Archived Editions of Chromatic Musings

Good and bad procrasination

Some good thoughts on what it means to procrastinate:

Most people who write about procrastination write about how to cure it. But this is, strictly speaking, impossible. There are an infinite number of things you could be doing. No matter what you work on, you're not working on everything else. So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well.

There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important. That last type, I'd argue, is good procrastination. ...

Errands are so effective at killing great projects that a lot of people use them for that purpose. Someone who has decided to write a novel, for example, will suddenly find that the house needs cleaning. People who fail to write novels don't do it by sitting in front of a blank page for days without writing anything. They do it by feeding the cat, going out to buy something they need for their apartment, meeting a friend for coffee, checking email. "I don't have time to work," they say. And they don't; they've made sure of that.

I know that I've had many a good song fade off into the void because I had to clean the kitchen or change the oil in my car.

Thanks to Paul for the tip.

How companies got their name

Mostlly tech companies, but there you go.

Where I come from

It's not quite like this, but it's a good laugh anyway.

Thanks to Mark for the tip.

Feelin' a bit chicken, are ya?

Looking for a quick way to break up with someone and not have to deal with that whole messy emotional thing? Here's your way out.

The 80/20 way

Everyone's heard the old saw about the 80/20 rule (also known as the Pareto principle). You know, "80% of _____ comes from 20% of the ______". Richard Koch comes up with a way to apply it to life in general.

Businesses have known for a long time that they can improve their position enormously by concentrating on the key 20 percent of activities. But why can’t people do the same? It turns out that we can. We can make our lives enormously better by doing less. The secret is not to do less of everything, but to do less of the great majority of things we do that don’t work very well for us. And to do more of the very few things that do deliver what we want.

The answer is focus. In every area of our life, we can work out the few things that are really important to us, and the few methods that give us what we want. We can divide everything around us, and everything we do, into two piles.

There is the big pile, the 80 percent pile, that takes a lot of energy but delivers pitiful results, sometimes even making things worse. That is the mass of trivia that surrounds us and normally engulfs our life. We can call this big chuck of our lives the trivial many. Then, there is the small but vital 20 percent pile, which comprises the few things that work brilliantly.

The article dips into semi-useless self help blather, but there are some nuggets of worth there. And some of those can be directly applied to music.

Take a studio situation as an example (it's fresh on my mind right about now). Rather than spending lots and lots of time (and money) chasing that elusive single note, work on getting most things right (the first 80%). Once that's done, take a second round and improve the first 80% of what you find. Repeat until you can't take it anymore.

Learning from mistakes

A good essay about learning from mistakes.

Learning from mistakes requires three things:

1. Putting yourself in situations where you can make interesting mistakes
2. Having the self-confidence to admit to them
3. Being courageous about making changes

I could have used this over the weekend.

What not to wear

A whole website dedicated to people who can't quite match their ensemble to their environment.

The cruddy awards

Who, oh who, will win the Tournament of Exs?

Thanks to Lindsey for the tip.

13 things in science that do not make sense

From New Scientist

1. The placebo effect
2. The horizon problem
3. Ultra-energetic cosmic rays
4. Homeopathy results
5. Dark matter
6. Viking's methane
7. Tetraneutrons
8. The Pioneer anomaly
9. Dark energy
10. The Kuiper cliff
11. The Wow singnal

Thanks to Rex for the tip.

A clock for people like me

I like to sleep. A lot. So much so that I can remember crawling down out of my college loft, walking across a room, hitting the snooze button and then crawling back up into the loft, all for that extra eight minutes of sleep.

This is the sort of alarm clock that I need.

Phone phun

I'm considering getting a new cell phone. I haven't decided as to whether not I'm going to transfer my old phone number over or not. In any case, I can always use PhoneSpell or PhoNETic to see if my number spells out a nifty word. I'm going to guess that 703/555-BASS is already taken...

How to edit photos

Some good tips on how to be a better editor with your own photography.

Thanks to Jason for the tip.

Running pies, keeping score

Be nice to your pizza guy. Trust me on this one, I used to run pies in college.

[The pizza guy] knows more about you than you will ever know about him. There are the tangibles: your name, your address, your phone number. And there are the countless intangibles. If he has worked in the racket for a few years--and a decade's labor on the pizza road is not so unusual--he has glimpsed the insides of thousands of homes and apartments. He has borne witness to unimaginable squalor. He has breathed in the stink from your unemptied garbage and your beige urine-soaked carpets. He has gawked at the regal excess of your Lake of the Isles mansion. He has made countless numbing visits to your bleak, ill-lit shithole apartment. He has even caught the scent of the hydroponic marijuana you furtively cultivate under grow lights in the basement.

You should know this: If you stiff the pizza man, he will hate you. There are Nazis. There are baby rapists. And there is that vast class of indifferent, callous swine who stiff the pizza man. Same shit, different name. On the other hand, if you do him up right--prompt exchange, $5 tip--the pizza man will sing your praises to his fellow drivers. If you tip him extravagantly--say, $20 or more on a large order--he will personally arrange an audience with the pope to make the case for your beatification. To the pizza man, the tip is the thing.

Ice Skating

Tonight, I tried my hand at ice skating for the first time ever. I did okay (in that I didn't fall down once. Came pretty darn close a few times, but never actually all the way fell). If you live in DC, I'd recommend it. It's on the Mall, just across from the National Archives (Constitition and 9).

Tattoos of crazy diarrhea

I'm sure you've seen some of the same things that I have seen -- a rash of people with Kanji tattoos in various places on their bodies. So, a site like this is just perfect. Tian translates the Kanji (or Hanzi, depending on the script) into what it actually does -- or does not -- say.

Thanks to Xeni for the tip.

But really, I don't want anything....

Have you ever been with someone who has uttered those fateful words, "Really, I don't want anything for Valentine's Day/my birthday/Christmas/pick-your-favorite"? Only to have them get mad when you take them at their word?

I know, this is all part of a game -- he/she dosen't really mean they don't want anything; rather, they're hoping that you'll perform a vulcan mind meld and be able to automagically determine what they actually did want, just without the whole telling you part. And I know it's supposed to be romantic that your partner will just know you that well that you'll be able to pick out the perfect gift from your soulmate connection.

I had an epiphany over the weekend. I was working at a client site when a young kid in the shop was talking about his first girlfriend. They had been dating for about eight months. The topic of conversation was what the involved people were going to do with their partners for Valentine's Day. He said, "I'm not going to do anything; my girlfriend told me that she didn't want anything for Valentine's Day."

After we all finished laughing and wiping the tears away from our faces, we explained to him the rules of the road. A suggestion was made to "go out and pick up some flowers and something small, then give it to her, saying 'I know that you said you didn't want anything, hon, but I just felt that someone like you needed a little something just for being special.' ".

I, for one, am a bit tired of this routine. A few years ago, a woman (that I was dating at the time) told me that she didn't want anything for Valentine's Day. So, as we got ready for bed that night, she turned to me and said, "So, you really didn't get me anything for Valentine's Day?"

"Actually, no. I didn't," I responded.

"Why ever not?" she asked of me, starting to get a little wound up (did I mention that we were starting to fight a lot during the preceding month?).

"Because you told me that you didn't want anything. Apparently, I was foolish enough to think that you were telling me the truth. Had I known that you were lying to me, I would have chosen a different course of action."

Things went downhill from there.

I seem to recall saying "I just assumed that the same woman who tells me that she loves me very day wasn't particularly going to lie to me. Silly f-in' me."

As a side note, we broke up about two or three months later for unrelated reasons.

So, why do we do this? And I do mean we; I know men and women who say they don't want anything when they really do. Is it some kind of attempt at demureness and modesty? What's wrong with just being honest about what you want.

Try it with me: "Honey, I love you. If you want to get me something for Valentine's Day, some flowers would be nice. Or some chocolates." Or even something like "If you want to get me something on Feb 14, that'd be swell." Heck, anything other than a balant falsehood.

"I don't want anything for Valentine's Day." Then don't be surprised when you get exactly what you ask for.

Except you, snookums. I got you flowers just for being special.

-- Update --
Lynn has some thoughts along the same lines.

And now for some complete geekiness

How to write your name in Elvish. You know, like the Lord of the Rings.

God, I'm a nerd.

Yet another reason to be proud of Virginia

Clearly, all other crime has been beaten, so what's left to work on other than banning low-rise jeans.

Thanks to Warren for the tip.

Ethnic restaurants in DC

A list for all things ethnic in DC (at least, when it comes to food). Lots of good places on here: some that I've been to quite a few times, others that I've heard of, still more that I'd like to explore.

I am officially old

I saw this article asking if you would let your daughter wear this dress, and my immediate answer was "Not a chance." I think when I was in high school my answer would have been "Oh, yeah, she can wear anything she wants."

Yep, getting old now. Dammit.

Thanks (I think) to Max for reminding me of my impending mortality. Oh, and that whole tip thing, too.

This can't be real

This video clip shows a group of men throwing a woman up in the air, she does a flip and then comes down through a basketball goal.

Someone please tell me what the trick is, because this just ain't possible.

Thanks to Jason for the tip.

Some odd architecture

Complete with pictures and other details, this site lists some of the stranger buildings in the US.

Thanks to Ionita for the tip.

50 ways to make yourself work

While the list applies to writing prose, I'm sure that it will carry over quite nicely to other subjects.

• Lighten up on yourself. Give yourself the freedom to write when the urge strikes, and not write when you don't feel like it. That's one of the attractive things about the popular conception of the writing life, right? So enjoy it!
• Hide your wristwatch in a drawer. (Meaning: reduce your dependence on the clock. Let your inner circadian rhythms tell you when it's time to write and when it's not.)
• Carry a note pad or tape recorder with you wherever you go. Use it to record ideas as well as the actual text of stories. Make it your external memory. The idea here is to keep yourself focused on writing no matter what else you're doing.
• Don't think; just write. Keep the writing and editing processes separate. Don't worry about clumsy bits; you can fix those later. If you're writing on paper, intentionally cross out a few lines and re-write them so you won't have to worry anymore about messing up the page.

Save money on Sprint cell bills

This may or may not be all that ethical, but apparently you can get $20 off your monthly bill at Sprint every month. Feel free to try it and let me know how it goes for you...

History of Western Philosophy -- abridged

Actually, for the most part, the guy gets it right. Classics of Western Philosophy (Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, Darwin, Turing, et al), all in what amounts to Cliff Notes versions.

Tall or Not

In a further attempt to account for useless trivia, here's a handy-dandy way to compare your height to that of various famous people. Complete with a graphic, too.

Gym rules

Some good rules of thumb for those thinking of going to the gym.

For the guys:

1. Stop oogling the girls
2. Stop oogling the girls
3. Stop oogling the girls
10. Unless your name is Lee Haney, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Joe Weider, don't give unsolicited lifting advice
14. Wear a @(#*$% shirt, you (*@$% prima donna
15. To clarify: Shirts consist of a torso and sleeves.

1. Quit Encoraging The Boys.
2. No Makeup

1. Stop comparing yourself to everyone in the building.
3. Don't spit in the water fountain
7. Be curteous with "working in"
11. Don't sing along with your walkman.
13. If you take it out put it away.

There are more (natch). Amusing sometimes, but generally good advice.

Why I don't drink much. Anymore.

For some god awful reason, people seem to think, "Hey! He's drunk. Screw with him."

Thanks to Mark for the tip.

Nutso warning labels

An award given to the strange warning labels.

• First prize (worth $500) goes to the label saying on the toliet brush: "Do not use for personal hygiene."
• Second prize ($300) was for "This product moves when used" found, of course, on a child's scooter.
• Not be outdone by anyone other than the first two, third place ($100) goes to the warning label on the thermometer: "Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally." Unless you're into that sort of thing, I suppose.

Thanks to Warren for the tip.

Oh, you've gotta see this

These are some of the best outdoor photos I've seen in a long time.

Thanks to Neil for the tip.

Christmas thoughts

So, it's been a long Christmas day at my folk's place. While I got some gifts (a JamStation, a gift certificate and a DVD), the best gift I got was to spend time with my family.

My folks live about six hours away from me. Too far to drive more than once or twice a year, and in too remote a place for flying to be any better. Almost all of my extended family is in the same area (fifteen aunts and uncles, or so -- both parents grew up on farms). In a nutshell, while I'm rather close with my family, the distance doesn't help.

So, here's to hoping that everyone had an enjoyable, safe and fun holiday weekend.

Da Vinci Code lawsuit

Lately, it seems like just about everyone has read The DaVinci Code. I suppose it's the with-it, aren't-I-so-cultured book de jure, chock full of art history and architecture. Well, it seems that Mr. Brown may not have written it all himself.

...[T]here are clear links between Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Da Vinci Code, even though the latter is a novel and the former a non-fiction study of secret religious history.

It also appears the identities of Baigent and his two co-authors have provided Brown with material for his characters.

Sir Leigh Teabing is a central character in The Da Vinci Code, but that name combines Richard Leigh's surname and an anagram of Baigent, and Sir Leigh's physical description is said to be similar to The Holy Blood's third co-author, Henry Lincoln.

Thanks to David for the tip.

A piercing too far

This just hurts to look at. I have a few piercings myself, but this guy just takes the cake.

Thanks to Max for the tip.

A D&D Geek calendar

How to make a twelve sided calendar.

Cube farm pranks

Go away for a vacation, things may happen.

Thanks to Lynn for the tip.

Antidisestablishmentarianism no more!

I used to think that anti-dis was the longest word in the English language. I was wrong. 310 letters wrong, to be exact.

Some driving tips for DC

• Rain causes an immediate 50 point drop of IQ in drivers. Snow causes an immediate 100 point drop in IQ and a rush to the local supermarket for toilet paper, bread and milk. IF it might snow, schools will be closed. If it is already snowing then the bus will pick up the children and they will immediately CLOSE the schools after 8 inches of snow has fallen. All parents must leave work upon arrival to pick up their children.
• The morning rush hour is from 5 to 11 AM. The evening rush hour is from 1 to 8 PM. The lunch rush is from 11 AM to 1 PM. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning, especially during the summer on Route 50 eastbound.
• Traveling south out of DC on Interstate 395/95 is the most dangerous, scariest thing you will ever do. There is nothing more frightening than seven lanes of traffic cruising along at 75 mph, BUMPER TO BUMPER. It's not speeding, it's NASCAR time, let's DRAFT!!!
• Of course you could take the subway, known locally as The Metro. Remember that either the Orange or Red line will be shut down or single tracked due to an accident. Unless both are shut down or single tracked. This is most likely to happen during rush hour. The escalators rarely work, the elevators even more rarely. However, the trains are very clean, kept that way by highly motivated police who will not hesitate to arrest a 12 year old for eating a french fry.

Wiredog offers quite a few insights.

The Best Photos of 2004

Kind of hard to argue with some of these.

Thanks to Lynn for the tip.

Too much time on their hands

A dissection of whether or not Superman could have children.

Granted that the poor oaf is not entirely sane. How could he be? He is an orphan, a refugee, and an alien. His homeland no longer exists in any form, save for gigatons upon gigatons of dangerous, prettily colored rocks.

As a child and young adult, Kal-El must have been hard put to find an adequate father-figure. What human could control his antisocial behavior? What human would dare try to punish him? His actual, highly social behavior during this period indicates an inhuman self-restraint.

What wonder if Superman drifted gradually into schizophrenia? Torn between his human and kryptonian identities, he chose to be both, keeping his split personalities rigidly separate. A psychotic desperation is evident in his defense of his "secret identity."

But Superman's sex problems are strictly physiological, and quite real.

The purpose of this article is to point out some medical drawbacks to being a kryptonian among human beings, and to suggest possible solutions. The kryptonian humanoid must not be allowed to go the way of the pterodactyl and the passenger pigeon.

I don't know why this kind of obsessive behaviour still amazes me. I mean, Klingon is taught as a language in some schools. I just wonder what actual good -- something that might even benefit our fellow man -- is going undone because of these efforts.

It's an easy call

Go Vote tomorrow. Vote for Bush, Kerry, Mickey Mouse, whomever speaks to you and shares your values and ideals, but have your voice be heard.

If you need more info (on voting), check out JustVote or MyPollingPlace for more details. If you need more info on the candidates, check around for what you're looking for, it's surely on the Internets.

Geeky hobbies

A list of ten.

9. Role Playing Games
Public Humiliation: 63.4%
Dungeons and Dragons combines the nerdiness of a fantasy setting with the fruitiness of improvisational theatre, and as if that weren't enough for them to deal with, the rest of us think these people are going to go crazy and kill us. It's really hard for society to do more to tell you that if you play this game, you're on your own.
Damage to Sex Life: 78.0%
We weren't exactly sure on this figure, since a 78% means that there's still a 22% chance of a woman walking by role players and one of them saying, "A minotaur? Here in the Dungeon of Kajmar!? Very well, I swing my axe of axing at th- why hello there, pretty lady. My name's Twinkleberry, The Spritish Pegasus. Why, as a matter of fact I AM single."

Distinguishing Characteristics: An RPGeek either wears a black heavy metal shirt or, in tragic attempts at stylishness, a button-up shirt with a wrap-around dragon and flames.

The world's largest book

133 pounds, 5 feet tall and 7 feet wide, the book is Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingdom.

Bike trails in DC

A website listing bike trails in DC.

Well, duh

Angelina Jolie named sexist woman alive.

Early to rise...

In order to make it to Bass Player Live on time, I got up at 7am. Strangely, I was awake before the hotel staff was. Homestead Inn near the Meadowlands -- $79/night, no frills.

When I got to Manhattan, the hotel informed me that they would park my car for a mere $37.50. I opted to park down the street for $15.00. I lived in NYC, I don't know if I would own a car.

Initially, I left my Fodera in my car (I didn't want to be carrying a hard shell case around with me all day), but then my paranoia started to get to me. What if someone breaks into my car? If someone stole my laptop, or my CD player, I'd be pissed, but no big deal. If someone stole my Fodera, I'd have to use a rusty butter knife on them to get my vengence.

While I was talking with a few people, I ran into Vinnie Fodera. He was gracious enough to offer to keep my guitar at his booth during the day. Another problems solved.

A web-enabled breakup letter

Following on the heels of the powerpoint breakup, here's the web-enabled version.

T-Shirts from Real Genius

You too can have your very own t-shirts from the flick Real Genius.

Thanks to Cory for the tip.

How to identify BS science

Seven signs that point towards a steaming pile of crappola:

1. The discoverer pitches directly to the media
2. The discoverer says that a powerful establishment is trying to suppress his or her work.
3. The scientific effect involved is always at the very limit of detection.
4. Evidence for a discovery is anecdotal.
5. The discoverer says a belief is credible because it has endured for centuries.
6. The discoverer has worked in isolation.
7. The discoverer must propose new laws of nature to explain an observation.

A new twist to dating

You've heard of a wingman, right? You know, the guy who goes after the not-so-hot girl so you can make a play for the hot one? Now there's wingwomen, ladies who'll hang around you so you'll seem more attractive other women.

In the game of meeting women, it is understood that in most cases, it's the man who does all the work. Unfortunately, women have not made it any easier for men to approach them. As a result, men have learned to work together in order to increase their success rate. The solution to the male dilemma is the "Wing Man" pickup strategy, which usually has some level of success. But some women have learned to recognize the "pack" mentality and have developed reactive strategies to counteract the wingman's pickup mission. The guy's response to such female defenses is the Wingwoman. Its an amazing union that if properly applied has a 65% conversion rate. Surprised? Well you shouldn't be, and here's why the wingwoman approach is so effective:

• Domino Affect -- Women are attracted to men who have women around them more so then men who have other men around them.
• Limited Resources -- Women want what they can't have.
• Let The Games Begin -- Women are very jealous and love to compete with one another.
• Icebreakers -- Women tend to lower their defenses around men who have other women around them. Most women tend to see these men as having a seal of approval and being less hostile.

Seems a little scummy to me.

Some thoughts on car shopping

I've been spending the last few weekends shopping for a new car -- my frickin' new rig is too big for my current car (at least, if I also want to take a cabinet with me). Rev Bob has some tips on the kind of conversations owners of certain cars have:

Camaro/Firebird Forum -- "My girl slept with my brother and my wife. How can I kill 'em? btw, I have a record and I ain’t going back."

Miata Forum -- "Some redneck jackass in a Chevy Tahoe just ran over my car (pics)"

Chevy Tahoe Forum -- "Miata stuck in my undercarriage. How do I safely remove it? (pics)"

Chevy Suburban Forum -- "Is the price of gas going down anytime soon?"

Hummer Forum -- "Had a fender bender today. 24 hurt, 10 killed. Do I have to get the black touch-up paint from the dealer? He’s 25 miles away. That’s $35 in gas."

A contest I might be able to win

I probably won't enter, though. Me being in a contest for the biggest dork in DC would just end up being no contest....

Thanks to Rob for the tip.

Neato magic trick

A card trick.

Thanks to David for the tip.

A little hard on the self-esteem

Find out what some famous people accomplished when they were your age. And here I was, feeling all happy about getting out of bed this morning with only hitting the snooze alarm twice.

A house like none other

I don't have any info on this, just the photo.

-- Update --
I've been informed that domain name hosting this photo is, well, pornographic. If you don't know German, then look it up for yourself, or trust me on this one. The photo itself isn't going to get anyone in trouble, but either the domain name or anything else you might happen to find on the server might. So, on the safe side, probably Not Safe For Work.

Brutal Personals

Have you ever read online personals? You'd think that most of the people are near perfect, with sparkling wit and verve. I've been on a few dates with people met online; sometimes things work out well, other times, I'd be happy to talk fraud charges with someone over what small, um, details were left out. The good folk over at Esquire magazine have started to host what they refer to as brutally honest personals.

Here's a sample:

Paul W. -- Age: 34, Height: 6'2", Last relationship: Never, Seeking: A good-looking, intelligent woman who can overlook my physical shortcomings and teach me about love. Please hurry. I'm a 34-year-old university librarian with straight dark hair and dark-brown eyes. ...I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I'm not very good at parties; the larger the gathering, the more uncomfortable I become. I try to be witty and charming, but most of the time I'm very esoteric and hard to understand. Also, I'm a bit of a geek. I watch the X-Files religiously and, well, need I mention my comic book collection?

Good luck to you, Paul. At the very minimum, if you were to date someone from this site, you're probably not going to be let down with some skeleton in a closet.

Arguments

A website dedicated to nothing but Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About. Full of dry British humor. Don't miss such gems as

• I eat two-fingered Kit-Kats like I'd eat any other chocolate bars of that size, i.e., without feeling the need to snap them into two individual fingers first. Margret accused me of doing this, 'deliberately to annoy her'.
• Which way - the distances were identical - to drive round a circular bypass (this resulted in her kicking me in the head from the back seat as I drove along).
• She wants to paint the living room yellow. I have not the words.
• See if you can spot the difference between these two statements:
  1. "Those trousers make your backside look fat."
  2. "You're a repellently obese old hag upon whom I am compelled to heap insults and derision - depressingly far removed from the, 'stupid, squeaky, pocket-sized English women,' who make up my vast catalogue of former lovers and to whom I might as well return right now as I hate everything about you."
  Maybe the acoustics were really bad in the dining room, or something.
• Arguments. There are many arguments we have over arguments. 'Who started argument x', for example, is a old favourite that has not had its vigour dimmed by age nor its edge blunted through use. Another dependable companion is, 'I'm not arguing, I'm just talking - you're arguing,' along with its more stage-struck (in the sense that it relishes an audience - parties, visiting relatives, Parent's Evenings at school, in shops, etc.) sibling, 'Right, so we're going to get into this argument here are we?'
• .... It's that, as the exchanges switched backwards and forwards between us, there was a kind of bidding war going on with the pitch. It's not just that each one of us upped the volume a little for our turn, but that we also changed the tone by raising our voices so that our reply was about a fifth higher than the one that the other person had just used. It was like two Mariah Careys facing off - pretty quickly, we were having an argument that only dogs could hear.

This page seems to be sufficiently popular that it's also a book.

The Illuminati! Trilogy, online

The Illuminatus! Trilogy is a bona fide cult classic, written in the early 80's, it's full of, well, just about everything you'd ever think could be in a book. Now, it's online.

Breaking up via Powerpoint

A first for me; some guy end his relationship with his girlfriend using a PowerPoint presentation. As I've said before, I really detest PowerPoint.

Easy college courses

Everyone who's been through college knows about these, right? Mine was a course on running (as a member of the distance team, this wasn't a huge challenge for me, other than waking up on time). Someone has written an article on the subject.

Thanks to Max for the tip.

For those who have everything

You can get M&Ms custom printed with your own message. That'd have to be a pretty darn small message.

Ahoy mateys!

Today be Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Forgive the politics

But here's one of my rare political statements. Take the time to vote this year. If you don't like Bush or Kerry, check out one of the third party candidates.

All things considered, the US is a pretty good country. We don't have a draft, we don't have a hugely intrusive government (with exceptions here and there), all we have to do is spend some time voting once a year or so.

Find the time.

We now return to our regularly scheduled music related drivel.

Creativity like a snowflake

The article is focused on how to write a novel, but the principles quickly apply to music as well.

Step 1) Take an hour and write a one-sentence summary of your story. Something like this: "A rogue physicist travels back in time to kill the apostle Paul." (This is the summary for my first novel, Transgression.) The sentence will serve you forever as a ten-second selling tool. This is the big picture, the analog of that big starting triangle in the snowflake picture.

When you later write your book proposal, this sentence should appear very early in the proposal. It's the hook that will sell your book to your editor, to your committee, to the sales force, to bookstore owners, and ultimately to readers. So make the best one you can!

Think about this. If you are trying to get the attention of a A&R guy (or lawyer, or other music industry person), you're going to have to figure out some way to get this person's attention very quickly, standing out from the crowd in such a way that he or she would be sufficiently interested in the sales pitch to take the time to listen to the music. If you can put it into one sentence, you're halfway there.

The music industry works this way -- consider the movie pitch. A writer has about fifteen seconds to get an idea across to the producer. The one that comes to mind is the pitch for When Harry Met Sally. NPR did a story on movie pitches, and the entire selling sentence for the movie was "Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks fall in love." With that single sentence, the film was greenlighted. So, what's your single sentence for your band?

25 Tips on How To Be Creative

This is a very good list, thought provoking and a good jumping off point.

1. Ignore everybody.
2. The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to change the world.
3. Put the hours in.
4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.
5. You are responsible for your own experience.
6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
7. Keep your day job.
8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.
9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.
10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.
11. Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.
12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.
13. Never compare your inside with somebody else's outside.
14. Dying young is overrated.
15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.
16. The world is changing.
17. Merit can be bought. Passion can't.
18. Avoid the Watercooler Gang.
19. Sing in your own voice.
20. The choice of media is irrelevant.
21. Selling out is harder than it looks.
22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.
23. Worrying about "Commercial vs. Artistic" is a complete waste of time.
24. Don’t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.
25. You have to find your own schtick.

One heart attack to go, hold the mayo

The world's biggest hamburger -- all SIX Pounds(!!) of it -- can be yours for the taking. Only $23.95, and if you finish it within three hours, you get a prize.

For the record, no one has ever finished one of these.

Diaries are sick

It seems that keeping a diary may make you sicker.

Keeping a diary is bad for your health, say UK psychologists. They found that regular diarists were more likely than non-diarists to suffer from headaches, sleeplessness, digestive problems and social awkwardness.

Well, I can vouch for the awkwardness part, although I was pretty darn awkward even before I started doing this.

A girl's guide to geek guys

I'd almost say that this is overkill -- if you've ever been a woman at a computer show, you'd probably find out that geeks might not be the hardest of fishes to land.

The home of useless knowledge

All the info you ever wanted but were afraid to ask.