Category: creativity
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Startups Are Enjoyable Work and Pain
Startups are not fun, they are stressful and quick-moving but they come about from a necessity to DO MORE and that is what makes them so enjoyable. A successful startup is building on an amazing number of failures, of dumb ideas and fitful nights obsessing over tiny details. Learning to manage time and duties, finding out […]
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Colson Whitehead’s Rules for Writing
The art of writing can be reduced to a few simple rules. I share them with you now. Rule No. 1: Show and Tell. Most people say, “Show, don’t tell,” but I stand by Show and Tell, because when writers put their work out into the world, they’re like kids bringing their broken unicorns and chewed-up […]
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Favorite: Mystery! Opening Sequence by Edward Gorey
Edward Gorey, my favorite illustrator, introduced me to the hilarity and sadness of death through his opening sequence for “Mystery!” on PBS. I forgot about him for a long time until I came across one of his books at Chapel Hill Comics. Gorey’s filled his intricate illustrated stories with death, both accidental and intentional, dark humor, […]
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Garden Tower
Boutique of Hong Kong has designed The Canopy, a building that integrates a garden into each of the 54 apartments. The website doesn’t say much about the rest of the building specs but I’d hope that a design which placed greenery at the forefront will be mindful of its impact on the environment.
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An Exercise in Gender Awareness
I read a few articles in the New York Times using a Chrome extension called Jailbreak the Patriarchy and found it empowering and revealing. It functions to swaps gender-specific words on any webpage to it’s opposite. For example, “he used his sister’s computer” is switched to “she used her brother’s computer”. From a gender-swapped perspective, never have so […]
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My first SketchUp!
..and now presenting, sketchup #001, Table #01 I downloaded it a few days ago (free from Google), watched a few tutorials and made a table last night! It stands at 6’6″ x 1’6″ x 3’3″. Not too bad for my first try, if I say so myself.
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Mc SuperSized – McDonald’s Commentary
This debuted back in ’09 but seeing how McDonalds sales are increasing it is (sadly) still relevant. Ron English (the artist) is a subversive genius and his commentary on consumerist culture is spot-on. It’s creepier in color and the extended right pinky is a great touch. Let’s see Wendy and Colonel Sanders next… The OG – Ron […]
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Readlists & Readability: create better reading experiences
I stumbled across readlists.com and readability.com, two apps that allow you to save articles for later, store and share collections of articles, sync articles across devices and create a better web-based reading experience. Readlists stores articles and allows you to create reading lists to save or share and readability has apps to make your reading […]
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Thoughts on Digital Photography
A photographer once told me, “not everyone who owns a piano is a pianist”. With the rise of digital photography the number of horrendous pictures of pets and food on social networking sites has increased exponentially. The excitement and anxiety of opening the 24 pack of developed pictures from the Kodak store has been replaced by instantaneously accepting […]
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Vonnegut’s Tips on Writing a Great Story
Vonnegut has been one of my favorite writers since I was a child, his non-linear and fantastical stories always captured my imagination and his straightforward cadence and sobering realizations wizened me, as did Kilgore Trout. After leaving Indiana, I realized how the Midwest had shaped both of us (Vonnegut was also a Hoosier). Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Tips on How to […]
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LEGOS!
Rainy days are always good for building something. I have this set at home but won’t be following the instructions — gotta update for new technology. Will show pictures of modified ship later. Black Seas Barracuda #6285 – gifted to me in 1993.
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Using Green Roofs to Build a Better City
An architect in New York City wants to build mountains for skiing and hiking on top of big box stores, which I think is a great idea although rife with problems. I think the unused space on top of these mammoth buildings can be utilized for better purposes than HVAC systems and gravel. In some […]
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American Interference
It is amazing to see how much the government has interfered with the politics of other countries – and this only documents interventions since either 1939 or 1945 (start and end dates of WWII). A few summers ago I made a chart of wars the United States has been involved in since 1776 along […]
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Public Art in Switzerland
Each year artists are allowed to use public space in the village of Vercorin as their canvas. This is a great way to get the public to interact with their public spaces and bring color and new perspectives to the village. Lang/Baumann’s Street Painting #5 Felice Varini, Cercle et suite d’éclats, Summer 2008 http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/?s=vercorin
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Lesson Plan
Perhaps we could endeavor to teach our future the following: How to focus intently on a problem until it’s solved. The benefit of postponing short-term satisfaction in exchange for long-term success. How to read critically. The power of being able to lead groups of peers without receiving clear delegated authority. An understanding of the extraordinary […]
Catherine R. Hofmann 