Everything in my life is strange. I prefer it that way. ;)

If you are on my list, you are most likely a fellow WEIRDO!

This is song #7 from the 'Idiot Savant' record called BLACKGUARD! In this particular clip, we soloed some of the background vocals I did on the record so you can hear my inner weirdo. ;)

This is the main character, 9 year old Ian locked in his room at the asylum. You are going to see what this young Savant can do with very little resources!

Watch for updates on a release of this video. In the meanwhile, have you ordered this monster? I do sign CDs, so please let me know at check-out how to sign YOURS! More than happy to do that for you!
(All Store prices are in Canadian dollars and shipping is from Canada)

Arachnophreebia;
(Karen's made up word which is: 'the belief that spiders are your only way out') 

You've heard of 'Boogie Man Syndrome', right? I think most of us have had it at one time or another. You are imprisoned either physically or metaphorically in a situation where you have completely lost all options of getting out. Your mind goes through a series of possible escape strategies. One by one, you cross them off the list until you are left with no ammunition in your gun and no voice left in your throat to scream for help.
Maybe somebody else is kiboshing your opportunities. Boy, have I been there! 

Man, If I had a dime for every time someone told me they were going crazy or insane. Boogie Man Syndrome can make you think there are critters under your bed or stalking you from your closet. You imagine them staring at you and in some cases they can even populate while they wait and crawl all over your skin. Boogie Man Syndrome then becomes the ‘heebie jeebies’ or the ‘willies’.
Unfortunately, simply being creeped out isn’t enough to have arachnophobia. 

This is possibly why people have an unreasonable fear of spiders. Any spiders in our home plant themselves fearlessly and patiently in the same spot for months and months. I always know where they are!
I think it is so unreasonable because statistically it's one of the safer creatures on earth. However, these eight-legged lovelies are probably the best visual representation for us to fully translate how we feel when we lose control of our nerve endings. If you feel like your limits have been pushed so far that your skin is crawling, you could relate that to a friend by describing it as ‘spiders all over you’.
I personally believe that spiders are getting a bad reputation. If we educated ourselves on their behavioral patterns, we may not find ourselves so fearful! I am afraid of bears. As I have said, bears will just eat you. Ha! Actually, bears have patterns too that we can learn if we educate ourselves. (yeah, will get right on that…soon, promise!) Obviously getting to the bottom of our imprisonment is a better place to start. The goal should always be to plot a path back to childlike innocence and the return to the playground.

Song number seven from the 'Idiot Savant' record is called, BLACKGUARD. It is the video that we are currently working on. It centers on our main character, Ian and part of his stay at the asylum. 
In this story, Ian is not afraid of spiders so he does not have arachnophobia. Ian is convinced that spiders are his key to freedom. He’s a confident fellow, too. 

The hardest thing in the world to do is not panic when someone says, ‘whatever you do, don’t panic!’ Whatever situation you find yourself in, I hope you remove your fear and emotion, look at whatever tools are in front of you, no matter how meager they may seem and plan a strategy that will ultimately get you back in touch with your inner child again. It was in fact, the original intention for us! 

There are over 50 insects or animals on the ‘Idiot Savant’ record. It is my hope that we will all learn more about them through Ian’s eyes and see how necessary each of them are for our planet.
They are not the REAL enemies. Stay tuned while Ian shows you some cool skills they have. ;) 

ROCK ON, my friends!
Karen :)
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Check this video where Frank is visited while he is working on spider animation in the studio!

I told him he has ‘Arachnophabria’ meaning he is fabricating them in his mind as a result of working on the ‘BLACKGUARD’ video too long.
Or, he has ‘Arachnophibia’ meaning he is fibbing about there being one and he is TRULY losing it, then animated that guy just to mess with my poor head.
Or, he simply doesn't remember any of it.
Step out for air, Frank!

Conformity sucks. Compassion is lacking. If we ever hope to have true peace in this world, it starts through acceptance and tolerance.
I don't mean that as a blanket statement. We cannot accept or tolerate what is obviously wrong. Given the chance, each of us has something really unique to offer.
This is why everybody has a separate set of fingerprints.

In this case, Laurie has left a great big Mama Bear paw print on her daughter's school. So freaking AWESOME!
Let yours shine!
ROCK ON!
Karen :)
"Tried to hide Rosemary, Rosemary's scared...but Mr. Walter passed the baby phase and made her impaired." ~Idiot Savant from the 'STEVER: Idiot Savant' record

I'm walking along a paved country road. Most of the cars seem to be within the speed limits but there are cars which fly down pretty quickly.

I saw a car go really fast and come up too fast behind a large farm vehicle. Luckily, he was able to pass it because no car was coming on the other side. He did hit some soft gravel on the other side before recovering his vehicle and getting it back on the road safely.
Speed can pay a very high price.
Each of us in life has to gauge how fast we are going and what price we are willing to pay if our luck runs out.
To me, unless the farm vehicle is broken on the side of the road, you will get to where you're going eventually. In most cases there is an opportunity to pass at some point.

What most of us really suck at is keeping patient.

I have been going through some things in my life which require enormous amounts of patience. It seems the farm vehicle in front of me is not only blocking my path but it doesn't seem like it's going to be fixed anytime soon. It looks as though my option is to take a U-turn and go back the way I came. What tends to bother most of us is that we feel invested in the path we came on or we feel it's going to take too much time to go the long way back.

Feeling invested in something or someone can often inhibit us from making the right choice. I have made so many bad decisions based on looking at how much time was invested. 
How many years have you spent in a dead end relationship? While I am not one to encourage divorce, I certainly don't support misery either.

Another issue is age. Maybe you are driving a car that simply doesn't have the ability to go the long way to get to the mechanic. I have driven nerve-racking, rust buckets all of my life. If you are simply tired or don't feel well, starting over again can seem like you are being sent out to war. 
I have done a lot of do overs in my life. The older I get, the less appealing they are. While it is a very rough to recognize that the road in front of us is going to block us either permanently or for too long, we have to swallow the pill for our own happiness and survival.

And guess what? It just sucks.
And guess what else? Such is life.

It is really important to remember that we do not have to go through it alone. Reaching out for moral support these days is simply a click away.
I know it will be really tough but the potential rewards will make up for it.

I keep reminding myself that the biggest reward out there is peace.

I hope whatever you're going through with the decisions that you have to face, that you are able to remove enough emotion to do exactly what you know needs to be done.

My car may be sitting there broken, but the view from the ditch is magnificent!
I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes below because it just never gets old!

ROCK ON!
Karen :)
"Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." ~ Albert Einstein