Brain Bank (8/30)

I read a blog entry today that was all about showcasing examples of creative and unique resumes. Most of the people using these resumes work in one creative field or another so these resumes are a perfect way to showcase their creativity and imagination while still getting all of the normal resume stuff out there to employers. This particular image is from a foldable resume printed on cardboard. I think these are amazing ways to get your name out there and stick in people's minds.

Chapter 28: Dreamscape

This thinkertoy exercise has me doing something that I've been telling myself to do for a long time, and that is to start a dream journal. The thinkertoy wants us to use the dream to relate to a problem, so I'll use it to relate to my problem of creating a children's book for my nephew. So this morning when I woke up, I wrote down everything that I could remember about the last dream I had. Here is my first entry in my new dream journal:
In my dream, I saw a stereotypical laboratory. There were tables holding beakers, bunsen burners, chalk boards, etc. And there was a scientist with brown hair, glasses and a long white lab coat. I was not in my dream, I'm merely an observer. The scientist is holding a cattle prod and I could tell that he's using the electric shock as a motivator to train a chimpanzee. What was he training the chimpanzee to do? I couldn't tell right away. As the dream went on I could see him punishing the monkey's errors with a shock. After a while, I realized that this monkey was also holding a cattle prod and that he was using THAT cattle prod as a motivator to train a mouse to run through a maze. And this scientist is training the monkey to be a smaller scientist.
Here are my answers to certain questions about my dream:
How were the people, places, and events in the dream related to my problem?
This doesn't really have that much to do with my problem other than the fact that they both contain animals. The scientist in my dream also had a problem to solve and that is the basis for my story.
Who were the key players in the dream?
The scientist, the monkey, and the mouse.
Does the dream change the nature of the question?
No it doesn't. It helps me to think that maybe I don't always necessarily have to solve my own problems, maybe I can train others to solve them for me and this would work as a collaboration.

I enjoyed this thinkertoy because it forced me to do something that I wanted to do for a very long time. I've always wanted to record my dreams because I know that that is a great untapped source of imagination and creativity. I did the first part of my dream in my bed as I woke up this morning, writing down my dream on a piece of paper as fast as I could before I forgot it. I did the rest of my thinkertoy after work on my dining room table.

Chapter 19: Hall of Fame

For this exercise, I was supposed to choose three business movers and shakers that I admire and learn more about them. I chose Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, and Richard Branson. Disney was a brilliant animator and was the main driving force in ushering in a new age of animation and bringing it to a mass audience, his passion and his drive are his best attributes. Jobs has obviously been instrumental to the development of home computing since home computing began over thirty years ago; his creativity and fearless nature in designing new products and ways to compute are inspiring. Branson is what I think of when I think of an eccentric billionaire, he's earned all of his money and fame and he started at such a young age; he is not afraid to expand business into a new or unsettling field. I have printed out photographs of these three individuals and placed them around my desk where I do most of my work and I have spent a good amount of time today gathering information and reading their biographies and I now have a folder on my computer with a lot of information about these men.

This exercise was a real eye opener for me. I really enjoyed learning about how certain people have come to be as successful as they are and I hope to really look to these individuals for inspiration in the future. I did this exercise in my bedroom on my desk, the lighting was low because I only used one halogen lamp and had my shades drawn this afternoon. I used no distractions such as TV or radio.

Brain Bank (8/29)

I found this image on a blog post about this artist who makes amazing portrait carvings into discarded phonebooks. This particular image is Jimmy Carter and I think they are all amazing and awe inspiring. I love finding alternative and unique media in which people practice their art and creativity and this one is one of my favorites. The artist found such an awesome material in which to carve these images and they work perfectly.

Brain Bank (8/28)

I found this image from a website that is full of customized toys. The person who makes these customized toys created a set of Victorian Era Marvel super hero action figures and this particular action figure is of a Victorian Era Captain America. As I've posted about before, I'm very much into re-imagining stories, characters, settings, etc. in alternate genres or time periods and this is no exception. I love this minute man-esque Captain America; things like this always spark my imagination and just make me stare in awe.

Brain Bank (8/27)

This is an image of a modded xbox 360 that takes on the look of iron man. I love the way iron man looks and I think it transfers very well to the xbox facade. I love the color and the chrome look and I really love the blue glowing circle on the side of the xbox too.

Brain Bank (8/26)

This is an image of a new facade that someone built onto an original generation GameBoy. What I love about this is that it combines two of my favorite things, the genre of steampunk and game boy. I love all things steampunk and this is no exception. It makes everything look better because it's amazing to think of the possibility of such advanced technology being created using simple mechanical structures.

Brain bank (8/25)

This is an image that I found on a blog post featuring photo manipulation art. All of the images came from a particular artist who works primarily in photo manipulation. This is an image of a landscape and trees that has been manipulated and digitally enhanced to be very stylistic. To me it resembles starry night by Van Gogh.

Brain Bank (8/24)

This is the image that I found on an article featuring a new television being developed that features both 3D stereoscopic images and a touch screen interface. What I really find inspiring about this television is that it represents the future of home entertainment. We are moving toward a time when everything becomes completely interactive in every way and is connected to everything else and even if this particular television doesn't catch on, it still represents the direction we are heading.

Homework (revised, ignore last post)

The top three themes that I have throughout my brainbanks are design, color, and composition. These three themes can be further broken down into traits such as pattern, depth of field, repetition (design); theory, contrast, brightness, shadows (color); placement, flow, depth of field (composition). These are some great things to think about while working on my final project because these are things that I am definitely going to be looking toward while creating a children's book.

Homework

		The top three themes that I have throughout my brainbanks are design, color, and composition. These three themes can be further broken down into traits such as pattern, depth of field, repetition (design); theory, contrast, brightness, shadows (color); placement, flow, depth of field (composition). These are some great things to think about while working on my final project because these are things that I am definitely going to be looking toward while creating a children's book. color
		pattern/design
		color/composition
		design
		design
		biology
		composition
		composition
		humor
		color/design
		design
		ingenuity
		design
		color
		ingenuity
		nostalgia
		structure
		design
		structure
		nostalgia
		ingenuity
		music
		pattern/design
		design
		composition
		ingenuity
		biology
		ingenuity/humor
		ingenuity/design
		nostalgia
		creative
		design
		nostalgia
		composition
		ingenuity
		design
		composition
		composition/color
		composition/color
		concept
		design
		composition
		composition
		concept
		concept
		concept/color/design
		color
		concept/design
		color/composition
		concept
		color/design
		concept/color
		composition
		color/design
		structure
		color/design
		concept
		concept/design
		color/design
		composition/color
		concept
		irony
		15
		2
		20
		13
		2
		1
		7
		4
		3
		1
		1
		10
		1

Chapter 17: Brutethink

Problem: I need to increase my referrals at my job at the bank.
Random Word: Eyeliner.
A series of things associated with Eyeliner: It's a makeup, it comes in many colors, it's used by many women, it fits in your hand, it comes in pencil form, it can be sharpened, it can be pointy, it can be purchased at many drug stores, it makes things look better.
Forced Connections: The referrals need to look good, use words and phrases that make them look better to customers. Our products come in many varieties, make this a focal point of my referrals. Just like makeup is primarily used by women stress certain products to certain people.

This thinkertoy was done in my prime environment. It was done in my living room at night while the TV was on and my family was around. These distractions definitely help me with my ability to focus and think about a certain product.

Brain Bank (8/23)

http://yourmindblown.com/post/988135623/after-making-1-4-billion-crayons-crayolas-senior

This brain bank is not based on any sort of image or video, this one is based on an article I read tonight about Crayola. It turns out that Emerson Moser, Crayola's senior crayon maker for over 37 years is colorblind. I love hearing stories about these extreme cases of irony, it inspires me to read something like this.

Chapter 27: True And False

Problem: My hockey team does rather mediocre in the standings each season, we need to improve our chances of winning a championship.
Paradox: Despite trying several different strategies to improve our team, we seem to do best when we play without a specific strategy.
Essence: Turing this into a book title: The NonStrategic Strategy.
Analogy: A great analogy is the concept of beginner's luck and that sometimes people tend to pull off difficult maneuvers once, then cannot do it after practicing.
Unique Feature: The unique feature is beginner's luck.
Equivalent: Athletes who show a lot of promise at a young age and don't fulfill those hopes.
New Idea: We will not create a new strategy out of nowhere we will film the way we play without a strategy and refine that into a strategy that will work with our team.

I did this thinkertoy while sitting on my front porch earlier today. The sky was gray and it was very rainy. I live on a busy highway so there is constant flow of 4 lanes of traffic going at any given time. The sound of the traffic was really soothing to me and helped keep my mind focused on the task at hand.

Brain Bank (8/22)

http://www.ufunk.net/en/humour/star-wars-en-version-vieux-film-muet/
This is a link that I found tonight to a clip someone made turning a scene from The Empire Strikes Back into a silent film. It's been converted to a black and white film reel style with the light saber duels sped up and all dialogue written in text between actions. I love the combination of genres and the remediation that goes on here. It's really inspiring to see these two such different elements melded together.

Brain Bank (8/21)

This is a digital illustration that I found on a blog featuring art by Jeremiah Humphreys. I think his illustrations are amazing and so inspiring. What I find really inspiring about this picture is the mood it evokes in the viewer. It makes me think of adventure and the beginning of a long journey.

Brain Bank (8/20)

This is a "digital graffiti" image that I found on another blog tonight. I'm a huge fan of actual graffiti written on public places, like walls, billboards, buildings, etc. I love the combination of classic graffiti art with three dimensional modeling. That combination is really inspiring and amazing... it makes for some really stunning visuals.

Brain Bank (8/19)

This is an image that I found while working on a project for another class. This is a poster that was made for Amnesty International's letter writing campaign calling for the release of political prisoners. The ink of the pen is replaced by political prisoners who are seemingly trapped inside the pen as ink and as the pen writes and ink is freed, so are the prisoners. I love the concept; I find it really inspiring because it is such a perfect representation of what the campaign is trying to get across to the people.

Brain Bank (8/18)

This is from a story that I've read a few times over the past several years. It's a story about these sonar detectors located deep in the ocean at a few different places. During the summer of 1997, these detectors detected a really loud, low frequency sound several times that is much louder than any known animal on earth can produce. Scientists speculate that the animal that can make such a loud noise must live in the deepest parts of the oceans and be much larger than a blue whale. I find this story really inspiring because it just makes my imagination go wild with possibilities of the things that could be creating this sound.

Force Brain Bank Combos

Finding connections between my brain bank from 8/11 and from 8/16. My brain bank from 8/11 is a photograph of a dying flower that is wilting into an image of a skull and my brain bank from 8/16 is a photograph of a German castle. My combination is this. A thousand year old castle from medieval Germany surrounded by dying flowers. Inside this terrible castle resides a family of ghosts who wilt the flowers into skulls to terrify any possible trespassers.
Finding connections between my brain bank from 8/8 and 8/14. My brain bank from 8/8 is a photograph of glowing blue jelly fish and my brain bank from 8/14 is a photograph that highlights silhouettes. My combination is this. A new breed of jelly fish that do not glow in the depth of the oceans, they actually swallow light so they seem to glow darkness.. no one has ever seen these fish because they are just glowing in their own darkness.
Combining these two combinations. Inside the terrifying medieval German castle surrounded by wilting skull flowers reside ghosts that swallow light. No one can see them because light never escapes their existence and they glow darkness.

Where's this going?

The lumber yard begins working overtime to make their monthly lumber quota. But one night was different from the rest. He was alone in the lumber yard, his nerves on edge. His senses heightened, he heard a faint noise coming from his left. It was the ghost of christmas past. But this time, Ebenezer wasn't going without a fight. Paul Bunyan stormed out of the forest yielding the Lumber Ax of Thor! There was no reply so he decided to make pancakes. Ebenezer had enough of that damn Canadian so the ultimate battle was about to begin... Paul Bunyan vs the Ghost of Christmas Past vs Johnny Appleseed BATTLE ROYALE! They fought and fought until the end of time at the north pole, and that's how the Northern Lights were made.

Combining Ideas

FROG ADVENTURE
animal quest
amphibian reward
hop problem
tongue story
swamp danger
lily pad battle
slime competition
croak journey
green victory
small sojourn

5 Combinations:

1. amphibian+competition: Treat the story as a competition between different amphibians or types of amphibians to reach a certain goal or reward.
2. swamp+battle: Have the story culminate to a final battle taking place in a swamp, that is a unique setting and a place that can have lots of potential.
3. green+problem: Taking the other use of the word green (eco-friendly), maybe the problem of the story can stem from an environmental issue that is effecting the frog's ecosystem.
4. lilypad+danger: Lily pads offer a lot of room for story ideas because they are a favorite spot for frogs and they can offer a lot of dangerous possibilities, maybe a subplot of the story can involve dangerous lilypads.
5. animal+quest: The quest can involve more than one animal in addition to the frog and it can be a collaboration between several animals who fight for a single goal.
   

Jump Start: What Day Is It?

My new week will consist of names of great hockey players and countries of the world:

Monday- EsponadaDay (Esposito+Canada)
Tuesday- KolzermanyDay (Kolzig+Germany
Wednesday- StasteniaDay (Stastny+Slovenia)
Thursday- NolirelandDay (Nolan+Ireland)
Friday- GretznadaDay (Gretzky+Canada)
Saturday- ModanericaDay (Modano+America)
Sunday- HueanceDay (Huet+France)

Brain Bank (8/17)

I found this image on a blog featuring minimalist posters representing different super heroes. As with the minimalist celebrity posters I talked about a few days ago, I really find these posters amazing. The most inspiring thing about these posters is the fact that just a few shapes and colors can capture the essence of a super hero and make it completely recognizable.

Brain Bank (8/16)

This is a photograph of Berg Eltz, a castle located in Germany near the Rhine river. I found this photograph on a blog showcasing the 10 most beautiful German Castles. The Berg Eltz is 850 years old and completely unscathed and preserved. I love all things that have to do with German culture or language so naturally I really enjoyed the photographs of these beautiful German castles. I love the way they were built and it is really inspiring to know that something so beautiful could be built so long ago and still stand complete.

Homework - Chapter 38: Murder Board

I verbalized by challenge to my girlfriend Alyssa because she has a creative background and usually gives good feedback and offered her feedback questions. My challenge is creating a children's book for my nephew.
Here are her responses:

Does the idea meet a real need?
No, this doesn't have a need in the real world sense. It does however serve Matt's need to create something memorable for his nephew.

Should a need be created through promotional and advertising efforts?
No, this isn't really all that necessary unless he wants to market and sell the book.

Who will resist?
I don't think that anyone will resist. Hopefully the one person who matters, his nephew, doesn't resist but I don't think he will.

Does it sound like a good idea to you?
Yes! It sounds like a great idea! This will create a great memory and bond between Matt and his nephew.

Are there real benefits?
Yes, the benefits of the memories he will create and possibly if he sells the idea, this could have monetary benefits.

Do you feel it is new and original?
Actually no. The idea of creating a chilren's story isn't original, it's been done many many times, but Matt can still make it as original as possible.

Is it worth producing or implementing?
Yes. Matt is going to ultimately lose money on his plan, but that is not why he is doing it, he is doing it to create something special for his nephew.

Will it provide enough benefit to outweigh the cost?
Yes, it will provide much sentimental value at the expense of monetary value.

How should it be financed?
I believe it is going to be completely financed out of Matt's pocket.

Is the idea sound?
Yes and no. Matt is capable of coming up with a compelling and original story for children, but his plan has him continuing to create the book and print it and make it completely from scratch and that is going to take a lot of work and expertise.

What is the best thing that could happen?
The best thing that could happen is the book is completed and looks professional and has no fundamental flaws and it is a smash with his nephew.

What is the worst thing that could happen?
Well, either his nephew could hate it or want nothing to do with it, or he loves the book and it falls apart because it wasn't put together properly.

What are the faults and limitations?
As I already said, I'm questioning Matt's abilities to create a professional and sound children's book that has low chances of falling apart or breaking easily.

Do you think I have the resources?
Almost, Matt is almost able to completely create a children's book but he needs to read up on how to put it all together.

Is it possible to make it happen?
Definitely. If he works hard and researches all of the possibilities and angles, it will happen.

That is the end of my feedback survey. This is all great feedback that my girlfriend gave back to me. I am going to hold onto this feedback and look at it periodically for the next few weeks but I feel that it helped me learn that I really need to start researching the construction aspect of my children's book as opposed to the story aspect.

Chapter 14: Pheonix

Challenge: Come up with a good strategy for improving my hockey team.

• Why is it necessary to solve the problem? It is necessary to solve because we need to improve our strategy in order to win games.
• What benefits will you gain by solving the problem? Winning more games and possibly a championship.
• What is the unknown? The unknowns are the strategies performed by the opposing teams in the league.
• What is it you don't yet understand? What the best ways are to combat other teams' strategies.
• What isn't the problem? How to lose games.
• Should you draw a diagram of the problem? Drawing a diagram is one of the best ways to convey sports strategies so a diagram would really help conveying the information to the rest of the team.
• Where are the boundaries of the problem? The boundaries are placed in the rulebooks of the hockey league.
• What are the constants of the problem? The teams, the players, the rules, the rink.
• Have you seen this problem before? Yes, I've seen this problem with plenty of other hockey teams that are struggling to win games.
• Have you seen this problem in a slightly different form? Yes, NHL teams have this same problem, but it isn't exactly the same because the NHL is a vastly different hockey league.
• What are the best, worst, and most probably cases you can imagine? The best case is that I would come up with a strategy that allows us to go undefeated and winning the championship, worst case scenario: we lose every game, and the most probably scenario: we win more games, and maybe we win the championship.
• Can you solve the whole problem? Part of the problem? The best way to solve this problem is to break it up into offense and defense but remember that they have to work well together.
• What would you like the resolution to be? My ideal resolution would allow my team to score more goals while letting up fewer goals.
  
• How much of the unknown can you determine? We can determine most of the unknown by researching the other teams and watching them play.
• How many different ways have you tried to solve the problem? About half a dozen, we've tried a number of different hockey strategies to varying levels of success.

I thought this exercise was alright. I liked the specific list of questions to ask that help make me think of the challenge in different ways than I normally would have. I did this one in the car while my girlfriend was picking me up from work today. I had my book on me and I wrote it in my notebook. It was sunny and there were many distractions, I was talking and listening to the radio while doing this exercise.

Brain Bank (8/15)

This image was found on a website featuring Complexity Graphics by a graphic artist named Tatiana Plakhova. She creates these amazing colorful, geographic designs on a solid black background. She makes these images that could be fantastical creatures living at the bottom of the sea or as microscopic organisms. I find these images very inspiring because while they all look very similar, they all have striking differences that make each one unique.

Brain Bank (8/14)

I found this image tonight on an article on a website that is highlighting silhouette photographs. I really love the idea of using silhouettes in photography. I love silhouettes because they remove all of the little details of the subject matter and allow you to focus solely on the wonderful shapes the subject makes. And the contrast of the bright light behind the raven dark shadows is always really pleasing to the eye.

Chapter 26: Stone Soup

My challenge: I need to think of story ideas with which to write a children's book.

What ifs:

• What if children's books were written for adults?
• What if I were writing a children's book for children who don't speak English?
• What if I were making a children's book and I had to express every idea through pictures and not words?
• What if children's books were written by children?
• What if animals created ideas for children's stories?
• What if strangers were used to come up with children's story ideas?

The "what if" that I decided to dwell on is this one: What if children's books were written by children? I think this is a good statement to base a plan on. Since children are the audience in a children's story, it only makes sense that they are involved with the creation of the ideas. I feel that the best idea to come up with a good children's story idea is to poll as many small children as I can and even ask them specific ideas as to what a good story should entail.

I enjoyed this exercise. I did this exercise in the breakroom of the bank I work at. I only had a half hour to complete this exercise and I worked in nearly complete silence with bright florescent lights. I think the quiet atmosphere hurt my creative abilities, but the time limit helped kick them into overdrive.

Brain Bank (8/13)

I found this image on a blog post about some celebrities represented in minimalistic illustrated images. Obviously this image represents Larry King. What I love about these images is how just a few shapes and colors can capture the essence of a celebrity and make that person instantly recognizable even though the image is missing most of its details. It takes a lot of talent to accentuate just the right features of a person to make a minimalistic image that recognizable.

Brain Bank (8/12)

This is a photograph that I found tonight of a crazy sea storm with lightning flying all in and around it. What I like most about this photograph are all of the amazing colors and how they interact throughout the image. I love the way the darker colors of the background contrast with the bright bolts of lightning in the foreground. I also love the composition of the photograph, how the water spout is mainly positioned toward the left side of the iamge and the lightning flies in all directions around it.

Brain Bank (8/11)

I found this image on a blog tonight and I just think it is really cool. I love the idea of finding new images within other images. This skull within a flower is really amazing aesthetically and it has a really creepy and deep message as well.

Brain Bank (8/10)

This is a photograph that I found on a blog featuring green photography. I really love this photograph even if it has been altered in photoshop to make it green. This image is so inspiring and amazing. It makes me think of a beautiful green world with pastures and highlands.

Brain Bank (8/9)

I've seen this optical illusion hundreds of times in the past, but I saw it again today and I just really think it's cool. I love the idea of putting hidden messages within images and artwork and this is a really good example of that. It spells good, but the negative space spells evil. So this image actually completely contradicts itself in the negative space, it makes me think of an interesting new concept of yin and yang.

Brain Bank (8/8)

My girlfriend and I went to the Camden Aquarium today and there are things that inspire in every single direction. This particular photograph was taken by my girlfriend and I think it is so amazing and inspiring. It is of a particular kind of jellyfish that I can't remember the name of, but I think they are so beautiful and they are works of art themselves. The shades of blue they take up and their glowing designs are just breathtaking.

Brain Bank (8/7)

I found today's inspiration when reading an article about an upcoming downloadable game for the xbox 360. This independent game is called Limbo and seems to have an amazing art style and game play. What inspires me most is how it looks. The game is completely in shades of black and white and is stunning. The game play is also reminiscent of old 2D sidescrollers and also has some new mechanics. And this game is being heralded as having the capability to convey emotions and a good story all without the luxuries of dialogue and/or text and I really admire that ability.

Brain Bank (8/6)

http://www.exitmundi.nl/exitmundi.htm

This link takes you to a website called Exit Mundi. This site is a collection of possible end of the world scenarios sorted by how far into the future they might happen and what section of science (or religion) claims the possibility. When I was younger and creating stories and comic books in my leisure, end of the world scenarios were prevalent. The scenarios from this website are very inspiring because they bring me back to the stories I used to write and they make me want to do it all over again.

Brain Bank (8/5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGYbnguatac

This is a link to the promo for the new Discovery Channel show called Speed of Life. I saw this commercial several times today and that really inspired me. It is a new series that uses super high speed video cameras to film animals in their natural habitat and slows the film down to capture every single movement made by the animals. I love the idea of being able to see every single muscle ripple as a cheetah runs through the plains or every single movement a snake makes as he catches his prey. I think it's amazing to witness all of these seemingly small trivial moments of nature.

Brain Bank (8/4)

This is a photograph that I found on a blog about amazing beach photography. i really love this image for a few reasons. First, I really like turtles and I think they are just amazing creatures to look at. This particular turtle photograph has a lot of emotion to it. It seems as though this turtle is crouching down to protect himself from some sort of attack. I also really like the use of the depth of field in this photograph. I think the out of focus ocean really adds a lot to the photograph and brings the focus back to the subject, the turtle.

Brain Bank (8/3)

I found this image tonight and I am completely astonished and inspired by it. The entire photograph is beautiful. I love the way the cliffsides interact with the vegetation and the lake and the way the sky drastically changes from orange to a deep blue. This reminds me of a scene from a fantasy world, it makes me expect there to be some sort of epic quest taking place on or around these cliffs and there are just an endless amount of stories that I could associate with this image.

Personal Mantra

Because I often don't think that I'm as creative as I want to be and because I am often discouraged by the amount of work that is in front of me, I have written the following personal mantra to repeat to myself on a daily basis:

No matter what happens, I am creative and I will be successful in any task that I take on.

60 Uses for a Wooden Stool

1. Sit on it
2. Stand on it
3. Use it as a table
4. Fight off robbers
5. Kindling
6. Use it as a night stand
7. Break the legs off and use as a bat
8. Break the top off and use it as a plate
9. Use it as a TV stand
10. Hold open a door
11. Use it to fight off lions
12. Use it to block a doggy door
13. Paint it
14. Break it apart and build a sculpture
15. Cut a hole in it and use it to hold up an umbrella/flag pole
16. See who can throw it the farthest
17. Turn it upside down and trap an animal within its legs
18. Put it over a slippery floor to warn people
19. Put a sign on it
20. If you're trapped on an island with a bunch of stools, use them to spell HELP
21. Use it to break a window
22. Use it to hold down a gas pedal
23. Hold a door closed with it
24. Place it in front of a door you don't want people to go into
25. Place it next to the bed to help an old pet climb into the bed
26. Hold a window open with it
27. Burn it to roast marshmallows
28. 
    

Turn Bad Habits Good

One bad habit that I've had for a while is poor time management and organization. I often underestimate the amount of time that it will take to do a project, and I push it off to the end and do not allot enough time to be as successful as I can be. I think there is a good solution to turn this bad habit into a good habit. Since I know that my time management skills are lacking, instead of underestimating the time it will take to do a project I will OVERestimate the amount of time it will take to do a project. When I assess the amount of time that it will take to do a project, I will double it, which should give me plenty of time to be successful in that project. After completing the project, I will have spare time which will be a nice reward for my now good habit.

Soy

1. Soy
2. Milk
3. Dairy
4. Cheese
5. Cake
6. Dessert
7. Dinner
8. Evening
9. Night
10. Moon
11. Stars
12. Constellations
13. Sun
14. Light
15. Sky
16. Blue
17. Color
18. Paint
19. Art
20. Masterpiece
21. Museum
22. Architecture
23. Buildings
24. City
25. Town
26. Street
27. Cars
28. Driving
29. Speeding
30. Ticket
31. Crime
32. Prison
33. Prisoners
34. Guard
35. Gun
36. Weapon
37. War
38. Army
39. Soldiers
40. General
41. President
42. White House
43. Washington DC
44. Traffic
45. Cars
46. Horns
47. Loud Noises
48. Explosions
    
49. Rockets
    
50. Space
    

Brain Bank (8/2)

This is an aerial photograph of a landscape on the planet Mars. What I really find inspiring about this photograph is that it's such an organic landscape and it makes you feel so close to the surface and yet this is a planet that people have never visited. I think it's amazing that this planet has such beautiful landscapes that have remained untouched for an eternity.

Chapter 16: Future Fruit

For this exercise, the problem is "How can I make a better hockey stick?" A decision that has to be made is one of what materials would be best. The forces that have an impact on materials are economy, chemistry, physics, cost, and market forces. Here are some different, plausible scenarios based on those forces: The current methods of making hockey sticks remains the same; A new alloy of materials is discovered that would revolutionize hockey stick technology; The market for hockey equipment bottoms out and people revert to cheap, wooden sticks; and a new, revolutionizing method for creating hockey sticks. A possible outcome based on these scenarios is that people begin to revert to cheaper, wooden sticks but there is a new breakthrough in compositing wood with other cheap materials that allow sticks to be cheaper and yet still have the advantage of the properties of other materials than wood. We should research a way to composite wood with other materials to keep costs down and performance high.

This was an interesting exercise, but I didn't really enjoy doing this exercise. I did this one in my room by myself. I kept my radio on to add a distraction to help me focus, but all in all, I didn't really feel inspired by this exercise.

Steampunk Octopus (Brain Bank 8/1)

This is a painting done in Photoshop that I came across while surfing Deviant Art today. It is a picture of a gun boat firing at a large steampunk octopus machine. I am really inspired by and drawn to steampunk artwork and stories. I really love the idea of creating some kind of robot, transportation device, or some other powerful machine using only that technology found around the turn of the 19th century. This painting is really amazing because it embodies that steampunk ideology and it just has some really awesome visuals.

Chapter 25: Rattlesnakes & Roses

My challenge for this exercise is this: I want to come up with a cool concept around which to create a video game. The key word I choose from that challenge is "concept". Now I must choose a parallel field, I choose alien abductions. Images that I associate with alien abductions: flying saucer, crazy, conspiracy, Roswell NM, white house, UFO, little green men, men in black, secret service, meteor, weather balloon. After pondering these connections with regard to my original challenge, I have developed an idea for a video game. This will be a video game starring a spy who works to uncover a deep conspiracy within the American government covering up the existence of aliens and their abductions of people.

This was a good exercise because it allowed me to free associate and work my brain. Based on the findings used in my midterm paper, I decided to do this exercise in my living room with a lot of distractions during the afternoon. I spoke to my family and watched television while I did this exercise and I believe that helped empty my mind to solve this challenge.

Homework 6

TASK: The past few days I did a few chores in which I definitely noticed a rhythm. While folding laundry I noticed this rhythm: pick up, fold, fold, fold, put down. While vacuuming I noticed a very simple rhythm that is very relaxing when you focus on it: push forward, pull backward, push forward, pull backward, etc. And finally, while making my bed I noticed this rhythm: lift, place, tuck, tuck, tuck, and this was repeated three times for my sheet, top sheet, and comforter.

THEATER: I decided to research the word "academy". While reading up on its etymology, I found that the word has a pretty straight forward history. There was a famous Athenian from the ancient Greek Trojan War tales named Akademos. His name actually means "of a silent district" but that has no bearing on the meaning of the word today. He owned an estate in Athens that was the place where Plato taught his school therefore similar places were referred to as "academies".

EMPATHY: I'm imagining walking in the shoes of my favorite NHL goaltender, Dominic Hasek. Growing up as boy in Czechoslovakia behind the Iron Curtain is a difficult life. I have an aspiration to be an athlete but in my home country there are not many options. I grow up looking up to the elite hockey players of the USSR and eventually play throughout my school career. I move to a very strange country, the United States at a young age and must adjust to a whole new culture. I eventually earn fame and money on my way to having a very successful career in the NHL and going on to win the Stanley Cup.

If Dominic Hasek grew up in my shoes, I believe his life would be very different. In my hometown and in my schools growing up, hockey was not a popular sport and there are not many opportunities to play. He would probably begin to play roller hockey and be very successful at a very low level, probably going on to playing ice hockey in high school, then eventually playing in the NCAA during college before most likely starting a successful NHL career at a later age than he did in his real life.

Light House Balloon (Brain Bank 7/31)

This is a picture taken by photographer named Ilamo Ibai Acevedo. This photograph was taken as is without any type of manipulation taking place. I am inspired by the ability of photographers to snap a moment that is simply amazing without the need to alter it in some way using photoshop or other techniques. What I love about this photograph is that it feels like it's telling a story, it almost makes you imagine that balloon drifting slowly toward the right, traveling with the rays of light emitted by that lighthouse. I also really love the colors. This photograph was taken at a perfect time of day.

Bokeh Photography (Brain Bank 7/30)

This photograph is an example of Bokeh Photography. This is an un-manipulated photograph that uses depth of field in very interesting ways. Bokeh is a Japanese word meaning "blur" or "haze". Bokeh photographs use this manipulation of focus and depth of field to combine blurry and sharp elements into a new unique image. What I love about these images is the creativity and ingenuity. It takes a lot of foresight and imagination to look at an object and its surroundings and think of what that might look like if photographed using the Bokeh method.

Bus Ad (Brain Bank 7/29)

This is an advertisement found on a bus somewhere in Asia. I'm not sure what the ad is for, but I believe it is very effective in the country it's in. I think one of the most important things an advertisement does is get the attention of its audience. In order for it to do this it needs to be entertaining. This advertisement is really entertaining to me. I think that it is so creative and ingenious. This advertisement will definitely turn heads and have people looking long enough for it to be effective.

Couch Image (Brain Bank 7/28)

This is a picture that I took of a smudge on my couch. My couch is made up of that kind of material that if you rub it in a certain direction, you can add marks to it that can be erased by rubbing in the opposite direction. This smudge of marks appeared tonight after I stood up. My girlfriend noticed that it looks like the profile of a man (a la Alfred Hitchcock) sideways with the front of his face pointing down. I really love when accidental things like this can turn into a cool image. I like to look for neat images hidden inside other patterns and images.

Invisible Hotel (Brain Bank 7/27)

This is a photograph of an invisible treehouse located deep in the natural forests some 40 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Sweden. It's not actually invisible, this is a room sized mirrored cube that seems to be virtually invisible because it reflects the trees and skies around it. Inside the cube is an eco-friendly hotel room that one can stay at. I love this idea because it is just so unique. Also, the idea of invisibility is just such a cool concept to me and this hotel seems to really capture the essence of that idea.

Take Inventory of Skills

List of skills required for my field of work: technical mastery in various programs such as photoshop, illustrator, after effects, dreamweaver, flash, soundboard, maya, unity, and many other programs, hard work ethic, organization skills, creativity, interpersonal skills, perseverance, charisma, design, time management, composition, to name a few. Of these skills, I believe that I have an intermediate technical mastery of certain programs like photoshop, illustrator, dreamweaver, and flash, organizational skills, creativity, perseverance, design, and composition. Some other skills that I have are good strategic abilities that I may be able to use in dealing with handling my time or resources on a given project, my stamina while doing exhaustive tasks that could help me while I'm spending all night or any significant length of time working on a certain project, and my ability to delegate work to people based on their individual skill set, which could come in handy if I'm in a position of leadership and delegation is an important responsibility of any good leader.

MQ

1. Visual: I saw a few clouds just now that had some images hidden inside them. Some of the things that I saw inside those clouds are a wolf's head, a key, a hammer, and a few other animals like a rabbit, a dog, and a giraffe.
2. Aural: I was standing beside the SEPTA tracks listening to the trains driving along the tracks. It makes a very loud clicking sound that reminds me of a gear turning in a factory. This rhythmic sound makes me think of a chant being performed by monks or lamas or something like that. I imagine someone in a yoga position repeating a rhythmic chant over and over again.
3. Faith: I'm thinking of the superstitious saying "knocking on wood" when not wanting to jinx a situation. Obviously it always brings to mind a fist knocking on a piece of wood like a block of 2"x4". But one image that this always brings to mind is one of my hockey team and our games. I think this is so because my friend (who is on my team) and I always use that phrase when we're talking about upcoming games as to not jinx our performance.
4. Curating: Two works of fine art that I'm very fond of are "Mystery and Melancholy on a Street" by Giorgio de Chirico and "Composition X" by Wassily Kandinsky. Some connections that I can definitely make between these two paintings are certain colors and shapes. They have very geometric shapes and share some dark colors in common. Another connection can be made is the style in which these paintings were made. Both are very abstract in the way they're made. De Chirico's work is similar to real world structures, but it is still a very surreal and abstract work and Kandinsky's work is just plain abstract from start to finish.
   

Spinal Tap - 5 Favorite Creative Works

Here is a list of my 5 favorite creative works:

1. Mystery and Melancholy of a Street by Giorgio de Chirico. What I love about this painting is the dark and mysterious mood created by the artist. He is able to create such a sense of suspense and terror just by altering the mood of the environment and including a few shadows. I believe he wanted to keep this painting very surreal and minimalistic and yet make the suspense and terror obvious to anyone who looks at the painting. These visuals and environment don't actually exist in the real world, but people viewing this painting probably feel as if this painting spells danger around the next turn.
   
2. The Dark Tower series of novels by Stephen King. This series epitomizes storytelling. He is able to take elements from so many different genres and make them meld together in such an odd way that seems completely believable and heartfelt. It is so obvious that this entire story is a labor of love. King wanted to tell a story of such an enormous magnitude but make it still relateable and unique for his audience and that definitely occurs.
   
3. The Back to the Future movie trilogy written and directed by Robert Zemeckis. This series of movies is so original and creative, I have never seen a film about time travel that really captures all of the tribulations and consequences as perfectly as this movie. I think the creators of this movie wanted to take time travel so seriously and yet have such a lighthearted mood about it. They wanted to make the story not entirely to be taken seriously and yet still offer such a compelling and heartfelt tale.
   
4. Zak McKraken and the Alien Mindbenders classic computer game by LucasArts. I played this game many times during my childhood I love so many things about it. There is no game like this one. It offered an open story that allows the player to travel all around its universe at their leisure before that was a common concept in video games. It also contains some of the wackiest characters, settings, and situations you'll ever see in a video game. I believe the creators wanted to create a compelling game with really crazy scenarios and they succeeded.
5. The Falling Water house by Frank Lloyd Wright. This is a house that was designed by the great architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It is built in a remote area with a waterfall built on top of it so there is a constant stream of water flowing off the house. I think that Wright wanted to create a structure that could exist as part of the natural scenery as opposed to being something so obviously man-made sticking out like a sore thumb.. and at the same time build a house that is livable and could be a comfortable home, and I think he was really successful in melding those two concepts together.
   

A Song's Story

This piece of music reminds me of a gangster story like Reservoir Dogs or something like that. There is a peaceful conversation at first, but there is something underlying that you can't put your finger on. The conversation would be between leaders of rival gangs or mobs who are in some type of negotiations. As the song picks up, I feel like that is the point where negotiations go south and a fight or shoot out occurs. When I hear a piece of music like this my mind automatically jumps to juxtapositions between tone of music and tone of story, so whereas the song is upbeat and uptempo, I feel like it is hiding something dark and scary like a gang-related fight or massacre. At the end when the song becomes slow and peaceful again, the battle is over and the prevailing gang is picking up the pieces and walking slowly out of the place, which is probably an Italian restaurant or something like that. I feel that a song like this is so upbeat and optimistic that it just HAS to be hiding some sort of dark, scary secret. There is something sinister sounding about the lower portion of the melody that seems to be lying dormant behind the pretty, beautiful of the higher melody.

Turtle Hatchings (Brain Bank 7/26)

My girlfriend showed me this photograph this evening. From a photography standpoint, I really love this photograph. At first, it's hard to discern what the subject of the photograph is, then you slowly realize that it's a bunch of newly hatched turtles crawling on a beach. I really love the dark colored turtles and seaweed against the very light colored sand. I also really love the depth of field used in this photograph. I also really enjoy the subject matter itself. I love the thought of all of these newly hatched turtles crawling toward the ocean and starting their lives.

Chapter 24: The Three B's

The problem I chose to solve with this exercise is "I need a story to use in the children's book for my nephew." This morning, I woke up at 9 and spent the rest of the morning reading and researching sources on the internet about coming up with story ideas for children's books. I spend hours just reading and researching and adding knowledge to my brain. I took a nap for about 3 hours to incubate this knowledge. Upon waking up, I immediately wrote down three ideas that I find to be very good ideas for this story.

I really enjoyed this exercise because I found that it gives you a great opportunity to allow your brain to do the work and come up with a solution for you. I did this exercise in my bed as I woke up in the morning, then I came up with my ideas again in my bed.

ComicCon (Brain Bank 7/25)

Years ago, video games and anything associated with Marvel or any kind of comic books were
seen to be the “dorky” things to be into. Now, it’s a well known fact that most people enjoy these
kinds of entertainment. Today, my inspiration is Comic Con 2010. People dress up, have fun,
and showcase their new ideas at one huge convention. Every one waits in excitement as new
games are revealed and the newest movies are showcased. Comic Con is so renowned that
not only those at the convention, but those waiting at home are glued to their TVs and computer screens for information from the convention. At the actual convention site, there are sculpture artists, comic book artists, TV show stars, and almost anything you can imagine. That’s what is so inspiring about Comic Con. It’s all based from the imaginations of millions around the world, and those appreciating it.

Chapter 9: SCAMPER

I am doing this exercise about my problem: "Creating a children's book for my nephew"

1. Substitute: What can be substituted for a children's book in this problem? I could substitute an animated cartoon or a children's comic book for a traditional children's book.
2. Combine: What ideas can be combined? Instead of a children's book or a cartoon, I could make a children's book that still interacts, like a popup book.
3. Adapt: Whom could I emulate? I can emulate classic children's writers like Dr Seuss or Shel Silverstien.
4. Magnify: Can it be made enormous? I can make this book really big, the size of my nephew.
5. Modify: Can there be a new twist? Instead of a single book, I can make it a series of books with continuing storylines.
6. Put it to good use: What else can it be used for? I can re-create this for other children or sell it as a children's book.
7. Eliminate: What should I omit? I can make the style of the art and storytelling very minimalistic.
8. Rearrange: What components can be interchanged? I can change the order in which I create the story and create characters, I can write the story with no characters in mind and just create them as I go along.
   
9. Reverse: Can I do this backwards? Instead of writing it linearly, I can write it ending-beginning.

This exercise was very helpful. It helped me find different solutions to individual parts of my problem instead of finding a solution as a whole. I did this exercise in my kitchen. The lighting was very good, fluorescent and natural light from the window. My seat was a metal folding chair, cold and hard. I'd say this environment isn't very conducive to creativity.

GoogleDoodle (Brain Bank 7/24)

When you go to www.google.com one of the more popular search engines on the internet, sometimes you find that the Google title known as the “Google Doodle” is decorated. Today’s Google Doodle was in commemoration of Alphonse Mucha’s 150 birthday. Today this especially caught my eye because the “Doodle” was so well thought out and beautiful in coordination to Mucha’s artwork. If you scroll your cursor over a box appears and informs you of Alphonse Mucha’s 150^th birthday. If you click on the Doodle, you are sent to a link with information on Alphonse Mucha. All doodles have a commemoration. It inspired me because something so simple, and with the scroll of a cursor can enlighten millions of people during their busy search of the day. I always look forward to what Google has to show us with their Doodles.

Mortal Kombat (Brain Bank 7/22)

This is a still image screen shot of an animated video about fatalities from the old video game, Mortal Kombat. I am a huge fan of art that remediates classic video games. I get a lot of enjoyment and entertainment by looking at these animations and images that bear similarities of classic video games. Another thing that I really like about this animation is the way it was animated. It's animated using stop-motion images of cut-out construction paper.

8 Bit Art (Brain Bank 7/21)

These are a pair of painting from an annual art exhibition called I Am 8 Bit. This exhibition has been going on for several years now and it showcases visual art by many artists. The underlying theme of all the artwork at this exhibition is that of classic video games from the 8bit era. I really enjoyed these two panels. I always find myself admiring art about classic video games and these particular panels are just visually stunning. I love the stylization of these illustration-like paintings.