bob ross

i've never claimed to have any artistic ability but lately i've been painting and it's been fun as hay. and let me tell you, hay is fun.

i wanted to paint something meaningful (but not necessarily serious) for my current roommate, steph. at first i figured i'd do something cheesy because that's what she likes, but i tried really, really hard and i just can't pull off the "bestest friends... i heart you" thing very well. sad day. so instead i painted something to behold...

canned spinach.

that's right, canned spinach on a mustard yellow background. it looks like a little kid slopped it on there and i'm pretty sure i love it way more than she does, BUT she's been putting on quite the show to let me know that despite my sped tendencies, she loves me and my spectacular gift.

come to think of it, i think i may well be the best gift giver of all time... or at least of the past 4 generations, especially because i make them or put enough creative genius in them to make them truly unique.

for example...

for her birthday last year i gave lindsay a homemade popup turkey card with cheese on it because everyone likes a little cheese in their life AND since i was on a roll with the pop-up cards i made my then roommate krysta a pop-up froggy card. for no particular reason i made charlie a semi-3D fat cheerleader construction paper masterpiece. i definitely gave my dad a painted macaroni frame for something or another. i can't begin to remember all the creations i've given my momma. i gave sydney an "i'm not gay" rainbow car freshener. i gave luke the coolest personalized dinosaur baby book for his birthday this year (the thanks i got was "nicolle, are you on crack?" thanks luke, love you too). i sent caleb a crayon rendition of him and brock riding a motorcycle together amongst hearts and flowers and bunnies. with the help of charlie, elizabeth, and steph i made nicki an audio-letter complete with various forms of poetry and a rap to get her pumped about moving to manhattan from st. louis.

truly though, brock has gotten the bulk of the creative genius. thus follows some of my favorites: for his birthday last year i created this incredible incredible hulk wonder with his face and real rocks. he also got three 12 x 12 framed pictures of old black and whites taken from a calendar entitled "nuns having fun." and perhaps my favorite one is the little frame with the light up blinking heart that i gave him with stunning picture of caleb in it. he was so excited about that one that he gleefully stuck in on his bedside table to greet him every morning and every night (creeper).

i guess the gist of it is i'm probably the coolest person you know. besides bob ross. and he's dead.