Wednesday, May 07, 2008

"In your dreams babe"


Last night I fell asleep at 7 o'clock and woke up around 3-ish. No big deal. I went back to sleep around 5-ish. You'd think I'd be cranky. Truth is I needed that much sleep more than anybody. Yesterday, I was mentally off balance. I feel incredible this morning. I even made coffee. I never have time for that! Also, I'm feeling even more so fantastic because it's going to be above 80 today. Yeah, I'm trying to keep my composure. Anyway, try going the whole day with out having this song stuck in your head

"It's a Beautiful Morning"-Young Rascals


Lastly, since this news of my glorious morning may be a total bore to you (It really might be) check out Myron Macklin's artninjastudio. Tell me if you can't spot the portrait of Lyrics Born from a mile away?! It's great.

Enjoy.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Q: What would I have to do if I didn't have to do it perfectly?

After an assault of telephone calls, impossible requests from bosses/co-workers, DHL being the disruptive bastard it wants to be on a Friday, printers refusing to print, a fallen pretzel leaving a gigantic mustard stain on my pants, a mild heat stroke causing me to nearly faint, ate a bad combo of muffin/pretzel/cola causing me violent stomach pains, elbowing the counter tops and smacking my fingers when carrying pretty much anything today, running from the office side to side doing more than one job (somebody was sick), and nearly falling down a flight of stairs pretending to air guitar.

IN SHORT THIS DAY WAS NOTHING BUT PERFECT.

Here's an interesting theory on perfectionism taken from the book a dear 65 year-old woman/pal/co-worker lent me called The Artist Way (it's a bit arty so bear with me) and probably soon will become my motto. It helped me feel less stressed I guess you could say.

Perfectionism

"Tillie Olsen correctly calls it the "knife of perfectionist attitude in art". You may call it something else. Getting it right, you may call it, or fixing it before I go further. You may call it having standards. What you should be calling it is perfectionism. Perfectionism has nothing to with getting it right. It has nothing to do with standards. Perfectionism is a refusal to let yourself move ahead. It is a loop--- an obsessive, debilitating closed system that causes you to get stuck in the details of what you are writing or painting or making and to lose sight of the whole. Instead of creating freely and allowing errors to reveal themselves later as insights, we often get mired in getting the details right. We correct our originality into a uniformity that lacks passion and spontaneity. "Do not fear mistakes," Miles Davis told us. "There are none."


Word.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Night Pages Pt.1: This certainly ain't a regular thing


Every time spring rolls around I'm compelled to change something. This may take the form of being a more attentive friend, eating better, cutting my hair, catching up with an old friend, working on unfinished projects, busting out the sewing machine that hasn't hit daylight in a year etc. We've all got these to-do vows. Specifically, I'd like posting to be more of a regularity on here. This also means writing with less self-criticism. This will be tough and means letting it rip as much as possible. Though, the remains of "letting it rip" may just turn into a provocation of self-doubt and awkward confessions. It will feel unnatural at first. But isn't most change that way in the beginning? It's necessary. Anyway, I've warned you fairly.


Speaking of letting things rip. Nobody does it better than this guy.
Here's to cleaning up the stuff you meant to last year!
"I like it, I love it" -Lyrics Born
Snagged from insound.

Enjoy.