In which disappointments abound, and various and sundry articles of metaphorical clothing are cast off

Apotheosis The Vug

"I'll be back to save the world"
Speechwriters LLC

Episode III
In which disappointments abound, and various and sundry articles of metaphorical clothing are cast off

Prolegomenon

I like to pretend at times that I write for a vast audience of devoted and loving fans. I know that this is not true. I persist in the delusion for a couple of reasons, though. First, if I were to face into the fact that in truth not one person other than myself reads this, my motivation to create would slip away with any slightest inconvenience. As I am trying to use the internet as a motivational tool these days, this would be an unwelcome turn of events. Secondly, I consider it good preparation for the day when the thousands of data mining and market research programs that whip through my few paltry lines of code every day to improve corporate access to my thoughts and desires finally become self aware.
In keeping with my useful fiction, however, I must express my (largely insincere) apologies to my (likely nonexistant) audience. Despite my hopes and dreams from last week, I missed my first Tuesday. This is partly due to a flat tire, partly to a well intentioned loan of a malfunctioning floor jack, and partly due to a 200% increase in my work load over the past two weeks. Like any mythos, though, that of this newly conceived blog was bound to break down eventually, and I suppose it is better that it happen now rather than later, in order to get myself as well as all of you over that metaphorical hurdle of disappointment.
If you have never read Henry IV part I, do so now.

Chapter I
Ecliosynclectic
A bitter realization

I consider myself a man of eclectic tastes. I derive great joy from all kinds of foods. I listen to classical, rock, country, hip hop, electronic, bluegrass, and big band music fairly regularly. My favorite literature includes Jane Austen, William Faulkner, Frank Herbert, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, and the Harry Potter books. I am a politically and fiscally conservative environmentalist. I am an analytical virtue ethicist who loves Kierkegaard, a philosophy and literature major who teaches math. I watch japanese cartoons, listen to NPR, enjoy gardening, and like to art. I like to think that I break molds, defy socio-cultural definition. So, when I am as effectively marketed to as I am when video games team up with mixed martial arts, it is a bitter pill to swallow.
I still maintain that I am a creature of variety, though. And, for that and other (less ego-satisfying reasons), I have cast off my hope of rigid thematic adherence. Instead, I present a peculiar mix of arts, derived for various reasons from a collection of sources, thoughts, and flashes of inspiration. Having already cast off my hopes of temporal fixity, I hope to touch up and post these for sale within the next few days, despite the best efforts of technology to foil me. I may even add a picture or two that have burst, fully grown, from my head in the past few days. Time will tell.

Chapter II
Postviews, Previews, or Prognostications
A grimy window, perhaps with a small green frog adhered to the surface by its own mucus

I have found that I am more likely to deeply enjoy - to find lasting aesthetic value - in my thoughtless and rambling sketches than in my single minded push towards a completed project. I prefer to ignore what this says about any hopes I may foster for my legitimate artistic talents. Instead, I try to slam these two spheres of my artistic life together. I have a profound respect for physicists, and they seem to get good results from banging things together.
Large hadron colliders aside, in my situation this takes the form of me rifling through old sketch books, class notes, and napkins to find those images that jump out at me. I then try to repeat the work in sketch form, experimenting with line, composition, proportions, etc. Next, I try to transform all of that work into something more solid, grand, and cohesive. This goes on for a while until I despair and decide the original poorly composed, sketched out corner of notes on Orphic legend as portrayed in 20th century French cinema was the best I could hope for.
I would like to share some small portion of that process with you, my faithful collection of not-yet-sentient leftovers from corporate demography research. The following are a few of my favorites from my most recent stroll down memory lane. Please remember me when the robot war comes.

Epilogue

The holidays are rapidly approaching. There are probably many of you who are thinking "man, my {loved one} really could use a picture of a man vomiting an elephant in his/her living room," or "my Christmas decorations would be complete if only I had a picture of a pregnant woman with three right arms and rhinoceros on a tricycle." I want to help.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DanielLinsenbardt

Keep alert! the options will warp and expand in the near future.
Or, rather, if you merely find joy in my scribbly aesthetic, enjoy the art of my wife and I at

http://linsenart.wordpress.com/

Until next time, give thanks and take care of yourselves. I hope you will all join me next time, for Apotheosis The Vug.