Unveiling the Masterpieces: Rob Surette's Speed Painting and Fine Art

Disclaimer: Unedited AI transcript

Announcer (00:00:06):

You are connected and you are listening to specifically for seniors, the podcast for those in the Remember When Generation. Today's podcast is available everywhere you listen to podcasts and with video at specifically for seniors YouTube channel. Now, here's your host, Dr. Larry Barsh.

Larry (00:00:36):

My goal is to bring happiness and inspiration to the world through my creativity. That's the mission of my guest on specifically for seniors today, speed painter, motivational speaker, Disney Fine Artist, and Guinness World Record Holder, Rob SurSurettet. Rob, it's great to have you on specifically for seniors.

Rob Surette (00:01:01):

I'm so happy to be here. Thank you.

Larry (00:01:03):

And let me just pass a little note onto the listeners. If you are listening to this podcast in audio only, I'd like to recommend that you switch over and watch on YouTube or Spotify. We're gonna be showing some of Rob's amazing art as we go along. So again, welcome to specifically for seniors. Rob, uh, before we go through some of your artwork, let's talk about your background. Did you take drawing lessons? How did you learn to do this?

Rob Surette (00:01:37):

Well, everyone always asks that, like where did you go to art school? I didn't go to art school. I didn't take any art lessons. If anything, the elementary school art classes frustrated me because back in the day, uh, they would just sort of, I just felt like they were yelling at me so many times. Like, never use a ruler. And you never do it that way and you don't do it that way. And um, it's okay. I know they were trying their best, but it didn't resonate with me because here it is, I'm trying to create something which I felt like in my imagination or from my heart. And sometimes I need that straight line. Like I didn't understand why in third grade why, why never use a ruler. I need a straight line. So what I really did was, um, I practiced at home. Are you from Boston?

Larry (00:02:22):

Yes, originally.

Rob Surette (00:02:23):

So back in the seventies at around maybe six in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays, there was this TV show called Captain Bob Drawing from Nature. Did you ever hear that?

Larry (00:02:34):

Uh, no. I'm a lot older than you are. I was already working.

Rob Surette (00:02:38):

I was the perfect age. Okay. I was kindergarten, first grade, second grade. And there was Bob Coddle, who I think lived on Plum Island. And it was a local regional Boston Channel five show. He was amazing. He would draw animals very, um, detailed step-by-step. But the thing is, we didn't have VCRs back then, so I had to follow live. So most of my friends at school, they'd all try drawing with Captain Bob and then get frustrated because they couldn't keep up. I mean, it was only a half an hour episode and it was a challenge to keep up. He'd start off slow and then he'd speed up to get the beautiful drawing in, in half an hour. So I have a whole book right over here of all my Captain Bob drawings, cuz he would explain, you know, the texture and shading and light pencils first.

Rob Surette (00:03:30):

Don't be afraid to erase. So I guess that's the only art school I ever attended. I mean, I was first, second, third, fourth, fifth grade. But see, my parents kept the drawings. And what I noticed is I'm totally getting better. And I was not great because there were two girls in my elementary school class, Janet Sio and Eileen Ronne. They were way better artists than I was. And I didn't mind, but I noticed, I'm like, wow, they're really good. They could be real artists one day. So I sat there, but I noticed I got better and better. So that's one of the greatest messages that I'll give to the world. It's called Growth Mindset these days. It's, it's that your capacity is not fixed. Your talent is not fixed. It doesn't even matter how much talent you're born with. It's the growth mindset that I can get better. Why not practice, have patience, don't give up and see the progress. But see, I think most people quit cuz they get discouraged.

Larry (00:04:27):

Yeah, I agree with you on that.

Rob Surette (00:04:30):

So here it is, even with say, sports or music lessons, how many people will try playing a musical instrument and after maybe a lesson or two, like, I can't do it. I'll never be good. I don't have any talent or dancing or singing or drawing or anything. People say I can't do it, and they automatically, they limit themselves. So here maybe what if the limits that you have are only the limits that you put on yourself? I mean, I know not everyone's gonna be a Michael Jordan when they wanna play basketball, but that growth mindset, I think I just learned that through this watching of Captain Bob on tv is I, it's my personality also where I never want to give up. It's, if giving up is on my list, it's last on the list. So here now I think I'd like to inspire your viewers or anyone around the world is to chase after those dreams, even if they're small.

Rob Surette (00:05:29):

I know this woman, she was amazing. She passed away maybe a couple years ago, but she was told as an elementary school student, you'll never be a dancer. Why? You're too tall. And she had that stuck in her mind her whole life. But guess what? In her eighties she started taking ballroom dancing classes three times a week. And then eventually after a few years, got better and better and better and started entering competitions in her eighties, she started dancing. See, that's the limit that not only she put on herself, but her, maybe her teacher put on her also. You'll never be a, you'll never be a dancer. You'll never be a singer. You don't, you, you sing off key. You're tone deaf. You'll never be an artist. You're not as good as your brother. You'll never be. Maybe people will tell you that. Or maybe you feed that into yourself.

Rob Surette (00:06:16):

I'll never be able to do it. I'll never be good. Well again, you don't need to be best in the world. You can get so much enjoyment. The woman next door from Korea, um, in her later years, I remember her playing piano and it sounded funny, right? Because she's doing like Mary had a lamb, it sounds like, you know, a second grader playing. I could hear her every day. I'm like, good for her. She's in her seventies. She's totally a beginner. She probably always wanted to play piano. And as I heard later, her husband said she wanted to play a certain song for her church. That was her dream is to get up in front of everyone and share a song with her congregation. And wouldn't, you know, after a few years, I'm like, she's getting better. She never, she didn't give up. And it's, you never, it's never too late. Why not?

Larry (00:07:05):

That's an important message for the listeners, the older adults who say, oh, I can't go to art class. I just have no talent at all.

Rob Surette (00:07:15):

Yeah, well there's so many places these days that'll try to debunk that. I dunno if you've ever heard of like these places where you can go paint on a canvas and sip wine. Have you heard of those? Yes. They're, they're, they're all over the place because they're very popular. Again, it's those people where I don't even know where to begin. I don't know what paints to buy. I don't know where brushes to buy. I don't even know what to paint. So they go to these places and those teachers are great because they're debunking that myth that you can't do it. You're not an artist, you don't have talent. They say, no, watch this. And they just like Captain Bob from TV when I was a kid, they'd show you very easy step-by-step and they say in the course of an hour or two, you're gonna go away with something that you're probably gonna be really happy with and hang up on your wall.

Rob Surette (00:08:02):

I love places like that. Cuz again, the myth is I wasn't born talented. That person was definitely born a musician. That person was definitely born a chef. Uh, that person has a green thumb. And then you limit yourself and say, I don't have any of that. And then your world is so small because you're like, wait, wait, wait. What talent was I born with? And it's the same message for seniors that I will give to kids is it's great to have a talent that gives you just a headstart. But I've seen so many people who don't have that natural talent, but they'll work at something and then if they don't give up and have that patience and persistence, they can get pretty good. And they can then maybe surpass those people who quote unquote, were born talented. Why not?

Larry (00:08:52):

And you, you bring this excitement to the kids. I, I looked up some of the work you've been doing with kids at homeless shelters and hospitals. How do you, the inspiration is marvelous.

Rob Surette (00:09:08):

Thank you. Well, it probably comes from my family because I had a family that was really stable. You know, growing up my parents, they got an awful lot of things, right? So, okay, so my people in the audience might be saying, well, wait a minute, I didn't have that. Are you saying then? No, no, no, no. I'm just saying from my own story that I haven't seen my grandparents since I was like 10 years old. My grandfather's and my grandmother's passed away a little later. But they overflowed us with their love. And here now I'm 51 and I'm, I'm still overflowing, I'm overflowing with that love. It was my foundation that, that's why I have so much to give the world is because I'm overflowing. I have more than enough. So therefore I wanna share it with people who I know maybe don't have that same, uh, inspiration.

Rob Surette (00:09:58):

I mean my batteries are always pretty much fully charged and if I feel like my batteries are depleting well then I need to go get inspired somewhere. Cuz life is definitely ups and downs and sometimes my batteries feel really weak, but I need to keep myself charged up in order to inspire other people. It's just what I do. But hey, how about those people who grew up with tough situations? I can tell you hundreds of stories of those people who used the adversity and turned it into fuel. They took the hardship and somehow they were able to convert it to power and aiming themselves in a positive direction. I've seen countless stories, haven't you, where they're able to turn the tables on life, they're able to somehow harness maybe that anger, harness that frustration, harness that loneliness and channel it into something positive. So I don't wanna paint the picture that, you know, you have to have this secure, stable family. I've seen so many people triumph, some people have even more of a hunger in life because they've gone through hardship. I've seen that. I remember my great-grandparents when they immigrated here, they were some of the hardest working people I think our family has ever seen. And they triumphed because, well, they overcame that hardship. Right?

Larry (00:11:18):

You've appeared with Oprah and on the Tonight Show and the Today Show, I've got a clip of you on the Oprah Show and let me just bring it up on screen. And would you describe what's going on?

Rob Surette (00:11:39):

Okay, so I just finished a two minute speed painting of Albert Einstein cuz that's one of the things that I do is I speed paint live in front of audiences. And she was so nervous because she was not there rehearsal day, the day before and rehearsal day. My painting didn't come out that great cuz I was nervous. So I know she, I know she was nervous. And as soon as the, I painted the hair and the mustache, the whole audience, there was so much noise in the audience, I thought something happened. Did someone fall? Did something break the audience? Like just made so much noise. I'm like, they, they, they're responding to me. They, they're seeing that this mess turned into Albert Einstein. Cuz at the very end I just speed paint his hair and his mustache and the look on her face. I could see it, I could see it on the camera.

Rob Surette (00:12:24):

She's like, oh my gosh. It's like her heart was beating. They had the world's fastest violinist accompanying me. See that's what threw me off the day before, is the world's fastest violinist is playing his song. I didn't even, I didn't know the song cuz I paint to a certain song. So I know where I'm supposed to be in the painting based on where the music is at here now, brand new song. I'm like, okay, I can still do it. So I started painting to his tempo. I'm like, too slow. And then I started painting double the speed to his tempo. I'm like, that's too fast. So again, the day before didn't go well. And the producer, they were all so nice. The producer says, okay, listen everyone, there's 13 of you, but there's only 12 spots to appear on air. One of you is not gonna make it on tv.

Rob Surette (00:13:12):

And he pointed to me and he goes, you can't leave your game. Don't leave your game in the locker room tomorrow. He's, because as it is right now, you're the one that's gonna get cut <laugh>. So here now is the adversity here. Now is the fear here now is like I could have collapsed under that pressure. And that whole night, as I was all by myself there, you know, in my hotel room, I'm like, I'm not gonna be the one who gets cut tomorrow. And I went over to my mind, I imagined the perfect scenario, how great it would come out, how people would cheer, how Oprah would love it. And I practiced in my mind cause I didn't have any more canvases and I can't speed paint in my hotel room. So I went over into my mind over and over and over and the next day, perfect it.

Rob Surette (00:13:55):

It went fabulous. So thank you. And that was one of my biggest breakthroughs because I was on, uh, good Morning America, twice today show Twice tonight Show. But they call it the Oprah Effect. She had, I think they said more than a hundred thousand viewers worldwide, cuz the show would sometimes be repeated in other countries. And um, it was amazing. It was one of my biggest breakthroughs. I would talk to various people who were thinking of hiring me. And as soon as I said, well, I was on the Oprah Winfrey show, and they're like, okay, say no more. You know, you're, you're hired or whatever. <laugh>, they figured Oprah would never have you on her show if you weren't legit. So it was, I owe her, I really owe her a thanks. She was really nice. The staff was nice. Uh, but being on TV was not my, uh, comfort level.

Rob Surette (00:14:47):

I would be so nervous I was walking in the hall. Alright, so here's another thing for your viewers. What if you have that fear? What if you are gonna take that dancing class and all of a sudden now you're gonna panic and say, I I can't do this. Or maybe you wanna be a swimmer for the first time. You're like, I I, I can't, I can't do this. Well, I was walking up and down the hallway, they call it the green room before you were on tv. I went up and down that hallway outside the green room and my legs felt like lead. All the blood, like left my head. I was like dizzy. I was just overwhelmed with nervousness. And what do you do? Well, I saw this kid s he was gonna sing on Oprah and he had his headphones on. He had his eyes closed and he was singing.

Rob Surette (00:15:31):

I'm like, well, I could try closing my eyes and going over. I'm like, I, I can't do it. I'm, I'm too nervous. Why? Because it means so much to me. It was so important to me. So, um, I don't know. I think I got out there and I started speed painting and it was, I was just still overwhelmed. I was still nervous. I was trying to just like calm myself down. In other words, it's, it's a bravery test. That's when most people will say, I can't do it. I'm done. I can't do it. They'll buy the whole outfit. You know, they want to go jogging. They buy the new running shoes. I'm gonna, I'm gonna run. I'm gonna walk every single day, five days a week for a year and get in shape. And then that's the moment where people are like, I can't do it.

Rob Surette (00:16:13):

Can't do it. I can't do it. They'd sign up for an adult softball, you know, team or, there's so many examples I could use. And that's the moment where kids and adults would be like, can't do it. Nope, I quit. I can't do it. Tell the producer I I can't do it. Uh, I hurt my back and make up an excuse. So that's again, yeah, and Mia it's just, I just, I I have found a way to push through. And maybe that comes from the adversity. When I was a kid, various things. The teacher makes you get up in front of the classroom or something. All I know is I've learned to push through and yeah, you might fail, but all the times I fall down, fall down, fall down, or doors closed, doors closed, doors closed. Well maybe a door's gonna open. Maybe all of a sudden one day instead of falling, you're gonna, you're gonna fly.

Rob Surette (00:17:04):

So that said is, I don't make all my dreams come true. I probably make like one out of a hundred dreams come true because I feel like I'm always pushing, knocking on doors, trying to break through even more. And I get nos all the time. But you get sort of used, you get, you become sort of numb to the defeats. You become numb to the failures. You become numb to the the nose. And if you just can keep going, I think that's just a great skill. Just keep going, keep going. If you woke up this morning, guess what? Somebody else didn't. So why do I have this day? I think of that. I mean, I listen to all these positive things on my headphones every morning. Um, that's what I heard this morning. If you woke up this morning, guess what someone else didn't. So what am I gonna do today?

Rob Surette (00:17:53):

How am I gonna build my legacy? What am I gonna do that's positive? What am I gonna do? That's ma makes a difference. I visited my fourth grade teacher in a nursing home and she had a sign on her door saying, do not disturb until a certain time. Okay, that's fine. And her door was open. This is just a few years ago, my fourth grade teacher. And in there I saw her and she was, she was drawing cuz she was also an artist. When she finally let me in, she says, well, this is what I do. She says, I'm rather handicapped and I I can't get out. She says, so what I've done is my work, my good work, my good deeds is I have a list of people who I write cards to. And she had a, she writes a stack of cards every day and she hand draws or she hand colors.

Rob Surette (00:18:37):

I'm not really sure what she did, but she had a stack of cards just from one day. She, that's the good, that's the good work that I do every single day is every day I do like 10 or 20 cards to people and tries to make a difference. So isn't that great when you wake up with a mindset, not so much, ugh, another dreary day. Look it, it's cloudy outside. I have aches and I have pains. I think I, let's raise a glass to those people who have a much opposite mindset and say, today's an opportunity. I'm gonna, I'm gonna do my good deed for the day. I'm gonna make a difference. I'm gonna make someone smile. I'm gonna try something new. I'm going to do something I never did before. I don't know what it is. But other than I call it good energy and it pre paves the way for I think a much better day than if you wake up and say, oh look at the weather outside. It's miserable, it's terrible. And any of us can go through our list of complaints. But I try consciously to do the opposite. And the more you do that, I find the more it becomes part of you.

Larry (00:19:42):

I think we've all faced these frightening experiences. I was asked to substitute as a guest host on a radio show on W B Z to substitute for the call in physician. I'm a good for you. I'm a retired dentist. That's

Rob Surette (00:20:02):

It. That's

Larry (00:20:02):

Awesome. The first time scared, I will tell you.

Rob Surette (00:20:07):

Of course.

Larry (00:20:08):

And then it gets to, it gets to be fun. It gets to be exciting.

Rob Surette (00:20:14):

Wait, what gets to be fun?

Larry (00:20:17):

Two things. Doing what you have agreed to do.

Rob Surette (00:20:22):

Yeah, there

Larry (00:20:23):

You go. And the feeling of fear. Uh, you mean every time before you go on? Well, like a podcast here too, you get a little bit jittery, but you get to enjoy that feeling cuz you know something's gonna happen.

Rob Surette (00:20:42):

A simple story, I mean, of course we all have millions, is when my youngest son went to his first high school cross country practice just a couple years ago. Um, it was in August. So it's before he began as a freshman in September, he had, he had that moment of panic. He says, I don't know anyone. It wasn't the public school, it was the private school in the next city over in Lawrence, Massachusetts. I don't know anyone. He's looking around. He goes, I don't know anyone. And he wasn't even a runner. And I said, I totally understand the feeling. I said, you gotta give it a try, try it. Guess what <laugh>, he's now running captain's practice. I heard him come home just a few minutes ago. He, he's the captain now as a senior. Used to be one of the slowest runners, now he's captain.

Rob Surette (00:21:29):

He's one of the fastest runners. He's made his friends, um, lifelong friends. He went from self-confidence there to like, you know, here, it's just one of many examples. I'm so proud cuz I'm like, see if you can push through it. See if you can face the fears. Don't quit. Don't give up. This is your dream. This is your wish. We're not going home until you've done with that practice. I mean, I didn't say it like that. And try to be, sometimes try to be gentle with people, but let's, let's, let's be brave. That's what it is, right? Because sometimes even the day ahead of you is scary. Just the day you don't even, maybe it's the unknown. Maybe you don't feel great. Maybe you feel a little lonely, you feel a little depressed. Let's face the day with courage. We're all in this together. It was what, what is there 7 billion people on the planet? I know so many people feel lonely. I felt it too. But there's a lot of good people out there. Let's seek them out. The people who we can help each other.

Larry (00:22:31):

Such great advice.

Rob Surette (00:22:33):

Yeah. <laugh>.

Larry (00:22:34):

Well let's get back to your talent.

Rob Surette (00:22:36):

Okay?

Larry (00:22:38):

I, in addition to the speed painting, you are as well a fine artist. Here's one of your works.

Rob Surette (00:22:51):

That painting there that probably took me three quarters of a year. I mean, every little window on each of those skyscrapers was done with a, that whole painting was done with a brush the size of a needle.

Larry (00:23:05):

How, how big is that?

Rob Surette (00:23:08):

That's not the original. That's a rep, that's a replica. That's a, um, um, I it's a, it's a print, it's, it's, it's, it's projected on screen. The original, it's probably about four feet wide. What you're seeing on the screen that looks more like 12 or 12 or 15 feet wide. Yeah, it's not, that's a screen. That's

Larry (00:23:32):

I How about, uh, talking about a Boston favorite?

Rob Surette (00:23:37):

Yeah. Okay. So that was my covid project here again, I needed some positivity. When the heart of Covid first started to scare everyone and we all got locked down and all our work ceased and our kids had to come home from college and their classes stopped and I needed, um, I needed to escape into one of my, a project. So I had a friend from Boston News TV who said, Rob, you must not be able to do any traveling with your speed painting performances. I said, well, no, it's, it's gone. She said, do you have any projects that we can show on tv? I'd love to give you some publicity. I said, well, I'm working on a lot of Disney things. And we thought maybe the network doesn't wanna advertise the corporation of Disney in my work. I said, well wait a minute. Tom Brady just left New England.

Rob Surette (00:24:27):

I said, what if I do a farewell Tom Brady painting? And it was great. And she put me on the news and Tom Brady's family saw it. And that's not from a photo, that's my own painting, for instance. That's even my hand. I posed my hand as if Tom Brady was saying goodbye. And that's even not, that's not even Gillette's Stadium behind him. Cuz Gillette stadium doesn't come up so high. I wanted to see the stadium just like in that painting. So actually, you know what, I think I modeled that after a soccer stadium in Brazil. But anyhow, <laugh>, the, the realism of that portrait is something I was so proud of. I never knew I could paint so realistic. I never knew I could paint so detailed where you'd have to really go in with a magnifying glass to even see that it's a painting.

Rob Surette (00:25:17):

But again, I had the luxury of time I, here again, I don't know where I learned it. Maybe it's the inspiration from my great grandparents who immigrated here and had to go through such hardship. But I felt like, here's one of the scariest moments is a, a dad is now, my work has stopped as a performer because of Covid. I'm gonna triumph. I'm gonna sit here and I'm gonna paint the greatest painting I ever did. And guess what? That benefited now all my Disney work moving forward, that benefited me with all my other work. Because people would say, you're painting on a whole new level now. I said, I am. They go, what did you do? I said, I don't know. I, I spent probably 250 hours on this painting during the heart of Covid. It was a joy. It brought me so much joy every day.

Rob Surette (00:26:06):

And it helped me forget about my worries. So isn't that a great thing to share with your audience and inspire them? Is maybe you start something new, try a new hobby, try a new class, do something different, go someplace different. Dare take a risk, do something you've never done before. I bet you that'll take your mind off of a lot of your other day-to-day mundane worries. So that it's almost like you get a reward for being brave. You push yourself and you break through like new territory that you never have done before. And it is scared, it's scary and it is frightening. And yes, you might fail, it might be a disaster. But then again, you might have this full circle moment where all of a sudden you get like a maybe, maybe the, maybe the world rewards you. Maybe life rewards you for being brave.

Rob Surette (00:27:00):

So here at the Tom Brady, I got rewards like you wouldn't believe because my whole caliber of artwork is probably twice as good as it used. Probably three times as good as it used to be. Probably 10 times as good. So I, in other words, I find a way to push through adversity and don't give up and just believe in yourself and just keep going. Just keep going in life. Don't, don't let yourself be stuck. And here now, um, I just feel like I'm able to turn the tables on life. I turn like a bad situation into an amazing situation. I don't know how that works. But again, I feel like maybe it's a matter of numbers. My my number of friends, you know, the money, people who they love numbers. They're like, it's all about odds. If you keep trying, trying, trying, eventually you're gonna get a success.

Rob Surette (00:27:50):

That's what they say, you know, as far as probability. So if you fail 99 times, well it doesn't, it doesn't surprise us that you get that triumph on the hundredth time. So I make it sort of a game. It's just, I be, again, become numb. More numb to adversity and hardship and bad days and bad news. Because it eventually, if you start feeding your conscious mind with positivity, eventually it seeps into your subconscious mind, which then becomes part of your core beliefs. And I guess I probably learned that as a kid. I don't, I don't know. I think I probably did you just find a way to get through

Larry (00:28:30):

And here's something you learned from Captain Bob, I guess?

Rob Surette (00:28:35):

Yeah, <laugh>, he'd be so proud cuz he would just do drawings with crayons. And I thought I would do a whole series of, uh, paintings from nature. And that's the first one. I'm now working on an elephant. I'm working on a polar bear family. I'm working on, um, I'm eventually gonna do dolphins and a tiger. I eventually wanna do a peacock. I mean, I'm gonna go on forever. So yeah, that just gave me great satisfaction because I love lions and I wanna share it with the world. I mean, there was even a school in Lincoln, Rhode Island, and they call themselves the Lincoln Lions. They're like, can we buy that for our school? I said, well, yeah, I'll make a print. I I still have the original. I made a print and they put it right in their front office and they're so proud of it.

Rob Surette (00:29:25):

This huge lifelike lion. I'm like, I never thought that would go to a, uh, a middle school. Uh, I, I had no idea. I thought it'd be more animal lovers, but I made them so happy. The kids cheered so loud when we unveiled it after my school assembly. And that's, it is, see, I feel like art is a great way to connect with people. I feel like if you can do a handmade, hand drawn, hand colored, handwritten card to someone, I feel like it's more special than if you buy a card. Probably. What if you're a little kid and you could do the little card, you know, in kindergarten and give it to your parents or grandparents? Well, they're gonna treasure that, uh, probably more than if it was just bought at the store, right? So I feel like that's a great thing that maybe any of your listeners can do is create something and then give it to someone.

Rob Surette (00:30:19):

It's, it's an expression of love. It comes from you. They know that you put so much time and effort into that. To me, that gave me great satisfaction as a kid. When I would draw something and give it to my grandmother, give it to, you know, my teacher or my parents, you know, they'd treasure it. So that's the magic of creating something. What if you make a cake? I've seen people make amazing, beautiful, thoughtful cakes. And there it is, right? It's not a store-bought cake, which that could be good too. And that person who receives that cake for their birthday must be like, look at all that effort you put into there. So here's just something I wanna share is you don't have to be a quote unquote artist. I'm not even classically trained. I didn't go to art school, but to create something that comes from you.

Rob Surette (00:31:06):

And then so many people will apologize to me and they wanna show me their drawings. They're like, oh, I'm not like you. I'm not at your caliber. I'm like, don't say that. I'm like, let's see what you drew. Let's see what you created. And I'm gonna be so proud of you that you made that from a blank piece of paper. You made that cake out of sugar, eggs, flour, water. You made it. It's so special because that came from you. It doesn't matter if how good it is. That's why, you know, I don't think you should grade an art project, especially when you're a kid. Oh, you get an A, oh, you get a B, you get an F. That's terrible. It's not good or bad. It's, it's an expression. It's, it comes from you. And I feel like art is a great vehicle to connect with people. Whether it's a painting or whether it's a performance or a song or a poem. It's, it's a creative way where I feel like it comes from your heart and soul. You can give that to someone. My mother would make hand, my mother makes handmade sweaters for everyone in the family. And my daughter just wore it on Sunday for my mother's birthday. My daughter says, look, look what I brought my sweater that you made. So it's just this great upward spiral of sharing and love and creativity. And you understand, don't you? Yes,

Larry (00:32:24):

Very much so.

Rob Surette (00:32:26):

Well, even your podcast, you've created a podcast and it's a great vehicle to reach people. It's a great ve you could have posted this as a blog on the internet, but the fact that you're doing this podcast and you're the only one I've ever heard of that does a podcast with visuals, with video,

Larry (00:32:44):

Well,

Rob Surette (00:32:44):

So we're creating something and maybe we'll really inspire someone out there, all because of you.

Larry (00:32:50):

This started during Covid February 22. I, we had nobody to talk to. We couldn't go out in public. So I said, what better way just to find strangers and talk. Was I good at it? No. Am I good at it now? Eh, I'm, I'm getting better. Uh, I'm learning the problems when something goes wrong, technically. Of course,

Rob Surette (00:33:20):

Of course

Larry (00:33:20):

Learning to work through it. But does it matter? We're all human, we're all facing the same problems. If it's not so good one day, well, I tried. If it's better the next day, terrific. I'm happy I got better. So Rob, uh, in addition to speed painting on Oprah and doing your fine artwork, you also present your speed painting with classical music in a tuxedo

Rob Surette (00:33:55):

<laugh> live with a chamber orchestra. This is the Chatauqua Chamber Orchestra way out in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And they said, Rob, this guy, oh, he was awesome. He says, let's blow our audience away. They're not gonna know what this is. See, you're showing it, uh, three quarters of the way through. But when it was the blank canvas, the audience was like, what is this? And I was nervous. And then as we saw on the video recording later, I could see the reactions of the audience members. They loved it. Even those seasoned classical aficionados. It was refreshing. They loved it. And I was so scared because again, it's that live orchestra where we only, we didn't, we didn't even practice. They just played it once for me earlier when I was not ready to paint and I could just sort of listen to their music. And I'm like, okay, that's about five minutes.

Rob Surette (00:34:59):

I think that's about right. So we, I winged it is basically it. And that's probably one of my most popular videos that I've posted, even though that was, um, 10, 12 years ago. But what a joy. I wanna do that again. And why did I do it? It's to celebrate Beethoven. It's to celebrate creativity. It's to honor him. Cause I wasn't being silly about that. Cause it is frenetic, but it's, and it's splashing paint. But it wasn't meant to be disrespectful or anything. It's thinking outside the box. It's like, what? How did that guy do that in five minutes? And he's wearing a tuxedo. And on the way home from Pittsburgh, I drove back to Massachusetts that night, which is like eight hours. Got home at like two, three in the morning. I had to stop at a rest area. And then when I get to the rest area and I had to go to the little booth to pay the guy. And he sees me with tuxedo and there's a lot of red and red paint in there. And I'm covered in a tuxedo with paint, which probably looked like blood. I don't know what it was. And the guy in the booth is like at two in the morning. He's like, I don't even want to ask what happened to you, <laugh>.

Rob Surette (00:36:10):

I said, I'll show you the video <laugh>. I just feel like why? And when I posted that, uh, the title I wrote is, why not? Why not? Why not? You could get one of your viewers who could put down a drop cloth and could wear dirty clothes that they don't mind getting paint on getting some paint and just dunk your fingers in paint and just sort of splatter it. Flick it. You can have so much fun with that. Use water-based paint. Make sure you don't get it on your living room. You could do it out in your yard outside. Put down a big tarp. Just get some paint and just flick it onto a canvas. And then maybe wear gloves. Take the gloves off, put them in different colors and start splattering it. You won't believe how many people in your audience might find that.

Rob Surette (00:37:00):

Just so freeing. So much fun. Just see how the colors are. Maybe take your gloves off, put on other gloves. Do even different colors. Maybe rainbow colors or maybe really throw the paint. Why not? You don't have to. You can watch me in my videos, but why not the joy, the thrill I get. Because when I go to places, they're like, what's he doing? He's throwing paint. He's ruining a tuxedo. He's, he's painting it upside down. He's, he's got paint on his face. He's got paint on his hair. Why not? I am so happy doing that. I, a couple weeks ago, this vice principal says, don't you ever get tired of this. You've, you've performed at 4,000 schools doing the same show for 29 years. I'm like, it's the joy of my life. Guess what? It lights me up inside. Not just creating, but then even double that is inspiring people.

Rob Surette (00:37:57):

Cuz I can create by myself and be thrilled. But when I'm sharing it with people and I'm inspiring them, two, two light switches go on. It lights me up. So why not someone in your audience think about what lights you up? Maybe it's walking the beach, maybe it's getting up really early and watching the sunrise. Maybe it's watching the sunset. Maybe it's calling a friend. Maybe it's writing a letter. Maybe it's journaling. Maybe it's writing a poem. Maybe it's cooking. Maybe it's going to a place you haven't gone to since your childhood. I can just think of so many examples. But maybe your view, your listeners can now creatively think and say, okay, wait, hold on Rob, hold on Rob, let me think of something that I can think of that lights me up. And then do it. Plan that trip to the Africa Safari plan. I, I don't know, I don't know your, I don't know everyone's situation, but there has to be something you can think of that lights you up. Try. That's my challenge cuz this podcast isn't meant just to be entertainment. We're trying to inspire, try to find something like you creating your podcast. I bet it lights you up, doesn't it?

Larry (00:39:03):

It certainly does.

Rob Surette (00:39:06):

<laugh> so good for you. Cause you could have had the idea. How many people do I know who say I would love to write a book one day. I have so many ideas for a book. I'm like, it's not that hard. You can write 24 pages. You don't even have to have illustrations. You go to Walgreens or CVS and you can have it bound into a hardcover book for like $14 and 99 cents. Then you have your book. You can do illustrations, you can spend the whole summer on it. You can start chronicling maybe stories of your life. You don't even have to have pictures. Go to CVS or Walgreens and make it into a book. It cost probably 14 to $19. But see, good for you, Larry, because you wanted to do the podcast and the idea should not get stuck in your mind. You did it.

Rob Surette (00:39:56):

Your ideas should not get stuck on your shelf. Your ideas shouldn't die with you. It feels so good to, to do what you imagined. And then it frees up room, I think, in your mind for the next idea. Well, don't keep that. You don't want a backlog of ideas. That's my joy is I do have a backlog of ideas, but I just keep going, accomplishing them, accomplishing 'em, finish, finish, finish, finish. And then the new ideas come fast and furious. Because now you have this conveyor belt where you not only think of the idea, you produce it, you think of the idea, you do it, you dream of something, you take the action steps. So that's the inspiration, that's the challenge to any of your viewers. And I want your viewers to be thinking, what can I do? It could be something so simple. There could be a person who says, I wanna walk 10 steps today.

Rob Surette (00:40:50):

And maybe you need to do that, you know, with the physical therapist or whatever. But maybe this, it's a challenge. But you might think, oh, it's such just, it's, it, it's not gonna impress anyone. It's, it's not being on TV or anything. Well, it's a big challenge to you, you see. So I just feel like your audience, I wanna shake you up a little bit and think, what can I do today? What can I do? Or what can I do tomorrow? If you're listening to this at night, think about it. Maybe make a list of all the things you wanna accomplish and then look at that list every day. Don't be stuck. That's one of the worst feelings in life, is when you feel stuck, you feel hopeless, you feel helpless, you feel lonely. And then you have a negative downward spiral where you're like, I can't do it. I'm, I I'm not good enough. I'm not good at anything. Bad energy. Don't do that. Do the opposite.

Larry (00:41:44):

I'm gonna reemphasize something you said. Please. We talk a lot on this podcast about brain health and cognitive fitness. And one of the things that neuroscientists emphasize is trying something you've never done. It has to be something you have no idea how to do and learn how to do it. And you've just, you've just put it in a, an exciting and inspirational way.

Rob Surette (00:42:22):

Thank you. I mean, I'm not a neuroscientist, but I've listened to enough audio books where as a be as an as a is a is a neophyte, I'm gonna say, they will say it creates a new path in your brain. If you do the same thing, say, play that same piano piece for 50 years, it's gonna create a deeper path in your brain. Have you heard, have you heard of that?

Larry (00:42:46):

Not only that, but it builds new brain cells

Rob Surette (00:42:51):

Even

Larry (00:42:51):

Better and new synapses.

Rob Surette (00:42:54):

I, I don't understand that, but I've, I've heard that. So I'm saying it makes your brain, well, it's hard at first. It, it almost hurts. You're creating a new path in your brain where you've never gone that way before and you're thinking, or your action steps. And it that that's, that's the pain period you need to get through. Cuz it, it, it hurts. It's painful. It's, ah, ooh, it's, it's, it's hard. It's hard to do. But you're right, it creates a new path. I love that. All I know is humans are capable of a lot more than they think. And to feel stuck is just, I think you're not creative enough. You're not using your imagination enough cuz to feel stuck again saying I'm lonely. Well, let's go back to there's 7 billion people in the world. We can therefore reach out to people and try to make connections and be friendly towards people and and so forth. So yeah, I just feel like the opportunities are endless when you're creative. This has been a joy. I can't thank you enough. This is so great.

Larry (00:43:58):

Oh, I'm having a lot of fun too because,

Rob Surette (00:44:02):

You know, we're doing, we're we're enjoying talking to each other. But the hope again is that we uplift someone. I'm just gonna talk to your audience. I wanted to set a world record as a 10 year old. I'm like, imagine being in a world record book.

Larry (00:44:17):

Wow.

Rob Surette (00:44:17):

I tried running around my house a hundred times and on the 90th lap, my dad came out and got really angry and said, you can't just run around the house a hundred times. That's how kids collapse. You know, you didn't train for that. You're not a runner. You have to be very careful. You don't hurt yourself. I know, I know he's right. So I only made it 90 times around, but here now as an adult, I'm like, I'm gonna set a world record. People are gonna laugh and be like, oh, you're just this big grownup kid. Grow up, be an adult, get a job like an accountant nine to five with a pension. Stop playing with all these paints and toys and legos. So no, I felt like I needed to set a world record with a message. It was my response to nine 11 and I created my first world record, which took 365 days.

Rob Surette (00:45:06):

The world's biggest light, bright mosaic, 100 faces from all around the world. Everyone looking at each other in friendship. There it is. It took 365 days. All the faces on the left are Americans. This is my response to nine 11 because I remember there was such harsh feelings towards Middle Easterners, just as a big blanket statement. You know, so many people, they've said, we just hate you because you look like you're from the Middle East here Now on the right are people from all over the world, not just Middle Easterners. And look at how they're all looking at each other in friendship. Probably upwards towards 12 o'clock as if this was like a a clock. You're gonna see a little boy holding his pet dog. And if you look to the right, he's seeing a pet goat held by this, uh, boy in Norway, his same exact age.

Rob Surette (00:45:59):

So I want people to look at each other and say, yes, we're different, but there's more similarities and differences. Look at that. It's just like this great mosaic. And that's what helped me become a Disney fine artist, is the people at Disney Studios hired me as a fine artist. And I had to ask them on the interview. I said, well, you know, I'm a speed painter. That's my very first Disney fine art masterpiece. But what I was sort of confessing to them on the interview in Burbank, California Disney Studios is, you know, I'm a speed painter. I've never painted fine art. I've never painted the detail where that would take you in a whole year. And they said, well, we saw your light bright mosaic. We saw you speed painting on the Oprah Winfrey Show. And they saw a tribute I did to Walt Disney on my website where I created 10 different portraits of him using all different kinds of medium, medium, medium.

Rob Surette (00:46:56):

And they said, you are an idea person. You'll get up to speed with fine art. We're gonna give you about five years. This is a marathon. It's not a sprint. You'll figure it out. You'll be able to get up to speed with this beautiful, detailed, rich, fine art, you know, style. Uh, they said, but you're an idea person. So there that world record light bright mosaic that you just saw, which I didn't get paid for, I did it just because my heart pulled me in that direction. I had the full circle moment of setting my first world record, which I wanted to do since I was 10. I had a full circle moment of completing a massive 10 foot by 20 foot mosaic, getting the Guinness World Records certificate. Then I had another full circle moment where it got seen by people all over the world.

Rob Surette (00:47:43):

And I got so much paid jobs from that, so many paid jobs. And that landed me my Disney job because they said, you're an idea person. So again, I pushed through and I had, I have so many full circle moments and I feel like it's just because I'm persistent and I'm patient and I don't give up. So any of your viewers, push yourself as much as you can safely. Don't run around your house a hundred times without practicing and maybe it comes back to you. Maybe the magic of life is that the energy you put into the world, maybe it does come back to you tenfold. Those are those full circle moments where I'm like, oh my God, I can't believe how that worked out. I can't believe it. So that still remains in my garage. I had my 10 strongest friends help me bring it to the outside for that photo It's in, you can't tell, but it's in five pieces and it's on wheels.

Rob Surette (00:48:38):

We covered up the wheels with those black tarps and it took the whole day to level it all up and put little shims underneath all the wheels. You can't tell that it's five different vertical pieces. It's 1500 pounds total. Now it's back in my garage and it's, it's not gone anywhere else other than that photo which has gone all over the world. And again, people would say to me, why are you creating this? You're not getting paid for it. It's an unpaid job. You're wasting a lot of time. I'm like, well I didn't work on it all day for a whole year. I worked on it in my free time. And it was a labor of love. I'm good at following my heart. If my heart comes up with this inspired idea. I have to, I have to create it. I have to attempt it because the satisfaction afterwards not only feels so good, but my heart is pulling me in that direction for a reason.

Rob Surette (00:49:31):

Again, there might be this amazing full circle moment, which I never would've received if I didn't keep going. Cuz Hasbro, which is the company that made light bright. Now if anyone knows Light Bright, it's only a toy where they give you a grid that's like nine inches by nine inches. So to create something that's 10 feet by 20 feet, even Hasbro was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe you're creating something so huge. But Hasbro said to me, cause I asked for free light bright pegs that would've cost me 10, $15,000 just for the pegs, if not more. They said, okay, everyone wants a donation. They said, but everyone wants to set a world record. But we feel that anytime we've given the pegs to someone who said they wants to set a world record, they quit. They quit because their back hurts, their neck hurts, their fingers hurt.

Rob Surette (00:50:22):

They, they lose patience. They run out of time. They run outta money. So I said to them, I said, well, listen, I said, I was just on the Oprah Winfrey show. They said, what? I said, I was just on the Oprah Winfrey show a month ago. They're like, say no more. You were on Oprah. You are legit. The FedEx truck came within a week with cases, in cases, cases of light bright pigs. And some of the box cracked, some of the boxes broke open. And the FedEx guy's like, what are all these little plastic pieces? They're rolling all around my FedEx truck. What, what, what the heck are these things? I said, it's light bright. What? It's light bright. I'm setting a world record. See, because that mosaic took 504,000 pegs. But I didn't know which of each color, how many of each color I needed. So I said, you gotta gimme 800,000 pegs, even though I only need 500,000. So I still, I still have, I'm still swimming in light bright pegs in my studio at

Larry (00:51:20):

Light Bright was not enough. You had to go to

Rob Surette (00:51:25):

Gumballs

Larry (00:51:27):

<laugh>.

Rob Surette (00:51:28):

Yeah, that wa boy that looks good from, uh, far away. Because when you get further away from these pointalism mosaics, your eye blends the dots. And that's when it becomes real. So if you saw that real close up, you see dots, you see gumballs. Then when you get further and further away, see you see blonde in her hair. There's no blonde colored gumballs. You see the mix of yellow, black, green, blue, red, and in her face, her face looks flesh or peach, kind of peachy. There's no peach colored gumballs. They're white, yellow, red, hot pink. When you get further and further away. Yeah, that's in a museum now. It's a Ripley's, believe it or not, museum in the, the Netherlands that they put that in Time Magazine. And um, it was a contest to see who in the world can come up with regular household items and create an artistic masterpiece from let's just say paperclips, nuts and bolts, you know, um, rubber bands.

Rob Surette (00:52:32):

So I'm like, Hmm. So this is the idea that I came up with and it was an inspired idea and my heart glowed and I'm, I'm like, I have to create it. It took a long time. I won the first, I won first place and that got me even tons more work. And Taylor Swift saw it. So I mean, it's just this big positive momentum that I've created where I just keep going, going, going, going, going. And it didn't matter if I lost that contest. Um, I didn't know if the gumballs were gonna start to mush because I had to glue them. And I didn't know if the glue would deteriorate and cause them all to mush. So I just took the risk and it, it went, it came out great.

Larry (00:53:14):

But if, if they mushed, she could have written a song about leaving you Yeah. <laugh>.

Rob Surette (00:53:22):

Well, it would've probably started all over again and learned from the mistakes. But, um, it just feels so good to create those new synapses. It feels so good to activate those new brain cells. It feels so healthy and so good to create those new pathways in the brain. Yeah, I just wanna say to your audience, it just feels so good to do something new. Do something brand new. Try something. It fee, I know it's painful. I know it's hard. I know it's discouraging, but it, it feels so good also at the same time.

Larry (00:53:58):

And gum gumballs and light bright would not enough

Rob Surette (00:54:04):

<laugh>. What else we got?

Larry (00:54:05):

So let's get this one up if I can.

Rob Surette (00:54:10):

Lipsticks

Larry (00:54:11):

<laugh>.

Rob Surette (00:54:12):

I think that's 6,000 lip lipstick tubes. Okay. For anyone who doesn't understand. We're seeing the tips of the lipsticks because I glued them to a board. So what I did is I used a, I got a board laying flat and I started gluing the lipsticks. After that took almost a year. I bumped the lipsticks with my elbow ones and a whole bunch of them fell like dominoes. I said, how can that bean, I used this. There you go. Yeah, now you can see their lipsticks. When I bumped them with my arm, I'd say a few dozen of them just fell. I'm like, that's like a few weeks of work that I just destroyed. How did they fall? I used the strongest glue. So I asked around cuz I had never glued lipsticks to a board, but it's something brand new. And I'm like, it's hard. It's painful, it's difficult, it's challenging. But if you can be one of those people that finds your way through those challenges and until completion I found a glue expert. He says, you used a hard glue. You need to use a soft glue. I said, wait, you lost me. He said, you used a glue that dries so hard, that one little bump and they're just gonna pop off. They said, you need to have, use a glue with a little bit of give. I said, what does that mean? He says, uh, what do you call it?

Larry (00:55:36):

Um, rubber cement

Rob Surette (00:55:39):

I guess. I don't know. Yeah. Or like a silicone, something that has a little bit of give to it, like a rubbery glue. So therefore if it gets bumped or if it that got shipped all the way to it, that that's in a Ripley's, believe it or not, museum in Maryland. I think. So in shipping, in transit, none of them broke off and I had to sort of start all over. I had to start completely all over again. I had to pop them all off cuz they all had to be redone with a soft, flexible glue. More like a silicone or a rubber rubber cement That might be a good, uh, description. Something with a little bit of a give to it. Yeah. So that's Nikki Minaj. I know she's from Jamaica. She's a musician. And they wanted, for that particular one, they wanted someone very current, very modern, very trendy.

Rob Surette (00:56:31):

And who's a triumph. I got paid for that. And, um, that's because they saw the Guinness World Record, world Peace light, bright mosaic. And they hired me for a string of pointalism mosaics. Okay. Pointalism means it's a picture made up of dots. It's a picture made up of points. The famous artist who invented Pointalism or popularized Pointalism, his name is George Surat from the 18 hundreds. Okay. George Sarra. My last name is Sart Sarra. Sart. Is that a coincidence? I don't think so. Cuz I've really mastered this modern way of popularizing Pointalism. Is there a coincidence? Sur Surt? I, I don't believe in coincidences. There's definitely some sort of connection going on there. Maybe he's helping me from afar, from heaven. I have no idea. I bet he is.

Larry (00:57:26):

<laugh> Let's, we we have really covered the art world. Let's, uh, let's end up with, I think one of my favorite pieces that you did.

Rob Surette (00:57:39):

Oh, thank you. So listen, I'm a Disney artist. Wonder Woman is DC Comics. And guess what? DC Comics is not owned by Disney. It's a competitor. So how did I get to paint for DC comics if I'm a Disney fine artist? Well, I guess DC Comics saw the great work I was doing for Disney, you know, with Star Wars and Marvel and classic Disney. So DC Comics, they said, um, and I, I dunno if I'm repeating this story correctly, but this is just how I've interpreted it as DC comics is like, we want Rob to paint something for us. So Disney, my bosses, they allowed me to paint that and Disney sort of brokered the deal and somehow we all get a percentage of all the sales profits. But I was thrilled and wanna know why I loved painting. That is because I visit so many schools. I was gonna proudly show that off and allow girls in particular to feel like, hey, girls can be superheroes too. Because that particular movie with Gal Gado, the ar the actress, it's the very first Marvel or DC comics superhero movie where the female superhero was the main star. Anytime before that, the female superhero was a, a, a minor star, but that was her movie. So I was very proud, you see? So to, to show girls and boys, but girls in particular, that girls can be superheroes too.

Larry (00:59:14):

Rob, I cannot tell you what a joy this conversation was.

Rob Surette (00:59:19):

We gotta do it again one day, <laugh>.

Larry (00:59:21):

Absolutely. And I'll show you all my artwork too.

Rob Surette (00:59:25):

I would love to, but can I say one more thing to your audience? We are here today not to talk about me. It's not showing off. It's not, Hey, look what Rob can do. Everything I do with my artwork is to ins, hopefully inspire people. That's the attempt. So if anything in this sort of warmed your heart, made you smile, great. But what would really make me happy is if someone was to write into you, Larry, and say, you know something, I tried something new, I went out and I tried buying a bonsai tree where I'm gonna take care of that little tree every day and shape it. Or I'm going to do something and don't let the idea come from me. Let it come from you, the viewer. I want you to sit there. Imagine what can I do? What will light me up that would make me so happy is if someone was to say, you inspired me. I tried something new and it didn't go perfectly, but I'm not gonna give up with it. And it's bringing me joy.

Larry (01:00:24):

Hey Rob, you know, you just gave me an idea. Why don't we invite listeners, viewers, hopefully to this podcast to send the picture to me.

Rob Surette (01:00:37):

Yes, yes. Uh,

Larry (01:00:40):

I'll put my uh, email address in the, uh, show notes down below. Yes. And if I get enough of them Yes. We'll do another podcast. You and me. Yes. And we'll show the viewers works.

Rob Surette (01:00:57):

So that's really interactive and you know, that guy Captain Bob, when I was kindergarten, first, second grade six 30, channel five, Saturday, Sunday mornings, he would invite his kids, his audience members to do the same thing. Send in your drawings. I'm like, I'm not sending in my drawing. I wanna keep it. All right. So back then we didn't have photo, uh, color photocopiers, but send a picture. Yes, send a picture. And then he would show them on tv. He would say how proud he is of you and he'd encourage you to keep going. And then it would inspire even more audience members. Cuz then guess what? Then the second wave of audience members says, look at what those people did. And maybe that will inspire. Maybe your viewers will inspire more than we are inspiring cuz they're gonna show, look, I did it, I did something.

Larry (01:01:49):

Okay, let's, let's make it, let's see up a direct challenge to everybody who's watching this podcast. Yes. To send a picture, I'll put my email, as I said in the show notes below. Send me a picture if we get a dozen, maybe pictures mm-hmm. Of artwork, uh, a bonsai tree that you grew, almost anything. And Rob, and I'll get together on this podcast and show your work. Rob, this has been such great fun. Thanks.

Rob Surette (01:02:26):

Yeah, I have two more. I have two more things that came to mind. Two more things, please.

Larry (01:02:29):

Yep, go ahead. Okay.

Rob Surette (01:02:31):

Alright. So I remember there was this woman, she read a book, uh, I have it right over here. It's, um, the book challenged you to create your handwriting. So you're happy signing your name. I thought it was a great growth mindset exercise where this woman who it was my friend, she said she never liked writing her name. She never liked her signature, she never liked her handwriting, her penmanship. She felt like her hardships from when she was a kid sort of came through. She'd write her name really small because she always wanted to be invisible. So this book, I forget what it's called, it's right there on my shelf. It challenges you to work on your signature so you're happy with it. So it reflects you. So you feel so proud that, that you see. So she changed her signature. And I'm not saying you have to, but she changed her signature in her seventies and she says it changed her whole mindset, changed the way she felt about her.

Rob Surette (01:03:32):

It's just another example that came to mind. And that same woman said she always feared computers. She was of the generation where she just missed out on, um, how to even like work a computer. So she took a, a bunch of classes and overcame her fear of computers. And fact, I have a neighbor, he said he would love to visit any senior citizen who has a hard time with their computers and just has questions that they wanna ask. And he said he'd do it for free. So I'm just, I, I have to share those things because when they come into my mind, I need to express them. Otherwise, again, it causes the backlog. So I leave it at that.

Larry (01:04:10):

Rob, again, this has been a joy. Thanks for coming on.

Rob Surette (01:04:16):

Pleasure. And I'll see you next time.

Larry (01:04:19):

Absolutely. We'll be looking for those, uh, for those photographs.

Rob Surette (01:04:23):

Yeah. And I'm cheering all your viewers and listeners on. I'm cheering, I'm cheering you. I'm your cheer. We are both your cheerleaders today and I really mean that.

Larry (01:04:32):

Thanks Rob.

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