Creativity

I came to singing for polluting less, I'm staying for self-expression and discovery. If you want to know what inspired me without all my talk, jump the last video at the bottom of this post. If you know of a better singing performance---I could imagine its equal, but not sure anyone could better it. As for me and singing, if you haven't listened to my podcast episode recording my before and after practicing singing, the tears, and overcoming shame, I recommend it. Here it is: https://player.acast.com/leadership-and-the-environment/episodes/431-sing-every-day-and-unplug I'm only a couple months in to . . . to what? Just singing to myself in the park. Nothing to be proud of or to show off. Still, I love it. As Martha Graham said Nobody cares if…

I found a video I saved from ten or fifteen years ago, when I was showing my art in galleries and museums while backing up my hard drive---the closing minutes of a documentary on Man Ray. At the time I was watching all the videos on artists I could find at the library. For those who don't know him, he was big. From Wikipedia: He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal. He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. He was best known for his photography, and he was a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. Man Ray is also noted for his work with photograms, which…

I've mentioned working on my book, which I intend to translate into video somehow---TV, movie, net, not sure. I'm at least a hundred pages into the first draft. I'm going to start sharing what I'd call sketches here of parts of the book that I think stand on their own. I'd love your thoughts. Any book I write needs to be personal, so I have to introduce myself. Experience has taught me that my education leads some people to see what I do as less attainable. On the contrary, much of my education taught me compliance, not to think and act for myself. While it gave me facts and access to finance, consulting, and the military-industrial complex, I didn't want to enter any of those…

I'm reading a book of poetry a friend just published. I like a few poems---generally the big ones like Ozymandias and Sonnet 116. I haven't read much Whitman, but occasionally a work of his has drawn me in and enthralled me. The year I lived in Paris I saw a live performance of Rimbaud's Une Saison en Enfer in French, though my French wasn't great so it lost me quickly. I posted almost eight years ago a poem I've loved since college, In the sea of Iwami by Kakinomoto Hitomaro. I've liked plenty of other poems, though I contrast my moderate interest in learning poetry with a few physics memories---walking through the shelves of the physics library as an undergraduate and graduate student looking at…

While not my usual topic, I've been thinking about movie endings I've loved. I don't mean plot twists, necessarily, but what we see as the movie goes to credits. Last moments are hard to remember sometimes. Beginnings are easier. The Death Star didn't explode as closing moment, nor did "Say hello to my little friend" or "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown" appear as the credits did. Some, like Planet of the Apes and Thelma and Louis, the ending played major roles in the movie. Satyricon made a big impression on me. Godfather and Kramer vs. Kramer are simple but tremendously expressive. Unbearable Lightness of Being and Sophie's Choice I found beautiful. Anyway, here's my list. Planet of the Apes https://youtu.be/XrgIXVKmcZY Last Emperor https://youtu.be/3jMsN-L6-_E Annie Hall…

Not like I've kept track of music videos and it's not my usual topic, but I wrote my favorite four a while ago and here they are. Chemical Brothers Star Guitar https://youtu.be/0S43IwBF0uM Fatboy Slim Weapon of Choice https://youtu.be/wCDIYvFmgW8 Wax Southern California https://youtu.be/EPhBgRSj6YQ Kanye West Power https://youtu.be/L53gjP-TtGE Actually, a friend showed me an unedited version of the Kanye West song, maybe a director's cut. I couldn't find that version online, so I'm using this version as a stand-in. I'm sure I like other videos, but I made this list a long time ago and haven't thought of any new ones to add since. EDIT: How did I forget Bathtime in Clerkenwell? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0PGK7a2IFo

Writers say "writing is easy. You only have to sit at the typewriter and bleed." They're talking about sharing vulnerability, I believe. It also hurts physically. I just sent my editor my third draft of my second non-self-published book. Writing takes enough effort at home. Traveling makes it that much harder. In any case, my butt hurts from sitting so long. My eyes are red from watching the screen so long. My back hurts from staying in one position so long. My shoulders hurt. My legs are restless from lack of motion. I'm not complaining. I'm describing my physical experience of writing books. Few things I consider worth doing come without cost and I pay this cost willingly and happily. The activity just requires more…

At this past weekend's performance a couple developments. The first is that I no longer feel like a beginner. I'm far from mastery, but I'm not sweating just to go on stage, nor struggling to work up the nerve to write, nor wondering what to work on. You learn fast when everything is new, though it's hardest then. I'm still at the stage of learning fast since I have so much to learn, but I see what I have to work on and see that I'll have to work long and hard to learn the next stages. Second, I met another guy practicing who told me how much he practiced to get where he is. He said, "I'm an engineer so I like to do…