Mission statement: (3 sentences max)

It takes 21 days to develop  a habit, or so theory goes. I am setting out to be consciously creative and consistent by employing a series of 21 day cycles to unleash and understand my personal creative process and how that can connect with others (or the world outside me).

Where does it live?

I’d like it to be a scalable installation/exhibit that can sit within a small square footage (as in possible table-top size area) or as large as a room.

What it is still remains to be seen.

Making the invisible visible
Everything all at once
Loop until the end

Sometimes learning feels slow. Learning a new language, in this case a computer language – even slower. Learning seems best by doing, but how much doing before one learns?

Makes me think of the dots from my “process” post.

Given that this is the first time I’ve made an animated gif, I wish Flash was this simple.

(via http://www.rapidftr.com)

Today:

Almost Ready-Made Chocolate Croissants

Making Space

Mashed Plantains

No Brainwave Mandalas

Upper West Excursion

Many Felines

Year of the Metal Tiger

And finally – this:

Today was composed of:

The Power of Three
(A good case for three-legged tables vs. four-legged ones.)

mod·u·late
/ˈmɒdʒəˌleɪt/ Show Spelled [moj-uh-leyt] Show IPA verb,-lat·ed, -lat·ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to regulate by or adjust to a certain measure or proportion; soften; tone down.
2. to alter or adapt (the voice) according to the circumstances, one’s listener, etc.
3. Music.
a. to attune to a certain pitch or key.
b. to vary the volume of (tone).
4. Telecommunications. to cause the amplitude, frequency, phase, or intensity of (a carrier wave) to vary in accordance with a sound wave or othersignal, the frequency of the signal wave usually being very much lower than that of the carrier.

FM (Frequency Modulation)

Brooklyn Ecopolis

I’m not gonna lie, I feel tired and sort of lazy. Granted, it’s late and I did do random other things today. I’m wishing I had a tablet to draw with instead of a laptop mouse. Today was about the “force” and balance – and also about how you can “twist” perspective by playing to certain feelings. This was via the Star Wars prequel of course :). I know all too well that’s what advertising does. I also know it’s not all bad, but sometimes the ways in which the manipulation can go about is what helped steer me away from making advertising my full on career path. I should clarify and say “the irresponsible ways in which the manipulation can go about”.

I”m currently reading A Whole New Mind by David H. Pink. He addresses attraction and appeal as does Donald A. Norman in Emotional Design, but within a different context. This really is an age of Abundance and choice. The fact “consumerism” exists is a testament to that. Recently I had been thinking about how a museum in the future would go about picking a pair of shoes to represent this era, year, decade. With all the possible styles of shoes available to us today in 2010, how would they even begin? There are so many!

But in the instance of writing this, I realize – our archives and artifacts will surely one day perhaps be purely digital. And beyond photos, these artifact will be scanned 3-dimensionaly, through every last bit and nook and pore – so that if needed, an “all-materials” 3D printer will easily reproduce a replica. This is already starting to happen. We have digital archives. We have 3D scanners. We have 3D printers. It is only a matter of time. And in time, the concept of “original” will become even more refined.

I basically spent the entire day on just one thing. This was again emphasizing the need for practice to make one proficient, efficient, more than sufficient.

It was all about this:

So after realizing I have to up the stakes, I’m thinking that it would be best to start framing my work, documentation, observations, creative output, etc.  Essentially it’s time management. I decided I’m going to start with giving myself blocks of time for specific tasks. Or in certain cases – like meditation, a minimum amount of time. If I go beyond it, that’s great, but the idea is to get the meat of things done more efficiently.

I discovered Flex Time software by Red Sweater. Its by-line is: “You’ve got loads of time. Spend it wisely. A versatile timer for your repetitive activities.” I don’t know if I agree with the “loads of time”, for if I did have that – I perhaps would spend it more foolishly and loosely. The reason I’d want to use this thing is to help manage the little time that I do have.

Process or processing typically describes the act of taking something through an established and usually routine set of procedures to convert it from one form to another, as a manufacturing or administrative procedure, such as processing milk into cheese, or processing paperwork to grant a mortgage loan. (Wikipedia)

proc⋅ess
/ˈprɒsɛs; especially Brit. ˈproʊsɛs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [pros-es; especially Brit. proh-ses] Show IPA noun, plural proc⋅ess⋅es  /ˈprɒsɛsɪz, ‑əsɪz, ‑əˌsiz or, especially Brit., ˈproʊsɛs‑, ˈproʊsə‑/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [pros-es-iz, ‑uh-siz, ‑uh-seez or, especially Brit., proh-ses‑, proh-suh‑] Show IPA , verb, adjective
–noun
1.     a systematic series of actions directed to some end: to devise a process for homogenizing milk.
2.     a continuous action, operation, or series of changes taking place in a definite manner: the process of decay.
3.     Law.
a.     the summons, mandate, or writ by which a defendant or thing is brought before court for litigation.
b.     the whole course of the proceedings in an action at law.
4.     Photography. photomechanical or photoengraving methods collectively.
5.     Biology, Anatomy. a natural outgrowth, projection, or appendage: a process of a bone.
6.     the action of going forward or on.
7.     the condition of being carried on.
8.     course or lapse, as of time.

Today was filled with a small handful of processes, two of which required the use and processing power of a computer. The processing power of my computer managed to batch process a large set of photos in a couple of hours.

When I think of the word process – I see this:

I know it’s all flowing only in one direction.

Sometimes I feel like process should be more like this:

Although, my own process tends to go more like:

At this point, I need to hone in and focus – as well as up the stakes. It seems that time is an inherent part of process. Process without time would be instantaneous.

And that would just look like this:

Not so exciting, is it?

When I uploaded the photo into my blog last, I had forgotten to save it in it’s original higher resolution before flattening the image and reducing it into a lower quality. It was so late – or rather very early depending on how you were looking at the time. I went to bed at 7am, slept right through my phone ringer (which I tend to think of as rather loud), and woke up around 11am. It was a good example of what I mentioned in my last entry about sound and hearing/not hearing. In this case, my body decided it was too tired to let me be woken up by anything. Well, except for my cat(s).

More sound stuff today.Watched a few Cymatics-related videos for a class project. And discovered we have a directional speaker (or 2) on the floor. Directional speakers tend to be really expensive (in the $1000s) and the model we have on the floor is called Audio Spotlight by Holosonics. Apparently these speakers run for about $2000. I’ve been wanting to create an installation that uses directional sound, though the speakers tend to be so costly. It’d be great to be able to project sound and also eliminate the need for headphones. Directional speakers can be a useful option. The sound quality however, leaves much to be desired for.

I’d love to be able to beam sound across the room to specific individuals directly without much bleed for others around to hear.

As far as “beaming” sound is concerned, I thought of a more retro/analog concept for communication/audio transfer and took some photos of people holding tin can phones.

Today, I spent the majority of my time migrating the blog section of my website (this section you’re reading) from Blogger to WordPress. In a few weeks, Google will no longer be supporting ftp blogs, but will still host blogs on their blogspot servers. The Blogger setup is so easy to use, but I’d much rather use my own web host of choice. I’ve spent hours and hours tweaking a WordPress theme to look like my original blog and website – and I’m still not even done yet.

mi⋅grate
  /ˈmaɪgreɪt/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [mahy-greyt]
–verb (used without object), -grat⋅ed, -grat⋅ing.
1. to go from one country, region, or place to another.
2. to pass periodically from one region or climate to another, as certain birds, fishes, and animals: The birds migrate southward in the winter.
3. to shift, as from one system, mode of operation, or enterprise to another.

I generally tend to think of migration not just as a move, but as a move to/towards something better. I suppose it’s also a move in search of someplace that is simply conducive to existing.

trans⋅mi⋅grate
  /trænsˈmaɪgreɪt, trænz-/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [trans-mahy-greyt, tranz-] Show IPA verb, -grat⋅ed, -grat⋅ing.
–verb (used without object)
1. to move or pass from one place to another.
2. to migrate from one country to another in order to settle there.
3. (of the soul) to be reborn after death in another body.
–verb (used with object)
4. to cause to transmigrate, as a soul; transfer.

It’s interesting to note how naturally I can tune out aspects of my surroundings. In particular, conversations being had at tables next to mine when I am at a restaurant. Anyone sitting next to me can more or less rest assure that their conversation was private or at least unheard by one less person. I wonder what makes us tune in and tune out. I generally have a difficult time tuning out ticking clocks if I am sleeping in the same room as one.

My roommate back in undergrad used to completely sleep through a blaring clock alarm. Another roommate told me a story of this recurring dream he had of some crazy loud sound (I don’t recall of what). He realized later that it was the knocking sound of the heater pipes going off around the same time every night. Once this realization occurred, his recurring dream stopped and he could sleep right through the sound.

The amount of nuanced sounds in our environment is incredible. There is so much noise in the air, whether it’s “white noise” or not. It seems rare that there ever really is true silence around you. Even then, we can hear the sounds of our body working.

This also brings me to vision and how through some other, but perhaps similar process – we fine tune our vision, by blurring or sharpening it – often involuntarily. Today I had a glass of bilberry juice for the first time. Bilberry is similar to blueberries, though it seems at least from the juice I drank – less tart. I was first introduced to bilberries (conceptually) some years ago by someone who told me that they had laser eye surgery to correct their vision. There was problem with his night vision and he discovered bilberries somehow and their supposed night-vision enhancing properties. I read somewhere that WWII fighter pilots used to eat bilberry jam regularly to help their vision while flying at night.

Vision is often affected by stress and in those cases also often self-corrects once the stress has passed. I believe some of childhood traumas helped manifest the onset of myopia and my subsequent astigmatism. In times of stress, we literally and figuratively narrow our field of focus, sometimes losing sight of things. Beyond certain general categories of race, I wonder if specific cultures are more visually myopic (nearsighted) or hyperopic (farsighted).

What an incredible day. Today I participated in a Chinese New Year celebration. What I didn’t really realize is that it is the year of the Tiger. And it’s actually my year.

I’m breathing.
and I’m grateful.
How do we capture such grateful moments?
Sometimes it seems so fruitless
These trials of documentation
Lamentation
Frustration
Single-minded nation

——————————————–

I found out the secret to soup dumplings

———————————————–

Right Brain action
satisfaction
gut reaction

——————————————

I’m distracted
Contracted
Refracted
———————————————–

Again, I’m beyond breathing
I’m feeling
I’m seeing
I’m smelling
I’m tasting
I’m moving
I’m grooving
I’m blinking
I’m lucky

Yes!

Thank you!