Designated Pinata

(This is essentially a repurposing of my response to the discussion about me on Blab, for the benefit of those not wishing to venture there for whatever sundry reasons. It has been tweaked in the interim, though the substance has not. And for those of you who are thinking about "reporting" this to Blab to score some brownie points, too late: I’ve already discussed it with one of the moderators there.)

First of all, let’s squash this bug right in the beginning: I delete nothing on my blog, except the occasional spam. Regardless of what you may or may not believe, I spend a great deal of time fretting over the words I write, and I don’t - and won’t - delete anything I post. I stand by every word.

Second, the job I have comes with an extremely irregular schedule. I don’t always respond in a timely manner, because I am frequently away from home, sometimes during the most peculiar hours. About the only time in my schedule that is normal is that I have Sunday mornings off, and I spent most of this one asleep because I didn’t get home until about 2 a.m. of it. And then I had to work that night, which left me with a couple of hours in between to take care of all the other business I had to do that day.

I didn’t respond in a timely manner because I didn’t have time to craft a proper response. And also, I doubt it would have made much of a difference anyway. Nothing the hobby likes better than whacking a pinata around. And I am today’s designated pinata.

Third, I had hoped I had made it very clear from the tone and wording of the post in question that I had been sick the past several days, and one of the consequences of me being sick is that the "politeness" filter slips off. I even inferred that in the title of the post itself (the "salty" part.)

The more hostile commentary seems to be focusing on what people think I am saying, rather than what I am actually saying. I made no comment on the practice of customizing, any customizers in particular, the inherent quality of the customizing involved, etc.

The actual gist of my post: I express an opinion that as an OF Breyer person I prefer my models to stay that way, and that as an OF Breyer person it will always discomfort me when someone takes a brand spanking new model out of the box and start customizing it right away, without first enjoying it as it is.

Good grief, what a horrible, immature monster I am. The next thing you know, I’ll be randomly kicking puppies.

(Well, I did actually step on Vita’s toes accidentally the other day, come to think of it. My feet are huge, and she’s a hyperactive, wiggly thing. All was forgiven once I gave her a piece of banana, though.)

And nothing about the customizer personally. I don’t know her or her work, other than that she’s in Australia. It’s nothing personal: I don’t know her work because I’m not in the market for customs. (Except maybe Pamela Hutton’s work, and that ain’t happening on my budget!)

It may come as a surprise to some of you, in fact, that I actually own a small number of customs. A few of my own, and a few vintage pieces (Judy Renee Pope and Linda Leach-Hardy). I am not immune to the charms of a well-done custom. I have a body box of nightmares that I regularly dip into when the need arises. (Experimentation and stress-relief, mostly.)

I haven’t read through all the comments [there], which I am going to assume are going to be various iterations of what a nasty, mean, no good, jealous, callous, petty, stupid, ignorant, talentless, clueless piece of [insert bad word here] I am.

To be fair, I have been all these things in my life, at one point or another. I am no saint, and make no claims to be. I am also balding, overweight, and partially toothless. If that makes you feel any better and/or justifies your opinion of me, feel free to craft fresh new invectives from it. I am not beyond caring, but I am almost completely out of tears.

I was watching the Totilas thread - in the section designated for discussion of OF models, mind you! - because I was anticipating seeing the mold, too. What I wasn’t expecting was the timing. I came into the thread as an OF person wanting to get a first look at a new mold, only to get reminded - in a virtual eyeblink - that there’s a significant portion of the hobby that only sees OF Breyers as raw material.

That you see them as raw material for your art is fine. Really, I am completely fine with it. I am an artist, too, I understand sacrifices need to be made to achieve your vision. Go toss an Alborozo in a woodchipper, or take a blowtorch to a Woodgrain. It’s your property, do whatever the heck you want to do with it.

Show me the woodchipper/blowtorch pictures on the Internet, though - especially if it’s something nice, new and pretty - I will still wince at the thought.

The value, rarity, or lack thereof of the model in question is irrelevant. Doesn’t matter if it’s a Traditional Totilas or a Chris Hess Secretariat. Doesn’t matter who the artist is, either.

I am an OF person. Whenever I see a new model being customized, in any context, I am always going to think "but he was just fine the way he was!" 

I’m just a slightly nauseous whinypants sitting in a basement in Michigan wishing she had a pretty OF Totilas sitting on the shelf right now. I have no power to compel you - or anyone, really - to do my bidding. I have no flying monkeys at my beck and call. Heck, I can't even get the dog to listen to me most of the time.

(Yes, we knew that about Fox Terriers when we got her. That's one of the reasons why we got her in the first place.)

I choose my words very carefully here. Annoyed and offended are two different words with different meanings. I was annoyed by the situation, not offended. About the situation I find myself in, and the commentary surrounding it, I will leave you to surmise which one applies.

My schedule will continue to be irregular throughout the rest of the week, and I have a pressing project that absolutely must be attended to over the next few days. So feel free to continue whacking me with the baton.

Just don’t expect any candy to fall out. That’s long gone. (It was mostly Blackjack Taffy and Smarties, anyway.)

This will be the last I speak of this issue in public; the topic on Blab has also been essentially shut down ("hamsterdamed"). If anyone wishes to speak with me in private about this, I will do so as my time allows.