New ideas are nothing more than the remixing of old ideas. There is nothing new under the sun but new combinations are everywhere.
Ryan Davison
Smug Acquisition
I was full of hope when SmugMug bought Flickr earlier this year. I’ve used the Flickr platform for several years. As a place to store and display photos, it’s great. But it did seem a little stodgy and old.
I thought the SmugMug purchase might spruce the site up and excite people to reconsider it as a visual social media destination. I don’t know the Flickr numbers but I haven’t read anything about a resurgence in use so I assume one hasn’t happened.
Instead of any apparent optimizations to the site, Flickr has now decided to limit free accounts to 1000 photos and videos. Now, 1000 is pretty good and I’m nowhere near that number of photos on the site. But for SmugMug to come in and start taking away what users have been used to in the past seems like a bad decision. Now, all over the Flickr site I’m getting ads for the platform’s paid “pro” subscription.
A Two Minute Poem
I was bored the other day and was trying to get myself to do something; anything! I decided to give myself two minutes to write a poem. It didn’t matter how short or unrefined it was (good thing). It was only important that I wrote something.
What I came up with probably should have only taken one minute. It’s short, circular and has no deep meaning. But it felt good to accomplish something anyway.
I have two minutes
To call the muse
And have her show me verse.
So any lines
I here put down
Must naturally be terse.
Fall Morning Overlook
A chilly morning hike led me to this overlook which revealed beautful Fall colors. My expectation of a beautiful sunrise was fulfilled.
Dark Sunrise
Red Sky in the morning, sailor take warning.
Creative Maintenance
Most of the creative People I know love to do what the title implies and create things. They want to ideate, design and build. Like me, theycringe at the thought of having to maintain legacy entities.
As a programmer, I love designing algorithms, functions and modules. I love solving problems and deploying solutions. But once a program is built, it has to be maintained. That stinks.
Unfortunately, maintenance is a part of life. Everything breaks down. Therefore, everything needs some degree of care. The mower needs repaired, your body needs exercised, cars need their oil changed and clients need follow-up calls.
Like many, I’ve been guilty of viewing maintenance as a boring, thankless task that I don’t want to do. But over time, I’ve come to realize that not only is it essential but it can be fun too.
Creativity doesn’t have to stop at creation. Maintaining your brain child doesn’t have to be boring. If you’re truly creative, you need to figure out a way to bring that creativity to your maintenance duties. Programmers have this built-in. They can write test programs that run every time something in the code changes. If the changes have broken something, the tests point to the culprit.
In the world of geographic information systems (GIS) you often find yourself processing and analyzing ever changing data over and over again. Many GIS analysts solve these maintenance problems by learning Python or other languages and automating the tasks.
What about non-technical fields like sales? A salesman might secure a sale to a new client but the real money is in future sales to the same client. That salesman has to maintain the relationship indefinitely. But that doesn’t have to mean bland monthly emails or phone calls. There are lots of ways to keep contact with someone. Engage them on social media, write a poem for them or invite them to an even. Use your imagination.
Creative people have an advantage in their work. They can make life fun by bringing their talent to bear in all situations. Maintaining things that are already built is a challenge for them to go beyond the initial build and perpetually create.
Seeing the Spectacular
Sometimes, if you look very closely at the commonplace or mundane, you end up seeing the spectacular.
A Spider’s Gotta Eat
I found this guy taking his time and enjoying lunch. I don’t think he trusted me though because he kept four eyes on me the whole time.
Universal Art
Most tissue boxes have patterns printed
with wavy lines, paisleys, arcs or dots.
And colors ranging from simple to gaudy.
But few are perfect for my home and
why should they be? I mean,
unless every box had an infinite palate
and a nuclear skin that could explode
into every shape imaginable how
could the tissue box artist know
what I need out of tissue box art?
There is no universal art in
my universe, that is to say I
have never found it so. But
I usually get lucky and
find a tissue box that works
well enough with my décor.
The Bs Have It
