Loving...

• when my black lab Lily takes a nap with me on our bed (amazingly I got to take a much needed nap today after finishing up and mailing off a project)

• when our refrigerator is full of good things to eat that are good for us (right now there is a bunch of nothing in there - tomorrow is grocery day)

• chatting with Cathy on the phone while driving Simon home from speech & reading her freakin hilarious blog about aliens

• crisp apples

• that the framers are here finishing our bonus room above the garage - even though we are selling the house it should add on some additional value

• reading about collage art in my spare time (LOL) - I am so attracted to the free form combinations and the ways in which the artists tell their stories Right now I am reading Artist Journals and Sketchbooks.

• Free screensavers available for download at the Museum of Modern Art's website. I have had the abstract one going for awhile now - think it is time for a change. Looking at the This American Life series.

• that my parents were so touched when reading all your comments on the He Is Simon post.

• this quote:
Allow Events to Change You: You have to be willing to grow. Growth is
different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live
it. The prerequisites for growth: the openess to experience events and
the willingness to be changed by them.
(Bruce Mau, designer  (from ''An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth'')

• and this excerpt, taken from How Magazine online:

Following is a five-step process for finding inspiration when you need
it, culled from zing!, a creativity guide that's hot off the presses.
Rather than bore you with tired theories, zing! explains those five
steps with 101 pithy examples, tips and tools. Everything except
witchcraft to kick-start your creativity.

Step 1: Explore
It begins with deep digging. You're the
excavator. Archaeologist. Explorer. You peek under the mundane to find
the magical. Others can sit at desks and study demographics. You sit at
Starbucks and study people. Others search archives. You search antique
shops. You haul up buckets of data and information, but you're mining
for insights. You don't just want ages, genders and zip codes. You want
to know about their theme songs, water-fountain gossip and favorite
hangouts. You don't just want to hear about personality sets. You want
to know what makes them laugh, cry and scream. You stop, look and
listen. You explore.

Step 2: Freedom
Then you throw open your mind's shutters and
let the wind rush in. You brainstorm. Doodle. Think. Play. Daydream.
You have a free-range brain.
No judging. No opinions. No clucking of tongues. Down the road, you'll
edit down your stack of ideas. Right now, you're after quantity, not
quality. You're going wild.

Step 3: Pause
Ahhh, you come up for air. Unhunch your
shoulders. Let go. Get the conscious mind out of the way. Your
subconscious is yelling for elbow room. Take a walk. Go to a movie.
Meet a friend for lunch. You slack off while your subconscious sweats.
Good deal, huh?

Step 4: Embrace

OK, break's over. Time to rock and roll. While you were back
there goofing off, your subconscious was doing the heavy lifting.
Now the brightest idea floats before you. Aha! There it is.

Step 5: Life
You tap on the water glass and get everybody's
attention: it's time to sell. You draw sketches, write drafts, build
prototypes. Add flesh and bones. Beat the drums. "Listen up!" you
shout. "I've got a great idea here." You verify the idea. Tinker to
make the whole thing better. Talk the white out of the moon until
people listen. Pick up a few selling tips from your brother-in-law, the
software hawker. You slap backs. Sweet-talk. Schmooze. You pace floors.
Knock on doors. Wear a sandwich board on Main Street if you have to.
But you don't give up until the idea comes to life. You bring that baby
to life.

That's the creative process. Feels good, doesn't it?

Excerpted from "zing! Five steps and 101 tips for creativity on
command" by Sam Harrison, MacHillock Publishing/IPG Distributors.
Harrison is a speaker and seminar leader and also an instructor at
Portfolio Center in Atlanta. "Zing!"
is available at bookstores, by calling (800)888-4741, or by visiting www.zingzone.com.