Stouffville, Ontario Canada (647) 962-1997 gwstudios@rogers.com M-F 8:30am - 2:30pm & 8:00pm - 11:00pm

Author: greatwallstudios

Married, Graphic Designer, enjoy playing the electric guitar, model building, wood working and sculpting.

Three days in, how are you doing?

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We are three days into 2022 and how do you all feel? I didn’t make any resolutions this year, much like I haven’t done the last three years or so. I have things I want to do more of, which are things that I all ready do ‘some’ of. I will do what I can to utilize my down time more constructively over the year. Now this doesn’t mean that every single second needs to be accounted for, or that I must produce X amount of projects or progress in any single hobby. Just that over all, I did more of just about anything; cooking, cleaning, mending clothes, wood working, home DIY stuff, sculpting, drawing, painting, playing the guitar or piano, creative writing, blogging. Anything, just try to limit being a lump.

Also, if at all possible, refrain from going out and picking up a new pet from a shelter. It has been eight months since our old boy passed over the rainbow bridge to take up residence at the farm, in a room with a view. I love dogs and having one around the house, but it has made life simpler to not have one around during the pandemic. Puppies and old dogs and just about everything in between are very appealing, but I just need to hold off for another year or two. I can easily break on this issue depending on how the school year in Ontario shapes up with covid and Omicron lurking about. However, not having to pick up bags and bags of poop off the back lawn means the girls can play barefoot in the grass again without fear of a nasty squishy surprise. But a warm dog cuddle does a weary soul some good when you didn’t know you needed it most.

It is currently warming up from minus seventeen degrees Celsius, so perhaps a play at the park is in order, or a jaunt to the farm for some private sledding with my girls. Snow pants are a must here, there is no denying it anymore. Winter is far too long and cruel to the skin here to not properly outfit yourself for the bitter cold. We are nowhere near as bad as the prairies, but getting down to minus twenty five or below consistently over a course of three months means you need to be realistic, and dress accordingly. Take care of yourselves out there.

Why, oh why

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Do my children insist on trying to communicate with me at the pitch of a whiney tea kettle. A stream of unending vowels and consonants imitating the squealed peel of an agitated dolphin. To my hearing lossed ears it’s just a pointless whistle that contains no information at all. Like a fire alarm in a high C monotone in which I am requested to decipher both the meaning and an action plan remedy. Followed, obviously by tears, flailing and shouting from the other sibling in response. And it happens constantly no matter how many times I tell them that I don’t speak tea kettle, dolphin, or whistle languages fluently. The Joy’s of parenthood I suppose. Blessed.

Welcome to the future…

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It’s really very similar to the recent past but otherwise it offers you hope, if only a sliver. The weather outside is pretty strange, seeing as the temperature is slightly positive in January, in southern Ontario Canada. The roads are clear enough we can ride our bikes or roller blade, which is very strange. The snow seems to hold off longer and longer, if it doesn’t absolutely dump down on November first in a 12 inch blast of school closing insanity.

We were all in bed asleep by quarter to eleven last night, because we have small kids who wake up exceedingly early, and can be a real bear to deal with by seven pm. After getting them off to bed and watching an hour or two of HGTV no one felt the need to greet midnight, and a potential 5:45am early rise from one or both kids. I was going to pour myself a drink and watch a movie, but my enthusiasm for that waned quickly and I watched part of a Jim Gaffigan stand up special on Netflix, but turned it off half way through instead. The life of a rock star over here folks.

Things I’d like to do more of this year are, and in no particular order; creative writing, sculpting, wood working, miniature painting, assemble the giant G-System Best resin model kit. Obviously if I am able to gather, retain or reclaim more paid work in graphic design/illustration & packaging, those items will take precedence. But I have made a plan to utilize my down time to be more rewarding personally. It gets all too easy to climb into YouTube or put on a movie and space out for 2hrs on any given day.

First things first though, we have to get COVID-19 under a modicum of control so that our kids don’t get violently ill at school, or develope life long medical issues due to rampant exposure. This fact alone will have massive knock on effects for our day jobs, and hobbies, not to mention the whole rest of our childrens lives. It is no small matter. It weighs heavily upon us all. Welcome to the future, the same as before, only different. Hello 2022.

The contradictions of being two things at once.

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I’ll give you an example, loving the sound of my kids laughing and giggling, but being annoyed by them making too much noise as those same laughs move into the cackle/shriek territory.  Enjoying a quiet afternoon,  and then finding out your kids were quiet because they were destroying a windowsill with inkless pens and drawing straight into the wood itself. Wanting to be alone and then feeling isolated and lonely. We are strange creatures us humans. Walking, talking contradictions. Wishing you all a happy, healthy 2022.

Those dark shadows in between.

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Could be the lack of brilliant sun shine, it could very well be the onset of the winter cold. The feeling of being adrift and starting to float reminds me of being depressed in my teens due to medications, & fatigue from Crohn’s Disease. I find myself wanting to sleep more and more, losing interest in hobbies, and also having angry or violent dreams at night. My sleep is restless and every day feels the same regardless of holiday, weekday or weekend. I realize the pandemic has us all on edge and have recently discovered what a low level panic attack feels like, and bud, I feel for all of you whom have had to deal with a full fledged version, because, WOW!, unpleasant. I also know that I’m really getting inside my own head of late, and that’s not a good place to spend too much time. I due have introverted tendencies, so I love alone time and being quiet, but that’s when it is by choice and not foisted upon me by external forces I have zero control over. It can sometimes feel like a weight pressing down on my shoulders while the tide is trying to kick my feet out from under me. However, soon enough there will be sunshine, warm, grass and flowers and the ability to get outdoors more comfortably. It’s not all bleak and gloomy though. I did get the last book in a great series to read for Christmas, so I do intend to enjoy that as much as possible. And, reading about the exploits of the James Webb Space Telescope has been rather exciting! (JWST) For the potential science win. Woot woot!

One of life’s simple pleasures…

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In a time of chaos and panic, or when you are just starting to find yourself feeling a little off, is taking a quiet moment to close your eyes and lean your heated forehead against a cold pane of glass and shut your eyes for a second or two. It’s brief, but aren’t most of our adult moments of splendor brief and fleeting. That momentary flash of cool across your brow, and perhaps also your cheeks and nose. The calming blackness from your closed eyes, the fading out of the background noise from your life. Taking in one, or two rich, full breaths. Then leaning back and carrying on with your day, evening, nights activities. Stay sane out there. Try to stay healthy if you can.

‘Don’t look up’ a Netflix Movie Review.

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Can I start out by saying that I liked this film even though I hated how close to the bone it cuts? It was well done, but it stressed me the fuck out. It made me angry even when it made me laugh. I cringed an awful lot at the actions of Jonah Hill’s character, who was at once hilarious and horrific. A ‘himbo’ who placed his Ivy League uneducated devotion in the wrong people. Jennifer Lawrence goes full bore on her incredulous millennial schtick and sticks the landing, hair cut and all, well done. I love that Leo goes full nerd but still gets to smash the blisteringly wealthy talk show host with too white teeth (Cate Blanchett). Both sides of the ending are… something. A blood pressure raising, pulse increasing, rage inducing, funny, satirical send up of modern times that slices deeply along the vein.

Something unexpected that I was proud of in 2021.

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Earlier this year I built a series of four terrain panels, each measuring two feet by two feet, and almost ten inches tall on the highest elevation. I was originally going to build just one, but I had such a good time making the first that I decided to go ahead and all three more to it to make a larger gaming table for D&D or war gaming. It’s not something I have done before, but it sure was a lot of fun. I can see why people get addicted to terrain building and 3d printing and such. It was a wonderful creative outlet, and I wish I had the room to use and store an eight foot gaming table with modular mix and match panels. I would love to build a proper wharf, a seaside fishing town, a mountain pass, ancient ruins, a meandering river bed, a proper cliff face and waterfall, try water effects, real rock moulds with plaster of paris etc… a hot wire cutter, a grass applicator and those uber swanky high class model train trees too. There are just so many things you could do with the time and resources to tackle them. My only hope is to help my kids build dioramas for elementary school projects! Or try to build a bunch of much smaller and more compact elements, like castle walls, or ruins or individual hovels & town houses. I’d love to see any of your work if you have images handy!.

The terrain boards.
The smaller obstacles and scatter terrain, as well as the earliest buildings I have attempted.

The day after ‘The BIG Day’…

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And I feel hung over without having had anything booze or beer related to drink. It was a long and somewhat unconventional Christmas day, you know, with the isolation and the quarantine and the pandemic still running amok in the general population. I know for a fact that at least a couple of the kids gifts were a slam dunk, home run, field goal, Uno! And a few were near misses due to the aforementioned grand slams. While none were entire failures, so I’m happy with that. It’s a long day, preceeded by a terrible nights sleep, ensconced in over stimulation, sweets and hyper activity so that there were a multitude of melt downs, hard feelings and squabbles among the children. Par for the course at this age bracket. Otherwise getting them back into bed by 8:00pm and then watching ‘Don’t look up’ until around 11:00pm in relative peace and quiet was a great cap to a long and challenging day. If the weather could either warm up or snow a bunch we could figure out how to entertain our isolated family over the rest of the school break and through the last five days of our isolation that would be greatly appreciated.

“Do you know what I’ll do?…”

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He exclaimed rising from his overly soft sofa cushion, finger jabbing menacingly into the air. ” I know just what I’ll do!” He bellows into the chaotic room littered with wrapping paper and shards of open gift containers. “What’s that dad?” A tiny voice asks from the corner of the sectional. “I’ll steal their Christmas! Ha ha ha ha….” roars the plump middle aged man whom is likely to do no such thing. “But dad – it’s all ready Christmas!”. “Next year then!”. Fin.

Happy holidays, merry Christmas to all.