I have been MIA this week. I missed my Tuesday update and here it is almost Tuesday again. A gang of sleepers from the land of Procrasti followed me out, cornered me on the side of the road, drugged me and dragged me back into town. I swear it was a trick!
A couple editorial notes are in order- I say "sleepers" because I dont know what else to say, not because I slept all week. And someone gave me "The Dream Giver" by Bruce Wilkinson (I can already hear the collective groan) so I am forcing myself to read a cheesy allegory and thus writing a cheesy allegory. I read books that people give me.
I have been a little discouraged this week. I went to a bridal show last weekend and was really hoping to make some good connections with other professionals in the industry. I emailed about 20 people whose cards I collected and only had 1 person respond. I did get to meet with her though, so it will be totally worth it if I et even 1 wedding referral from her.
I also learned from the bridal show that I have a good blog and website, and am a good photographer compared to some others. I don't want to diss anyone, but it was good to see how far I have come because I am usually only looking at where I want to be.
I was stood up for a (free) photoshoot this week and am dissapointed with the lackluster response to my engagement shoot giveaway so I have been a bit discouraged. I can't even GIVE my photography away! WTF?
I toyed with the idea of jacking my prices way up to punish the poor souls of my future, but decded to sit pretty for now. I realize that if you are giving someone something for free then they don't always see value in it so you run a risk of being screwed. The problem is, I dont have any clients on the books and I really love taking pictures, so I want to be out there doing it!
As you already saw (thanks for the comments- I heart them more than you know) I have come up with a cool way to dress up my business cards. I also went to a store in The Camp in Costa Mesa that totally inspired my crafty side, so I may be launching my etsy site this week. Or at least getting some stock created for it.
So, that's me. I really like this blog and that I am becoming closer to each of you through it. Just saying.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Stretegy #2
When I am trying to think through a problem (i.e. my current thesis statement dilemma) I begin in a monologue. But that goes no where fast. So the thinking evolves into an inner dialogue. And that's when things start to heat up.
Tasha's Strategy #2: One should embrace the multiplicity of voices populating the mind when engaged in the creative process. This must not be mistaken for schizophrenia. In most cases.
Tasha's Strategy #2: One should embrace the multiplicity of voices populating the mind when engaged in the creative process. This must not be mistaken for schizophrenia. In most cases.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Great Strategy for Productivity Enhancement
My favorite way to secure a productive evening is to cancel fun plans.
"Sorry, Amy & Larissa, I can't come to the international student dinner after all. I have too much homework. Oh, and I can't continue on to the salsa dancing club either. Yeah, that's right, Tasha Kolar is actually bailing on an opportunity to twirl."
"No, Jessie & Peter. I can't go to Local 16 for beers & bumpin. I have to write this project proposal. I know it's Friday night, but I have to."
Yeah, that's how my night went. Sigh. So much fun to be had, but I'm sitting on the couch searching Amazon for a suitable bibliography & listening to the Lykke Li Pandora station. It's been super productive tho! (As long as my prof approves of my topic... I failed to make an appt w/ her pre-proposal-due-date. Oops.)
Try the strategy out if you can bring yourself to it!
"Sorry, Amy & Larissa, I can't come to the international student dinner after all. I have too much homework. Oh, and I can't continue on to the salsa dancing club either. Yeah, that's right, Tasha Kolar is actually bailing on an opportunity to twirl."
"No, Jessie & Peter. I can't go to Local 16 for beers & bumpin. I have to write this project proposal. I know it's Friday night, but I have to."
Yeah, that's how my night went. Sigh. So much fun to be had, but I'm sitting on the couch searching Amazon for a suitable bibliography & listening to the Lykke Li Pandora station. It's been super productive tho! (As long as my prof approves of my topic... I failed to make an appt w/ her pre-proposal-due-date. Oops.)
Try the strategy out if you can bring yourself to it!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Early-Onset Insomnia
1am.
I tried going to sleep. I read for a while – Half the Sky, for class, and after just the introduction (“The Girl Effect”), I’m convinced each of you wants to read it. I’m not kidding, find a copy in Borders and read the introduction.
But it didn’t help me sleep. I sneakily cuddled with my sleeping husband… but didn’t doze. Twenty minutes and Joe half woke up; I rolled back to my side.
I can’t believe the insomnia is already here. Fall semester, it came in the final month. It’s now the second week.
Everything changed this month. My routine. My workload. The amount of time I see my husband.
I’m used to working hard, churning out, contributing. But internships are for soaking in. I spent the first freezing day of my internship interviewing marchers for life on the Mall. Kids who were raised believing life starts at fertilization. The Archbishop of St. Louis. College kids shouting, “Your MOM chose life!”
Since then I’ve stuck close to the office, following interesting people, asking leading questions so they’ll pull back the curtain of their jobs and let me learn.
Interesting, yes. Productive, in a way. But I’m going a little crazy. Let me edit this piece on government spending. Let me read the tag into the camera for News Channel 7 On Your Side in Jacksonville (and back to you, Leslie). Let me interview the Director of the Congressional Budget office on camera. Yes, yes, these are way over an intern’s head. But I want a role here. Other than observer.
So, I’m adjusting, as you can see. And I’m watching a lot of TV at work.
But I’m jittery. I can’t sleep. I get annoyed at one of my groupmates in documentary class. I freak out over choosing story topics.
If there’s one thing I should remember from last semester, it’s that everything comes together.
I just can’t see it yet.
I tried going to sleep. I read for a while – Half the Sky, for class, and after just the introduction (“The Girl Effect”), I’m convinced each of you wants to read it. I’m not kidding, find a copy in Borders and read the introduction.
But it didn’t help me sleep. I sneakily cuddled with my sleeping husband… but didn’t doze. Twenty minutes and Joe half woke up; I rolled back to my side.
I can’t believe the insomnia is already here. Fall semester, it came in the final month. It’s now the second week.
Everything changed this month. My routine. My workload. The amount of time I see my husband.
I’m used to working hard, churning out, contributing. But internships are for soaking in. I spent the first freezing day of my internship interviewing marchers for life on the Mall. Kids who were raised believing life starts at fertilization. The Archbishop of St. Louis. College kids shouting, “Your MOM chose life!”
Since then I’ve stuck close to the office, following interesting people, asking leading questions so they’ll pull back the curtain of their jobs and let me learn.
Interesting, yes. Productive, in a way. But I’m going a little crazy. Let me edit this piece on government spending. Let me read the tag into the camera for News Channel 7 On Your Side in Jacksonville (and back to you, Leslie). Let me interview the Director of the Congressional Budget office on camera. Yes, yes, these are way over an intern’s head. But I want a role here. Other than observer.
So, I’m adjusting, as you can see. And I’m watching a lot of TV at work.
But I’m jittery. I can’t sleep. I get annoyed at one of my groupmates in documentary class. I freak out over choosing story topics.
If there’s one thing I should remember from last semester, it’s that everything comes together.
I just can’t see it yet.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Account Ability
This check-in post always seems to happen right after I hang up the phone with my brother Eames. He functions as my other half in the creative process. (I think I have effectively stopped nightmaring about his death. And am focusing on appreciating his pulse. Which is good.) He made my day yesterday, when he texted to suggest we start helping our youngest brother, Sean, with SAT prep via group skype... and make weekly conference calls to our nana & g-ma/g-pa. Awww, isn't he sweet? I accused him of turning into Michael Bluth, which is quite possible because he's been marathoning Arrested Development lately. Like I have been marathoning Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It is my soulmate of a TV show. I have never loved a series with more of my heart muscle. I would marry it, if I had to marry a TV show. Have you seen it? It's on Hulu. The theme of The Creative Process is at the core of its winning premise. Checkitout if you feel the spirit move you. Can't say it helps me in my journey away from Procrasti, though...
***Commercial Break***
I find it challenging not to start every sentence in a blog with the pronoun "I." I am constantly finishing a sentence, and then going back and changing the beginning. I make that my personal challenge - to start most sentences NOT with "I." I have ignored that instinct during this commercial break to prove how annoying it feels to start every sentence with an "I." And scene.
So...
1. Eames is going to get back to me tomorrow on the quote for a prototype for our bible verse in the shower stickers.
2. He decided to co-write the rest of my screenplay, and is going to try to establish a system in which we are both seeing the same computer screen & can write together while I'm in DC and he's in LA.
3. My professor is finally sending me her feedback tomorrow morning. I kindly cornered her after class tonight. She said the words "It's a good paper. You'll be fine for the ESRI Conference." She implied I wouldn't be fine for a non-student-research venue, and confessed all proposals are accepted. But she said it was a good paper. Clinging to that.
4. My uncle is coming to pick up all my cousin's furniture & decorations from our apartment, so she can move home to CA. Which means I will need to do some art projects to put on these walls... I have a 3'x5' hardboard I want to paint & graffiti write some of those Oblique Strategies @ creativity onto. That is my first step. More decorating projects to come.
5. My classmate Justin agreed to partner with me and prepare an analytical response to a case study for a contest. If it's acceptable, we will present our response via PowerPoint at the ESRI conference, and answer panel questions. Scary but exciting. My comfort zone continues to expand...
6. The Volunteer Coordinator position for GW's International Education Association became open last week, and I was elected to fill it. New responsibility. I hate responsibility. Avoid it at all costs. At least I used to. This is the new me. Full of energy and hope and excess initiative.
7. I skyped w/ Eames & Steve about their screenplay, they revised it, and I will read the new copy this weekend before a second round of edits.
8. I need to come up with questions for my interview w/ Eric @ One World Education on Friday. The goal is to write an article about the curriculum this org develops for a homeschool mag. It's time (tomorrow) to research potential magazines to query & other articles published about OWEd.
***Commercial Break***
I find it challenging not to start every sentence in a blog with the pronoun "I." I am constantly finishing a sentence, and then going back and changing the beginning. I make that my personal challenge - to start most sentences NOT with "I." I have ignored that instinct during this commercial break to prove how annoying it feels to start every sentence with an "I." And scene.
So...
1. Eames is going to get back to me tomorrow on the quote for a prototype for our bible verse in the shower stickers.
2. He decided to co-write the rest of my screenplay, and is going to try to establish a system in which we are both seeing the same computer screen & can write together while I'm in DC and he's in LA.
3. My professor is finally sending me her feedback tomorrow morning. I kindly cornered her after class tonight. She said the words "It's a good paper. You'll be fine for the ESRI Conference." She implied I wouldn't be fine for a non-student-research venue, and confessed all proposals are accepted. But she said it was a good paper. Clinging to that.
4. My uncle is coming to pick up all my cousin's furniture & decorations from our apartment, so she can move home to CA. Which means I will need to do some art projects to put on these walls... I have a 3'x5' hardboard I want to paint & graffiti write some of those Oblique Strategies @ creativity onto. That is my first step. More decorating projects to come.
5. My classmate Justin agreed to partner with me and prepare an analytical response to a case study for a contest. If it's acceptable, we will present our response via PowerPoint at the ESRI conference, and answer panel questions. Scary but exciting. My comfort zone continues to expand...
6. The Volunteer Coordinator position for GW's International Education Association became open last week, and I was elected to fill it. New responsibility. I hate responsibility. Avoid it at all costs. At least I used to. This is the new me. Full of energy and hope and excess initiative.
7. I skyped w/ Eames & Steve about their screenplay, they revised it, and I will read the new copy this weekend before a second round of edits.
8. I need to come up with questions for my interview w/ Eric @ One World Education on Friday. The goal is to write an article about the curriculum this org develops for a homeschool mag. It's time (tomorrow) to research potential magazines to query & other articles published about OWEd.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Broad Strokes
I feel embarrassed about that giant post, am almost ready to take it down.
In the last week or two I made frantic notes toward a story I have been mulling for maybe a year now. I thought of a way to combine it with elements of a creative nonfiction essay I wrote two years ago for a workshop class. People liked the essay but lamented its plotlessness. This story has a plot but felt fakey to me. So if I combine the two... !
I have been working like a mofo on my painting. Cutting out letters for it. It is a big canvas of words - first I was going to use these rubber stamps with paint - but the quality control was verrry iffy. So then I fretted about it, went to sleep not knowing what I'd do, and woke up the next morning knowing, somehow - I printed all my sentences in 100pt font, mirror image, and then painted the backs of the pages different colors. I am in the process of cutting out each letter, and then I will glue them all to the giant canvas I bought and painted midnight blueblack! Perfect. It is somehow not irritating to cut out all the little holes in letters. I have put my headphones on and done it very blissfully.
OH the show that this painting is going to be in was generically titled "Women in Art" before, but is as of today titled... BROAD STROKE: WOMEN IN ART. Yesssss.
Also today at work I brainstormed etsy shop ideas.
I'm happy with what I've accomplished. I made myself a painting of a Yoko Ono quote. I promise I will post a picture of it soon.
In the last week or two I made frantic notes toward a story I have been mulling for maybe a year now. I thought of a way to combine it with elements of a creative nonfiction essay I wrote two years ago for a workshop class. People liked the essay but lamented its plotlessness. This story has a plot but felt fakey to me. So if I combine the two... !
I have been working like a mofo on my painting. Cutting out letters for it. It is a big canvas of words - first I was going to use these rubber stamps with paint - but the quality control was verrry iffy. So then I fretted about it, went to sleep not knowing what I'd do, and woke up the next morning knowing, somehow - I printed all my sentences in 100pt font, mirror image, and then painted the backs of the pages different colors. I am in the process of cutting out each letter, and then I will glue them all to the giant canvas I bought and painted midnight blueblack! Perfect. It is somehow not irritating to cut out all the little holes in letters. I have put my headphones on and done it very blissfully.
OH the show that this painting is going to be in was generically titled "Women in Art" before, but is as of today titled... BROAD STROKE: WOMEN IN ART. Yesssss.
Also today at work I brainstormed etsy shop ideas.
I'm happy with what I've accomplished. I made myself a painting of a Yoko Ono quote. I promise I will post a picture of it soon.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Oblique Strategies
From this website, courtesy of Brian Eno and a bunch of other people:
___________
Accept advice
Work against your better judgement
Ask your body
Be dirty
Breathe more deeply
Courage!
Cut a vital connection
Decorate, decorate
Discard an axiom
Do something boring
Don't break the silence
Don't stress one thing more than another
Emphasise differences
Emphasise the flaws
Give the game away
Give way to your worst impulse
How would you have done it?
Is it finished?
Just carry on
Listen to the quiet voice
Look at the order in which you do things
Repetition is a form of change
Reverse
Simple subtraction
Tidy up
Turn it upside down
Use an old idea
Use filters
Water
What mistakes did you make last time?
What would your closest friend do?
What wouldn't you do?
Work at a different speed
You don't have to be ashamed of using your own ideas
Take away the elements in order of apparent non importance
Remove ambiguities and convert to specifics
Make an exhaustive list of everything you might do and do the last thing on the list
Make a sudden, destructive unpredictable action; incorporate
Look closely at the most embarrassing details and amplify/magnify them
Humanise something free of error
Honor thy error as a hidden intention
Don't be frightened to display your talents
Don't be frightened of clichés
Don't avoid what is easy
Distort time
Discover your formulas and abandon them
Disconnect from desire
Destroy the most important thing
Define an area as 'safe' and use it as an anchor
Change nothing and continue consistently
Are there sections? Consider transitions
Remove a restriction
Abandon normal instructions
Which elements can be grouped?
What are you really thinking about just now? Incorporate
Make a blank valuable by putting it in an exquisite frame
Trust in the you of now
Use an unacceptable colour
Cascades
Emphasise repetitions
Fill every beat with something
Ghost echoes
Go slowly all the way round the outside
Infinitesimal gradations
Into the impossible
Mechanicalise something idiosyncratic
Use fewer words
What is the reality of the situation?
You can only make one dot at a time
Intentions -credibility of -nobility of -humility of
What are the sections sections of? Imagine a caterpillar moving
Imagine the piece as a set of disconnected events
Faced with a choice, do both
Convert a melodic element into a rhythmic element
Do the washing up
Get your neck massaged
Put in earplugs
Spectrum analysis
Tape your mouth
Twist the spine
Be extravagant
Disciplined self-indulgence
Always first steps
Not building a wall but making a brick
It is simply a matter of work
The most easily forgotten thing is the most important
Move towards the unimportant
Idiot glee (?)
It is quite possible (after all)
Lost in useless territory
Revaluation (a warm feeling)
Always give yourself credit for having more than personality
Only a part, not the whole
Retrace your steps
Be less critical
Go to an extreme, come part way back
From nothing to more than nothing
Make it more sensual
Slow preparation..fast execution
Think - inside the work -outside the work
When is it for?
How would someone else do it?
Try faking it
What to increase? What to reduce? What to maintain?
Where is the edge?
Is the style right?
Use something nearby as a model
What is the simplest solution?
Gardening, not architecture
Make something implied more definite (reinforce, duplicate)
______________________________________________
I apologize for the length of this post.
I made a small painting of one of my favorites of these today: It is a light orange background with light blue letters that spell: "Don't avoid / what is easy". I used these clear rubber stamp letters that I bought and didn't end up using for a different project.
If any of these strikes any of you as particularly helpful, I will make you a painting of it. Just pick one and paste it into the comments and then... send me your address in a message on Facebook... and I will happily make you a painting of it. You can even request what colors you'd like.
(Is me doing this a form of procrastination? May be. But. Using art projects to procrastinate is like... the only acceptible form of procrastination, in my book. As long as it doesn't get out of hand. Like, I am not posting this on Facebook and offering to make paintings for all 200 of my friends on there.)
___________
Accept advice
Work against your better judgement
Ask your body
Be dirty
Breathe more deeply
Courage!
Cut a vital connection
Decorate, decorate
Discard an axiom
Do something boring
Don't break the silence
Don't stress one thing more than another
Emphasise differences
Emphasise the flaws
Give the game away
Give way to your worst impulse
How would you have done it?
Is it finished?
Just carry on
Listen to the quiet voice
Look at the order in which you do things
Repetition is a form of change
Reverse
Simple subtraction
Tidy up
Turn it upside down
Use an old idea
Use filters
Water
What mistakes did you make last time?
What would your closest friend do?
What wouldn't you do?
Work at a different speed
You don't have to be ashamed of using your own ideas
Take away the elements in order of apparent non importance
Remove ambiguities and convert to specifics
Make an exhaustive list of everything you might do and do the last thing on the list
Make a sudden, destructive unpredictable action; incorporate
Look closely at the most embarrassing details and amplify/magnify them
Humanise something free of error
Honor thy error as a hidden intention
Don't be frightened to display your talents
Don't be frightened of clichés
Don't avoid what is easy
Distort time
Discover your formulas and abandon them
Disconnect from desire
Destroy the most important thing
Define an area as 'safe' and use it as an anchor
Change nothing and continue consistently
Are there sections? Consider transitions
Remove a restriction
Abandon normal instructions
Which elements can be grouped?
What are you really thinking about just now? Incorporate
Make a blank valuable by putting it in an exquisite frame
Trust in the you of now
Use an unacceptable colour
Cascades
Emphasise repetitions
Fill every beat with something
Ghost echoes
Go slowly all the way round the outside
Infinitesimal gradations
Into the impossible
Mechanicalise something idiosyncratic
Use fewer words
What is the reality of the situation?
You can only make one dot at a time
Intentions -credibility of -nobility of -humility of
What are the sections sections of? Imagine a caterpillar moving
Imagine the piece as a set of disconnected events
Faced with a choice, do both
Convert a melodic element into a rhythmic element
Do the washing up
Get your neck massaged
Put in earplugs
Spectrum analysis
Tape your mouth
Twist the spine
Be extravagant
Disciplined self-indulgence
Always first steps
Not building a wall but making a brick
It is simply a matter of work
The most easily forgotten thing is the most important
Move towards the unimportant
Idiot glee (?)
It is quite possible (after all)
Lost in useless territory
Revaluation (a warm feeling)
Always give yourself credit for having more than personality
Only a part, not the whole
Retrace your steps
Be less critical
Go to an extreme, come part way back
From nothing to more than nothing
Make it more sensual
Slow preparation..fast execution
Think - inside the work -outside the work
When is it for?
How would someone else do it?
Try faking it
What to increase? What to reduce? What to maintain?
Where is the edge?
Is the style right?
Use something nearby as a model
What is the simplest solution?
Gardening, not architecture
Make something implied more definite (reinforce, duplicate)
______________________________________________
I apologize for the length of this post.
I made a small painting of one of my favorites of these today: It is a light orange background with light blue letters that spell: "Don't avoid / what is easy". I used these clear rubber stamp letters that I bought and didn't end up using for a different project.
If any of these strikes any of you as particularly helpful, I will make you a painting of it. Just pick one and paste it into the comments and then... send me your address in a message on Facebook... and I will happily make you a painting of it. You can even request what colors you'd like.
(Is me doing this a form of procrastination? May be. But. Using art projects to procrastinate is like... the only acceptible form of procrastination, in my book. As long as it doesn't get out of hand. Like, I am not posting this on Facebook and offering to make paintings for all 200 of my friends on there.)
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