By Torry Martin

Having just purchased a new home I was anxious to start redecorating and since the room that I was using as an office was currently a Pepto Bismal pink, I decided that it would be a great place to start. Although I did take comfort in knowing that if I kept the room the Pepto Bismal color that anytime I was feeling nauseous I could just lick the walls. Not being naturally prone to wall licking though, I knew the pink had to go. It was like my Mom always said, “If you know you aren’t going to use something then you need to get rid of it.” Which explains why my new house doesn’t have a mop, broom or vacuum cleaner.

Picking a theme and design style for my new office proved to be a little difficult at first. I spent hours looking though interior decorating magazines for ideas. Well, actually that’s not true, I only spent minutes. Okay I’m still feeling convicted so maybe I just spent seconds. Nope, not that either. Oh brother, if you want the honest truth, I’ve never looked at an interior decorating magazine in my life but I did glance at the cover of one while I was buying my Superman comic at the news stand. In fact that’s what gave me the design inspiration for my room. No, not the prissy interior decorating magazine- it’s the Superman comic I’m talking about. I decided to design my entire office around one of my favorite things…comics.

I like comics, especially the old classic ones. They’re cool. In fact I’ve been a comics fan ever since I was a kid. I’d always get a thrill at the adventures of my favorite super heros as they used their powers to fight for truth, justice and the American way. Reading comics is also what inspired me to start writing on my own. I had originally wanted to grow up and write for Superman. God had other plans though and I ended up writing for Him instead, which is even better. I mean who wouldn’t rather write for the REAL hero of the universe?

I knew that not everyone would be crazy about my idea of having my office designed around comic books but I also knew that my best friend Rob would be the one person that would. He was a comic fan too and he immediately jumped on board for the project after I explained it to him. Rob’s carpentry abilities also came in handy when it was time to design the body of my desk, as I already knew what I wanted the top of it to look like. I wanted to cut up a thousand miniature copies of classic comic book covers from the first twenty-five years of when comics were getting published, then line them up and glue them to the desktop. Finally I’d pour epoxy over the comics to provide a smooth surface for the desktop. It seemed like it would be pretty simple to do at first but it ended up being full of challenges. By the third week of cutting and gluing miniature comic covers to the desk, Rob and I were both getting a little irritable and testy with each other. That’s where the real challenge began. Rob was just gluing a Superman cover to the desk when he said the unthinkable.

“I’ll bet the Flash could beat Superman in a foot race.”

I looked at him like the glue had finally gotten to him and had caused him to momentarily lose his mind.

“Are you kidding?” I said. “Superman is the greatest superhero in the world. He’d take out the Flash like he was taking out the trash.”

“Oh yeah? Then why do they call Flash the fastest man alive?” he contested.

And that’s when it happened. All of a sudden there was a lot of loud yelling followed by hundreds of miniature comic book covers being thrown at each other. He hit me with a paint roller. I beaned him in the head with a glue bottle. Then we both called each other names.

“Joker!” I yelled before launching into a bellowing of, “Penguin!”

Rob retaliated with a rapid machine gun fire of insults of his own. “ Riddler! Luthor! Brainiac!”

“Jughead!” I responded with venom.

“Jughead’s not even a villain!” he informed me while gloating superior.

“I know that! You’re not worthy of being a villain! That’s how lame you are!”

And with that final insult hanging in the air, Rob got up and walked out. We didn’t talk to each other for almost two hours. I began to think that my comic book desk would never be completed. More importantly, I felt like I had lost my best friend. That’s when I realized that in order to save the desk and the friendship that one of us was going to have to swallow our pride and admit that they were an idiot. I just couldn’t figure out what was taking him so long.

I decided to read my Bible (also known as my superhero manual) while I waited for Rob to come to his senses. But instead I came to mine. I discovered that I had inadvertently opened the Bible to Matthew 6:14-15 where it says; "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Well I pretty much knew that I had been forgiven some pretty serious trespassing in my past and I also knew that I needed the gift of forgiveness to continue in my life even now because I still messed up on occasion. That’s when I had my epiphany and realized that one of the greatest powers any person could ever have is the power to forgive. I held that power in my hand and could decide whether to release it for the use of good or hold that power like a clenched fist and allow it to bring harm. Thankfully I chose the former and I went to find Rob to apologize. Of course he forgave me for my actions and surprisingly enough he also apologized for his own. With great relief the feud from the comic book calamity was now over and we could finally get back to working on the office. More importantly we could get back to being friends.

It was only a matter of weeks before we finally completed the office renovation and in my professional opinion as a connoisseur of classic comics, the place looks great. I even put up opposing posters of Flash and Superman in one corner of my office. I told Rob that I did it to remind me of our friendship and the power of forgiveness. What I didn’t tell Rob was that it also reminds me of the undisputed fact that Superman could beat the Flash in a footrace any day of the week whether Rob admitted it or not. You see, I’ve learned my lesson and that’s that some things are better left unsaid- but saying “I’m sorry” isn’t one of them.

Want to Make Your Own Epoxy Desk? Here’s How!

Comics aren’t the only thing that looks cool on an epoxy desk! You can make a “Proud Mom” themed desk by taking all those great kid drawings, school pictures, class assignments and art projects and preserve them forever on an epoxy desk. Or make a “Family Tree” desk by taking all your favorite photos and making copies of them by getting duplicates printed in black and white. Then paint your desk base black and epoxy the photos on top. It will look beautiful when you’re done and you’ll have an original work of art. Get the kids involved and have fun!

How to Make an Epoxy Desk

Materials:

J roller – used for laminating countertops. Lowes or Home Depot.

Rags (use old T-shirts, as they will leave less lint)

Paint mixing pails (for mixing epoxy)

Paint mixing stick (for mixing epoxy)

Brushes (for spreading glue adhesive)

Glue (Use a craft glue that dries clear and strong)

Acetone/Denatured alcohol (for cleaning brushes)

Epoxy (Non-blushing)

Floor covering

Where to get epoxy:

For doing a small project you can get epoxy at a home hardware store. For larger objects such as a desk, or counter top I highly recommend going to the John Greer website at www.jgreer.com to order it. You will need The Green System for countertops. John Greer is a great Internet resource for epoxy and related products. The toll free company phone number is (877) 342-8860. They are ready to receive your calls and provide answers to any questions you may have.

Note:

Amount of epoxy needed depends on the size of your project. My desk used two gallons of epoxy.

Preparation:

Prepare the surface by lightly sanding it. This will help pictures you glue down to adhere better. Squeeze glue out and then brush it smooth with a sponge brush before carefully laying down your picture to be glued. Press picture down smoothly by rolling over it repeatedly with the J-roller to remove any air pockets underneath. Wipe excess glue from outer edges of picture with a wet T-shirt rag. Wipe J-roller clean with another damp T-shirt rag before moving on to rolling over another picture. (This keeps the J-roller clean and keeps unwanted lint or dust from accidentally adhering to the top of the next picture to be glued.) Once you have glued all of your pictures down allow them to dry completely overnight.

Setting up for Epoxy Pour:

Set your desk top up in a garage or room with a controlled environment. Make sure your desktop is completely level. Dust and pet hair can adversely affect your project so make sure both are minimized by your location for pouring.

Pouring Epoxy:

Mix appropriate quantity of epoxy using recommended mixing ratios. Depending on the size of the surface and your desired epoxy thickness level, you may want to do additional epoxy pours every 4-12 hours until you are satisfied with the thickness of covering. Allow 24 hours for a total dry and cure time depending on the temperature of the room. It will take a few weeks for it to become totally hardened.

Warning!

When it’s time to pour the epoxy- it’s time for the kids to leave. Understanding that epoxy is a liquid that turns solid, whatever it soaks into will harden and be affected. Keeping that in mind, prepare and protect flooring with a ground covering to catch excess epoxy spill over. Wear safety goggles while pouring. You DO NOT want any of the epoxy to get in your eyes. Extremely dangerous. Wear gloves while pouring. Temperature of room has a great effect on the curing time.

For more information about Torry Martin, click here.