Chef - Movie Review Of Inspiration

"I may not do everything great in my life, but I'm good at this. I manage to touch people's lives with what I do and I want to share this with you." - Carl Casper, Chef

  

The Wife and I sat down to relax with Chef, written/directed/starring Jon Favreau. It ended with us staying up WAY to late, planning our next several projects. The movie was that inspiring. While you can certainly get the professional synopsis via IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes, here's my take. 

Jon Favreau is a great writer/director/actor. The ensemble chosen for the film gels together VERY nicely. What I mean is that I got lost in the characters instead of realizing, "Hey, Robert Downey Jr. is playing a great pretentious ex-husband!" Each actor brought their own "flavor" to Chef (pun STRONGLY intended), without taking over any scene. The music throughout the film had me grooving in my seat, and the food shots made me hungry even though it was close to bedtime. The father/son portion of the story was relevant to me as I navigate my relationship with my own children of 9 and 5 as of this post, and added another cute layer to the plot line.  

   With the little craft business The Wife and I are trying to get going (The Cheeky Nest), the film left us inspired to create. We both had so much going on in our minds that it was hard to sleep and I was up way earlier than usual the next morning. We actually ended up watching it two nights in a row. This is a great film and will go in our top 10 favs in The Cheeky House.

J.

P.S. Here's the trailer for Chef.

Nature Boxes - A Fun Outdoor Weekend Project

"That's the thing about Mother Nature, she really doesn't care 

what economic bracket you're in." - Whoopi Goldberg

   In a time where many of our children seem like Neo from The Matrix, I try to get the kids outside for some period of time each day. While the older generation marvels at how good our kids can be at today's technology, we as their parents like to limit the time they spend on iStuff in order to keep them balanced in all areas. Hence, the outdoor projects. 

   Just like the indoor activities, I've noticed my children's interest can be lost in the outdoors as well. If they migrate into the garage to dig through my tools, ask to help paint, etc., I know they're bored. So I keep a keen eye on the situation to determine if there are other children to play with, if certain toys have not been pulled out to ride one, and so on. It's a delicate balance, even if we as parents have ourselves convinced that "we played outside until the street lights came on without any problems staying entertained!" 

   So one recent weekend, I noticed how much of our yard was usable for projects. The kids are always picking stuff up and making pretend items, worlds, etc., so I grabbed them both a box and told them to start making something like a pixie/fairy or mini troll house. They got right on it and spend a LOT of time putting them together. The best part was that these "nature boxes" were never finished. They pulled them back out over the next several days and into the next weekend. They even had them out up through this Memorial Day weekend these past three days. It's been fun to see their imaginations run wild. The stories about the invisible inhabitants were as much fun as when they found caterpillars in the bushes and made them the new home owners. 

   It's about being creative yourself. People have often complained that they are "not that creative". It's not hard. I think you simply need to let go. Think back to your childhood and how easy it was to make believe. I pretend to be successful every day, so pretending with my kids should be a snap! Try something new with your kids, and let it be outside. See what happens. 

J. 

One Man's Trash - Wine Barrel Wood Projects

 

"One man's trash, is another man's treasure."

 

   The Wife and I have been working on some wood pallet projects lately. You can see some of what we have cooking on our Etsy shop. It's been a fun way to stay creative, pass time while watching the kids play out front, and so on which I've posted on Reclaimed Wood Projects. Our gardener saw us working in the garage one day and informed us that he did some landscape work at the local wine vineyards. He offered to bring us old wine barrels that were, in his words, "falling apart anyway, and just going to get thrown out." Enter The Cheeky Daddy.

 

   I had visions of weaving, lining them up for a new kind of canvas to paint on, etc. Then naturally I went on Pinterest to see what else inspired. I was not disappointed. Our gardener mentioned that he himself had made some benches out of them. The lids have the logo of the vineyard they are from on one end, and other cool looking text on the other. It set my creative mind ablaze and I haven't been able to get them out of my mind since.

 

   This illustrates the core of the "one man's trash" saying. Like discarded wood pallets, these wood barrel destined for landfill, inspire something more in people like us. I'm grateful that people we know see the potential and offer their "trash" to us to make something new out of it. The saga continues and be on the lookout for when we finally complete our first projects with these barrels of the forgotten. Geez, that sounds like a Nicholas Sparks novel.

 

J. 



The Cheeky Daddy's A Daddy Again!

"Sleep is a mythical creature, like a unicorn or snipe." - The Cheeky Daddy

   So we're about 2 months into the new addition of our little family. #3 came along at the end of August and we've been awake ever since. All of the baby items came out of storage and got a good cleaning. All went to plan and our new little one joined us with little fanfare. The older two were anxious and curious. I sat in our room, waiting to be called into our third C-Section, wondering how this would change our lives. 

   And in 8 weeks, it's been a whirlwind. I'm not sure if this entry is real, or a dream. Sleep is on the ration list, though my sweet wife lets me get more than she does. As we look around, I know we all see people from various walks of life. Some are not interested in having a family. For those of us who are, this has been a wonderful addition to our family. Smiles started early, and the older two are sometimes bursting with love for their little sister. We all have trouble defending ourselves from the cute factor. 

   It's inspired another round of creativity, storytelling and the like. I'll be playing dolls, being the prince, and cuddling on the couch to girly cartoons for another while now. I wouldn't change a thing. 

J. 

Lunch Bag Art Surprises

“The world is but a canvas to the imagination.”  -  Henry David Thoreau

“To draw, you must close your eyes and sing.” - Pablo Picasso

“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” -  Albert Einstein

      I love these quotes from some of the greats. I've tried to do more of my lunch box art surprises for my 'Lil Miss. They're VERY quickly done, so that I don't get burned out on doing them. I remember how much fun it was to get a note from my mother in my lunch, and so I've tried to start doing more of that with my first born. As she is in kindergarten now, we're still in the beta test phase. I'm finishing 1 every week or two on average. Some weeks I'll do almost all 5 days. Sometimes I'll go a few weeks without doing one.
      The point is actually trying. She loves it and I enjoy the outlet for my art (which is hard to find time for these days). Being fast, there are liberties taken on anatomy and architecture. She gets the point, and that's all that matters.

The only other lunch bag artist that I can find out there is a legend. Check the cool dad here.

J.

Family Room Masterpiece Theater

"The play was a great success, but the audience was a disaster." - Oscar Wilde

   Isn't imagination everything when you're a child? Heck, I'm 36 this month and it's everything to me! So when 'Lil Miss prepares a masterful performance in the Family Room Masterpiece Theater, I make sure to attend. Her request is simple. Just sit there and enjoy. I'll grant you, the plot is weak, the characters are not well developed and the scenery could use some help. (YOU KNOW I'm just joshin'!!!) It's such a treat to see children use their imagination to spin new tales of love and adventure. I was treated to some sort of argument between My Little Pony sisters. All was resolved in the end.
   When does this end? I hope not for a long time. It's a way for them to express themselves, maybe even tell you something you're not hearing another way. Let's stow the rolling of the eyes when our children want a few minutes of our oh-so-precious time. As I watch families in my life, you have to give them that time. If not, one day, they may not give you much of theirs.

J.

Lil Gal's Crop Circles

"Could crop-circles be the work of a cereal killer?" - Steven Wright

   So Lil Gal has been creating what I call her "crop circles" for some time now. It started with lining up blocks in order of size. Then it was book lined up in order of size. Soon after it was a mix of blocks, books, dolls, stuffed animals and so on. At first I was just a father looking on admiringly. The last half dozen have made me want to start documenting them. It feels like Close Encounter of the Third kind, "This means something! This is important!" Notice the time taken to arrange the items picture by plant type. Leaves (green), sticks (brown), flower petals (pink). It's as if she's setting up a landing strip, for VERY small aliens.
   In a time where creative programs, arts, and music are being swept under the rug to save money for other things, I want these "crop circles" to go on as long as they can. In fact, lil gal and I are using found bits of nature to make us a fairy house (post to come). I'm trying to keep the creative side working hard as she is starting to be taught the organized side of math and writing. It's all about balance, yeah?
   At the very least, she'll continue to keep me guessing. Just what do they mean?

J.

Great parody of Close Encounters (10 min.)