blah post
Sorry this is such a blah post… been busy, but not as creative as I’d like. Hmm.. maybe I need to find some creative ways to sneak in more creative time… in just the every day things.
I wanted to post *something*, so here’s something…
I finally settled on a design for my business cards (for the time being). I have a terrible time designing for myself for some reason - it’s easier when I do it for other people. Anyway, so I did that and ordered the cards, and they came this week. I’m quite happy with them. The color is a little different than I expected, but that’s good to know. I had them printed on a paper with a matte silk laminate - they are awfully smooth and buttery (irresistable). I also had a spot UV - basically, part of the design printed in clear gloss on top of the matte…. so, the white lines on the funky globs is also in shiny. On the back, I had spot UV of the globs (filled, not just the outlines) printed over the stripes. It looks good, but I still view it as a learning experience, and am excited for the next time to see what I can do.
I also threw in Rich’s business card, which I had done several months ago. Very simple and to the point. Just what he needs to help him visualize himself as a writer/author.
I’m including a photo of Kael’s birthday cake - yes, I recycled the candles from Hana’s - but they’re so fun!! (and I needed to offset the white frosting). The cake is homemade, but it didn’t make as much as I thought (only one round pan), so it’s small. He didn’t mind. The important thing is the frosting - Kael can’t eat any frosting with traditional powdered sugar - it makes him sick. Last time, I made a 7-minute frosting which used sugar instead. But, this time, I used *homemade* powdered sugar. I ground up some natural sugar with my grain mill, and then I added a little tapioca starch flour in place of the corn starch that typical powdered sugar contains. It came out pretty good. It tastes fine, and the consistency was good, in that it got stiff like regular powdered sugar, BUT, my grinder doesn’t do super fine grinding, so it was slightly grainy. No one seemed to mind (except maybe me). But, at least we have another option for frosting. Yay!
Creativity Question: Do you pile up a lot of “tomorrow’s”? Prof. Harrold Hill (The Music Man), tells Marian (the Librarian), “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”
This is something I do too often, and I’m trying to get better at NOT piling up the tomorrows… any suggestions, stories, etc? A little inspiration goes a long way for me (until I put it off until tomorrow).
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:52 am
Not sure if you were asking about procrastination or deferred happiness, although I have trouble with both.
For me, the important thing is not to overvalue the tomorrows at the expense of the things I’ve achieved today. I find myself thinking I’ll be happy when … I finish my thesis/I get accepted to a PhD program/my kids are all potty-trained/I finally get my basement clean/whatever … it’s not true, of course. If I achieved all those things, I’d find some other reason why I couldn’t be happy until (whatever - fill in the blank). I have to stop and remind myself to feel a sense of accomplishment in the things that I have achieved.
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Tave, I think he (Prof. Hill) meant not to miss out on the things going on right now in your life - people, opportunities, etc, saying that you’ll get to them “tomorrow”… I’ll follow my dream “tomorrow”, I’ll submit my writing for publishing “next year” etc… (of course we can’t do EVERYTHING right now, but we should be working toward it instead of waiting until we catch up to it, which likely won’t happen on its own).
But I know what you mean -and I do that too sometimes - playing the, “I’ll be happy when…” game. I’ve been doing better about that lately. “The Artist’s Way” has helped a lot, and so has “The Secret”, and my husband has helped tremendously with his consistent encouragement. And I return the favor to him with his writing/education pursuits.