Creativity

I wonder who first thought of making a sock puppet? It must have been someone very creative to turn something as ordinary as a sock into something so entertaining. The great thing about sock puppets is that they can provide a lot of entertainment at little or no cost. Personally if I made a sock puppet, I would not find it very entertaining.

Last night I was babysitting, and I was amazed at how entertained young children can be with such miniscule things. Most things like this I wouldn't bother to think about twice. However, as a child one can imagine a whole world of things out of something simple. In my Intro to Creativity class, we have discussed this. What forces all of the creativity out of us that we once had as children? I remember having sock puppets, putting on puppet shows, and staying entertained all day over something I would now deem as nothing. I have become so distracted by other things that I feel to have lost my creative drive. This is why I am so glad to have taken Creativity this semester. Although an introductory level course, I have learned to expand my imagination to become closer to how it was years ago. I hope to continue this blog after the class ends and further expand upon my creative potential.

I hope to no longer be a "sock puppet" to society, being manipulated and forced to abandon my creativity.

rawrrr mammoth cheese

So I was at Eatzi's grabbing dinner with my roommate about a week ago. I mean who doesn't love Eatzi's? The only downfall is that I always walk out having spent about three times as much as I intended. It's the free samples that get me... always. Speaking of free samples, I saw a really odd one when I was there. I mean I suppose it wasn't odd, but the more I thought about it, the odder it became.

"Rawrrr Mammoth Cheese" was written on a small chalkboard next to a cheese sample display. I guess, knowing just this, it wasn't that weird, because a mammoth could easily "rawrr." This is why it struck me as odd... the "rawrr" was in a speech bubble coming out of a tiny mouse's mouth. Did I miss something? I mean I get the "rawrr" and mammoth correlation, as well as the cheese and mouse correlation, but since when does a mouse say "rawrr? It would be kind of like saying a lizard should bark, isn't it?" I started thinking about it even more and thought maybe the mouse was so excited about the cheese that he or she was going to attack the cheese and that was why the particular expression was chosen. I still don't know, but I do think it was odd that they would include a mouse.

In the end, I actually ended up buying the cheese, and it was quite delicious.

It's that time of year!

It only happens twice a year, but it's that time! Hundreds of SMU students who may have not been to the library all semester fill every open table and computer. The regulars are a bit frazzled at the fact that their usual spot is taken (...and by one of them).

Every December and every April SMU students crawl out of the woodwork (that they've been hiding in for some time) and into the Fondren Library. Yesterday I saw a girl that lived in my freshman dorm.... I don't think I'd seen her since move out day freshman year. Not to make myself sound like a study-aholic, believe me, I have never spent the night in one of those old leather chairs in Fondren. It is not my home, like it is to some SMU students. However, I still find it fascinating. After all, it would seem to me that the average college student would be a bit more seasoned to knowing there is no way one can cram a whole semester into one night of studying, at least not very successfully.

With this in mind, I try to prepare myself a bit everyday so I do not turn into one of them. After all, one's debut from the woodwork is not very glamorous.

Little bunny foo foo, but not so little.

Whether it is due to certain pet restrictions where one lives, allergies, or simply tastes and preferences not every pet owner has a dog or a cat. As a dog lover, I don't particularly understand why anyone would choose another pet over a dog. However, these individuals are probably thinking the same thing about my choice, but reversed. All preferences aside, I was astounded when I met my cousin's pet bunny.

This bunny is not your usual household bunny that lives in a small cage. This bunny is larger than my dog. At 22 pounds and 2 and a half feet long when outstretched, I met "Trip," a Flemish Giant. Flemish Giants act similar to dogs and cats, roaming around the house freely. Although instead of walking, they hop. They even have collars with bells so that they can be located around the house. It gets even more strange... they go on walks outside with a leash, but instead of walking, they hop. With this in mind, there seems to be no limit as to what animal can be domesticated. I wonder what will be next!

THE Panama Canal

I never really understood why anyone would want to go see a canal... I mean it really cannot be that exciting right?

Well that is what I thought until I was given the opportunity to spend a week over the New Year's holiday visiting Panama. At first I wasn't very excited for the trip. In my mind the highlight was laying by the pool at the resort for the first few days. I looked at the last few days of the trip in Panama City as being something we were doing just because we felt badly not throwing a bit of history into our trip. It turns out, I was completely wrong.

Although I learned so much about the Panama Canal while visiting Panama City, the one thing that I truly could not believe was how skilled the drivers of the ships must be to make it through each set of locks. Just look in the pictures attached at how close the ships get to the sides of the canal! It's really amazing that the drivers can get the ships through such a narrow opening, given the ship's size. I was also fascinated to learn that the captain of the ship is not allowed to steer the boat through the canal. A Panamanian driver (or drivers) boards the ship as it is entering the canal by a small boat and then exits after steering the ship through. This is done mostly because of the high level of skill the drivers need to have to make it through successfully. Any minor deviation can cause damage to the canal that is very costly to repair.

Enough with the facts that I learned while visiting Panama. The real idea I took away from this trip is to always be hungry for knowledge. One never knows when they may learn something that really fascinates them or brings them onto a higher educational level.

Having a Shell

What would it be like to have a shell? Would you feel protected or would you feel trapped? I guess if you would have always had a shell, you would not know what it would be like to not have a shell and so it would seem normal. I guess if I were a snail, I would be wondering what it would be like to not have a shell. In the photo above, one can see the snail stretched out. Snails move by contracting and expanding their muscles. This forward motion looks somewhat like a "slither." Although snails do have a "foot" below them, it is nothing like our feet. This foot creates a slimy secretion that protects the snail's underside. It seems that snails are a bit more equipped for the wild than humans. After all, they have a shelter on their back as well as built in protection mechanisms. I wonder what it would be like to have a shell, because anytime you felt embarrassed or uncomfortable you could just escape situations and go into your shell. At the same time though, I wonder if it would be something heavy and somewhat awkward to carry, like a large camping or hiking backpack?

I think the weirdest part about being a small creature though would be the being small part. Being 5 foot 7 inches, I could not imagine having to look up to see everything. I suppose if you were in a tree or something though, you would be looking down on others. I sometimes even wonder what it is like to be one of my friends that is shorter than me or my mom (who is also shorter than me). I wonder if they wonder what it would be like to be looking down on them as I do? It's definitely a lot to think about!

Puppy LOVE

Friday, April 23, 7:00P.M. Hinsdale, Illinois, about 20 miles outside of Chicago. A squeal is heard from inside of a small cottage house. There has been a coyote attack.

Man Down... or shall I say Dog. Mandy, a five year old West Highland White Terrier (Westie), has been terribly wounded by two coyotes while lounging in the backyard.

As it so happens, three houses down there is another Westie, by the name of Adelaide, safely in her home. Little does she know, one of her friends has been bit. Thankfully, Addy was inside when the coyotes attacked. For all one knows, it could have been her.

Mandy's owners run outside at the sound of her squealing and rush her to the emergency room, where she gets stitches and is hooked up to an IV. Eighteen hours later, she is now home and recovering, however, still on her IV.

Life is precious. Be careful to watch over those you love. Addy is my dog (pictured above), and the most joyful twelve pounds of love one will ever meet. When my mom called and told me about this, I could not believe it. I was so thankful that Addy wasn't the victim of this brutal attack. With this in mind, I will always make sure to show people in my life that I love them... before it is too late.

More Sunscreen Please.

Doesn't everyone look good with a bit of color? I mean I know I'd prefer to have a tanned glow rather than sport the pasty pale look. We've all heard various stories of terrible sunburns and the damaging effects that sun can have the skin of humans. I have always chose to tune these warnings out. Maybe I'm one of those people that thinks "Hey... It can't happen to me!" Well, I'm reconsidering that thought after stumbling upon this...

NASA has recently released new images and video of the sun. By going to the link below, one can view footage taken of an eruption happening on the sun's surface. This footage was taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). I know I wouldn't want to be anywhere near an erupting volcano... so why do I think it's okay to expose my skin to an erupting sun?

I mean I'm not planning on covering up one hundred percent of my body in sun-protectant fabric, but this article has made me not think twice about considering to apply sunscreen on a daily basis.

How do you define "responsibility" in advertising?

How do you define "responsibility" in advertising?

When Dr. Griffin gave us this blog assignment in class last Tuesday, I was rather perplexed of how I would answer this question. I had some form of an idea in my mind, but I am still struggling to put my thoughts into words. I guess here's what I can offer up:

To be responsible in the advertising industry, one must (in most cases) place moral value in front of their desires for monetary gain. There are a lot of ways that agencies can choose to advertise in an irresponsible manner that will send products flying off of the shelves. These irresponsible techniques are usually easier ideas to come up with as well as an easier route to pleasing the client. The real challenge for the agency is to get that same outcome, but achieve it in a responsible manner.

Ideally, responsible advertising should be advertising that one would be able to show any viewer without causing them any offense. Responsible advertising should be truthful and not mislead the consumer. I believe that it may be hard for some in the advertising industry to create responsible advertising, because it can just be harder to come up with a great "responsible" idea. I think that the Dove Beauty Campaign, from Ogilvy & Mather's Toronto office, is an excellent example of advertising done responsibly (see image above).

I would like to conclude with the statement that it takes talent to be great at advertising as well as being responsible with what you advertise.

Public Transportation

When I first came up with the idea for this blog, I did not realize that my question was actually somewhat already answered. I was sitting on the Amtrak train going from Chicago to Milwaukee to visit my cousin at Marquette University. While sitting in my seat, I began to wonder why I had chosen that particular seat. I came to the conclusion that I had decided to sit there because of the following three reasons: #1 On this particular train, you can choose to sit facing backwards or forwards. I find it dizzying as well as unpleasant to be sitting facing backward, so I chose to sit facing forward. #2 I wanted to be able to look out at my surroundings, so I chose a seat next to the window. #3 I was traveling alone and wanted to get some work done for school, so I chose to sat in a quiet, emptier section of the particular train car that I was in.

After choosing my seat, I started to wonder if people ever were assigned to a particular seat on the train. I compared this in my mind of bus travel, where seats are not assigned, and to air travel, where seats are usually assigned. I began to imagine what it would be like if there were seats assigned when traveling by bus and if there were not seats assigned when traveling by air.

I then thought of Southwest Airlines. On Southwest Airlines, passengers are able to choose their seat, however, they must board the plane in a particular (assigned) order. I am not sure how people generally feel about Southwest Airlines, but I feel like they do not dominate market share with this concept. I am kind of confused as of now how it would go over if this was the way for all things, but I will be thinking about it.

Motion and Inspiration

The word "motion" has so many meanings. In a court setting, one could be referring to a "motion to suppress." On the other hand, a passenger on a cruise ship would most likely be referring to the "motion" of the ocean or "motion" sickness, if they had developed that while vacationing. "Motion" can also refer to dancing, moving one's body, or using motion to express oneself.

I found a very interesting website, which I posted below. On this website, one is asked to type in a word. There is a button with "Inspire me!" written on it to the left. Once the button is clicked, a plethora of images, colors, and videos show up on the page that are all representative of the word that one just typed in. I typed in the word "Motion" due to the fact that I was just dancing around my room to Michael Jackson's hit song "Thriller." Embarrassing to admit... I know.

I was intrigued by the sentence directly above the search box that said, "Inspiration is fleeting... this page will be different later." I found this fascinating, because I have found this to be true in my life. The thing that gets one going one day will not necessarily do the same thing the next day. Below the search box was a quote relevant to the word that I typed in.

I clicked on the color palette that I felt expressed how I am feeling this morning (shown above). This seemed rather ironic to me... right after choosing the colors, the title of the color scheme popped up and it was called "Motion of the Ocean." I think that this website is very interesting and would be fun to explore on different days when I am looking for inspiration in a different way.

Websites:

http://ideas.bighugelabs.com/?q=motion

What have I not thought of... yet?

I found myself thinking of a good idea for a blog post and was coming up with ideas that were really not that great. I started to look back at previous posts that I have made and when I looked at my post of "my invention," I began to wonder what others had thought of that I would never in wildest dreams imagine to create. I stumbled upon an interesting brand of knick knacks by "fredflare."

The first item that struck me by surprise was a sponge microphone that doubled for singing in the shower and for bathing. Although rather pointless, I have to admit that it is quite creative as well as humorous. I then went to the official website for purchasing these items and discovered even more unique surprises.

I thought that the different types of ice cube trays for purchase were very funny and creative. First of all, there is the "Gin and Titonic" tray, which molds water into ice cubes shaped like the Titanic as well as ice cubes shaped like icebergs. The pun on the name of the drink really tied the whole concept together. Another interesting item is the "Cool Jazz" ice cube tray. It seems funny that one would be able to stir their beverage with a frozen guitar, but... hey it definitely sells!

craigslist and ebay

I have never used either craigslist or eBay, but I do know many people that have and even use it quite frequently. To me, the thought of purchasing something that has already been used has never been desirable. I feel that my discomfort with the process comes from the unknown. First of all, who did it first belong to? Second of all, why are they selling or re-selling the item? Maybe my disinterest comes from seeing the store Plato's Closet. For those that are unaware, Plato's closet is a clothing, shoes, and accessories resale shop. However, they also offer new merchandise. In Dallas, there is another store on Greenville that has the same concept, called the Buffalo Exchange.

I think what "weirds me out" is the fact that I have NO IDEA who was wearing the article of clothing, where it has been, or what is has been through. I feel that this same concept has caused me to fear using both craigslist and eBay. Although one can buy new merchandise on these websites, it still strikes me as peculiar that someone would buy something, such as an article of clothing or an accessory, in order to resell it. I understand that there are various items that attain value over time, such as collectors items, but that is not typically how clothing sales work.

When I studied in Europe, I had a friend that purchased a ton of her clothing at both resale shops and at flea markets. It was sort of a hobby of hers to dig through the goods and see what "treasures" she could find. Although I never took part in this with her, I witnessed her finding some really unique things and "rocking" them. I am not sure if I could pull off her style, but it definitely was fabulous on her. She now attends Parsons in New York City for fashion design. I guess as the saying goes "one person's garbage is another person's treasure" can hold true in this case. After all, one never knows what one might find or be missing out on if one does not look.

What is creativity?

I know that we have discussed creativity quite in depth in our Advertising: Intro to Creativity class. As I was studying for the midterm exam, I started to wonder what specifically inspires me to be creative. I am really not sure what it is at this moment. I think it may be the people around me or the way I choose to spend my leisure time, but how can I be certain? Sometimes I get motivation to do certain things by spending time outside and appreciating nature. I know that I think best when I am in a quiet place, but sometimes it can be too quiet, and the silence can cause me to be unable to think of anything creative at all.

I believe that I gain energy from the people around me, and I love making others smile. I am not sure how this would relate to creativity other than the fact that it reinforces the thought that I have of being inspired by others. I think I can see myself mostly agreeing with Teresa Amabile and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi with the Social-Personality Tradition. I feel that I fit in this perspective, because I gain energy and motivation from others (personality variables and motivational variables components), as well as the fact that I excel in certain environments more than others (sociocultural environment).

Tradition

What makes tradition so powerful? Many people see tradition as a way to guide there life and a set of customs to live by. If not viewed as being this substantial in one's life, it is common that tradition is still a key factor in one's decision-making process. Then there are people that are very against tradition, let's call them radicals or rebels. What causes people to behave in one manner or another. Particularly, what causes extreme cases on one end of the spectrum versus people that are more moderate and fall relatively in the middle of the two?

In my family, tradition is definitely seen as something of value. Although my family has encouraged me to make decisions for myself and venture onto my own path, I have been raised with a set of core values that my family believes in strongly.

Tradition can be interpreted in many ways, and there really is no wrong or right answer to the question of what is tradition. Tradition can be whatever one makes of it, and it can even be one's tradition to be non-traditional, as complex as that may sound. Although we see depicted in many Christmas movies, the traditional Christmas dinner of Turkey and related fixings, that could be entirely opposite of a family's traditions. One could think what another believes is tradition to be crazy, because they have their own unique traditions.

One tradition that I think is very unique is to have heirloom jewelry in one's family. My family does not really do this as much, but I think a really cool tradition is to pass down a wedding ring from one generation to the next. Traditions such as one's like these could cause individuals to behave in a certain manner. For example in the movie The Blind Side (and in reality) the Touhy family all attended Ole Miss for college. Although not born into the family, Michael Oher (the adopted son) decided to go to Ole Miss, because he said "that is where my family goes to school."

There are so many traditions and ways to interpret them... it really is really interesting to think about!

A Close Call

My friends father is a lawyer and has been in Dallas this past week working on a court case, however, each night he has been finished with his work in time to take his daughter to dinner. Last night my friend invited my roomate and me along. We are all living together next year, and she was eager to have us finally meet her dad. Her dad's business friend recommended that we try a restaurant on Lower Greenville, called Terilli's. I love all kinds of food, especially Italian, so I was excited to try a restaurant I had not been to before. Dinner was lovely.

This morning, I was awakened by a text from my friend, which said, "Terilli's burned down." I first thought that she was kidding, because it did not make any sense to me how that could have happened. I mean we were just there.

I got up and searched The Dallas Morning News website for "Greenville Avenue Fire." I was shocked and was in utter disbelieve that this event had occurred. After all, we were there last night and we began dinner at 8 o'clock, so we were there well until 10 o'clock. The following thoughts immediately rushed through my mind: How could this disaster have happened in such a short amount of time? How we were lucky enough to miss being part of it?

I know that it is often said that one learns lessons best from experience. That I believe to be true, because it has happened to me in the past. On the other hand, missing an experience like this one and having it be such a close call in retrospect I believe reinforced a very important life lesson to me. Do not take things for granted, because you never know what could happen.

It is ironic to me that this happened when it did, because my previous blog post from yesterday touched on the same idea, but in a different light.

Link to the article in The Dallas Morning News:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/030210dnmetgreenvillefire.16a353d7a.html

You don't realize how lucky you are until it is gone...

As I was walking to Tom Thumb this afternoon to purchase a snack in the cold rain, I realized I was really lucky to have a car. If you have read my previous post "Lovers Lane and Greenville Avenue," then you already know why I do not currently have a car that is able to be driven. It has not even been four days, and I am already feeling restricted. There really is no reason for me to feel this way, because I did not have a car at any point during my freshman year at SMU. I think once I had a car here this summer, I grew accustomed to the thought of always being able to go wherever it may be that I desired. As of now, I can only go where I can walk.

I feel that this situation is common amongst people that are very blessed with many things. Not having a car when I have gotten used to having one is an example of this, but this happens on many greater levels as well.

It is really something to look at when you begin to take blessings or privileges in your life for granted. When you get into a regular routine, it can be easy to forget to appreciate things in life, which is very unfortunate. I hope that you take away from this that it is important to be aware of how blessed we all are and not to take things that we have for granted, because you never know when they could be gone.

Worst Fear

What is your worst fear, and why are you afraid of what it is that you fear?

Personally, my worst fear is being in an airplane and having it just free fall to my death. I am not sure how this would happen. It must have to occur with the engines just stopping or with a gigantic malfunction. Although very unlikely, it is still possible. I think that I developed this fear, because of the fact that I hate when planes hit bumps and feel like they are dropping suddenly.

I find it interesting to look at what others are feared of. I asked my roommate what her worst fears are and she responded by saying, "Drowning and Rottweilers." I asked her why and told me that when she was five years old, a Rottweiler pounced on top of her and knocked her over. She ended up lying on the ground with the dog on top of her. She says she thought she was going to die, until her dad came to her rescue and snatched the dog off from on top of her. When I asked her why she was afraid of drowning, she responded by saying, "I heard it's really painful." I then asked her how she would know that, because she cannot talk to someone that has drowned because they are now dead. She told me that the experience of the powerful crashing of waves at the beach left her with a feeling of helplessness. The fact that she felt powerless was very traumatizing.

Although we all have our unique fears, I believe that one fear that would be amongst the most common is the fear of being alone.

The Future for Transportation

What will be next for everyday transportation? There have been so many recent advancements in technology that have caused vehicles to become much more fuel efficient, as well as environmentally friendly. From hybrid vehicles to increased options for public transportation, the advancements being made to protect our planet's future are immense.

It seems humorous to me, when one looks at people's past predictions of the future to see how everything really panned out. When the animated television series the Jetsons initially aired in 1962, it would seem hard for someone of that particular generation to fathom anything that was pictured in the show to actually happen. Although people cannot currently live in space and drive around in a flying car like the Jetsons did, our society has made tremendous advancements.

Keeping this in mind, I wonder where we will be forty-eight years from 2010. Will it be possible for people to just fly from one place to another in order to avoid everyday traffic jams?

Although this does not have to do with transportation, it occurred to me while I was writing this that we now have iChat and Skype where people can talk while viewing the other party on their computer screen like they depicted in the 60s sitcom, the Jetsons.

What makes people take risks?

The other day in class, my accounting teacher was talking about the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. I obviously knew that it was a big deal, but really had not looked into it to the extent that I felt I should be educated on the topic. This morning I decided to read an article on the disaster to better inform myself. Following my reading of the article, I watched a video of the event. Although the passengers of the Challenger Space Shuttle were aware of the risks that are involved in space travel, they all still decided that they wanted to take part in a mission into space.

Dawn Brancheau, a trainer at SeaWorld endured a fatal bite by a killer whale this past week. If the name "killer whale" is not enough for you, I am not sure what would be. Attached are photos of Brancheau with the whale that caused her death. I was very surprised when I looked at photos of her with the whale, Shamu. One that particularly shocked me was the photo above. (There are more on the attached website link.) It appears as if the whale would have just slightly opened their mouth and she would be done.

The Titanic sank, because it was going too fast and could not be stopped in time when the iceberg ("dead ahead") came into view. There is a pretty strong theory that Bruce J. Ismay, chairman and director of the White Star Line, ordered the Captain of the Titanic to speed up in order to make a record time crossing the Atlantic on the night that the Titanic sunk.

Roy Horn, famous Las Vegas magician, was mauled by a Bengal tiger (by the name of Montecore) in 2003 while performing. The seven year old tiger was well trained and had been part of Siegfried & Roy's act for quite some time. However in the end, Montecore was still a wild animal.

What makes people take risks like these? When one looks at the examples that I have provided, it seems rather silly for one to risk his or her life in this manner. Is it fame that is driving people to do these outrageous things? Is it money? Or is it passion for what they love and enjoy? It is definitely something to think about when you or someone you care about is taking a big risk.

Below are the related links:

Challenger Space Shuttle

http://space.about.com/cs/challenger/a/challenger.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4JOjcDFtBE

Dawn Brancheau and Shamu
http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-504083_162-10002596-10.html?tag=page

Titanic

http://awesometalks.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/titanic-did-j-bruce-ismay-order-captain-smith-to-speed-up/

Roy Horn

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8391183/