Project 52

You are invited to participate in Project 52 - 2015

What is a Project 52? Starting at midnight on Jan 1, 2015, a weekly theme will be published on this blog (which will then roll over to the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824 ). You will have 7 days to develop and post a creative response to the posted theme, and post your response on the Facebook page.

At the end of the 7 days, a new post will appear for the next week.

The goal is to get your creative juices flowing. A creative response can be any medium, any form you prefer. The only rule is that you create the thing you post during that week. That is - read the theme, then take a picture, draw a picture, paint something, write a poem, write an essay, write a story, make a sculpture, whatever you want - just do it that week, and post the result on the facebook page for your fellow 52'ers to see.

It would be nice if you also gave some love to your fellow 52'ers.

That's it - easy, right?

OK - get ready - first theme will show up at 12 AM on January 1, 2015!

IDEO Fanboy

I admit, it seems every day I become more of an IDEO fanboy.

I just finished reading Tom Kelley's The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm, and it just makes me want to drop everything and move out to California and offer to sweep the floors if that's how I could get in.

The book is copyrighted from 2001, so many of the products and companies Kelley talks about are dated, but the book really has some timeless elements. Tim Brown's Change by Design (2009) was my first book by an IDEO team member. I'd probably recommend that book over Kelley's, but both are excellent.

Kelley's book reads a bit like a compilation of articles from Fastcompany Design, which is to say, it's an easy read with a bunch of tidbits, but the tidbits hang together more by their physical collocation than a strong narrative structure. Nevertheless, the tidbits are very, very cool.

Kelley opens with IDEO's basic five-step method (p.6):

1) Understand
2) Observe
3) Visualize
4) Evaluate and refine
5) Implement

Simple prescription, not easy to implement. One of the things I really like about IDEO's approach is the observe step. They have a strongly ethnographic approach: they really try to engage with the producers and users, asking questions and trying to see things that everyone has taken for granted, usually because of myopia.

The other step that I think is particularly unique to IDEO's approach is the drive to immediately start prototyping - to even use prototyping as part of the "understand" step. They even prototype for services by building mock-up environments where the services are rendered. The thing I am learning from my reading on creativity is the importance of doing, rather than planning. The act of doing tends create insights that simply trying to visualize or mentally model simply does not - at least not for most people.

He says:

Just as writer's block happens when writer's stop writing, so, too, does innovation grind to a halt when prototypes stop being built. When the muse fails you, don't mope at your desk. Make something. (p. 114)

Kelley has some other nice quotes about prototyping:

Prototyping doesn't just solve straightforward problems. Call it serendipity or even luck, but once you start drawing or making things, you open up new possibilities of discovery. (p.108)

Doodling, drawing, modeling. Sketch ideas and make things, and you're likely to encourage accidental discoveries. At the most fundamental level, what we're talking about is play, about exploring borders. (p. 109)

We believe in that great old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words. Only at IDEO, we've found that a good prototype is worth a thousand pictures. (p. 112) 

One of the important parts of prototyping is to help make sure you haven't gone of the rails from the client's perspective:

We pitch presentations in stages, show the rough sketch, the cheap foam model, and use them to right the course before it's too late. (113)

All this talk about inspiration from prototyping reminds me of how Austin Kleon really pushes this idea in his book Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative - it's important to do things. He quotes John Cleese - “We don't know where we get our ideas from. What we do know is that we do not get them from our laptops.” The idea of prototyping, of developing by doing, seems quite central to successful innovators.

The book is definitely worth a read, even if some of the specific products are now history (he talks a lot about now defunct Palm devices, for example). The process guidance is timeless.

fashion and intellectual property

Interesting point from this TED talk - fashion is not allowed to copyright/patent. They can only use trademarks. The arguments in software, music, and publishing is that we need intellectual property to encourage creativity - because without intellectual property there would be no economic incentives to create. And yet the fashion industry is extremely creative and economically successful.

http://youtu.be/zL2FOrx41N0

Project 52 for 2015 - lowering our standards

Some of the previous participants in the 30 Day Creativity Challenge have expressed interest in pursuing a Project 52.

I have participated in Project 52's on Flickr where the project consists of a weekly theme that photographers then try to capture with an image each week for a year. For this Project 52, any medium will be allowed, not just photography. So you can write a poem, write an essay, record a video, sing a song, write a reflection, or of course, take a picture, so long as what you submit ties in somehow to the theme for the week.

One thing I did not push, but I think is important, is that whatever you submit should be a new creation that week.

So if you submit a picture by itself, then the picture should be something you made that week. If you submit a poem, it should be something you wrote that week. The point is to get you making and responding. A Project 52 is not a scavenger hunt. Now that said, if the theme makes you think of a poem you once read, or a picture you took years ago, that's fine. You can integrate that into a reflection or essay. But the older thing you are using should be a starting point, not the central point. You should be adding to it in some meaningful way. An old picture might spark a story about how things were and how they are today, for example. An old poem might spark a reflection about how you thought about it back then, and how you think about it now, or how it changed who you are. The point is, the portion that is recycled should not be the primary focus of the submission.

The goal of a project like this is to get your creative juices flowing. You'll have a whole week to work on an idea - so there is time to reflect and make something that challenges you.

Since we are going to leave the medium open, I would especially encourage you try things you don't think you are good at. Can't draw? Perfect - drawing it is! Can't write poetry? Time for some sonnets.

For some of you who are perfectionists, the idea of putting something out there that isn't perfect is horrifying, but it is truly the only way to grow. The poet William Stafford used to write a poem every day as soon as he woke up in the morning. An interviewer once asked him, "What if you aren't very good that day?" His response was simply, "I lower my standards."

So I invite you to try a Project 52 that will take you outside your comfort zone this year. Perhaps just doing this will be outside your comfort zone. You will be the judge of where that zone is for you. But if you take this on, and you truly try to experiment with things you are uncomfortable with, you will be a better person by the end. And after all, what else is there to life?

So get ready to lower your standards in the new year. First post will go live New Years eve.

Another Challenge Complete!

Yay! We made it through our 30 Day Creativity Challenge.

Now what? We've got to keep those juices flowing.

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 30 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

the end

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 29 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

self-portrait

(no, this is not a mistake)

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 28 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

friendship

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 27 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

under

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 27 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

under

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 26 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

morning

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 25 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

dance

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 24 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

hold

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 23 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

young

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 22 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

full

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 21 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

parallel

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 20 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

black

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 19 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

reverse

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 18 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

alive

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 17 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

touch

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 16 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

awake

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 15 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

hand

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 14 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

taste

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 13 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

indirect

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 12 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

soft

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 11 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

pair

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 10 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

shine

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 9 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

cold

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 8 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

sound

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 7 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

alone

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 6 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

away

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 5 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

rip

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 4 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

found

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 3 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

going

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 2 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

self-portrait

Interpret however you want - just be interesting.

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

30 Day Creativity Challenge - Day 1 Prompt

Ready? Here it is:

in the beginning

Yep, that's it. Start.

Go forth and make something cool!

Then upload it to the comments section on Facebook so everyone can see it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

This post will roll over to the Facebook. To post your response to the prompt, please post your response in the comments to this post on the Facebook page.

30 day challenge posting clarification

For those of you who will be participating in the challenge, the way I would like you to upload your responses is in the comments section on Facebook for each day's challenge.

The theme will be published here on this blog, but it will roll over to the Facebook page.

(You will see this post show up on the Facebook page a few minutes after I publish it here. The same thing will happen with the theme posts.)

Under each theme post on the Facebook page will be a comments section. It is much easier to upload images to Facebook than to post here. I would have to give author privileges to everyone for them to post to this blog (with attachments), which I am unwilling to do since it would be an administrative hassle. Using Facebook is a much simpler solution.

The Facebook page is:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824


If you haven't "liked" it yet, do so, and the themes will show up in your Facebook feed.


I know this is a little confusing, but once we get going, I'm sure we'll all be ok.

30 Day Creativity Challenge

It's back - the daily creativity challenge! Are you up for it?

30 days, 30 themes. Open to anyone - students, faculty, friends, family, non-students - anyone who wants to exercise their creativity.

Since I won't be offering my Insight and Innovation Course this year, I am decoupling the creativity challenge and offering it on its own.

The themes will begin at 12 AM on 1 November 2014 and run through 30 November 2014.

You have until midnight (US Central time) of the next day to post a response to each theme.

The theme will automatically roll over from here on this blog to the Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Army-Baylor-Insight-and-Innovation-Course/530970987018824

Post your response in the comments to each theme announcement.

Can you hang? It sounds easy - trust me, it's not.

What counts as a response? Anything you want, as long as it's creative. Some days aren't going to be as good as others - that's when we Lower Our Standards! (Three cheers for lowering standards! Lowering our standards is a big theme in the creativity course. Get over it perfectionists.)

If you complete all 30 days on time, I will give you a prize (it's small and nominal, but it's still a prize).

What do I mean by a theme? A theme will usually be a word or words, which you will then interpret by taking a picture, writing a poem, writing a reflection, making a sculpture (which you would then take a picture of and post).

Example theme: "Three"

Response: take a picture of three of something; write a haiku (3 line poem); reflect on the 3 best things that ever happened to you (or worst, whatever); paint a picture with three of something in it; illuminate the number three; etc. be creative - the key is to do something!

For more examples, scroll through this blog to see prior year themes and responses.

Creativity is a habit. You can make yourself more creative by exercising your creative muscles. But you have to exercise those muscles. No one got stronger or faster by waiting for their muse to come pick them up and take them to the gym.

True innovation comes from finding new and better ways to do things with the materials and resources you already have - this is the key lesson from our study of economic growth.

So... Get thee to your camera/keyboard/work shop! Get ready to be creative!


Questions?

post in the comments below, or e-mail me: markbonica@hotmail.com

Time's up

And it was just getting good.

The End :(

Game over.  The end.

The End?

The End?

Today's prompt made me think of Da Vinci and the connection between seemingly opposite, disparate things.  Every ending is a new beginning.  I think that although it is the end of the course, we all have learned so much about the creative process and have gained practical tools that we can carry to our residencies and beyond.  The course may be ending, but we all have new beginnings that are quickly approaching.  This course inspired me to get a new sketch book, which I hope to fill with lessons learned, successes and mistakes, and thoughts for innovation.  Endings bring new beginnings and I am ready to fill page one...

Day 39: The End

My Way

And now, the end is here

And so I face the final curtain

My friend, I'll say it clear

I'll state my case, of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full

I traveled each and ev'ry highway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Regrets, I've had a few

But then again, too few to mention

I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

...

- Frank Sinatra   

I think that this final post is bittersweet.  I've enjoyed and struggled along the way with the entire semester and the course.  I always looked forward to what the class had posted.  Although I'm glad to be nearing the end of the semester, I will miss the blog prompts.  Go forth and innovate.

The End

This is the end 

Beautiful friend 
This is the end 
My only friend, the end 

Of our elaborate plans, the end 
Of everything that stands, the end 
No safety or surprise, the end 
I'll never look into your eyes...again

Okay, so at 36, am I too old to be quoting The Doors?  Perhaps, but old habits die hard.  At one time I could recite the entire lyrics to most Doors albums in my sleep, though I admit that I now had to look the words up to check my memory of them.  When Doug told me that the post prompt for today, the last prompt, was "the end," these words were the first thing that popped into mind.

It's been a really fun class.  This class, focusing on the self, on thinking ~ creativity ~ innovation and harnessing the power of the mind -- served as a nice balance in contrast to some of the other classes offered this term.  I really enjoyed the books that we read for class, the case studies, and the projects.  I really enjoyed our in-class discussions.  Although structured, I never seemed to know where we'd end up once we got going.  And we were always pushing it time-wise, with so much to say in only two short hours.  I think our desire to keep talking past the bell says a lot.

This challenge of daily prompts has been tougher than I thought it would be.  How hard could it be to just post something on the blog everyday?  It turns out that, when everything else in the world is going on, sometimes it was harder than you would think.  That being said, I'm happy with the work I produced, for the most part, and had fun doing it.  I was always consistently surprised and impressed with the work of the other fearless four who took the class.  Good on ya, too!

So for this last post, I thought I would take a picture of the hallway in my apartments, as I thought about this class walking to my unit after Doug dropped me off (thanks for all the rides, Doug and Donnie!).  I went with the metaphor of the light at the end of the tunnel.  I think we are all starting to see it.  Fourth semester coming to an end, fifth about to start.  Our countdowns to Orals in full effect, stresses of relocating starting to ramp up.  

We will march forward, new found skill sets and ideas in hand, and hope to make a difference wherever we go, whatever we do.  Making a difference is all we can strive for, right?  I hope we stay in touch, either via email, Facebook, LinkedIn - or even the blog!  

Because I look forward to hearing from how y'all are doing, and exchanging stories down the road of how we took LTC Bonica's teachings, and did cool sh** with them.  

Good luck, and keep innovating.  Keep stealing like an artist.  Y'all will see me out there somewhere.  Fakin' it till I make it.

Valdez

The light at the end of the tunnel

The end

Self Portrait

Self Portrait

For today's theme I wanted to take my original photograph (I was inspired by Donnie's post) and add a twist.  I thought about Inside the Box and Gore and how they recommend taking an existing product and reframing it.  I liked how Inside the Box discussed identifying critical components and the method of subtraction.  What components comprise my self-portrait could be subtracted without making it unidentifiable? I always thought that the necessary attributes of self portraits are the eyes and the nose, but like the Mona Lisa, is a self-portrait the same without the mouth? I played with the portrait to see if the slimmest portion of the picture were still identifiable and which parts could be subtracted. The photos attached were part of that process. 

self-portrait

"You are a mashup of what you let into your life." - Austin Kleon

Literal:



and figurative:

"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." - John 6:35

Who are you? what you let into your life. Every day, every minute is a choice of what you let in and what you keep out. We are a work in progress.

Self Portrait

Worked on contrast, balance, and composition.

Day 38: Self-portrait

Self-portrait

10 lbs lighter than when we started the semester...

despite all of my stress eating!

Self-Portrait(s)

For today's prompt of self-portrait, the forces of the universe shifted directions, aligned, and gave me two great opportunities.

I was walking down the hall at the AMEDD Center and School and ran into one of my old soldiers, WO1 Carlos Rivera.  We last saw each other in 2003.  Seeing him was a real treat as he was one of my best soldiers, we won Soldier and NCO of the Year at Ft. Belvoir right before I got out.  Great to see that he went on to become a sergeant first class and is now a brand new warrant officer.  He looks pretty much the same.

Another cool story.  This is CW3 Jonathan Richardson.  I met him on June 28th, 1995, the day that I drove up to Portland, went to the Military Entrance Processing Station, and raised my hand to enlist.  The staff sergeant that was working with me introduced me to Jonathan.  It turns out that he had also signed up to be a 91A (Medical Equipment Repairman).  We sat next to each other on the plane to Missouri, attended Basic Training together at Ft. Leonard Wood, and attended tech school at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center together.  After that, our paths diverged, and I didn't see him again until a few years ago at the 2012 AAMI Conference.  I bumped into him again today!  He's teaching the class that my other friend, Carlos, is now in.  The old guard Chief Warrant Officer teaching the new guard, the "wobbly ones."  We went to lunch and I snapped a pic.

You have to love the AMEDD Center and School.  It's a small world.  Sometimes the Army makes it even smaller.

That's me in the front right.  That's Jonathan in the 2nd row, second from the left.

Self Portrait

I decided to take a current self portrait based on the busy last week of 4th semester.  I staged the picture but I think it shows what many of us have been feeling this week.

Toy

Even in toys, we do not get to choose who we love.

Toys

Titan's Toys

Today's prompt made me stretch my creative process.  Admittedly, there aren't too many toys that are inside the box of my home, school, or immediate environment.  I wanted to capture my dog Titan's toys since I thought that this was most relevant to today's prompt.

Angry Dinosaur and WoodBoy

I did a series of silly photographs featuring Angry Dinosaur, Misanthropic Pig, WoodBoy, WoodMan, SideKick!, and R2. You can see some more here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/23119666@N03/sets/72157625765534484

Day 37: Toy

Toys?

So, all day I've been toying with the idea of skipping this post, 

but here I've attempted a different kind of subtraction.  

In this photo, what I find most alarming is the absence of toys.  

This room is often littered with toys from bow to stern.

This room is so peaceful without toys.

Toys

For todays prompt I recreated something my children seem to enjoy doing.  You take a box of toys, dump them on the floor, and then leave to go play with something else!

 

Toy

"Oh, Ken.....do you really think that achieving simultaneous 

cost, quality, and access is impossible...?"

Iron Nails

Because it is Good Friday "iron" brought to mind the nails used for the crucifixion.

iron

It is an age passing:

what men will we be,

when iron goes to join

bronze and gold?

Iron: A Blogjam of Ideas

Iron.

Idea #1 Knee-jerk response.  Take a picture of my iron, the one that has gotten me through grad school (so far).

#2 Second thought.  Take a picture of the armpit of my green polo shirt that has the impression of an iron, blackish burn marks on it.  Me: "I need to get a new polo!  I burnt my green one ironing it somehow."  Linc: "Iron?  Too much.  Wash and wear, really."

#3 So then I thought I thought I'd log onto the blog.  Damn.  Irons already abound!  Need to do something else.

#4 Google Iron.  Etymology.  Nothing really inspiring.  Type all the letters of the alphabet before the word iron in the search bar.  AIRON BIRON (a hockey player comes up) CIRON DIRON EIRON FIRON KIRON (Russian tennis player).  This is getting me nowhere.

#5 Iron.  Ironic?  Something with that?

#6  Iron Man?  What can I do with that???

#7 Ironside!  The cop show from the sixties (or was it seventies?) about a detective played by Raymond Burr who fights crime from his wheelchair.  Get it?  Wheelchair?  Ironsides?  Maybe I'll make a meme.  So I Google image Ironside, and ...

#8  I end up with lots of pictures of Michael Ironsides, one of the staple bad guys of the 80s and 90s.  Really only played a good guy once that I can remember.  The teacher turned sergeant in Starship Troopers.  Maybe I'll write an ode to Michael Ironsides.  Loved him in Total Recall ... 

#9  Wait.  Ironsides.  Plural.  Reminds me of Old Ironsides, the name of the 1st Armored Division at Ft. Knox.  Let me Google image that.  But instead I get ...

#10   Lots of images of this beautiful old ship.  The USS Constitution.  It was an old naval vessel that they were going to decommission.  But then Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. wrote this poem about it, and both Holmes and the ship shot to fame.  Save the ship!  People rallied, people petitioned.  People raised money.  And the ship was saved.  It is now the oldest remaining American ship that is still afloat.   I have included the poem below, with the next idea.

Aye tear her tattered ensign down
long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon's roar;--
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood,
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor's tread,
Or know the conquered knee;--
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

Oh, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!'
                   - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

#11   Oliver Wendell Holmes.  Why is that name so familiar?  Wasn't he a Supreme Court Judge?  Google.  No, this Oliver Wendell Holmes lived in the 1800s and was a physician, poet, physician, lecturer and author based in Boston, according to Wikipedia.  Oh, now I see.  I was thinking of  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr..  Why was I thinking of that Holmes?  Right.  Because I read about him when I looked up Justice Benjamin Cardozo, the justice who wrote the principal opinion for Schloendorff vs. Society of New York Hospital.  "Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body..."  It's all coming together.  Coincidental integration.

#12  Back to Old Ironsides.  I find the logo.  The one that was ubiquitous while I was stationed at Ft. Knox.  The one that was the name of one of the roads that ran through post.  Visions of tanks and heavy armor and hot humid Kentucky days spent sipping now forgotten brands like Clearly Canadian.

#13  Reading about the history of Old Ironsides, and catching a funny story.  The name of the unit comes from Major General Magruder, who was in a pinch.  It was 1940 and Patton had just named the 2nd Armored Division "Hell on Wheels."  The 1st Armorded Division lacked a name.  General Magruder held a contest but none of the entries really grabbed him.  Then, a moment of genius.  Magruder had just bought a painting of ... you guessed it - Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution, during a fundraiser aimed at maintaining the famous fighting ship, and Magruder decided to name his unit after it.  He saw similarities between the "spirit of daring and durability" in the ship as he did in his tanks and the rest is history.  You can check out the whole story at the link below.

Idea #14  Call it a night!  I'm going to bed!

Source:  http://yankeetirade.com/Old_Ironsides.html

Iron(s)

I walked around my apartment today looking for iron things.  I came up with an iron, cast iron pan and my 1911.  I'm not happy with this post but it is friday and I am lowering my standards.

Iron

“Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation... even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.”

-Leonardo Da Vinci

I sought inspiration for today’s prompt and was surprised to come across a quote by Leonardo Da Vinci.  I felt it would be appropriate for the course, not only because it was derived from him, but because it also speaks to many of our discussions about how the daily posts help us to routinize the creativity process.  Da Vinci states that we must continually work on refining our creativity skills and sharpening our minds.  I think that this course has really made me appreciate that process. 

Day 37: Iron

IRON

As Easter 

approaches I

reflect on the 

IRON that 

nailed Jesus 

to the cross on what we IRONically call good Friday.  

These nails were only part of the torture and suffering that 

HE endured 

for me. As

I reflect on

HIS sacrifice

I am reminded

of the lyrics of 

a country song:

"I will cling to the

old rugged cross

and exchange it

someday for a

crown."

Morning

Morning

When I read the prompt today I thought of breakfast.  I had plans to make bacon and eggs and then take a picture.  After working with my Op Mgmt Group, taking the toyota tour and then going to a study session I do not have time to make breakfast (plus I'm not even home).  So this prompt turned into a closed box exercise.  This week has been busy and I thought about my morning routine.
Get up, get ready, eat breakfast in the truck, start studying in class.