Dads, Friends, and Fandom

This Blog is linked to my Gmail account via Google Buzz. When I was talking to my Dad last night he said that he was following my blog (Though not actually amongst my 9 awesome followers!) and said my stuff,"Looked cool." That was surprising, because my Dad knows eff all about miniature games. He doesn't have a clue what any of the words mean, he just likes the pictures.

I was thinking about how someone could be "into it", knowing nothing about it? Then it occurred to me that being vested in someone can still let you enjoy it. Deke Stella is without a doubt my favorite painter. You can see his work in the webstore of his miniature company, Soda Pop Miniatures. Now, lasciviously posed, scantily clad, anime chics are about 180 degrees from what I normally think is cool. There are exceptions...

But I digress. I throughly enjoy all of his paint jobs for his miniatures. As a matter of fact I love them. In some instances they even make me like the model more, despite it being something in a genre I wouldn't look twice at normally. Other than, and not looking to gloss over, the fact that he is just really good, I think Deke is my favorite because he is my best friend. Every time I see something that he has done, I can not only see the model, but also the thought process behind it. I can imagine, after having painted for countless hours at his side, the spots where he cursed the model, and the other spots that I know he was stoked to work on. In all, it is just cool that he did it.

As a new father, I am stoked when my daughter just waves. I can guess I can see how my dad could be into this blog with almost no frame of reference. It is all the better when the person you like is also talented, as is the case with Deke.

So thanks, Pop, for being a fan, and thanks Deke for being an awesome painter. Thank god no one I care about, to my knowledge, is involved in reality television. That is just something that I would have to work really hard to see merit in.

Thanks for reading,
T