Category Archives: Blog

My FBB GF Story

July 1, 2021 Normal Bob 1 Comment

In 1998 I grew ever so enchanted with female bodybuilder Th-resa Bostick. She was one of the most beautiful muscular women I’d ever seen in my whole life. So for her, I drew what I consider to be one of the best portraits I’d ever drawn. Especially at that time. I was thrilled when it actually got her attention enough to respond to an email. Then after some back and forth she agreed to meet up the next time she visited Chicago.

Th-resa was the first female bodybuilder I’d ever met, and the experience made a lasting impression. I will never forget the absolute awe upon seeing her insane level of muscularity in person. I don’t know how to describe the feeling, but it’s like nothing else I feel in any other situation at all.

As it turned out, she was just about to embark on a quest to earn her pro card. She had many contests ahead to help get her there, and I was happy to volunteer my services as a photographer, web designer, artist, you name it. Whatever she needed, I wanted in.

I was dying for an adventure. I wanted to get in my car and travel. So I drove to DC where she lived at the time and we traveled across the southern quarter of the US to my first ever bodybuilding event.
– The 1998 Jan Tana Classic.
It was incredible. Overwhelming TO SAY THE LEAST. The experience of walking around in public with a fbb, especially one of her incredible size, takes some getting used to. Everyone stares. Men followed her around. I completely understood, despite how much I wanted to show her off, why she so often wanted to hide.

Frankly, we were so busy running around trying to keep on schedule, I hardly remember the Jan Tana contest itself. She came in 5th for the North American Heavyweight & 9th for the Nationals. A couple steps closer to the gold. It was stressful, but so much fun.
Then there was the convention the next day where we got to meet all the fbb celebs and take each other’s pictures with them! It was really an incredible weekend.

Andrulla Blanchette & Th-resa 1998 Jan Tana

Th-resa & Christine Envall 1998 Jan Tana

Normal Bob & Andrulla Blanchette 1998 Jan Tana

Post JanTana clubbin w/Th-resa & friends 1998

There were such high spirits afterwards that we all went out to a nightclub for drink & dance. Me. This skinny, artsy dude going into this nightclub with a group of female bodybuilders. But this wasn’t the sort of cool alternative dance club like I was used to. This place was a bit more “popular”. If I’d walked in here alone I would’ve been afraid. But when your group is all bodybuilders, and the biggest one is your girlfriend, I may have been a little too confident.

Th-resa & Normal Bob 1998 Post JanTana clubbin

It was Th-resa and I, and some of her girlfriends, and then a few other bodybuilders we met up with there. I had brought along my camera specifically to take pictures of us on the dancefloor. While we were all out there dancing I could see these two dudes watching us. We were hard to ignore, I’m sure. One of them was really staring me down too. I was kinda used to being stared down by guys like this. That’s what high school was for me. As well as clubs like this one. I couldn’t figure out what the specific reason was this time though. I figured prolly just jealous.

Ftr, the guys in question don’t appear in any of these photos.

Then the one who’d been staring me down the hardest came up and stood close enough for me to hear him over the music, “We see what you’re doing and you better knock it off!”

I just ignored him and kept taking pictures of my friends who also weren’t paying attention. Then his buddy was trying to get their attention.
“HE’S TAKING PICTURES OF YOU!
THIS GUY’S TAKING PICTURES OF YOU!”
But Th-resa and the rest were having too much fun, and too many drinks into the night as well.

Then it happened. The guy who had warned me, pushed me. He knocked my hand holding the camera and pushed me away from the group with his arm. When Th-resa saw this she snapped. With both hands to his chest, she pushed him hard to the floor on his ass, and stood over him, yellin’, “WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM!?!”
I had never seen her explode like this.

I’d be lyin’ if I didn’t say it’s probably the fuckin hottest thing anyone has ever done for me to someone else.

It was all bodybuilders in every direction after that. The dudes were exclaiming, “WE DIDN”T KNOW YOU GUYS KNEW HIM!
WE DIDN’T KNOW!!!”
I get rushed back to our table, with big muscle women stationed on either side to keep me safe from further harm. Th-resa was somewhere out there verbally assaulting the idiot guy. Next thing I know, she’s got him by the shirt and bringing him over to apologize to me at the table.

“Sorry. I thought you were someone else.” He tells me.
It was awkward.
Not for the ladies though! They all had a blast. It was all they talked about that night, and the rest of the weekend.

After a couple more travels back & forth between Chicago & DC, the distance between us got the better. She’d go on without me to earn her pro card and completely dominate these events over the next 2 years.

1999 Jan Tana Amateur Grand Prix – 1st (HW & overall)
1999 NPC USA Championships – 1st (HW & overall)
2000 IFBB Jan Tana Pro Classic – 1st (HW)

When next we spoke a year or two after, she was excited to tell me of her success, and how she’d just found Jesus, while I in turn explained how I’d just lost him. We said our goodbyes on the phone and never spoke again.

I’m hoping this story finds her well and her memories are as fond as mine of that incredible time in my life when a female bodybuilder beat a bully for me.

Art, Blog, Dressup Games

My FBB Obsession

June 24, 2021 Normal Bob 1 Comment

Today I turned 52, and tbh I’m feelin’ old & lonely. I’ve been a single, alone man for many, many years now. Anyone who knows me knows my habit of dwelling on it. Perhaps it’s a midlife crisis? Sure. Why not. My brain dwells and dwells and dwells. Always has. Probably what’s kept me single. But over the years I’ve found several different ways to deal with this issue of mine.

Drawing. Sitting down and focusing my concentration on something I find beautiful has always been the most effective way to distract and refocus this overactive, self-doubting brain of mine. So today (my birthday), in hopes of distracting, I’m gonna tell you about that which I find MOST beautiful, then show you some of my art to prove it.

But before I continue, I hafta acknowledge I’ve struggled on how to write about this. The reality is, I’m just some skinny dude here commenting on women’s bodies. I can clearly see how a blog like this could be taken very wrong. I’m not even convinced I have the right to comment on the topic. I mean, who am I? Who cares what this pencil-neck geek thinks about the bodies of these accomplished women who know not even of my existence?
I just want to make it absolutely clear the immense respect I have for how much work goes into it. I also understand the amount of criticism and disrespect these women endure. I have no sense of humor about it when jokes are made. They’re as unfunny as they are unoriginal.

It’s these truths behind the muscularity that fuel it deep in me. I adore it as an act of rebellion. A blunt rejection of the norm. A confidence I’ve never been able to find in myself to such a degree. It is also envy, to be sure.
It’s the superiority, intimidation, domination and an exaggerated sexualization that lends itself to the imagination. Fact is, I owe any drawing talent I have to this obsession.

I’ve never seen a woman I thought was too muscular. Any level of visible musculature hits me hard. I have no idea where this came from or how it came about in me. It’s just there, and it’s the one sight that makes my heart jump outta my chest every time.

It can be terrifying too. My emotions are so affected by any encounter. It’s both something I search out, yet dread to find. I lose my cool, and afterwards fall into a despair that haunts me for days to follow. It’s just always seemed so completely out of reach. It’s me at my most pathetic. I have many stories. I could recollect every single muscular woman with whom I’ve ever had an encounter, and my failure as a man immediately after.
You get the picture.

This is Pinky. She’s a character I drew for a website I made in 1997 called Pinky’s Links where I would link up my favorite fbb’s & show off my drawings of them. And it worked! It was my breakthrough in finally finding an avenue to conversing with them online. I drew many of these beautiful women. Some even got their own dressup games!
• Christa Bauch Dressup
• Dressup Tammy Jones

My very first memories of seeing female bodybuilders were televised bodybuilding contests in the 80s, and bodybuilding magazines on shelves. When I was 16 I invented a role-playing game called Palace with more than a hundred characters, most of which were muscular women. I had to make myself draw other kinds of “regular looking” characters so the game wouldn’t look quite so pornographic. The one’s on hole punched line paper were drawn in the classroom. Enjoy!

Muscle women characters I drew for a role playing game I invented- Palace 1986

Happy to say my drawing talent improved over time. In the 90s I started my Neptune comic and created Madonna Brando, my boldest celebration of the extreme muscular physique yet! From left to right you can see how she developed as a character over time.

Robert Dobbleganger & Modonna Brando 1994

And to this day I adore the results of what I can do now digitally. I am simply honored to have a way to celebrate it to such a degree at all. It’s my most favorite subject to draw, ever. Clearly.

in 1998 I ran a site called Pinky’s Links w/links to FBB sites. This is Pinky

My plan?
Keep drawing.
That’s all I know to do.
Maybe revealing this about myself in such detail will help. I know there are others. It’s about coming out. Showing proper respects to that which inspires me most.
But after all’s said, Ima prolly shutup and just stick to honoring through art again. I have more practice at that.

Art, Blog

Scattered

March 18, 2021 Normal Bob

If it’s not depression, I’m sittin’ on the edge of that cliff. I knew when I moved here 6 years ago that any hopes of having local friends, relationships or a social life of any kind were over. A 50+ single, childless, god-mocking Gen-Xer caring for his elderly parents in conservative-Bible-land during a pandemic has an extremely predictable plotline. I get it. And I don’t see any way others can help me through either. I don’t need an ear listening to my complaints. I know people love and care for me. Over here, men with these issues are on their own. And for the love of god, please stop suggesting I try joining a singles dating site. The suggestion itself is more painful than actually writing a bio for one. Thank you. I get it. But no.

I’ve also recently noticed that I’m audibly sighing now, regularly. Involuntary deep breaths followed by sad painful exhales. I try to divert it by turning it into talking to the dog, or myself, or singing to the radio. It’s a pathetic scene here, man. I’m pretty sure I’m able to keep it quiet enough when I’m out, but alone in my car it’s sickening! This fear of being a single man free of love from here on out has haunted me my whole life. And worse yet, it’s looking to be a self-fulfilling prophesy.
God, I’m lonely.

So ANY-HOW, I’m handling this situation the only way I know. The only way I’ve ever known. I gather up my pencils, pens, sketchbook and my +3.00 reading glasses and head to a coffee shop and draw until they tell me to leave. Point my nose at a page and induce the only kind of focus capable of blocking out the endless loop of all these thoughts through my simple mind.

Outside of this drawing-focus I’m completely scattered. I can hardly organize my thoughts enough to explain myself here even. And in the end it’s most likely a waste of time to do so anyhow since everyone’s going through their own version of this right now. Everyone’s yearning for help, answers, relief, care, love.
Jesus Christ.

Art on display at both Book Nook & Drip Drop Drink, Michigan.

There’s no other news to share.

As always, your interest is greatly appreciated.

Oh. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Sasha, Gwen & Jake above the Book Nook door

Atheism, Blog

Thanks for 20 years

February 4, 2021 Normal Bob

Jan 28, 2021
Subject: Thanks for 20 years

joy

Hi Bob,
I just wanted to tell you that my hard bumps in life have been softened by your genius. I broke free from the church in the 90’s and when I was crucified I found so much strength reading through your site.

I just wanted to say thank you for all the nights I didn’t know where to go and just read and read your site. I felt complicated and couldn’t sleep and found laughter and resolve for myself and the path I wanted. You are a true humanitarian. Thank you for publishing your journey. I mean it with all my heart.

Wishing you all the best,
Joy

Wow, Joy! I’m curious what exactly inspired you to write me now? Thank you so much. It does mean a lot to me to hear I made a difference. I have to admit I feel like I’ve been out of the game since I left NYC in 2015. Then add on the pandemic and middle of winter… I feel in limbo.

Do you remember how you first came across the site?

Normal Bob

Hmmm… I grew up in the bay area. My friends were nerds and all over the internet back when there were message boards and it was dial up. They sympathized with my bible thumping home life mismatch, and told me to read your site to feel like I’m not alone and see what normal people would say to the cultish things my parents would tell me. It definitely was all the empowerment I needed. Instead of crying or being traumatized after my parents tried to exorcise me at 17 I read NormalBob.

At 27 when a creep I was dating lied about being a hardcore born again and tried to evangelize me. I was so creeped out I couldn’t sleep… But I remembered NormalBob and read through all the things until well after the sun came up. Everything in the world felt okay again. I’m not exaggerating. You really did restore my balance and help me when religion was a scary monster and occasionally an evil cult.

It’s totally understandable that your inspiration and muse can wax and wane and your voice and passions might shift and change. You have lots to give. I’m sure you will find that again in a way that feels authentic. Maybe don’t try so hard. When you feel passion follow it without expectations. Be open.
There’s a million things to be opinionated about, or compassionate or passionate about during these days. Judgment is a way we are in overdrive because it keeps us safe and alive. Don’t feel pressure to be anything you were or did before. Now is uncharted.

It’s also okay if you were a humanitarian for a long time and you do other things these days. That’s still a lot to be proud of yourself for!

In the Netflix show Pretend It’s A City, Fran Lebowitz makes a lot of great points about why New York drives people to be pushy and opinionated. How every other city in America fails at that in comparison. Why that’s so valuable. You might want to check it out. She’s amazing!

Joy

I really appreciate you letting me in on all these personal details. And I have indeed continued to express myself however I see fit despite it not being as popular as what used to be. I’m doing my best to continue whatever dream it is I have for my future while being as authentic as possible.

Would you be alright with me posting this conversation along with a picture of you (if that’s ok)? I think it’d interest people. I’d also be happy to send you a set of Jesus Dressup magnets, if only as a reminder on your fridge that it’s all to be laughed at.

Thank you!

Normal Bob

I would be honored to be published on Normal Bob Smith.
That really is full circle and rad.
Yes to Jesus dress-up!!!
Thanks so much,
Joy