Thursday, April 22, 2021

Positive Vibes:Positive Winter Thoughts

One of my early Positive Vibe stories: 

I was born in central NY. I went to undergrad in northern NY. Outside of a few years in Costa Rica and the Central Valley of California I’ve lived most of my life in areas that call five inches of snow “just another tuesday”. Yet despite all that there are times during the winter I think, “Dang this really stinks!” I actually replace “Dang” and “Stinks” with other words but I want to keep this a G-rated column. 

I decided that this winter being positive type of guy I would look for the good things about winter in central NY.  After all, we humans do have a lot of control over our thoughts and therefore how we feel.  First off, if you like winter sports this place is like a winter wonder land. Of course I only went skiing once with ski club and that was after I missed the first four weeks with chicken pox (thanks to my little sister). There I foolishly decided I could ski down the intermediate slope with no lessons. Sadly I had no idea the chairlift didn’t stop to let you off at the intermediate slope. I ended up all the way to the top of the mountain. Where I figured, “how hard can it be to ski down rocket run?” I promptly fell, then watched one of my skis release and ski easily down the hill. I then endured one of the longest and most heckled filled walks of my life as I treked down the hill. I’m not a skiing fan I did learn whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and at least a bit wiser. 

Continuing my list of good things about winter:

Cold air can be really exhilarating. There are some studies that show cold weather can increase brain activity. Which for most people is a good thing.

Our dog loves the snow! 

We get a change of seasons! Not boring old good weather all the time! 

The cold makes our homes more affordable! 

The cold also gets rid or cuts down on mositquitos and flies and spiders and stuff. Not many bee stings in the winter! 

Shoveling when done carefully is good exercise. 

I started to think, “Yeah winter isn’t that bad at all! Especially this winter.” But then Febuary came. Despite being the shortest month of the year, February seems like the longest three months of the year. December has the holidays and January has the new year with all its hope and dreams and vaccines. Winter still seems fresh and we have football playoffs. By the time Feburary rolls around I am ready for winter to be done with. Yes, I love living in central NY. But once I wife retires, I wouldn’t mind if we spent Feburary in Costa Rica or Pasadina. But that’s still a few years away so I needed a coping mechanism for now. I started looking for good things about Feburary, the dankest part of winter.

Febuary needs to be appreciated because even though it seems long its actually the shortest month. Plus it’s the only month that doesn’t always have the same amount of days! Okay grasping at straws there a bit. But still a fun fact. Now adays we have the Super Bowl in Febuary which is kind of like a holiday for sports and betting fans. Additionally this year we even have the Austrilian Tennis Open which is nice plus. Oh and the days are getting lighter. No more 4:40 PM dark, which is only good for vampires. And spring training starts (hopefully). Plus best of all, Febuary means spring is right around the corner. We made it this far and have grown stronger!


A Positive New Direction

 Hello!

We're trying this blog thing again. A lot has changed over the years! We have more material to share with the world, and this should be a great place to do it!  

We hope to have fun interviews, polls, memes, and to promote other positive things. You can learn more about John and Scott and what else they’re up to! There will be behind the scenes peeks,  writing and drawing tips, art and concepts and such. Maybe even a contest or two?

This will be a blog about humor, art, and all kinds of good, positive stuff.--



Monday, April 13, 2020

Helping the world in our own small way



I wanted to do something to help the world just a little. Sure, Scott Roberts (who is way cool) and I do Working Daze every day to hopefully get people to smile. Still, I wanted to do something something educational for kids. I know there is a lot of hand washing going on right now.  I figured why not write a song aimed at kids so they can sing it while washing their hands?

I contacted my buddy, award winning filmmaker, John Foutz we got together virtually  to produce this video and song about hand washing.




Our goal: to create a fun, catchy video and song that kids would love to sing and watch while they washed their hands for at least 20 seconds.


We have ads on the page but any money we make from this will go to charity. Right now we are thinking the Boy and Girls club and the Salvation Army.






Music by Alex Fantauzzo
Vocals by Kayloni Witherspoon

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Magic in Working Daze....

Hey All:

Just wondering what you all think of Dana's magic use in Working Daze.  Being a sci fi and fantasy writer who grew up watching Bewitched I think it's only natural to add a cosmic powered character (or two) to Working Daze.  I think it separates us from other office strips in a fun way.

But never let it be said that Scott and I don't at least try to hear the feedback from our readers.  (Heck we're too poor not to.) So we're running a little poll on if Dana should keep her powers.   Let us know what you think.

Oh, go Broncos....


Thursday, May 16, 2013

Wars vs Trek = Silliness...

Trek and Wars thoughts from my brain.

Just wanted to say that I do think it's perfectly normal and logical to like both Star Wars and Star Trek.  The way I see it is good sf is good sf.  Both series are enjoyable in their own right.  I like the way Star Trek does show a bright future for mankind.  I love the concept of exploring strange new worlds.  I love the prime directive.  I love the fact that the franchise has been able to spawn: the original, the Next Generation, Voyager, Enterprise and the greatly under appreciated Deep Space Nine.  Plus a bunch of movies and even a reboot of the movies.  And web series... Yeah, all the movies weren't winners.  In fact some of them were cringe worthy but still all in all an enjoyable series.  Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Bones, Scotty and team are all now iconic characters no matter who is playing them.  

As for Star Wars.  Love the force.  You gotta love the force.  Sure it puts Star Wars into the fantasy category a bit but nothing wrong with that.  Light sabers are also way great.  The first three movies (which are actually the middle three movies -- I think) are ingrained in my brain.  I think I remember each time I saw each one of them.  They left me with a sense of wonder.  They made me say, hey I  want to write stuff like this.  I want to make movies like this.  While Star Wars hasn't spawned the number of TV series that Trek has it what has appeared has been quite good.  Clone Wars is quality animation.  I anxiously awake the live action series.  As for the characters: Luke, Ben, Hans, Darth and Yoda stand up there with the best of them.  

My point (such as it is) is they are both fun and entertaining.  No reason not to enjoy them both.

One small note I just noticed listing the characters, women characters didn't really plat a major role in either of these series.  (At least at first.)  What's up with that?

Finally I gotta say if push came to shove Enterprise takes Death Star easy.  But Yoda, Darth or Luke take out any star trek character one on one.  Ah the fun of speculation.

Jz



Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Kicking around a Working Daze idea...

Hey all:

We're kicking around the idea of having Dana's brother make an appearance in Working Daze.  Thoughts?  Here's a hint, if he does show up he may very well have a thing for slightly older women...

Jz

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Yes a baby

Hey all:

Yes we going to slowly (after 9 months) add a baby to Maria's day.  I think it will be fun to shake up Maria's world a little.  Maybe even give Maria a taste of her own medicine if the baby is a mini-Maria.  But if that turns out to be the case I pity her poor mom and dad.   It's still very early in the pregnancy so we aren't sure yet if it's a girl, boy or twins.

Which means we need to kick around some boys and girls names.  I'm sure Maria will have her own naming suggestions but none Mom and Dad use.  Or will they?

Stay tuned.....

Jz