the pix do the talking...

the cool kids' table.

princeless!!!  i <3 this series.  :)

free cd w/ 200+ pgs of previews from Action Lab

they had cake!

we had a staring contest.  i won when i ate him.

dawww!

young & spry cap'n.

tressa bowling & her Jetta chibi sketch.

packed!

go, power rangers go go gooooo!!!

i don't know what i'm gonna do w/ myself this weekend.  the hubby will be in lexington, ky for a comic book & toy convention...& because of my non-art related job, i'll be here.  working.  do non-art related stuff.  :(  i'll just have to keep my mind off his absence by working hard & sleeping away the pain.  *siiiiiigh*  well, if you read this & will be attending the con, drop by the MAW Production's booth & pick up a few Jetta books, some Muley prints, & maybe even a green power ranger print.

& tell Martheus his wife says, "I MISS YOUUUUUU!!!"

go go, power rangers!  green ranger print by martheus wade.  i laid down flats.  :)

i never even met the guy

yesterday dc released the animated feature, "justice league: doom". just a little fyi: my husband & i LOVED the justice league animated series. complex & progressive storylines, continuity, character growth & interaction, smooth animation. what was not to love about it? was also very pleased that most of the original voice actors in the animated series came back to work on this feature. batman = kevin conroy. period.

ok, i can already tell some of you are confused by this.  why is this 30something yr old woman writing about a cartoon? age ain't nuthin but a number, & my love for the animated medium knows no bounds. AND, didn't you read the part in my bio about how my husband & i work on comic books?  wow, dude. try to pay better attention, yeah? then maybe next time i start spouting about something geekish you won't be caught off guard.

*ahem*

but "jl: doom" isn't really what i want this post to be about.  it's suppose to be about the late, great dwayne mcduffie.  if you bought the bluray version of "jl: doom", you got to watch a special tribute/mini-documentary on him. it told about mcduffie as a child growing up in detroit & basically being a genius.  he attended college at age 10 (say wha???). started his own comic book company, milestone, in the 90s which featured mainly a cast of african american heroes (kid hero static shock, anyone?), practically unheard of at the time.  then he went on to write for dc comics & their animation department.  & that's where the justice league animated series came about. 

this guy was a genius, & here he was writing stories for a cartoon.  i'm not downing that at all, trust me.  mcduffie was one of the best things to happen to dc.  use to be that the regular joe on the street didn't know about vibe or booster gold or shining knight unless he was into comic books.  thanks to him, kids AND adults from all over, non-comic book readers, got a chance to know each & every dc character.  it was how he made them interact w/ each other, like they weren't cookie cutter heroes.  he gave them depth & personalities. aside from them having super strength or an invisible jet, you could relate to them. 

mcduffie passed away from complications during heart surgery last february.  the script to "justice league: doom" was the last thing he worked on.

after it went off, my husband & i decided to call it a night.  it was late anyways.  i noticed how quiet we both were when we went upstairs.  he went to take a shower; i went to put the boy to bed.  i sat on the floor in my son's room, in the dark, & stroked his hair till he went to sleep.  & i quietly cried.

i was sad as hell.  i never even met the guy, & here i was crying because he was dead.  why was that?  because he was a creator who loved what he created.  it showed.  i couldn't help but feel like the world had lost a gift w/ his passing.  i cried when i heard jim henson died, too.  & aaliyah. 

we're all put on this earth to do something, & do it well.  could be you're here because you can teach children & open their eyes to their own potentials.  could be you're here because you can paint such beauty that would make someone pause in reflection.  could be you're here to be mother & nurturer to a kid that will grow up to change people's ways of thinking.

dwayne mcduffie was a storyteller.  he wrote about human nature.  how we can be our own worst enemies & greatest allies, where we fall short & how we rise above.  just coincidence that the people he wrote about wore capes & tights.