I’ve been making a lot of tiny models lately because when I’m feeling stressed I can focus on the tiny little world in my hands rather than the terrifying and sometimes overwhelming one outside. I usually make ferris wheels that I leave in parks but this week I moved to a slightly larger model because I found an AT-ACT and I thought maybe Victor would question me less if I ended up with a something that he could play with.
I can’t figure out how to embed it but click here to see a 30-second video of me making it. Including putting the legs on backward and then having to rip them off and start again. (Inadvertently starring my boobs.)
But apparently Victor is too cool to play with toys so I decided to play with it. And it was awesome because it was SO flexible.
You are never too old for toys, Victor. Just takes a little imagination.
PS. People always ask where I get my stuff so it’s $14 right now. But Amazon changes up the prices a lot so if it’s more than $14 when you click on the link then ignore. Also, it looks a bit plasticy for my taste so I’m antiquing it but all I had was brown paint and now Victor says it looks “like it fell in a turd.” Always a critic, that one.
You just know the people over at Industrial Light and Magic (or whoever did the effects for Star Wars) did all of those and more on their time off ^_^
So much fun!! I love it as a shot glass holder. Perfect. I made a felt cactus my exboyfriend gave to me…I told him once I was a relationship cactus and even then was dying from a lack of care and feeding. Right now I’m stuck at home in a cast…maybe I should advance to those metal models. Have you seen the Star Wars ones?
“fell in a turd.” At scale that would have to be a mighty large turd, Victor.
The butler photo is my favorite. I need to get one of my cats to do that for me.
Well then, rub it in the litter box and leave it on Victor’s pillow for him, “You were right!” Then he can have the last word while you have the last laugh.
The first one is my favorite because I like to think he is mourning the death of the taun-taun so he is throwing a taun-tauntrum. Badabing.
I usually get out my Legos when I have creative days that writing just doesn’t cut the mustard on getting out of my own head. I built an awesome VW Bug over Christmas. The Death Star is still only half finished. I can’t start on the Ghostbusters Headquarters until the Death Star is done. I need a room just for my Legos. I’m running out of space in my office. 🙂
Tanturm? Lol. Ferris, at least, likes his new toy.
(Crap! I forgot to spellcheck. ~ Jenny)
“I don’t know if this will work”
NOPE. But that’s okay, because none of us work, either and it’s glorious!
That is so cool. Jar Jar should ask you to help direct the next Star Wars film.
I’ve got a crochet pattern for one somewhere, in my Brobdingnagian collection of Craft Projects That Will Totally Happen Someday.
Clearly, Victor just needs some exposure. Try leaving it on the stairs, on his desk chair, and a few other convenient places he’s bound to notice. Once he gets used to finding it around, he won’t be able to stop playing with it!
I bought one of those little metal models you like. it was a 2 pk of ships. I have to say…if that is what you do to relax, then I’m doing it wrong. Or maybe the amount of swearing I AM doing is relaxing? I’m not sure. holy crap it was hard. The 1st one was a present. I am now steeling myself to start the Black Pearl…I don’t know man. Maybe if it comes with Johnny Depp?
(The Black Pearl was hard. Anything with curves is rough. Mine looks good if you don’t look at the bottom. ~ Jenny)
Mixing toys and pets always makes for great photographs.
Also, I firmly believe buying toys for yourself is the best idea.
I’m old-fashioned. I play with a Slinky.
I heard rumour of a local who built a full scale AT-ST walker in his backyard (the two legged chicken-ish one)Went for a drive….found it….all true. You can see it from the street, It’s taller than his house, and oddly pointed at his kids trampoline. I like to imagine him sitting up there saying ‘kids….time for bed in 10, 9, 8, 7…..’. Perhaps you should build a full scale AT-AT for Victor to play in? Beyoncé may get a crush on the two-legged walker…..
Your action shots really made my day. And my day needed making. Thank you, as always, Jenny, for being an amazing & wonderful human being!
I just finished putting these awesome Star Wars droid models together by Bandai. They have ’em on Amazon:
R2-D2 & BB-8: https://www.amazon.com/Star-R2-D2-scale-plastic-model/dp/B0162CNVPU/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484084377&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=Rd-d2+model+BB-8
And C-3PO: https://www.amazon.com/Bandai-Star-Wars-C-3po-Japan/dp/B00T41EW1O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484084464&sr=8-1&keywords=c3po+bandai+model
They are pretty cool!
(I want to do the Boba Fett one but I was worried it would be too complicated. It’s on my wishlist. ~ Jenny)
I’m sorry… all I saw was a cat in these photos. Everything else is a blur…
<3 Much love.
Lol the poll dancing 😂😂😂. Also what is Hailey doing in the background of the piggy back ride pic? I can’t wait to see what you do next. On a side note maybe the vampire brotherhood wouldn’t accept you because they’re anti dog. Tell them that bard wants to turn his cat. Have a nice day everyone
(She was celebrating that she’d just microwaved soup. We celebrate the small things here. ~ Jenny)
Someone gave me the TARDIS Metal Earth kit – I thought I’d like doing it. Turns out, nope, I really don’t. So I gave it to my daughter, who loves it. I guess I have to stick with my knitting for stress relief. I’m currently about 10″ into a king-size blanket.
(I just did that one and it wasn’t easy. Not my favorite. ~ Jenny)
My fave was the pole dance. Love your sense of humor. 😀
Nice fireplace!!!!!!
I love you.
Your line here is “I know”
I think my favorite picture is of the tantrum. Seriously who wouldn’t be put out by having your friends fall over. Worst Weeble-like machines ever!
I got that same one for Christmas!
You have inspired me to make it dance and pose, now, pics will eventually follow. 😀
So, I follow both you and Ann St Vincent. When a new post email arrived in my inbox, this is how it read: “[New post] Playing with toys.” Naturally, I assumed it was her posting. It took me a couple tries to figure out why the email was linking to your blog instead of her’s. This is a very different type of playing with toys. Your google results will be interesting this month! lol 😉
I want a Star Wars robot stripper! Weeee!
Love it, never told old for toys or movies that make one feel the warm fuzziness
BOM-CHICA-BOW-WOW.
thank you, I never knew how to write porn sounds
Playing with toys makes life more tolerable. Keep playing!!
Love this. The pictures made me laugh. Have you considered Legos? That’s my go to stress reliever.
I have the same paper towel holder as you. When I first realized this it made me feel super cool because I HAVE THE SAME PAPER TOWEL HOLDER AS THE BLOGGESS, but then I immediately felt super creepy for feeling cool about that, like Beatles fans who kept used tissues and stuff.
So yeah, we have the same paper towel holder, but I feel appropriately nonchalant about it. Mostly.
OMG! You never cease to amaze me and make me laugh out loud! Thanks I needed it!
Wait, there was toy building in that video? Maybe I need to rewatch it….
LOL. I always am looking for something to fidget with. I have a mini slinky and an emoji stress ball… but I need more. Never thought about toy-building. Something to consider. But then, where on earth would I put the toys when they’re done? Roof.
(I leave a lot of them on sidewalks and in trees for kids to find. I’m the Boo Radley of my neighborhood. ~ Jenny)
I got that same kit for my kid for Christmas and he built it immediately. I better not find it pole dancing anywhere.
Pushing an invisible boulder also looks like the at-at is vehemently flipping someone the double bird. Like all great art it lends itself to multiple interpretations.
Now I have BOM-CHICA-BOW-WOW in my head. Thanks.
What are those tiny glasses/what are they for?
(I bought a communion tray from a thrift shop. Like irreverent shot glasses. LOTS of them. ~ Jenny)
Model work is a great thing for anxiety unless it’s a school project. In theater design classes we had to make everything from scratch from whiteboard and other crafts It was fun but not when there was a deadline in the morning.
Never too old for toys! Or turds for that matter.
The poses that you put the toy in made me laugh so much & I genuinely smiled for the first time all day. Cheered me up 🙂 Thanks for doing what you do!
I love it. You can never have too many toys. And toys are wasted on children.
I thought of you the last time I was at Disney, they now make the little metal things that are related to Disney parks!
My favorite is the butler. “Toy, bring me my wine.”
Who doesn’t need that?
Totally needed this giggle today! The pole-dancing pose was priceless! We also celebrate soup in our house.
The Viking doesn’t play either. I blame it on his childhood. And lack of imagination. However, he doesn’t seem to mind that I like playing/coloring/dancing/showing him my boobs. Unless I do any of that in the garage where, apparently, no playing is allowed. Ever. Killjoy.
It’s not stalkerish that I’m zooming in on all the stuff in the background, is it? I must get the whole experience!
Porn star dancing beastie! Love it!
1) LOVE how you played with the AT-AT!
2) When I get anxious, I get out to my studio (I’m a ceramist, which means I do pottery and sculpture) and start throwing pots or cups. It calms me because it takes all my attention, plus engages my body. It’s like Xanax, but with clay, instead.
I love these! As a mom of two toddlers, naturally I love the tantrum one. But the third one, I was convinced was doing The Cabbage Patch until I scrolled down to see he was pushing an invisible boulder. So is it like that Greek myth about the god (I don’t remember which one) was punished for something by eternally having to push a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down? (I hope not, and no I don’t know why my mind went there.)
I love that you leave thing places! I remember the post about the fairy house and thought that was so cool. My favorite will always be the Found poster about the rattlesnake, though. “Very bitey” still makes me giggle. It’s ok. I know I am weird.
Speaking of stuff you make, are you still working on that haunted dollhouse? (I don’t remember what you really call it.) I love that, and you have inspired me to do something similar. I haven’t decided on the theme for my dollhouse yet. Maybe all mystical with fairies and unicorns and magical creatures, or maybe something like a horribly decorated house from the 70’s. I am excited though! Your stuff always inspires me.
(I’m totally still working on my haunted dollhouse. I need to write a post about the updates. Adding it to my list. ~ Jenny)
Yeah nobody’s too old for toys! I totally love the butler pose and hopefully when I grow up and am able to leave my parents, I’ll just buy a bunch of toys to play with!
I really really believe we should all have “women with mental/physical health issues playdates”. Bring your toys, models, coloring books….have little candy dishes of Xanax and boxes of wine in place of juice boxes. PS…I wondered why he was kicking the pig in the last one….then I realized it was just the perspective….Its always about perspective.🤓
Bwwaaahhhhlllloooolllll at the stripper pole! Thanks for always making me laugh.
Is that H in the background . ? She’s gotten so dang tall!
(It’s crazy. She’s almost as tall as I am. ~ Jenny)
That video is so fast, I couldn’t see what was wrong with the legs!
Anyway, you sure are fast!!!
So awesome.
Bom-Chica-Wow-Wow. Awesome. Love it.
I laughed endlessly. My husband made the squinchy face that means he’s silent thinking “I’ve never met Victor, but I really really really think I should buy him a drink.”
Good to see that Ferris is totally (not) observing Victor’s “no cats on the counter” rule.
Ton ton next?
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh fun.
Pole dancing had me laughing like a loon.
That butler is **FAbulOUS****
I prefer Legos (although I have been window shopping those metal models.) Right now my stress relief is turning random minifigures into cowboys or cowgirls to round out my vintage western town (of which I have collected all of the sets in the series). Purists get all twitchy when they find out that I rub off the decals (using cheap toothpaste and a lot of rubbing) and repaint them.
That looks like so much fun!! I went through a crafting drawer the other day. I should pull out the Elmer’s and create something weirdly wonderful.
Being a KY gal, I like your (or Victor’s) choice of bourbon❤🥃 in the butler shot!
I find building Gundams to be a super fun when my hands are too big for metal earth.
There’s been a disturbance in the Geekdom, as though thousands of geeks were giggling hysterically & then were silenced.
In the third picture your blurry cat looks like the head of an elephant. Even though I knew it was a cat it took me forever not to see the elephant.
Hailey’s left hand is seriously freaking me out….has she no thumb? And you better check her reflection in the window….scary…..better burn some sage tonight! Microwave soup has mutant properties, I’m sure!
i’m in the middle of a book about depression by a neuroscientist who claims that doing something with your hands that makes visible results is does awesome things to your brain and helps fight depression.
So next time Victor gives you a hard time about your toys “I’m treating my depression, Victor! With SCIENCE!” And maybe your shrink can get insurance to pay for all those tiny models you make.
I don’t know of anyone other than you who can be quite as creative with a hunk of plastic.
This made me so happy! I used to take pictures of a little R2D2 toy I found.. funnily enough, he also ended up on the stripper pole.. wearing a tutu and braids. Because.. toys are for everyone!!
I agree. We are NEVER too old for toys. I had a series on my blog a few years ago where I did fun things with action figures. I’m going to start that up again because it’s FUN, and God know we need a little fun where we can get it.
Well, nuts. I think I need one of these.
This post makes me happy in so many ways. That $14 was well spent. Who knew that model could be so versatile? I also loved seeing your daughter being so fabulous in the background, and hey, I have that very same stripper pole–I mean paper towel holder–in my kitchen!
That’s great! I love working with my hands and whenever I can’t focus on my own writing I try to draw, play with clay, paint, or do some other art activity. This looks like you had a lot of fun with it and that’s pretty cool. I may need to invest. 😉
I love it! My son (full grown adult) and I love to build lego still, creative and fun for hours lol.
I also play with toys, I have Peter Pan syndrome, I think that children are better then adults because they keep it real. So I am so happy to have nieces and grandson, so I can continue to have toys and not be so judged. Although I really don’t care what people think or so I say.
Do you know about this? https://imaginationlibrary.com/ Dolly Parton sends free books to kids.
A pole dancing ATAT, NOW I’ve seen everything.
Thank you for making my day.
Best Elf on the Shelf ever.
Hello. One thing I noticed is your cats butt area (top of tail) looks like it needs to be brushed. I say this not to make you feel bad, but because I have a 13 year old husky that sheds all year round general, but its extra large shed in the winter. So you could say I have an afflicition to pet hair
This made me so happy!
“You are never too old for toys, Victor. Just takes a little imagination.”
I LOVED this! Thank you <3
Those are some mighty fine bourbon choices that At At can serve…good thing you have plenty of communion/shot glasses!
Love the butler! And the pole dance. Now I’m thinking about pole dancing butlers…
To make your AT-ACT look less turdy, you could apply some gold (or other color) leaf on top of the brown paint to antique it. Or a metallic paint. I’d love to see the finished version!
AnonyMouse- I can so believe that. I got into Lego when I was at rock bottom with general anxiety disorder. I was so tense, my wrists hurt too much to type, write or play the piano, but I felt desperate for something to do with my hands. Building small silly things out of plastic blocks in my room? Absolute lifesaver. Which means that money spent on construction toys is essential healthcare spending for me. Damn shame…
Victor, how do you know what something that fell in a turd looks like? What exactly have you and your toys been up to?
Thank you for another great big smile! I just posted today about one of my favorite ways to fight anxiety: Breath of Joy
Ferris Mewler is going to have to step up his game.
davidbreslin 101
Do you know about bulk lego buying? Goodwill online and other sights you can get giant lots of legos super cheap.
I should try more lego building when my kids are at school. I call my living room the lego bin.
I thought that you’d done some clever perspective shot with the kid in the Harley Quinn costume. Until I zoomed in. Very good.
I got my Bloggess calendar in the mail today and I was so excited. It has the awesome cover and I opened up the calendar and there was a picture of a steering wheel in a classic car and I thought, hmmm maybe this is a picture I missed from a road trip you took. So I went to the next month and another classic car, and then another. It took me a second but I finally realized this is not the right calendar. I’ll return it to zazzle tomorrow but it did make me laugh. Unless this was intentional and you are making calendars of classic cars, in which case I now feel like I am missing some inside joke.
(What the hell? I’ve seen others get theirs and this is the first I’ve heard of classic car punking. That is insane. And maybe really rare. But probably just a mistake at the company. ~ Jenny)
Thanks for those pics, I’m having a stupid grey day so binge watching Sherlock and eating celery with peanut butter on it, but these made me laugh. If I had one critique it would be that you didn’t do a ‘draw me like one of your French girls/my body is ready’ pose. Please post pics if you do any more of the Harry Potter ones. My little Niffler is on my bookshelf and now I’m eyeing off the Buckbeak. (The Dobby one might be too sad!)
Thanks for the grins. You lift me up.
You might want to check out “AT-AT Day Afternoon” on YouTube.
hahaha, absolute gold. Love that it looks turd-like.
I have never thought of an At-Ant as anything that could have “bow-chica-wow-wow” attached to it! You make me smile!
The pole dancing AT-AT must have been in a back room at the Cantina on Mos Eisley. A really big back room.
This is so hilarious! I want one!
I would really like to build more models and Lego sets but I have one cat who is extremely chewy. Not like caramel, no, like her maw wraps around everything. Soda bottles? Check. Books? Check. Metal poles she can’t even begin to get her teeth around? She tries so hard. She ate the fingers off a figurine of mine when we first brought her home. So I pull myself out of my head and ignore the anxiety and depression by watching silly foreign dramas. Having to read subtitles really keeps me going. I’m loving the ones on Netflix from Taiwan. So cute and silly. It’s my happy place.
oh this looks like great fun.. I wouldnt dare. My husband tolerates (and sometimes laughs out loud) and what I do with legos, and I think I had best stick with those. My cat sleeps on the Legos but otherwise he ignores them entirely. Which is good.
Where did the Harley Quinn come from, I NEEEEEED one!!!
So…..either Victor gets a lot of nice alcohol as corporate gifts, or you guys have expensive taste in booze. Either way, I wish I lived closer.
“(Inadvertently starring my boobs.)”
Oddly enough, I do not have a problem with that!
Wow, I may have messed up. Let me splain, Lucy. I was recently on Amazon & saw what I thought would be a cute”ish” toy for you & Hailey to play with and ordered it. Sent to your P.O. Box…then several days later you post this toy pictorial (I’m sure I can call it a pictorial because you have a provocative pose aka Playboy with the pole – genius btw).
I thought maybe you and Hailey would get a few laughs out of playing with them and then pass them on via the Boo Radley thing potentially, and I adore that you spend the quality time you do with your child.
Then I see Oops, 1. Hailey looks like she has grown up and my toy selection may not have been “ideal” (seriously, who authorized her growing up so fast?) and 2. I went a different direction – toy wise – due to some recently posted pictures of a seal or otter on your meme conversation with Victor.
Oh well, it was sent with the best of intentions and sending some smiles and laughs to one who provides so many smiles and laughs to others.
P.S. Really, how did she grow up so fast? I hope no matter how old you both get, you always play with toys and make magical adventures together.
I started doing tin punch…and it looked easy…and i thought i was gonna become filthy rich…selling primitive tin punch lamps to those people who love that kind of thing. I still might, but it’s really easy/hard. I will have to share pics of the blunders…in my blog of course!
I have NEVER seen an Imperial cargo walker pool dance in the movies. Maybe JJ needs to hit you up for some movie advice. Just a thought. 🙂
Sisyphus was the Ephyran king who was doomed to an eternity of pushing a boulder up a hill only to watch it roll down and hit him.
So my friend recommended your book furiously happy to me today. And I think it was the only thing that made my day. (I’m not superstitious or anything but it is friday 13th and today was a shit show.)
Or maybe it was the fact that I found this blog right after (that made my day…not made it into a shit show), since I don’t even know that much about your book yet. Love the raccoon though. But now after doing some light research on you I found out that you’ve been depressed and anxious, just like I happen to be right now. And now I wonder if my friend only recommended the book because I’m depressed – or like my shrink likes to call me; “deeply depressed”. I make jokes about him. Not because he’s fat or that he held the pen like a four year old, or that he managed to only write five lines per paper (A4 sized paper and that stressed me out!). But because he saw the world in black and white when he evaluated my shit and couldn’t see my fifty shades of gray. I got a two month sick leave out of it. So I’ve got that going for me at least. So…no, I’m not deeply depressed. Because I love my life, It’s just a bit overwhelming at times. Especially when my dad can’t handle my vegetarian diet. Or my boss thinks I’m a swiss knife.
Anyhow. I love the tantrum-robot. I should print it out. Frame it in. And let it be the only picture on my wall.
I had huge plans for that wall by the way. But I just can’t think of where to start with it, So now I just pretend it’s filled with things that is just amazing. And the best thing is that I can change my mind about it before I’ve even tried filling it up.
A few days ago I watched Billy Elliot the musical on dvd. It was so good that I could have covered my wall in all things Billy Elliot. Good thing I didn’t, I’m not too excited about it anymore, because apparently you have to start ballet practice from a very young age to get anything out of it. I’m too old. So today my wall is empty and I fucking love it. I might put up a small smiley raccoon though. (I just explained this so you’ll understand why I LOVE changing my mind about my wall. It’s probably the only reason it’s empty).
Oh shit. I should stop writing. Because this is a comment-section. Not my Evernote.
So… yeah…
Keep blogging. Because you seem to be good at it. And I’m gonna try to order your book when there is something else than air in my bank account.
PS! I was almost gonna tell you to follow me on instagram, but then I realised that I’ve made it private since I have a paranoid friend that doesn’t want to be stalked.
Your hands move really fast! Haters gonna hate.
I play Candy Crush when I want to shut off the world, which is often. At least you have something cool to show.
If I could walk into a room full of model railroads, I would probably move in to that room and live there.
What are these toys commenters keep talking about? I did enjoy the video of your boobs however.
At least the cat doesn’t mind playing with your toy.
OMG, your pictures are too funny!
I as well play with “mini” versions of the real thing. I can get swept away for hours and I agree with you, it’s a great anxiety/stress buster.
Thanks for sharing!