Wednesday, June 27, 2007
An Opportunity Missed
My sewing machine is in for repair. It's a Kenmore and I bought it in 1995, if I remember correctly. My zigzag stitch decided to quit working, which definitely warranted the repair. I can't stand the idea of replacing an item if there's only a little something wrong. Kenmore is handled by Sears, so I took it in. They told me that the person doing the repairs would call ahead and let me know how much it would cost so I could decide whether it was worth it. The repairman called me and told me that the machine needed a good cleaning and that a small part unrelated to the zigzag needed to be replaced. Then he scolded me for using a metal bobbin, rather than the plastic ones that came with the machine.
This is a man who doesn't understand how sewing machines are really used. Most fiber artists have owned more than one sewing machine in their lives and the old bobbins tend to migrate to the new machine. You can never have too many bobbins. It should be noted that I have never had a problem with the metal bobbins, although I once bought new plastic ones (you can never have too many bobbins) and they didn't fit. So much for doing what the manufacturer recommends.
Kenmore and other sewing machine manufacturers are missing a great opportunity here. When machines come in for repair, if they pay attention to how people really use them, they could design their machines around our use, rather than what's convenient for them. Knowing that bobbins migrate between machines might give them the idea that they should build their machines for either metal or plastic bobbins. They could also make bobbins standard between different brands of machines.
Here's something else that repairman could have noticed. I put a piece of tape across the sewing surface to mark a 2-inch seam. Machines don't mark for seams wider than an inch. Well, sometimes I need a seam that's wider than an inch and there's definitely room on the machine to mark wider seams, so why don't sewing machine manufacturer's do it? I'll bet that when I get the machine back, the repair guy took off my piece of tape.
Now, if they'd just call to tell me it's done. I believe it was supposed to be done last week, but no call yet.
This is a man who doesn't understand how sewing machines are really used. Most fiber artists have owned more than one sewing machine in their lives and the old bobbins tend to migrate to the new machine. You can never have too many bobbins. It should be noted that I have never had a problem with the metal bobbins, although I once bought new plastic ones (you can never have too many bobbins) and they didn't fit. So much for doing what the manufacturer recommends.
Kenmore and other sewing machine manufacturers are missing a great opportunity here. When machines come in for repair, if they pay attention to how people really use them, they could design their machines around our use, rather than what's convenient for them. Knowing that bobbins migrate between machines might give them the idea that they should build their machines for either metal or plastic bobbins. They could also make bobbins standard between different brands of machines.
Here's something else that repairman could have noticed. I put a piece of tape across the sewing surface to mark a 2-inch seam. Machines don't mark for seams wider than an inch. Well, sometimes I need a seam that's wider than an inch and there's definitely room on the machine to mark wider seams, so why don't sewing machine manufacturer's do it? I'll bet that when I get the machine back, the repair guy took off my piece of tape.
Now, if they'd just call to tell me it's done. I believe it was supposed to be done last week, but no call yet.
Labels: bobbins, fiber arts, how people use things, idea, kenmore, repair, seams, sears, sewing machine busticated
Monday, March 19, 2007
It Could Go Either Way
Here I sit at the computer, periodically looking out the window facing our backyard. The snow is melting rapidly and I can see the hole my children dug last summer. They've arranged some old bricks and pieces of cement at one end of the hole in a strangely Stonehenge fashion. Further back in the yard, almost to the alley, they've constructed a snowboarding ramp of snow (what else?). It's a sizeable pile, the most sizeable in the yard, but no longer any good for snowboarding. Our compost heap is exposed and almost looks larger than the snowboarding pile. Spring and winter are mixed in the wind. It could go either way.
The weather perfectly mirrors my writing mood today. I've finished a story and am ready to start a new one for the series I'm working on and I realized yesterday that while I've got a character, I've got no plot yet. So, I've done a little online research and am mentally messing around. No sense in forcing these things. I'm tempted to take a little detour. I've always got several story ideas brewing, but have been setting some of them aside while working on my series. One of them has been poking at me to write it out. We'll see . . . .
The weather perfectly mirrors my writing mood today. I've finished a story and am ready to start a new one for the series I'm working on and I realized yesterday that while I've got a character, I've got no plot yet. So, I've done a little online research and am mentally messing around. No sense in forcing these things. I'm tempted to take a little detour. I've always got several story ideas brewing, but have been setting some of them aside while working on my series. One of them has been poking at me to write it out. We'll see . . . .
Labels: backyard, characters, children, hole, idea, minnesota, mood, research, snow, spring, story, winter, writing
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Lovely Sentiments
I'm still making my way through Julia Cameron's "Letters to a Young Artist." I ran across a couple of lovely sentiments while reading last night.
From page 107: "It's a gread deal like the question of love. Either we can worry about being loved "enough" or we can focus on being more loving. Only one of those choices will make us happy."
From page 113: "I do believe that we encounter the consciousness of an artist through his or her work. Sometimes some of my liveliest relationships are with people whom I may never meet at all except on the page."
The first is self-explanatory. The second makes me wonder if this is why we become so enamored with famous people. Their work precedes them and we get this lovely snippet of the best of them - the nugget of gold inside upon which we build our ideas of them. If / when we meet these famous people or continue to watch their antics through the media, our ideas of them evaporate because we eventually discover their human qualities. The gold is still there, but it's been sullied. Meeting them on the page, or through a song, or in a movie and building our ideas of them through the prism of our hearts and minds creates the ideal relationship, one that cannot be fulfilled in real life, unless our imaginations are willing to accept their humanity.
From page 107: "It's a gread deal like the question of love. Either we can worry about being loved "enough" or we can focus on being more loving. Only one of those choices will make us happy."
From page 113: "I do believe that we encounter the consciousness of an artist through his or her work. Sometimes some of my liveliest relationships are with people whom I may never meet at all except on the page."
The first is self-explanatory. The second makes me wonder if this is why we become so enamored with famous people. Their work precedes them and we get this lovely snippet of the best of them - the nugget of gold inside upon which we build our ideas of them. If / when we meet these famous people or continue to watch their antics through the media, our ideas of them evaporate because we eventually discover their human qualities. The gold is still there, but it's been sullied. Meeting them on the page, or through a song, or in a movie and building our ideas of them through the prism of our hearts and minds creates the ideal relationship, one that cannot be fulfilled in real life, unless our imaginations are willing to accept their humanity.
Labels: artist, books, fame, humanity, idea, julia cameron, love, reading
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Break It Down
Now that the word is out about the human connection to global warming and how we've royally screwed up the planet, it's time to move out of overwhelm - or, as my daughter likes to call it, the "We're all gonna die!" feeling. We know the problem is a big one and that we're going to have to act fast to reverse climate damage, but many of us also feel like the problem is so big that there's not much hope we can change things. We're paralyzed. Now, it's time to break it down into manageable chunks. How much CO2 would we keep out of the atmosphere if every household replaced one regular lightbulb with a flourescent one? What if we all changed two or three light bulbs? What if we decided to run one load of laundry per week on cold water, rather than warm or hot? What if we hand-washed the dishes once a week (turning off the faucet while scrubbing), rather than running a load through the dishwasher? What if, in the warmer, sunnier months, we dried one load of clothes each week outside on the clotheslines? (Do you even remember clotheslines?) I'd like to see someone do an analysis of the cumulative effects of these small actions on global warming. We can't all rush out and buy a hybrid car, much as we might like to. We can't all erect windmills in our yards. Climatecrisis.net suggests these small changes that we can all make, but there is no exacting analysis to show us the effects of these changes. The other thing we need to do is set a goal of how much we want to reduce the CO2 in the atmosphere in one year's time. If we have a measurable goal, we have something to work for. If we have the effects of the small changes, we know how we're going to get to that goal.
Labels: carbon dioxide, climate, global warming, idea, light bulbs, problem
Monday, February 12, 2007
Dave Matthews Band - Woo
I had an idea for the Dave Matthews Band, the Masters of Repackaging. The band is continually releasing albums that are compilations of previous songs, most of these compilations being live versions of songs because the band has a reputation for good live performances. I ran across a comment in the Two Knives blog that got me thinking about this. A poster named Wayne Wenzel describes how he used the music of Dave Matthews Band to pick up chicks. Then I heard the statistic that 51 percent of women in the United States are unmarried. Putting two and ten together, I thought that maybe the band should create a compilation album of their romantic songs specifically for these audiences. When I considered it further, I thought maybe this idea was silliness incarnate, but then again, maybe not. Here's how I see it. Wayne and other guys who've figured out this DMB dating strategy have hijacked the band's music for their own purposes. I'm sure the band didn't exactly intend for this to happen, it just happened. This is what is called a brand hijack. Of course, if the band's music already appeals to the ladies, then repackaging the romantic songs will surely hook them further.
The songs I'd include on such a compilation would be (in no particular order)
Crash Into Me, Captain, Crush, Dream Girl, When the World Ends, Lover Lay Down, Hunger for the Great Light, Say Goodbye, So Right, Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd, and Angel
I'd include a couple of brand new songs because when I'm shopping for DMB compilation discs, I look for ones with songs I haven't heard before. I'd create album art that was primarily smoky red, like rose petals or the foil wrapping on chocolates. Going a step further, I'd offer a little something extra with the album, both for the guys trying to get girls and for the girls to treat themselves, if they so choose. I'd offer a small box of chocolates in a collectible tin, along with a charm (probably the headless dancer that Steffan Lessard, the band's bassist, designed). Following the band's choice in Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors, I'd make the chocolates a blend of raspberry and chocolate - or raspberry and fudge. (Their flavor is called Magic Brownies, in case you want to rush out and get some. I have the empty container sitting on my desk as a keepsake. Silly, no?)
I was trying to think of what to name such a compilation and the first thing that came to mind was "Get the Girl," but that would come off as too crass for the single ladies purchasing the album for themselves. Something like "Romance" or "Love" is too sappy. Many women are not about pink lace, frills and lavendar perfume. Yech! Then, I hit upon the title "Woo." An old-fashioned word, a little off-beat, but simple. It's also said a lot at concerts - not in the old definition of the word, but as in Woooooo-hoooooo!
Do you ever do this, reader? Come up with an idea for your favorite band? If so, please feel free to share.
The songs I'd include on such a compilation would be (in no particular order)
Crash Into Me, Captain, Crush, Dream Girl, When the World Ends, Lover Lay Down, Hunger for the Great Light, Say Goodbye, So Right, Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd, and Angel
I'd include a couple of brand new songs because when I'm shopping for DMB compilation discs, I look for ones with songs I haven't heard before. I'd create album art that was primarily smoky red, like rose petals or the foil wrapping on chocolates. Going a step further, I'd offer a little something extra with the album, both for the guys trying to get girls and for the girls to treat themselves, if they so choose. I'd offer a small box of chocolates in a collectible tin, along with a charm (probably the headless dancer that Steffan Lessard, the band's bassist, designed). Following the band's choice in Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors, I'd make the chocolates a blend of raspberry and chocolate - or raspberry and fudge. (Their flavor is called Magic Brownies, in case you want to rush out and get some. I have the empty container sitting on my desk as a keepsake. Silly, no?)
I was trying to think of what to name such a compilation and the first thing that came to mind was "Get the Girl," but that would come off as too crass for the single ladies purchasing the album for themselves. Something like "Romance" or "Love" is too sappy. Many women are not about pink lace, frills and lavendar perfume. Yech! Then, I hit upon the title "Woo." An old-fashioned word, a little off-beat, but simple. It's also said a lot at concerts - not in the old definition of the word, but as in Woooooo-hoooooo!
Do you ever do this, reader? Come up with an idea for your favorite band? If so, please feel free to share.
Labels: band, ben and jerry's, charm, dave matthews band, idea, music, romance, steffan lessard, two knives
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Empathizing with Al
I'm putting two and two together, here. Having watched Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, I see how long he has worked to bring global warming to humanity's conciousness, and still he is met with skepticism (mostly by big-moneyed interests). I know just how Al must have felt for all those years that no one was listening to him.
In my post called Eighty-nine Dollars, I talk about field trips scheduled by our school district. What with all the field trips, fundraisers, and class fees, our public school is nickel-and-diming us to death. It's an issue I've been dealing with ever since our children started school. When we were on the PTA of the elementary school, we urged those planning fundraisers to tell people that they could give a donation in lieu of buying high-priced merchandise. By accepting direct donations, the full amount given goes to the district. When purchasing merchandise, typically the company offering the stuff gets 50-60 percent of the proceeds. This is money that leaves the district and isn't used for our children. I have many other objections to fundraisers promoted by outside companies, like the fact that they get free child labor, take away from class time, and pull a pump-up swindle job to get our kids to participate by telling them they'll get prizes, which are junk. (Of course, the companies don't tell the kids the prizes are junk.)
Fundraisers are ostensibly done so that our children can take field trips. Here's where I get a little crotchety. When I was a kid, there was one big field trip that finished off elementary school for us. Because we only got one big trip in fifth grade, everyone looked forward to it. We did not have constant field trips throughout our school years. This trend has reversed, with each teacher seeming to make field trip decisions on his/her own. There is no input from parents (that I can see) on the necessity of these field trips.
Finally, with all the budget cuts our state has undergone, there no longer seems to be enough money to pay for classroom supplies. We have paid for vocabulary books, art supplies, shop supplies, and home ec (now called Family & Consumer Science) supplies, in addition to the garden variety school supplies required at the beginning of the school year. Perhaps some of that fundraising money could go into classroom supplies rather than into field trips.
Oh, wait a minute, that might actually be a sensible idea. I had another sensible idea along these lines, one that I emailed to our school board members. I suggested that the district create a clearinghouse for The Three F's, field trips, fundraisers and fees. Instead of having individual teachers plan field trips, they should be discussed at a district wide level and spread out among the various schools and grades. Fundraisers, which overlap each other and endlessly take place throughout the year, would be consolidated, too. As for fees, if classroom supplies are needed, the cost should be run through the clearinghouse so that the school board, parents and State Legislature have a true understanding of the cost of educating our kids.
Here's where I empathize with Al Gore. I have not received a single reply to my email. Of course I'm not foolish enough to think that my idea will be accepted as presented. It's still in sketch form and there'd have to be a heck of a lot of discussion for this to be implemented in a meaningful fashion. The point is that not one of the school board members so much as sent me a "Thank you for expressing your concerns," which means that they can pretend that my concerns don't even exist. No one has to do anything if there isn't a problem, right?
Cheers to you, Al, for your patience and thick skin.
In my post called Eighty-nine Dollars, I talk about field trips scheduled by our school district. What with all the field trips, fundraisers, and class fees, our public school is nickel-and-diming us to death. It's an issue I've been dealing with ever since our children started school. When we were on the PTA of the elementary school, we urged those planning fundraisers to tell people that they could give a donation in lieu of buying high-priced merchandise. By accepting direct donations, the full amount given goes to the district. When purchasing merchandise, typically the company offering the stuff gets 50-60 percent of the proceeds. This is money that leaves the district and isn't used for our children. I have many other objections to fundraisers promoted by outside companies, like the fact that they get free child labor, take away from class time, and pull a pump-up swindle job to get our kids to participate by telling them they'll get prizes, which are junk. (Of course, the companies don't tell the kids the prizes are junk.)
Fundraisers are ostensibly done so that our children can take field trips. Here's where I get a little crotchety. When I was a kid, there was one big field trip that finished off elementary school for us. Because we only got one big trip in fifth grade, everyone looked forward to it. We did not have constant field trips throughout our school years. This trend has reversed, with each teacher seeming to make field trip decisions on his/her own. There is no input from parents (that I can see) on the necessity of these field trips.
Finally, with all the budget cuts our state has undergone, there no longer seems to be enough money to pay for classroom supplies. We have paid for vocabulary books, art supplies, shop supplies, and home ec (now called Family & Consumer Science) supplies, in addition to the garden variety school supplies required at the beginning of the school year. Perhaps some of that fundraising money could go into classroom supplies rather than into field trips.
Oh, wait a minute, that might actually be a sensible idea. I had another sensible idea along these lines, one that I emailed to our school board members. I suggested that the district create a clearinghouse for The Three F's, field trips, fundraisers and fees. Instead of having individual teachers plan field trips, they should be discussed at a district wide level and spread out among the various schools and grades. Fundraisers, which overlap each other and endlessly take place throughout the year, would be consolidated, too. As for fees, if classroom supplies are needed, the cost should be run through the clearinghouse so that the school board, parents and State Legislature have a true understanding of the cost of educating our kids.
Here's where I empathize with Al Gore. I have not received a single reply to my email. Of course I'm not foolish enough to think that my idea will be accepted as presented. It's still in sketch form and there'd have to be a heck of a lot of discussion for this to be implemented in a meaningful fashion. The point is that not one of the school board members so much as sent me a "Thank you for expressing your concerns," which means that they can pretend that my concerns don't even exist. No one has to do anything if there isn't a problem, right?
Cheers to you, Al, for your patience and thick skin.
Labels: al gore, fees, field trip, fundraisers, global warming, idea, inconvenient truth, problem, school, three f's
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Idea Gone Missing
The other morning, I was dreaming of starting a magazine and I was thinking of possible names for it. One name stuck out, and in my dream, I repeated the initials of the name so I wouldn't forget it. Guess what? I woke up and forgot it. Okay, I didn't forget all of it. I remembered the initials - ISOG, because I had pronounced them in my dream. I also recalled that the SOG portion stood for Shades of Gray. I cannot, however, for the life of me, remember what the "I" stood for. It was cool as all get-out, though. I'm sure of it.
This is one of the many reasons I write - so that ideas don't go missing. But, I can't very well write while I'm sleeping now, can I?
This is one of the many reasons I write - so that ideas don't go missing. But, I can't very well write while I'm sleeping now, can I?
Labels: dreams, idea, magazine, shades of gray, writing
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Comparisons, Part II
Back in December, I posted about the comparisons critics make when attempting to describe the work of a creative artist who's just busted onto the scene, so to speak. Critics (and the rest of us), tend to make comparisons between the new work and the work of established creatives. At the time, I wondered why it was so common to do this. Well, I've found an answer. I'm working my way through the book "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. One thing that helps to make new ideas sticky is to frame them in terms of what people already know. In other words, it's easier to wrap your mind around a new idea if you can compare it to an older, better known concept, even if that comparison isn't a perfect one.
So, even though it smacks of lazy writing when critics compare creatives this way, this is a very successful shorthand for getting people to immediately understand what you're talking about. It's probably also the reason behind our inability to beat cliches to death with a stick. Let the comparisons continue.
So, even though it smacks of lazy writing when critics compare creatives this way, this is a very successful shorthand for getting people to immediately understand what you're talking about. It's probably also the reason behind our inability to beat cliches to death with a stick. Let the comparisons continue.
Labels: cliches, comparison, creative, critics, idea, made to stick, writing
Sunday, December 31, 2006
The Demise of Music Stores
This is old news that hit home yesterday when we were shopping. We headed to the nearest metro-ish area, thirty miles from home, hoping to find some music cds. Before we left home, we mentally tried to come up with a list of stores where we could shop for music. We wanted someplace with a broad selection, including the quirkier stuff, like Rammstein. As we went through what used to be a short list of appropriate places, we realized that the list had gotten even shorter. Media Play went out of business last year; the Electric Fetus has gotten all gift-y, and their music selection, which used to be great, now stinks. The mall music store is gone. That leaves us with whatever they've got at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, and Barnes & Noble. B&N has a more avant guarde selection than the other three, but the price tags are all about two dollars higher per disk than the other places.
While I realize that the music biz has shifted to the digital age, and I don't mind buying some of my music online, I miss not being able to walk into a music store on a whim and look through the offerings. There's something immensely satisfying in seeing the array lovingly arranged by knowledgeable employees and in finding something unexpected. Now that Tower Records has fallen, I'm not sure we'll ever see a music store of the traditional kind again. What we need is a hybrid. A place we can go to browse, with that helpful music-smart staff, that helps us with our downloads. I'm still holding out hope that the literature that accompanies music will not die, but will transform in some way to match the digital age.
While I realize that the music biz has shifted to the digital age, and I don't mind buying some of my music online, I miss not being able to walk into a music store on a whim and look through the offerings. There's something immensely satisfying in seeing the array lovingly arranged by knowledgeable employees and in finding something unexpected. Now that Tower Records has fallen, I'm not sure we'll ever see a music store of the traditional kind again. What we need is a hybrid. A place we can go to browse, with that helpful music-smart staff, that helps us with our downloads. I'm still holding out hope that the literature that accompanies music will not die, but will transform in some way to match the digital age.
Labels: idea, music, rammstein, shopping, technology, tower records
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Landfill Idea
Had to take a trip to the landfill this morning to get rid of recyclables. We're having a warm day for December in Minnesota, so it was not an uncomfortable trip. We also had to dump an old piece of carpeting. To do so, we had to drive on a scale before dumping & then again after dumping, which determines the cost of the load. When we finished, as we were driving away from the landfill, my hubby shared his idea - which is more of a thought experiment, because he would never really do this. He said he'd like to go to the landfill with a light load, dump the light load and then pick something out of the garbage bins that was heavier than what we had dumped and put it into our vehicle. He wondered if, once we drove over the scale and the landfill employees saw that we weighed more upon leaving, they'd have to pay US for dumping our load. Welcome to the land of my hubby's mind.
Labels: garbage, husband, idea, landfill, minnesota, weather
Monday, December 04, 2006
Big Knobs on Gas Pumps
Winter floated down to Minnesota, dusting us with a half-inch of fluffy, dry snow. Fun to shovel because it's not back-breaking. You could practically blow it off the sidewalk if you wanted to bend over far enough to do so. If it's going to be cold, we'd better have snow, is what I like to say. Snow makes the cold bearable. Don't like the wind, though. You know how people are always saying, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity"? In Minnesota, it's not the cold, it's the wind because it leads to windchill.
I had to get gas this morning. Gas stations tend to attract wind. So, I've got the cold and I've got the wind and now I've got to take off my gloves in order to push the tiny keypad buttons to start the pump. Whoever designed these keypad buttons didn't take Minnesota winters into consideration. We need to be able to operate those pumps without removing our protective gear. Any good Minnesotan knows that once the temp drops below zero and the windchill is factored in, fingers will start snapping off in a matter of seconds. (Okay, I'm exaggerating, but not much.) Here's an idea. How about some large colorful knobs on the pumps that we can push without taking off our mittens? They'd be good for the arthritic, too. Or for those who've lost fingers from frostbite caused by taking our gloves off at the pump.
I had to get gas this morning. Gas stations tend to attract wind. So, I've got the cold and I've got the wind and now I've got to take off my gloves in order to push the tiny keypad buttons to start the pump. Whoever designed these keypad buttons didn't take Minnesota winters into consideration. We need to be able to operate those pumps without removing our protective gear. Any good Minnesotan knows that once the temp drops below zero and the windchill is factored in, fingers will start snapping off in a matter of seconds. (Okay, I'm exaggerating, but not much.) Here's an idea. How about some large colorful knobs on the pumps that we can push without taking off our mittens? They'd be good for the arthritic, too. Or for those who've lost fingers from frostbite caused by taking our gloves off at the pump.
Labels: gas, idea, minnesota, snow, wind, windchill, winter
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Resentment
I had a nice chat with my brother today. He's a security expert in the technical realm. When I mentioned my password key idea, he gave me a few more resources that shows this has already been done. He said that people can save their passwords on an encrytion-enabled Flash Drive (a.k.a. thumb drive, lipstick drive) and track their passwords using a free internet service called KeePass.
So, why is my blog post entitled "Resentment?" Because this technology has obviously been out there for a while and I resent not having heard about it. I'm a reasonably well-informed individual, as reasonably well-informed as any one person can be given the amount of information there is out there. I try to keep up with technology via my Wired magazine subscription, by coasting around the internet, listening to the news, watching T.V., and reading, reading, reading, yet I'm still behind. Maybe I wouldn't feel such resentment if techies didn't seem quite so blasé about what's happening in their world. Tech advances may be old news to them, but I didn't get the memo. Did you?
So, why is my blog post entitled "Resentment?" Because this technology has obviously been out there for a while and I resent not having heard about it. I'm a reasonably well-informed individual, as reasonably well-informed as any one person can be given the amount of information there is out there. I try to keep up with technology via my Wired magazine subscription, by coasting around the internet, listening to the news, watching T.V., and reading, reading, reading, yet I'm still behind. Maybe I wouldn't feel such resentment if techies didn't seem quite so blasé about what's happening in their world. Tech advances may be old news to them, but I didn't get the memo. Did you?
Labels: brother, idea, password key, resentment, technology, wired
Sunday, September 24, 2006
99% Perspiration
Thomas A. Edison said that "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." It's that perspiration stuff that most of us can't live up to. It doesn't take much to filter the vast amount of stimuli that is thrown at us on any given day and splice it into some new, fresh idea. How many of us have the time, energy, or the other resources necessary to bring that inspiration into the world? Maybe if we could stop at one idea or inspiration, but we humans are filtering and splicing machines. Go ahead. Have your ideas. Generate lots of them, but don't be scared to let most of them go. Do what you can do. Leave the rest for someone else. If one of your ideas really grabs you, you'll find that you have all the perspiration you need to bring it to fruition.
Labels: fear, filter, genius, idea, inspiration, splice
Password Key
In publishing a blog, I've discovered that there are all these services one needs to sign up with in order to really immerse one's self in the blogging community. With every service, one needs to enter a user name and password. It's getting darned hard to keep track of them all. Of course, to be on the safe side, passwords must change from site to site and include not only letters, but numbers or punctuation marks. It's driving me crazy, so I came up with an idea that I want some tech genius to run with.
Can't someone please invent a password key that looks like a Flash drive? (I like to call Flash drives Lipstick drives because the first one I saw reminded me of a tube of lipstick.) The Password Drive would plug into a USB port and collect passwords when they are entered into websites. The website address would be recorded along with the password. These Password Drives would have to be heavily encrypted, so if one went missing, someone couldn't easily hack it. Also, there'd have to be a service that would backup your recorded passwords, once again as insurance in case the thing got stolen. This service would help you to change passwords before the thief could do any dammage. I'd also build a little program into the Password Drive that would clear the cache or temporary memory of whatever computer the Password Drive was used on. This way, when using public computers, those passwords wouldn't get left behind.
Who's up for producing this million-dollar idea? If you want the idea, it's yours. If you got the idea from me and run with it and become wealthy, just be sure to mention me as your idea source - no other strings attached.
Can't someone please invent a password key that looks like a Flash drive? (I like to call Flash drives Lipstick drives because the first one I saw reminded me of a tube of lipstick.) The Password Drive would plug into a USB port and collect passwords when they are entered into websites. The website address would be recorded along with the password. These Password Drives would have to be heavily encrypted, so if one went missing, someone couldn't easily hack it. Also, there'd have to be a service that would backup your recorded passwords, once again as insurance in case the thing got stolen. This service would help you to change passwords before the thief could do any dammage. I'd also build a little program into the Password Drive that would clear the cache or temporary memory of whatever computer the Password Drive was used on. This way, when using public computers, those passwords wouldn't get left behind.
Who's up for producing this million-dollar idea? If you want the idea, it's yours. If you got the idea from me and run with it and become wealthy, just be sure to mention me as your idea source - no other strings attached.
Labels: blog, flash drive, idea, password key, technology
Monday, September 11, 2006
Too Many Thoughts
The trouble with wanting to do a blog and not doing it right away, when the thought strikes, is that too many ideas back up and I don't know what to cover first. I have a notebook filling up with thoughts I want to post. Yesterday's post was not in my notebook and an utter fluke. Not really. I find so many fascinating, creative things that I want to comment on that the Brackenwood series was just one in a long line of cool stuff in this world.
I'm changing my tagline again. Yesterday it was "Better than Neezuls." Today it is "Thoughts on creativity, writing & life, commentary about other creative beings, and some ideas thrown in for good measure." Yes, it's wordy. I beseech the heavens to send me something cool and pithy, but I'm not going to push it. That's exactly when creativity leaves the room.
Today was a writing day for me. Mondays usually are. I'm off work, the kids are in school, the husband is studying for college. I clear my slate of household chores over the weekend so I can get right to work on Monday. If something happens that prevents me from writing, I practically vibrate in frustration. It's not a pretty sight. I've talked to another writer in my writers group who says the same thing. Writing is like breathing for us. Gotta do it. My brother, an IT security tech by profession, a musician by desire, told me about his need for three or four hours of uninterupted studio time. Time to get set up. Time to warm up. Time to get in the zone. Time to lose track of time and really get something accomplished. Sounds like a writer's life to me.
I finished a story today. Something that's been in the works for a month or so. It's called "As Above, Not So Below" and I envision it as an illustrated story. After seeing the Bitey of Brackenwood series, I can imagine who I'd like to have illustrate it. There's another artist, I can't quite recall his pen name, Grimsley I think, who illustrated a collection of four of Edgar Allen Poe's short stories, whose style would work well with the story. The premise of "As Above, Not So Below" is nature's reclamation of the stuff we people make. I use pavement as my example in the story, but it happens with barns and bridges and tools and fabric.
I'm changing my tagline again. Yesterday it was "Better than Neezuls." Today it is "Thoughts on creativity, writing & life, commentary about other creative beings, and some ideas thrown in for good measure." Yes, it's wordy. I beseech the heavens to send me something cool and pithy, but I'm not going to push it. That's exactly when creativity leaves the room.
Today was a writing day for me. Mondays usually are. I'm off work, the kids are in school, the husband is studying for college. I clear my slate of household chores over the weekend so I can get right to work on Monday. If something happens that prevents me from writing, I practically vibrate in frustration. It's not a pretty sight. I've talked to another writer in my writers group who says the same thing. Writing is like breathing for us. Gotta do it. My brother, an IT security tech by profession, a musician by desire, told me about his need for three or four hours of uninterupted studio time. Time to get set up. Time to warm up. Time to get in the zone. Time to lose track of time and really get something accomplished. Sounds like a writer's life to me.
I finished a story today. Something that's been in the works for a month or so. It's called "As Above, Not So Below" and I envision it as an illustrated story. After seeing the Bitey of Brackenwood series, I can imagine who I'd like to have illustrate it. There's another artist, I can't quite recall his pen name, Grimsley I think, who illustrated a collection of four of Edgar Allen Poe's short stories, whose style would work well with the story. The premise of "As Above, Not So Below" is nature's reclamation of the stuff we people make. I use pavement as my example in the story, but it happens with barns and bridges and tools and fabric.
Labels: bitey, blog, brother, creative, creativity, edgar allan poe, entropy, husband, idea, kids, story, tagline, writing
