Fire Can Not Melt Steel

And with that comment Rosie O'Donnell proves that she is the stupidest person on Earth. I didn't see her make this comment on The View, but if the audience hadn't been prescreened for brain dead zombies, I would fully expect them all to get up and walk out.

Seriously, does she even know how steel is made? You have to melt it with fire in the first place, then you form it into the desired shape. Apparently she's never been to a medieval festival, though she clearly would fit right in as a harridan, where blacksmiths heat steel in fire to soften it, a.k.a. melt it slightly, so it is softer and will bend under the pressure of the hammer.

If after this comment people still give her any kind of credit, they are as stupid as she is and need to be all put in a bag and drowned.

Here's a news flash Rosie, ANYTHING that gets hot enough can melt. Have you ever heard of the Sun? It's a big fire ball where every element in the universe is melted. Or did you just think that there was a giant million watt light bulb floating in the sky that warmed the Earth? And by the way the Earth isn't flat either.

Go Kill Yourself!

Go play this game. You can all thank me later.

How To Find Inspiration

To a creative person lack of inspiration is similar to dying, except you are still alive and have to deal with it. Everyone goes through periods of time when nothing seems to excite you and all the ideas seem to have left on a mission to Mars and they forgot to invite you along. So what do you do when you need inspiration and no matter which rocks you turn over all you seem to find are bugs?

Here are some ideas to help catch the elusive muse.

Let inspiration find you. With a world full of distractions it's hard to think let alone listen to something that can't be heard. Turn off the TV, radio, ipod, cell phone, instant messages, and hang a sign on the door saying you've gone to lunch and won't be back for an hour. Then sit in a comfy chair and close your eyes. And stop thinking. Listen to the sounds around you, look at the light patterns of your eyelids, and let the ideas come to you.

Limit your senses. You can only process so many incoming signals at once so turn one off and provide an open path for the one you want. Try watching a visually stimulating movie but turn the sound and closed captions off. In the absence of a storyline it allows your brain to think its own thoughts about what you are seeing. You can also start watching the movie part way in so you don't get wrapped up in a plot.

Find the right song. Try listening to music you might not always listen to, and when you find the song that just seems to click, put it on repeat. Don't worry if others think you're nuts because you have listened to the same song 20 times. You're doing this for your reasons not theirs. Repeat is inspiration's friend.

Go for a walk. Get out of the office or house and walk in a different direction than you have before. Movement stimulates your body and mind and the new sights will force your brain to deal with new sensations. If you can't get out, try walking briskly in a circle or back and forth. Unusual activity will prepare your brain for something new. And in case it isn't obvious, leave the ipod on the desk.

Open a window. Having a fresh breeze and letting the outside in can change the feeling in the room and also in your brain. Even if it's the middle of Winter, the change can bring fresh thoughts.

Look at new art. Yes you may love that picture of a windmill hanging on your wall but by now it's old and the ideas it inspires are old. Hang a new painting on the wall, or print off a picture you found on the internet and tape it up where you can see it. And try finding art that challenges you and is interesting. A good rule is to reject the normal and go for something you wouldn't usually choose.

Go to church. I know, it sounds weird, but I have received some of my best ideas while sitting in church. That's why I always take a notebook with me everywhere I go. While the speaker is going on it's easy to jot down an idea or make a thumbnail sketch. I look at it as a kind of forced meditation.

Keep a dream journal. Most of what you dream makes no sense but once in a while you'll wake up and the greatest thing since sliced bread will have just ran through your head. Write it down quick. Dreams fade fast. And if later on it sounds like a crackpot idea, remember you don't have to use it just because you wrote it down.

Take a break. Sometimes there is nothing you can do, so instead of fighting it, forget about it. Let your subconscious figure things out and go do something else for a while. While playing basketball or reading a book you'll be amazed at what ideas will jump into your head.

Book List: The Traveller

I just finished reading The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks. It's a story about an underground society and their enemies who are both racing to find a traveler. A traveler has a special gift that allows him to go between dimensions and bring back knowledge. On one side you have a street ninja trying to protect travelers and on the other a group of people trying to kill them so they can control all of humanity. It was a decent book in the cyberpunk genre but it had a few cliches in it that kept throwing me out of the story, but I would have to recommend it. It is a good read especially if you're not sensitive to cliches like me..

Road Trip Cancelled

I was supposed to go on a trip to Yellowstone this weekend but then we found out that it wasn't open this time of year. So with plans dashed, I decided to stay home and accomplish something. Only nothing much got done.

No paintings, no drawings, no photographs.

I think my subconscious was in vacation mode and was going to make me take a mental one, even if I couldn't go anywhere physically. I guess it was time to recharge the batteries.

But I still feel this pressure like I should have done something. I always feel like I am falling behind and not able to keep up and that if I slow down the world will pass me by and not be too kind as it tramples me with elephantine feet.

I start to compare my accomplishments with those of the past like Benjamin Franklin, Pablo Picasso, and Mozart. They all seem to have accomplished great things, many more than people of today seem to. Many more than I seem to be able to.

I think sometimes that taking a break, whether by choice or not, is probably a good thing. I bet the giants of the past took breaks, but no one writes about them in history books. Recharging the batteries isn't very exciting, but I think it is probably necessary.

Now if only I could figure out how to stop the nagging in my head that I'm not doing enough.

Freight

colored pencil on bristol board 8 x 5 inches

In a Lonely Place

I love film noir. I just finished watching In a Lonely Place which was made in 1950 and stars Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame. It's one of those movies that you don't realize how good it is until after it's over and you start to think about it, and then all the little things hit you and you just want to watch it again.

I love how it ends, it's probably one of the best and least anticipated endings in film history. You are just left with this feeling of question and inevitability at the same time. I love how as the audience you are taken along on the same emotional journey as the characters and how you come to the same conclusion. And yet you want to have this hoped for idealized ending that you've come to expect in other movies, but then you think about it and realize that the director was a genius, and that if it had had the typical ending it would be like last year's romantic comedy, ............ whatever its name was, and end up forgotten.

I feel a kinship with film noir and it wasn't until I saw this film that I realized that I explore the same general themes in my art, the alienation, the tension, the contemplation of the inevitable, the ultimate loneliness we all face, and forced acceptance of our situation.