SPARKFINDER!!!

Over the last few weeks I have been feeling a little disjointed from what I can call...life. So I've come to the realization that making the move to Florida, although amazing for my family-life, has been kinda sorta horrible for me.

I lost my lust for all things I used to love, i.e. comicbooks, movies, music, art, design, illustration, gaming, etc.

I've lost my inner "spark."

My wife and I have had a few discussions on why I am the way I am. I truly believe it is because all the things I just listed above, I have nobody to discuss those things with. Back home I had my friends, my students, my cousins, and the playgroup at school. Here in Florida, I basically have nobody on the same nerdastic level that I am on. Not coworkers, family members, nobody. My students have been cool, our discussions on fanboy shit are epic but its just not the same.

What can I do about finding my spark!?! I could find new friends, which I sort of did with some of the people at the comicbook store, but beyond Magic, we have nothing in common. And, plenty of them cannot relate to me since I'm a little older and don't live in my mom's basement (I live in my mom's guestroom for the time being, more on that later).

The other thing was I try following people I know back home on various social networks, i.e. Facebook and Twitter, plenty of my creative peers are doing cool things like coming up with new illustrations, doing Wizard World and C2E2, having solo shows on Clark and Belmont, running a letterpress company on Etsy, and interesting logos for business clientele, while I'm fucking designing Tater Man logos for a produce company in bumpkin Lakeland, FL. I've made my bed with that so I really can't complain (I do some other epic shit for work BTW).

Lastly, I've always told my wife to find her passion in life, beyond working and family, to find a hobby, and in turn she has. She has started to dabble in eBaying items as her pastime. AND SHE LOVES IT! I'm very happy for her for sure and at the same time kind of envious that she found that spark and mine has been fading away. She gets to be creative, business savvy and shopper savvy all at the same time. I'm glad she is happy and has found her niche.

After a few weeks, some soul searching, talks with my awesome wife, and watching Thor, I decided that  finding that spark was critical. I feel like the Autobots in the live action Transformer movies looking for that damn cube.

My blog Funcrusher Plus will now incorporate this amazing idea, Sparkfinder, that my wife, my muse, has given me. Sparkfinder is a way to be creative, even on the smallest level, on a day-to-day basis. What is Sparkfinder going to be? It's like the Julie & Julia of art and design. I will try to create something new, large or small, creatively and report it to my Sparkfinder Blog, but on a DAILY BASIS.

Yes, DAILY.

I want to make sure that is known. I will try my best to upkeep the Sparkfinder part of my blog as best as I can. Funcrusher Plus also encompasses Sparkfinder but this new idea is more direct and to the point of what I want to accomplish.

IDEAS?

I have created a creative bucketlist which I've discussed in the past. I will revisit that list and try to accomplish the things I want to do.

First few things on the list: Children's Book and Original Graphic Novel

CHILDREN'S BOOK
Almost every night I read a story to my son Phoenix. It has given me some inspiration to create from an idea I had the last time I lost my spark (and my muse/wife got me out of that funk too. God, I love her). My children's idea will be called The Adventures of Kobi & Christopher. Not it is not about me as a kid. It is about a kid with a huge imagination. Think Calvin & Hobbes to get an idea.

GRAPHIC NOVEL
After reading such awesome graphic novels as Blankets, Box Office Poison, Strangers in Paradise, etc. I have always wanted to write and illustrate my own book. I'll take an idea for a script I wrote in my college filmwriting class, practice some of my storyboarding skills, and create a page at a time until he book is done. I'll post each page on the blog as it progresses. I want to create the book entirely digital but using mainly Illustrator as the creative platform. The script is called Getting It On, it follows 3-4 narratives involving different college kids and takes place one night in the city of Chicago. Hope I get there.

Wish me luck!