Excited.
Creativity vs. Stress /
There’s an idea floating around the internet put forward by Chase Jarvis, Create, Share, Sustain (also explained in a video of a presentation, here), creativity can sustain you.
From his blog:
Create. Make something. A photograph, a video, a poem, a piece of software.
Share. Send your thing out into the world. Post it to your Facebook, your blog. Tweet it. (And still share it with your mom).
Sustain. Start out by waiting tables. Or keep your day job. Or sell your spouse’s socks on ebay. Or do something out of the genre of what you want to do until you can afford not to do it. Or do all of these so that you can keep creating and sharing without requiring “permission” from anyone.
And repeat. Create. Share. Sustain. Repeat.
I don’t have any intentions to stop being a design engineer, however I probably fall under the following:
“The practice of art isn’t to make a living. It’s to make your soul grow.” ~Kurt Vonnegut via the PixelatedImage Blog
The left brain-ed, analytical, time-line driven work of an engineer doesn’t really feed the soul, or at least not mine. The above ‘poster’ was just for fun, and was something I’ve been wanting to experiment with in Photoshop for a while. Normally, I’m not a fan of Photoshop at all. I like doing minor edits in Lightroom, but I have a personal distaste for photos that are obviously [over] processed. No one else has to like the above work, but I had a lot fun skiing with Polly and seeing an idea through to finished work. The same goes for the previous post about Good Design. I like the idea of making a letterpress poster of that or something in that vein and having it around my desk for inspiration.
The process of photography, and simply taking time to do small, potentially meaningless personal projects provides a way to engage the right-brain and find a creatively positive outlet from engineering design that then refuels me to go back and work on the things that pay the bills.
So for me the Create, Share, Sustain isn’t about changing financial sustainability or changing where the finances come from as much as it is mental or emotional and having a different well to draw from.
I think its very important to have a hobby or an outlet beyond vocation that you can engage in and be passionate about doing. I like finally having a better articulation of this how and why a creative outlet is important.
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Regardless of your political leanings, I think we can agree that the current system of funding, lobbyists and money = influence is getting in the way of actually solving the problems we face.
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It was a nice long, three day weekend: Yurt trip out to the Unintas and a Ski Free After 3 day with Polly for her first ski day back post-op. The yurt was very, very nicely stocked, firewood, kindling, pots, pans, dishes, propane lantern+stove. No touring beyond the yurt to be had though, the snow pack was too shallow.
Meting snow takes a while…
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Polly skis again! /
Glad to see her skiing again!
Winter Hikes /
These are almost a week late, but last Sunday, got to go on a winter hike with Polly. It was good to get out above the inversion and breath some clean air as well as move the legs around after the tour.
Polly enjoying the fresh air.
Not something you see every day.
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Got to get out on a longer tour this Saturday and though for most of the day we were mostly up in the clouds, the sun did break through for about 10 minutes and it was an immediate moral boost! The snowpack is thin and the avy conditions very strange, but it was good to get out and above the bad air down in the city.
The full set of photos can be found on Flickr: Skiing 2010.
Nothing compares to dynamic light in the mountains.
Serenity part 1.
Serenity part 2.
The burst of light brought out smiles all around.
Skiing is fun.
Riding looks fun too.
Still Inspiring. /
The Boston Globe’s The Big Picture photoblog has some images from NASA’s recent Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Since high school I’ve felt that its unfortunate that my generation doesn’t have any well defined, well funded national goals like the moon program in its hey-day. 30 years later its still inspiring to me, despite that the collective will to accomplish something great seems to be lost to petty partisanship.
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“Being covetous of what you are not is corrosive. Enjoy the slow blossoming of your own expertise. This is the craft of developing a craft.”
from Stay Slow via http://www.theshinysea.ca/?p=567
(not related to the video below)
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Just watch this. If you’ve ever wondered about the power of good design, this answers it.
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Joe’s Valley: Bouldering in the snow. More photos to follow.
Link: That Hobby Looks Like a Lot of Work /
Interesting article about some of the people who’ve successfully created businesses on Etsy.com (a website for buying & selling homemade or crafted goods).
However, there’s a narrative/angle in the article that these self-made successes never imagined that they’d have to work as hard or as many hours as they do to maintain things. Working for yourself, working for a start-up, working for a fast-moving small company is hard and it takes a lot of work. Honestly, being any type of successful always takes loads of hard work, dedication and perseverance. Not to meantion fearlessness to strike out on one’s own.
So I’m not sure why the writer (or the people makin’ it on Etsy) thought it would ever be easy? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone who makes a living doing something they love and not having to work hard at it or for it.
Side note: Polly loves finding things on Etsy, and I’ve usually been able to find whatever its been that I was looking for her as well.
Tradition. /
This is one of ways the holidays taste:
and finished:
For me the two required tastes for the holiday season are gingerbread cookies and Springerle (a German, anise flavored cookie), looking forward to these when we’re home for Christmas this year!
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Using design and information try to solve San Francisco’s parking. Brilliant.
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TED: The Power of Storytelling
As always with the TED talks, well worth watching.
A Cold Walk /
It was as cold as this looks:
Been trying to walk more to and from work lately even if it means dealing with the cold. And bundling up in a scarf, gloves and a warm coat have made for a fun mini-tradition of unbundling when you walk inside.
These shots were all from a new lens, a 24mm ƒ/2.8 prime lens, that I’m really excited about because its small and light. I find a lot more enjoyment in “zooming with my feet” than taking a walk with a zoom lens. This lens isn’t the sharpest or fastest out there, but the idea of finding creative ways to deal with the imperfections seems more fun right now.
Thanksgiving 2009 /
We got to spend Thanksgiving day and weekend in Zion National Park this year with Polly’s whole family. Somehow all the schedules aligned and we made it work. One van-load of folks from Boise, a flight into SLC, and a car from California plus us. The amount of vertical relief that makes up Zion Canyon is incredible, the walls aren’t as tall as say El Captain in Yosemite, but the canyon walls are so much closer in. Had great time with the family.
Not the most amazing lighting, but gives scale of the place. The road is a 1000 feet down.
Polly’s hip was showing signs of recovery and she was able to hike to the top of Angel’s Landing!
Despite the hoards of people who do this hike every year, its still a really amazing summit. (More so for Polly since she did Prodigal Son up the east face). The ridge-line that makes up the last 0.5 miles is very narrow with 1000 foot drops on both sides.
The chains that make it passible for non-climbers have been there a while…
Can’t complain about the view
More Tomorrow. /
First switchbacks up the west side of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. Thanksgiving 2009.
Illuminated. /
and
iMac as only light source. Really good to pick up the camera again, just for the fun of it.