Ahoy! (or how to answer a phone)

If Alexander Graham Bell had had his way, we'd be answering our iPhones like sailors, and shouting, "AHOY!"

If only it had caught on.

Thomas Edison, his competitor, preferred Hello.

Thomas Edison on the phone, August 31, 1914

Apparently there was this How To section in early telephone books and it recommended "Hello" (except it called it "a hearty 'hulloa' ") which is why Hello caught on and not AHOY. But then again, that same how to section recommended "That is all!" rather than goodbye and look how far that got.

Of course in The Simpsons, Mr Burns is usually heard answering the phone with"Ahoy-hoy" which is another interesting fact.

And speaking of interesting facts, I just discovered: English is the only language where the proper greeting for the phone has now become the proper one for a face-face greeting.

OK you'll be relieved to know...

THAT IS ALL!

 

To be creative 1st create an Oasis of Quiet

What Cleese says is so practical and true. It's all about how to be playful."Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating."

We need:
--quiet space, undisturbed (locality: secluded)
--for a specific period of time (duration: limited)

what are your tips and tricks for inspiring creativity?

We have to work to get play back into our lives.

Breaking Free: Improvisation, Writing, Denyse Schmidt

I had never quilted in my life and here I am going to an improvisational quilting workshop run by possibly quilting's biggest star--Denyse Schmidt. 

 

What was I thinking? 

 

Well, Denyse is my dear friend, and she said it would be great for anyone not just sewers or quilters. Neither of which I am.

Most workshops you go to to learn something right? Not this one. You unlearn. And that's what makes it so great.

And it's also what makes it an amazing workshop for writers--or anyone in a creative field. Because it's all about freeing yourself from "the rules" -- "the right way" to do something, "the wrong way" to do it -- freeing yourself from all the second-guessing... breaking free of habits and fears. It's about discovering, exploring, experimenting. And most of all trust. Not knowing what is going to happen next. 

In short, this workshop is all about unlearning. And it's fabulous. 

(Time Out write an article about the workshops: here)

There were three bags of scraps to choose from: small pieces, medium pieces, large pieces. One at a time we chose a piece blindly and sewed it to the next piece we drew out of the bag.

The only rules:

--you have to use what you grab, even if you hate the color and you are certain it will ruin everything

--you have to choose the path of least resistance (don't get fancy--match the piece to the other piece the obvious way)

the sewing machines we used:

It was exhilarating because you were not "in control" and you didn't know what would happen next. But miraculously, by the end of the class, we'd each sewn 5 or 6 squares... and they were all of them stunning. The pieces of material you hated because essential to the design. It all worked. 

Here is what I ended up with, my four squares...

This workshop is a wonderful way to get unstuck, to remember what it's like to play--and then come back to your writing or your art with the same playfulness and trust and discovery.

Thank you Denyse!

To sign up for Denyse's class you can here.

Here are some photos I took... Here's where Denyse sews 

and all her lovely pins

and her inspiration wall (complete with British war poster)

her cool filing cabinets

cool material (everywhere you look is beautiful!)

are you a writer... or an author?

"Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it."

Collette

Rules for Writing

"These are the rules I've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I'm writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what's taking place in the story" Elmore Leonard.

some favorite quotes from Elmore Leonard:

Style is the sound of the writing. 

Writing is rewriting.

It takes me 4 pages of writing to get 1 page I like.

It gets harder.

and another he quotes:

Words can get in the way of what you're trying to say. Joseph Conrad.

Becoming a writer: choose? or chosen?

"Becoming a writer is not a 'career decision' like becoming a doctor or a policeman. You don't choose it so much as get chosen, and once you accept the fact that you're not fit for anything else, you have to be prepared to walk a long, hard road for the rest of your days." Paul Auster (b.1947)

Brands narrated by a 5 year old

Blessed Tree