A semi-big announcement!

Announcement to subscribers, followers, casual readers, and mega-celebrities:

This blog has moved to wordpress and can be located at:

www.zahndrew.com

or

http://zahndrew.wordpress.com/

See you there!

Hot Air Ballooning in Amish Country: Six Facts

Last week I had the great fortune to do this:

"Balloon with a View" This balloon launched with ours.

*It costs money. Fortunately, for me, this particular trip was a gift. Thanks Dad.

*Fear of baskets is a no-go. If you fear floating around in a human-sized Easter basket, this isn't for you.

*It's not like Pixar's movie "Up." Wasn't "Up" a sad movie? I didn't cry once while on this ride.

*It's hard to catch a football from a balloon. A few kids tossed a football up to us (while flying much lower, of course, than the pic above) and we missed. Twice. Leaning out of a basket to catch a football = not a good idea.

*People love balloons. It was fun to see all the people waving, cars crashing from watching us and not the road, and the dogs freaking out.

*Amish people love balloons too. Here's how some arrived in their Amish "car" to scope out our balloon landing. 

"Amish Auto"

Time to check something off your bucket list?

Slightly Embarassing Creative Quirks

As creatives, we all have idiosyncrasies. I'd like to know your creative quirks that play into your art and creative process. And by 'your art,' I mean: getting the kids ready for bed, conducting a non-boring sales meeting at work, making a meal, or designing a dream from concept to fruition.

We're all artists.

I'll start the ball rolling before you divulge your foibles.

On the cusp of writing this list, I'll just say this: if you could see me, you'd describe the look on my face as chagrined. (I had to look 'chagrined' up to make sure I was using it correctly. Geek-factor.)

Weird music tastes. My 5 most recent iTunes downloads:

1. "The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga. Just embarrassing, but I love it. There, I said it.
2. "Tightrope" (featuring Big Boi) by Janelle Monae. So. Very. Good. It's like hearing a good preacher expound on the Bible. She makes it come alive. Joy-singer. Here's the video on youtube.
3. "Bennie and the Jets" by Haley Reinhart. Yes, she was on American Idol. And yes, this version is awesome. 
4. "Forever" by Chris Brown. I first heard this while watching NBC's "The Office." It was featured in the Jim/Pam wedding. Celebration music extravaganza.
5. "Make Your Own Kind of Music" by Mama Cass Elliot. Butter-voiced Mama Cass (of Mama's and the Papa's fame) belts out this lovely anthem to artists with pinpoint croonery skills.

OCD Watchdog/Mild Participator. 3 weird things:

1.  I like shows like "Obsessed" and "Hoarders." At times, I can identify with the people on the shows. That scares me. Then I realize I'm not like them. That relieves me. Emotional journey.
2. A 'thing' with odd/even numbers. When turning up the volume on the TV, I'll often want it to be an even number. Why? I dunno. But then I think of the people on shows like "Obsessed" and I flip it to 13 or 17 and throw caution to the wind.
3.  Supersonic ears. I often wear earplugs to concerts, theaters, even churches at times. Sensitive ears.

Randoms.

1. I usually sleep on the floor. Actually, I start in the bed and then, around 2 or 3 AM I end up waking up and moving to the floor. Why? I like it. It happened last night.
2. I don't call my wife 'dear' or 'honey.' We keep it simple: we call each other 'babies.' 'Dear' and 'honey' never seemed right to us. Nor does 'deer honey.'
3. I was invincible once. I took a Starbucks Venti Iced Americano (I believe it has 34 shots of espresso in it) into the movie theater to watch The Dark Knight. Upon leaving the theater and finding my way home, the combination of the movie and caffeine told me that yes indeed, I too was a superhero. I was Batman until that buzz wore off. I've not had a Venti Iced Americano since.

Enough of my quirks. 

Who's honest enough to share one or two of your creative quirks that make you who you are?

Fuel for Creatives: Time (Part 3 of 3)

Coffee is morning fuel. Gasoline is car fuel. Sunlight is plant fuel. What is fuel for creatives?

Ideation + freedom + time = creative fuel. (Read Part 1, Ideation and Part 2, Freedom)

Time.

While training as an actor, our troupe garnered loads of great instruction from John Barton's video series "Playing Shakespeare." Actors such as Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, and Patrick Stewart played the text wonderfully, showing us newbies how it's to be done. Our English accents would have to come later. (Much later. Even now, my English friends say my faccent (fake/accent) boasts a Mike Myers feel. Ah well.)

One thing I took away from Barton's teaching is this: the word "time" is the most important word in Shakespeare. I've said that word differently for the past 15 years because of Barton's instruction.

Time.

The word itself is weighted with permanence and sobriety. It is not a flippant word.

Time.

The word is a gift, or a curse, depending on one's vantage point.

Time.

We must make time. We must guard this precious resource. We must take the time we have been given and use it doing what we love: creating.

Yes, we can come up with a great idea and have all the freedom in the world, but if we don't make time, our creative process stops short for a week. A month. A few years. Then decades. Then.... a lifetime.

Make. Time.

Our mantra:

We have all the time we need and more. We will spend our time doing the things we were created to do. We will not settle for excuses. We will not blame our schedule, our friends, our families, our jobs. We will use our time to create and share our expressions. Our creativity is a God-given expression that brings vibrant life to ourselves and to those with whom we share our creativity. 

In Steve Jobs' much quoted 2005 Stanford Commencement speech:

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

***

Fuel for Creatives: Ideation (Part 1 of 2)

Fuel for Creatives: Freedom (Part 2 of 3)

Fuel For Creatives: Creative Freedom (Part 2 of 3)

Ideation + Creative Freedom + Time = Fuel for Creatives. Read part one on ideation here.  

Now that we have our idea, we gotta mix in a little freedom to create the idea and add a healthy dose of time to let it steep and brew. 

Freedom first. A picture = 1,000 words. So here's my words on creative freedom:

"Freedom" by Zenos Frudakis

Zenos Frudakis's vision for his sculpture "Freedom," now roaming the streets of Philadelphia:

I wanted to create a sculpture almost anyone, regardless of their background, could look at and instantly recognize that it is about the idea of struggling to break free. This sculpture is about the struggle for achievement of freedom through the creative process.

Defining 'freedom' would be a daunting task even for Webster... we'll not even bother looking it up. Instead, we'll ask ourselves a few questions in regards to the Frudakis sculpture.

• What do you see in this picture? 
• What do you see in the four figures?
• Where do you picture yourself?
• How did that last figure finally break out of the 'mold'? 

I have to first want freedom in order to put in the word to get freedom. We must define creative freedom for ourselves, otherwise it's someone else's freedom... and that's not freedom at all.

So if we all desire creative freedom, what is holding us back?

Leave a comment below and we'll converse on it a bit.

***

Read Fuel For Creatives: Time (Part 3 of 3)

Fuel for Creatives: Ideation (Part 1 of 3)

My wife got me thinking. It's one of her gifts.

We chat about her skin care line, Sugared Beauty, and sire some some ideas for the fall season.

I come alive.

Last week, an executive of a multi-million dollar company asked me for some ideas for his business. A new plan emerges from the brainstorming session.

I come alive.

I sit down to a blank computer screen to write a silly little story using a kit called The Writer's Toolbox.

I come alive.

Are you the same way? Do you love coming up with new ideas, fresh perspectives, and that movie-plot twist on a hum-drum, same-story approach to life and business that put's you on a thrill ride at Six Flags?

If you're reading this you are. There's a word for idea generation: ideation. (Spell check just told me that word doesn't exist. You're behind the times Mr. Spell Check.) My thoughts on ideation here.

As creatives, ideation is the starting point, the spring board, the appetizer to sharing ourselves, via our creative expressions, with the world.

A bit of boldness: that unbirthed idea, the one that you have that just needs to be unearthed, may change the your home. Your community. Heck, it may change the entire world. That is why it is so imperative to get your idea out.

It must be shared.

What if...

• Your idea saves a business and thousands of jobs.
• Your painting changes the way people see the world.
• Your parable resonates with people, metamorphosing them into believers.

It all starts with that idea. We'll chat about part two and part three of this creative fuel process later this week. Hint: part two doesn't involve fear. Just sayin'.

What change can you bring today with your gift of creativity? To your kids, your business, your spouse?

***

Read Fuel For Creatives: Creative Freedom (Part 2 of 3)

The Creative Lifestyle of Tenacity

These words speak for themselves... I suppose all words do that, don't they?

Ira Glass, of NPR's This American Life, offers some advice. Rich. Inspiring. I wanna eat this it's so good.