Joshua Włodarczyk

Nerd alert! It’s me, I’m the nerd So I made another custom funko. I had this Pennywise figure for a while and knew I wanted to make it into a Joker. I was thinking something like an Arkham game style Joker, but then I realized that already exists. I think it turned out kind of like a mix of the Arkham Joker and Jack Nicholson’s version. Some kind of fun mix, my own version I guess. It’s not as good as I’d hoped. The hair on the sides I had to shave off, which left holes. So I covered them up with hot glue, but they ended up a bit wide. Too “clown like”, ironically. I had to shave all the body, arms, and legs down to get rid of the poofy outfit. Had to cut off his legs halfway to shave them down properly. Reposing it was fun, cutting off the arms and reposing them. Tried to make a gun for him to hold but I couldn’t think of a way to make one good enough. So I cut off the end of one of my paintbrushes and put one of the fluff balls that were on his shoes on top and gave him a staff. Thought it was classy, who knows. So yeah it’s kind of messy but I’m pretty happy with it overall. Always lots of fun making these.

February 9, 2020 11:26 PM It was a beautiful scene on the drive home from church tonight. The moon, nearly full but now waning, was clear and bright. Quickly moving clouds let the stars poke out at different places and times. Absolutely gorgeous. So I told the Creator. I just told Him, “God, You’re a good artist,” as I often do when I stop and see the immensely beautiful things He’s put into nature. Once I said this, He simply responded back, “yes I am.” But as He said it, he didn’t bring the moon or the clouds or the stars to mind. He brought to the forefront of my mind, myself. An image of me. I haven’t had massive self worth issues for a few years now but there are definitely times when I still feel inadequate. This wasn’t even one of those times though. He just wanted to tell me that. Just a passing comment about a truth He’s very proud of. I felt very special and loved in that moment as I was reminded of my worth. Not for any particular reason, just because He wanted to tell me. It made me smile and think about the times I do feel less than, and that I’m not. The simple fact that God made me fearfully and wonderfully is all I need to put my faith in when I feel like I don’t amount to enough. It was just an extra little encouragement. This small experience brought a bit of joy into my day. Not that I was desperate for it. God just wanted to bless me in that moment. I think that’s something we often overlook as busy people who don’t give other people a second thought. Take 2 seconds out of your day and give someone a compliment. Tell them the shirt they’re wearing is nice. Or congratulate them on the performance they did last week. Or the project they’ve been working so hard on and completed. Or just tell them that they’re loved. Why? Because it’s all true. They are special, unique, wonderful, powerful, blessed, a blessing, and their Father loves them. Which means we should too. Don’t try to dig into any intense problems they may have going on, just bless their day with a little bit of positivity. If you can’t find a good reason to do it, just do it. Because even without a specific reason, everyone’s worth it. Just because that’s the way God made us. Just because.

December 30, 2019 11:22 PM So of course I want to write a new years post but I don’t know what to say. I don’t know if I actually have anything to say that isn’t the same repetitive rant or if I just love the sentiments too much to care. I decided I’d write tonight because tomorrow will, no doubt, be a busy day. Next year I will have lived through 2 full decades. That still boggles my mind. Growing up is odd. This year showed me that I’m actually an adult now and have the capability to make my own choices to further my life. It also showed me that I have much to learn. I may not be a child anymore, despite often feeling like one, but I am still a child of God. This is something that’s becoming more real to me with time. Again, I have no clue where my life is headed in the near future. This decade will be a massive one of life choices, career paths, and more and more listening to and trusting God. And challenges will only get bigger from here. But that’s why God prepares us for them. Our faith grows bigger with the challenges. This next decade is looming over me in a daunting way, but I am excited for what God’s going to do in it with my life. Dude I’m probably gonna get married in the 20s. What the heck. Everything’s going to be different. Because time is a strange thing. But I can look back on 2019, and by extension the 2010s, with bittersweet fondness. So much has happened. Good choices, bad choices, and things in between that just happen. The growth that took place is beautiful, but it’s nothing compared to what’s to come. I just can’t wait. I’m scared and it excites me. Because I know that in fear, with trust and optimism, God intervenes in wondrous ways. So I’m leaving behind a lot of baggage in this decade. Let’s ride into the 20s with style.

December 23, 2019 10:03 PM Today is one of the most whimsical days of the year, I find. Maybe not as excitable as Christmas, or even Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve Eve. For some reason I find it almost as exciting as the night before Christmas, waiting eagerly, unable to fall asleep. It’s the last night before the holidays officially begin. The last calm before the storm. Although there’s definitely storm in any day leading up to Christmas. Christmas Eve Eve is always a day of anticipation. For me it’s a night to relax, maybe watch a cheesy Christmas movie with mom, and reflect a bit on myself before the hustle and bustle of Christmas Eve with family dinner and everything ensues. Really it’s not much different from any other day in the month (except this year, as I just got home like 4 days ago). It’s not much different from what people do this time of year. Just the specific day gets me more excited than it reasonably should. Yeah this really had no point it ended up at... Christmas Eve Eve is a wondrous night and I have failed to express my excitement for it properly. Nighty night, folks.

All in all it was a truly magical day and I'm blessed to have been given such a thing.

They can't stop most of us.

June 26, 2019 At 6:30 this evening, I finished my high school education. It should have been earlier... an entire year earlier. But it’s done. I am done high school. (Well technically once my final is graded and I’m given my transcript and diploma and all that but the work is done.) I kind of mucked up the entirety of last year in some ways because of being behind in school. Back and forth between cities practically every other weekend. Not being able to do the things I signed on to do, be free of home and actually move on as a young adult, be with new people and experience new things... but now I get a second chance at all that. So yes, it was a very shaky road here and it sucked big time but it’s all over now and I get to breathe for a minute, relax, and now set out to do some wonderful things. To the one person reading this, I know you probably don’t care but I needed to get this out and tell someone because I’m happy. That someone was my keyboard. I hope you are now happy too. Guys, anything is possible. Just do it. Pick yourself up, charge it full force, and don’t quit when it gets hard. If you do, the thing that beat you will haunt you for a long time and you’ll know exactly why. So like the great Shia LaBeouf said, “just DO IT”. (Old meme references wooo) Ok goodnight.

June 1, 2019 It feels like just a few weeks ago I wrote down this whole huge post about Cinematic, my Pop, and my niece. I pretty much said it all a year ago so I don’t need to go through every detail again this time. Today is more of a celebration of things. Celebration and remembering. So of course, June 1 will always be a special day for me. Today marks 8 years since my grandpa went home to be at peace with the Lord. Pop I miss you still. Sometimes more than others. Of course I’ve gotten quite used to life now that it’s been near a decade. I know you’re home, happy, and in complete joy and peace. I just wish it were easier to talk to you sometimes. And to hear back from you. I have a rough idea of what your reactions would be watching me grow up. And your other grandkids. And the whole family. I still have that same picture on my nightstand, out in the open, of us during the last few years of your life here. (Wow, I’ve always been a nerd.) I miss you, but I know you’re right here. And I can’t wait for you to see all the things I’m going to do. Even though you probably know them all way before I do. The experience is what counts, though. Today also marks the 8th birthday of my niece. Dear, I still remember your tiny, hours old face from the day you were born. I mean, the picture is in the slideshow for Pop’s funeral, so that probably explains why I can pull it straight from memory now. I’m sad you never got to meet him. But you will one day, and even though you never met on this Earth, that doesn’t mean he loves you any less. And neither do I. And I can’t wait to watch you grow up and see the wonderful woman you’ll become and the powerful things you’ll do. Because already, at 8 years old, I can tell you’re a strong girl. Physically in taking down your brother, yes, but mostly you’re determined. Some might say stubborn, but even so, that strong willed part of you can be used for incredible things. I can’t wait to see. And lastly, today marks 1 year since a very specific and very special album was released. My all time favourite artist released what very well might be my all time favourite album to date. Owl City’s “Cinematic” is a whole year old already, and I almost don’t believe it. I think because this is the first album of his I was present for through the whole thing, since before the announcement, my constant involvement in updates and new releases and whatnot made clearer memories, which makes it feel more recent still. I won’t go through the whole album track by track this time. I’ve already done that, my part, for now, is said. But nonetheless, this album really means a lot more to me than I ever thought it would. Almost every song is able to find a personal connection to me, in one way or another. Songs have made me cry. Songs have made me belly laugh. Songs have made me just rest in happy memory. The last track on the album, “Firebird (Alt Version)” definitely came out on top for me. It fights for my numbers one song of all quite often. It very well might be. This song, and this version, the way it’s crafted, is my life story right now. Maybe not exactly, with the whole theme of the two siblings throughout, and certain scenarios. But the general aspect of growing up and moving on with life very much is. I said it all last year because I thought I had my year planned out ahead of me. (I was wrong, again.) This year I find myself in a very similar situation. (And I won’t be surprised if this one turns out drastically different too.) Either way, whatever happens, everything is changing. I’m in the midst of it. No matter where you are, as time goes on, things change. Even for me, being stuck at home wishing I was somewhere else for months on end, everything is changing still. And I’m so excited. Scared a little, yes, but excited a whole lot more. So happy anniversary. To life, to new life, and to changing life. This ride is wild. And I can’t wait for more.

"And I am Iron Man."

May 2, 2019 11 years ago today, the film “Iron Man” was released. We didn’t know it at the time, but this movie was to be the start of something massive and something beautiful. I never watched any part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe until 2012 when “The Avengers” came out. I was 12. Of course we started with “Iron Man” and went through all the films in order. Once “The Avengers” was out, I was hooked. 12 year old me couldn’t wait for “Iron Man 3″ and everything else to come. Of course there are all the people that really couldn’t care less about these films. There are those who hate them. And then there are those who belittle the ones who enjoy them. But I mean they’re mostly internet trolls so it doesn’t much matter. I saw “Avengers Endgame” on the 26th, the night after opening night. I went with about 12 other people. We took up nearly an entire theatre row. I cried right from the start straight through to the end. I cried still after we got home at 3 AM (it was a 10:30 PM showing) and even later that morning. Man it was good. (I saw it again on April 30th with my siblings in 3D and it was even better.) I won’t spoil anything here yet but wow... what a perfect sendoff it was. It was so symbolic. The symbolism started 11 years ago today. I know some people think being so caught up in this makes me childish but hey, it’s not for everyone. But it’s for me. And that last film really hit me hard. So say what you will, but my tears were real and every emotion I felt about the 11 year story was real. I’d just like to pay homage to the film, and the team behind it, that started it all. Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Kevin Feige, Stan Lee, and everyone else involved. All I can say (I along with billions of others in my same emotional state) is thank you. I know there’s more to come but this first 11 years have been beautiful. Thank you.

So I just watched “Shutter Island” (2010) for the first time. That was a trip. Good film. Great film, actually. After it finished, it brought back to mind this thing that I think about sometimes. I don’t know why I think about it. It’s... fun, maybe? Interesting, perhaps. Anyhow, imagine this concept. Life is normal. You go about your day not thinking about anything in particular. You’re going to work. Or maybe school. Maybe you black out in the middle of the day, maybe the last thing you remember is going to sleep. Either way, you wake up in a room. You’re laying on a bed. Or is it a table? That’s not for certain, but what is for certain is that you are surrounded. By people. Except they’re not people. Not like you know. They’re not human. This doesn’t frighten you though. Nothing does, in fact. You’re not scared, you’re not angry, you’re not sad. You feel nothing. No emotion at all. The high ones or the low ones. You. Feel. Nothing. The people surrounding you have brought you back. They’ve woken you up. They explain everything. From the moment of your birth to the last moment you remember, none of it was real. However many years your life was, it was all fabricated. No, you’re not dead. And remember, you’re not afraid either. You simply take in the information given to you and wait for the next bit. Humanity isn’t real. Earth isn’t real. Everything you knew, from the biggest common things to the most minute details that only you picked up on. It’s not real. But this isn’t quite some Matrix level program that you were forcefully thrown into. Here’s the catch. You created it. Everything that you knew, the years, the decades worth of life, of culture, of science, of emotion... you created it all. You see, your species doesn’t have emotion. Your species doesn’t have all these things you knew so well. And now that you’re back, now that you’re who you originally were... one of them... you don’t have these things either. You were an experiment, of sorts. Maybe you were a lab rat, maybe you volunteered. Somehow, from a species with no concepts, you in your dream-like state, were able to create. Every concept of life you knew, it was all fabricated by your own mind. Your interests, the things you hated, the concepts of love and hate and everything in between. There’s really no simple way to explain it all because it’s so vastly different. It’s not a set of opposites, it’s going from essentially nothing to everything that you knew. But you made it all up. Now that you’re back you simply go over the data. You’re not scared to be pulled from everything that you knew. You’re not angry that it’s all gone and it was all a lie. You have no hatred. You have no remorse. You have nothing. You’re part of this species, researching the life you lived, as it’s filled with things that were never known before, never even considered. This is all that is. Alright, messy string of words again. I don’t know how to explain it all because thoughts and words are quite different means of communication. Thoughts are just harder to convey. But yes, this is something that I think about from time to time. Just for fun. It’s not some big conspiracy theory I try to prove to people. It’s a form of entertainment, I guess. A story.

While it sounds like a cool idea, really only like 2.3% of me believes this. I'm sure there are a few shots from the trailers that are fake, as has been done with several MCU films in the past, but I think it would be too big a risk for the Russos to do. Cool thought though.

One of my friends I usually make some kind of fun homemade project as their birthday gift. That's who I made that Loki doll for last year. Their birthday is still a few months away but I had the stuff to make these and have been at it for a while. They're fun to make and something I think this friend would like so I made 2. The first one is Freddy Mercury from Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) in his queen outfit from that one party scene. It was super easy because I had an extra Moriarty w/ crown figure and they're pretty much the same build. Simple. Then I made another Venom/Eddie mix. Same as I made before but the opposite side. Opposite body sculpt too. Head of the left figure belongs to the body of the right's, etc. Anywho, they're done and I'm out of extra figures for now so I'll stop spamming now.