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This edi­tion should be titled “Lar­ry & Susie” because what these peo­ple stand for is far more sig­nif­i­cant and inspir­ing than a lit­tle piece of art­work with an amper­sand in it. But since Lar­ry’s trea­sure to me inspired this work, I did make it as spe­cial as I could (and learned a cou­ple new Pho­to­shop effects in the process).

 Before I pro­ceed with their sto­ries, here’s an invi­ta­tion to attend Susie’s “Use Me & Abuse Me” par­ty between Wednes­day, Octo­ber 24, 2014 and until all the guests have left or are passed out, which is sev­er­al days lat­er, where she invites you to shame­less­ly plug your own web­site or blog. Go there right now and join in the fun, but don’t for­get to come back here. If you miss this par­ty, sub­scribe to her blog and you’ll get an invi­ta­tion to the next one.

Mention your own blog or website at Susie’s
“Use Me & Abuse Me” party:
susielin​dau​.com

Like I said, this edi­tion is about  two very spe­cial peo­ple, both of whom I admire great­ly for their courage, faith, and inspi­ra­tion; both of whom I met online some­how; and both of whom I’ve nev­er met in person…but I feel like they’re my next door neighbors.

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LARRY

I’ll start with Lar­ry, because he’s the inspi­ra­tion for this Amper­Art piece. A few years ago my broth­er Andy gave me very designer-​style Mick­ey Mouse cof­fee mug, which I love and use every sin­gle day (unless I need just a tiny jolt, then I grab my small­er cof­fee mug from The Orig­i­nal Pantry, old­est restau­rant in Los Ange­les – just so you know, I pur­chased the mug; had to, as I exam­ined a case of 60 to find the per­fect print­ing). I thought it would be cool to have a Mick­ey Mouse cof­fee spoon, not think­ing I’d actu­al­ly find one. Well, I did, on ebay, from this guy named Lar­ry who I knew was going to send me a spec­tac­tu­lar piece after a cou­ple con­ver­sa­tions with him. He real­ly want­ed me to be hap­py! And when it arrived – hap­py I was! For a moment my kitchen was the hap­pi­est place on earth! Not only is it the clas­sic “old” Mick­ey, the spoon is a real tea­spoon size, per­fect for a cup o’ joe, it’s in excel­lent con­di­ton, and states the copy­right is owned by that revered name of old, “Walt Dis­ney Productions.”

So Lar­ry real­ly made me very, very hap­py with that spec­tac­u­lar, col­lectible mas­ter­piece that I stir my cof­fee with every sin­gle day, no mat­ter which mug I use.

Lar­ry also sub­scribed to Amper­Art, and always leaves a nice comment.

We began com­mu­ni­cat­ing, and what an inspi­ra­tion this man is.

What a bat­tle Lar­ry has gone through, hav­ing con­tract­ed an entire body worth’s of can­cer from serv­ing our coun­try for over 20 years – in the prox­im­i­ty of Agent Orange. He’s told me hor­ror sto­ries that are out of a sci-​fi movie, but unfor­tu­nate­ly he real­ly lived them. He’s been in and out of the hos­pi­tal dozens of  times for can­cer treat­ment, each time pulling some­thing else out or treat­ing this or radi­at­ing that. I was shocked to find out that this poor guy was only the same age as me, when the descrip­tion of his health has him sound­ing 80 years old. 

But don’t let him hear you or me call him “poor guy,” because just like Susie, Lar­ry lives life to the fullest. He’s a fight­er, a believ­er, and says he would­n’t trade his life in for any­thing. He says he’s been in some awe­some places, thanks to the ser­vice, that peo­ple only dream about. And if you enjoy my Amper­Art, you can thank Lar­ry: he says each one brings him so much joy, there’s no way I can stop doing them. That sure makes me feel good, too.

Lar­ry is in and out of the hos­pi­tal almost con­stant­ly. And although today he said things are look­ing pos­i­tive and he’s feel­ing bet­ter (he says he hopes it’s not a dream), I urge you to please pray for this gen­tle­man. He has been an inspi­ra­tion to me, and I’m sure to every­one who knows him. I’m sure he’d love to hear from you: Ljvsfc@​aol.​com

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SUSIE

Susie Lin­dau is a self-​professed wild child, and she has her read­ers in stitch­es with each and every sto­ry on her high­ly enter­tain­ing blog.

Then last year she endured a dou­ble mas­tec­to­my, and with­out miss­ing a beat she laughed and joked through­out the entire ordeal, edu­cat­ing, enlight­en­ing and  inspir­ing oth­ers with unbe­liev­able spir­it. That over­with, Susie con­tin­ues to write about all her incred­i­ble adven­tures that are dar­ing, amaz­ing, and even sil­ly. But always fun. And wild. There’s even a pho­to of her dou­ble implants on her web­site. Check that out.

If you haven’t already, join the par­ty at susielin​dau​.com. Oh, and about the mid­night curfew…not so, Susie’s guests par­ty into the wee hours and even for days afterwards.

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These are two very spe­cial peo­ple, and I could write a lot more about each of them. But I have a par­ty to crash…

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Production notes:
Original size: 10x15 inches
Program: Photoshop
Font: Goudy Oldstyle bold
Images:
Lace pattern: obsid​ian​dawn​.com (many exquisite Photoshop patterns and excellent instructions on how to install them)
Antique silver cutlery: 123rf​.com /​ photo by martinak
Special thanks to Mike McHugh at cre​ativesweettv​.com for tutorial on bending spoons with the Photoshop Puppet Warp tool.
No dinnerware was harmed in the making of this art.