We’re back off holiday - Ok so we’ve been back for weeks and I have so much Tunisian goodness to share and I still have hundreds of photographs to process but I’ve had so much other stuff going on to get around to doing it ….

Since getting home Steve has had a birthday which resulted in a good night out, Sigur Ros played at the hall - which resulted in a good night out, Halloween happened, which resulted in a good night in, Bonfire Night happened, which resulted in a good night in somebody else’s house. Work has been hectic and home has been more so…

But I’ve still found time to have fun with TBk

It was the Flip Animation Festival last weekend and one of eh workshops at the art gallery resulted in this, our first attempt at stop motion animation

15 mins work for a rather rough 9 second clip - but we’re proud of it!!

Stop Motion Animation by The Blonde Kid from James D Clarke on Vimeo.

Posted: November 10th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 3

TBK has a key. It is his lucky key (or so he tells me). It’s to an old cabinet that has long since been freecycled and in the imagination of my 8 year old it opens everything.

It has opened doors that criminals have been hiding behind. It has opened boxes where treasures are held. It has been the ignition key for a space rocket, a motor bike and a racing car and it has been used to lock up things only the imaination of an eight year old could think of and, it’s been used to release captives of things only eight year olds can think of.

Sunday morning on our way to Artsfest sitting on the train the key was produced from his uber cool R2D2 bag and it became a mystic key - it unlocked peoples head so TBK could see inside. He opened mine and I asked him what he could see.

“You have two doors mom, one with a heart on it and a big metal one”

“Oh whats behind them?”

“Well the metal one has a long corridor to another big door with a lock on it and behind that is all the things you don’t like, like teenagers and other things that annoy you and the heart has me and James and all our family inside.”

I thought about this for a minute then asked.

“So whats in James’ head then?” expecting teh same answer as the logic was sound 2 doors = 2 opposite emotions

“He has three doors but two of his has hearts on”

This confused me.

“Why does James have three?”

“Well Mom, James has three becaue one has his family Stat and Al and Penny and Rob and one has the things that annoy him, just the same as you, but the other one has just you and me in there because he chooses to love us!”

Posted: September 16th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 1

Word of advice, Never have children, they have the ablilty to break your heart in a million different ways and none of them hurt as much as when your child is hurting, and you can’t do anything to stop it.

Yesterday was a rough day.

To end it I took TBK to my parents he needed cheering up. Nannies have special magic powers don’t you know, they make everything less raw, a little brighter and the hurt fuzzier around the edges, easier to swallow - well Jordan’s Nan does, she’s special.

So we went had a cup of tea, had a few cuddles, rolled around the floor with the psycho dog and the even more psychotic “Little Big Uncle” John (and instructed Grandad on the ins and outs of facebook (TBK knew more than he did) and it worked, by the time we left TBK was begining to act more like his normal self.

On the short walk home we were kicking stones along the pavement and discussing the stars, TBK was pointing out the two brightest ones in the sky and explaining to me that the one was my Dad and the other was his Great Grandad looking down on us when we both saw a shooting star.

“WOAH Mom, did you see that!?! Quick make a wish we saw the same star so we can share it …. Have you made it?”

I said I had, and had he? To which he replied

“Yes I wished that there were these scientists who wanted to do an experiment on me yeah and I said yes but then when they came to do it it was a different experiment than the one they said they were going to do so I said no but then they did it anyway they slipped something into my hot chocolate which I drank and it made me into stitch like from lilo and stitch but still human and it was AWESOME!”

*Deep Breathe*

“What did you wish for?”

“I wished that you’d always be happy” he looked at me sideways and I caught THAT glint in his eye - that look that every parent knows to be suspicious of,

“You know what WOULD make me happy, Mom…. Still giving me THAT look….

….presents!!”

Posted: September 10th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 2