Stumbling Over Writer's Block

It's a strange thing, that human brain.

I never ceased to be amazed about how many distinct mental states I can have. From happy to hysterical to hungover, the mind has more moods than a tie-dyed shirt has colors. Right now, for example, I feel like I'm trying to wring out my brain after dipping a plain white t-shirt in vivid-hued liquid dyes in order to get a burst of creativity in my head. The colors seem to keep fading away right after I pick my shirt up from the bucket.

Mentally, I'm stumbling over a case of writer's block, trying to regain clarity and creativity rather than listening to the buzz of a dimming light bulb in my head. Sure, I can jot some notes about the act of having writer's block, but I feel all tapped out in terms of writing fresh and original content, hence the blog post about writer's block. And while the internet has a wealth of resources for inspiration, such as The Simpsons' website, there's only so much staring at a computer monitor that I can do. I do it all day at work, now I'm doing it more at home. Looks like I'll have to kickstart my skull juices some other way.

Hopefully my next post will be full of insight like, *ahem*, usual. Till next time, if you see a guy banging his head against the wall, you'll know what's going on in his brain. Most likely nothing.

The Power of Creativity

A blurb by James Gleick from the New York Times Magazine:

The Internet has taken shape with startlingly
little planning... The most universal and independent network on the
planet somehow burgeoned without so much as a board of directors, never
mind a mergers-and-acquisitions department. There is a paradoxical
lesson here for strategists. In economic terms, the great corporations
are acting like socialist planners, while old-fashioned free-market
capitalism blossoms at their feet.

Congrats, fellow average Joe and Jane Web-sters
out there. Sometimes the best things are the result of a lack of hard-core planning. The meeting of the minds clearly does not have to occur in a lush, wood-paneled boardroom anymore. It can occur on a remote island, on the top of a mountain, or in a drafty barn. The Internet is open to all... bring your creativity with you.

Lessons from a Magnetic Dart Board

As I sit at my computer here at home, I have the pleasure of being able to gaze at my Simpsons magnetic dart board that I got as an engagement gift from my parents (presumably because my lovely fiancee got all the other gifts), featuring classic characters from the show-- namely Homer, Moe, Duffman, and more. Simple, innocent, and good old-fashioned fun stuff.

But in staring at this dart board, in a moment of introspection, I realize this particular magnetic dart board may have a lesson or two glaring right at me, such as...

1. Creativity goes a lonnnnnngggggg way. The Simpsons have been around for a good 17 years or so and going strong (they even have a Simpsons movie coming out). It's the creative characters, story lines, and humor that has kept them around for so long. And expanding the product line to a dart board, a Homermobile model (also hanging on my wall), and so on and so forth show the strength of the creativity of this famous brand.

2. A magnetic dart board is a very imprecise game. You toss the dart at it, the dart slips a little bit once it hits the board, and the magnetic point is so wide that you can hit a fairly broad area, thus overlapping on different scores. "So?" you ask. So, just think about how imprecise life is, and how not everything is perfect, yet you can still hit the mark, without having to make the perfect shot each time.

3. Darts are fun!

Now, I wonder what lessons we can learn from donuts....