Art of the Odd

…and I missed so much awesome stuff because of it.

My friend Oslowe pointed out today that the first of the month is when Netflix lists its new Watch Instantly films, so of course I wandered over to look.

“Ooh!” I said. And “Ooh” again. And then I realized something. Some of the films I was “oohing” over were films I’d tried to watch when I was a kid, and turned off because the effects were terrible. Stop-motion? Oh, ick. Giant matte paintings with thick black lines around the actors in front of them? Spare me. Guy in a rubber monster suit? Oh, God no. (Unless it was that one Italian horror flick where all you ever saw of the suit was a clawed, scaly hand, accompanied by a red flash and some heavy breathing. I was okay with that.)

In short, I missed out on a whole wonderful world of dreck, and another wonderful world of imaginative adventure, because I couldn’t get past the bad effects.

Flash forward a couple of decades or so, and I’m married to an Emmy-award winning visual effects technical supervisor, and I can’t wait to cozy up with Wes Craven’s Swamp Thing.

Go figure.

…in the black leather, with the Chicago accent.

I’m so proud of him.

“I think we could really be on to something with your work. It’s rustic, but not kitsch. That’s rare.”

Aaron nodded as though he understood what she meant. Daisy certainly hadn’t – but she had understood the words “these are really good” and “I think we could really on to something.” Her nightmares of coming to work at the Blue Moon Cafe were already retreating.

She stayed in the booth while Aaron led Serena out to the old truck to see the water spirit he’d brought into town. She gathered, from the flowing motions of Serena’s hands and the sparkle in Aaron’s eyes, that Serena liked the sculpture. After an animated exchange, Serena waved at Daisy through the window and walked off toward her boutique. Aaron just managed not to run back into the diner.