Front Porch: Dreams, Laughter, and Comic Inspiration

Meet Place, By Tony Single (click to visit website)

If you follow this blog, you know I host the Front Porch series about everyday stories—stories friends exchange on front porches, back yards, or in break rooms in snippets throughout our days. Here’s another installment, perfect for summer fun!

I have ants-in-my-pants excitement to have a special guest with me today. He’s Tony Single—an artist, comic genius, poet, blogger, writer, (I could go on and on). When I go to his blog, Trottersville, I love that I never know what I’ll find. His writer voice and personality are as warm as a june bug on a summer day.

To add even more warmth to the mix, the co-creator of Trottersville is Tony’s mate Cassy. She’s as sweet as pie and I’d love to have them both over for dinner.

Cool, crazy Cassy

Those two have so much fun, in fact, here’s a sneak peek from Tony:

Talented Tony

“Whenever Cassy and I are doing any chores around the house, we like to make up crazy weirdo songs on the fly. I’ll sing one line and Cass will sing the next, making sure that the last word always rhymes. We’ll just take it as far as we can for as long as we can, or until Cassy dissolves into fits of laughter. And then I’ll just keep doing it some more, all by myself, until Cassy’s stomach hurts. I’m evil that way!”

“But, Cass does something that always confuses me. Sometimes I laugh to myself like a crazy man about it… you know, when I’m alone and no one’s watching. Whenever there’s a mouthful of soft drink left in a bottle, instead of finishing it Cass will open a fresh bottle. I swear, she’d probably just keep on accumulating the unfinished bottles of drink until there was enough to build a house out of them! Strange girl that one. That’s why I love her.”

Without further ado, I’m pouring Tony a nice cool ginger beer while he stretches out in our woodland tent. Cassy is by my side with a bottle, too, I can already see her laughing at the whole arrangement. These two are a hoot!

Tony! I’m psyched to hang out with you. Your attitude, generosity and warmth are contagious. Thanks for being here.

First things first, it’s been a long time since I’ve been in a tent. But, I have such great memories of sleeping in the outdoors. I’d always have the wildest dreams. Also, I find that when I’m working on a project, it continues though my sleep.

What about you? Do you tend to sleep well, and what types of dreams amalgamate in you mind at night?

I tend to sleep very well, but on the rare occasion that I don’t it’s because I’ve either had a bad dream or I’m feeling sick. Fortunately, I don’t get ill too super often, but I do tend to remember all of my nightmares. I’ve dreamt about being at ground zero when an atomic bomb goes off. I’ve dreamt about being bashed by home invaders or torn to shreds by all the neighborhood dogs. I’ve even dreamt about being naked in public when every friend I’ve ever had seems to choose THAT very moment to walk on by. Good grief! I wish I could remember a lovely dream for a change!

Ha ha! I have those all the time! It’s so embarrassing, all those people walking by and me realizing that I forgot to get dressed that morning. Eee gads. Please drop me a line when you do have a good dream. Maybe you could practice by meditating before sleeping. It works for me. Think about what makes you happy, where you’d like to be or what you’d like to experience, and drift off to never land.

In fact, when do you feel the most happy, Tony?

I feel most happy when I’m creating something and it seems to be coming together in a satisfactory way. Whether it’s a comic strip, an illustration or a poem is immaterial to me just so long as I’m accurately conveying whatever thoughts and emotions I may be going through at the time. Only then do I feel that I have been truly productive.

I’m also most happy when I’m eating something that my darling Cassy has made. She makes the best minced beef wellington! Oh, and although you can’t eat them, she makes the best hugs by holding her arms out just so! She also makes the best totally unscripted and off the wall remarks I’ve ever heard. Oh, oh, oh, and she makes little crinkles around her eyes and mouth when she giggles. Hmmm… I’ll stop there before your readers start to vomit from diabetic shock!

Oh yeah, and something else! I love to read, I love to play video games and I love to listen to music! It seems like I’ve read everything from Darwin’s Origin of Species to anything by Philip Yancey. I’ve played my Legend of Zelda games to absolute death because their fantasy settings and engaging characters enthrall me. I’ve listened to the dark metal compositions of Virgin Black through to the alternative folk rock songs of Wovenhand, and even the likes of Johnny Cash and Natalie Merchant. My tastes roam far and wide, even to the movies I see. I like some of the big blockbusters just as much as some of the more obscure, indie films. Whatever grabs my emotions and imagination will usually keep me interested for a long, long time.

Tony, you are a nimble Renaissance man. You’re giving me lots of ideas and igniting my creativity. Who or what inspired your creative side?

I was inspired from a very early stage by the melancholy leanings of Charles M. Schulz’s famous Peanuts comic strip, and also by the lesser known Tove Jansson and her series of Moomintroll children’s books that were equal parts whimsy and strange. Certain animated television shows such as Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy, Rin Taro’s Prehistoric Boy Kum Kum, and Hayao Miyazaki’s Sherlock Hound also left a strong storytelling imprint on me. Over many years, I have borrowed artistic techniques from these artists and directors and infused them with my own sensibility to arrive at the style you see me drawing in today. These days, I’m also inspired by a lot of things such as books, music, movies, and other people. Potentially, everything that happens to me contains the seeds of inspiration.

I agree, Tony, so many things inspire me. As I age, I notice that people’s stories about their own lives inspire me the most.

That said, is there any advice you can give to aspiring artists out there (like little ‘ole me!)?

I’m in no position to be dispensing advice to anyone else for any reason whatsoever. I mean, what do I know, right? However, what I would say to you, Lori, is to draw, draw, and then draw some more. Draw until your arms almost drop off! Sure, it may have taken me a long time to get to my level of skill and ability, but I would absolutely be fooling myself if I thought I had arrived at the pinnacle of artistic perfection. Not even close. So draw, draw, and then draw draw draw some more. A lot more! Draw everything you see, and draw from the heart. You only get better (and continue to get better) if you hone your craft, and acquaint yourself with the goings on in the world as often as possible!

That’s great advice, Tony the Terrific. Keep doing, doing, doing, and at some point it will get easier. That’s so true. I’ll try to keep my arms from dropping off, though.

I admire your artistic abilities, Tony. But having gotten to know you better, I admire Tony the person as much as Tony the artist.

Can you dig deep and touch on spirituality with me? Have you ever changed your views about this topic?

Oh yes, that was many years ago when I finally decided to stop running and face my Maker instead. That was extremely difficult. Imagine your very being forcing you to go against everything you’ve ever held to be true and quantifiable, and instead nodding in affirmation to some strange divine paradox that some like to call “God”. The idea of there being one sure didn’t make sense to me, but a universe without some divine personality behind it all made a lot less sense. I had tried not to believe but just couldn’t do it. Richard Dawkins would be disappointed! And while my life has still had more than its fair share of ups and downs, it has turned out to be a decision that’s given me some much needed consistency.

I hear you there, Tony. I’m still trying to figure out where I stand on this and appreciate your perspective. I believe everyone should live what works for him or her. In some ways, I think the divine (faith, belief, whatever you want to term “it”) might be a moving target as we travel through life; I am fascinated by this topic. Thanks for being open and sharing.

Most of all, Tony and Cassy, you two are awesome and I hope I get to meet you two in person someday. Love to you both.

Step on up to the Front Porch and join us in the comments!

What tends to show up in your dreams?

Do you have hidden artistic talent?

Questions for Tony?

[Images courtesy Tony Single via Creative Commons license.]

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Previous (random) Front Porch Posts:
Front Porch: The Series
Front Porch: Not A Typical Day In The Park (With Tim Piotrowski)
Front Porch: George and the Power of the Human Spirit (With George Angus)
Front Porch: Of Bands, Explosions, and Cattle Auctions—Laughter (With Jay Schryer)
Front Porch: Brave, Bold Tess (With Tess Marshall)
Front Porch: Only in Lance World (with Lance Ekum)
Front Porch: My Sensory Deprivation Experiment (Yours Truly)

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