It Ain't Over Till the Zombie Diva Sings

Current Mood: pensive

I've been doing some reading and listening about creativity over the last several months. (By the way, I highly recommend this interview with John Hodgman.) One theme that emerges again and again is that creativity is just something that you do. Creative people *create*. This seems self-evident, and yet.... At MaxFunCon, Merlin Mann gave a talk about creativity, which could be summed up as, stop making excuses and just do it. I kind of feel like I've been making excuses not to be creative for a long time - possibly my entire adult life. Another thing that Merlin said was that we're just too chicken-shit afraid to find out how successful we can (or can't) be. After hearing that, and thinking on it for some weeks now, I think he might have my number. 

• 14:14 No children's choir in July. Instead, I'm conducting at church in addition to singing. No rest for the wicked. ;-) #fb #
• 14:18 Why is someone that I've blocked on Twitter showing up in my list of followers, with an option to unblock?! Is this a feature change? #
• 17:57 Now I can twitter from my phone. Ho-Ho-Ho. #fb #
• 18:03 I'm a bit irked that my Twitter follower count now includes folks that I've blocked. >:-| #
• 18:26 Ah. A work-around for the Twitter follower problem, though it's a pain in the butt to have to do this. trunc.it/mq9e #
• 18:31 Folding towels now. #boringtweets #fb #
• 21:19 Enjoying new Styx and Pink Floyd CDs, courtesy of the Valley Youth Chorus! :-D #fb #
• 21:20 Listening to Styx's pre-A&M albums, falling in love all over again. :-) #fb #

• 21:57 Item offered on the menu of our local vegan restaurant: "hot dump stick." While not meat, that's still an animal product, yes? #fb #
• 22:00 The husband tells me that this has now been corrected to "hot drum stick" on their online menu. Is it a Vic Firth? #fb #

• 15:49 Holy poop. A harebrained plan, hatched before the official harebrained plan numbering system, is actually coming to fruition. Holy poop! #fb #
• 16:40 Just got complimentary cookies delivered to my hotel room. Go Holiday Inn Express! #fb #
• 16:43 Families splashing in the pool outside my room give me the *illusion* that I'm on a liesure trip. #fb #
• 17:02 RT @NotexNote: The Note x Note arts & culture blog is now LIVE! Check it out! anthonymcalister.blogspot.com #fb #
• 20:50 The harebrained plan is making me really, almost nauseously, nervous. I hope I'm up to the task. All will be revealed eventually. :-D #fb #
• 21:40 Can't stop watching this video of @hodgman singing "Surrounded by Friendship" at #maxfuncon. So charming. www.vimeo.com/5249570 #fb #

• 23:09 Doing some email triage. Trying to get back on the Inbox Zero wagon after falling off. (Email DMZ has swelled to almost 3,400 messages.) #fb #
• 23:10 Gmail inbox has no new messages at least. Ha! Blissful ignorance. :-) #fb #
• 21:18 You wanna know what I'm doing Sunday afternoon and evening? NOTHING! Hahahahaha! #fb #

• 17:25 Spamalot at the Ahmanson Theatre July 7 - Sept 6! :-) trunc.it/kpag #fb #
• 18:57 Hey, the first two ingredients in my strawberry popsicle are water and - get this - strawberries. :-) #fb #

• 23:15 To-do list shortened by all of eight items. Unenthusiastic woo-hoo. #
• 13:41 This is a test. Please ignore. This tweet is going to Facebook. #fb #
• 13:42 This is another test. Please ignore. This tweet is not going to Facebook. #
• 14:37 Yet another test. Please ignore. (It helps whe you don't typo your Twitter handle.) #fb #
• 14:37 And (hopefully) a final test. #
• 14:42 Selective Twitter Status app for Facebook is great! Thank you, @andyy! #fb #
• 15:14 Oh, and here's the link for Selective Twitter Status: tinyurl.com/dzyv7z #fb #
• 18:11 REO Coveredwagon #coolbandsmadeuncool #
• 18:13 Mediocretramp #coolbandsmadeuncool #
• 18:22 Debating whether or not that last one should have been Soft 'N Limp, but I think what I went with is funnier, if less literal. #

• 13:25 What is the point of fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt? Seriously. #
• 13:43 P.S. I'm not sure what it means that my two most commented-on posts were "I like cheese. A lot," and "I had cake for breakfast." #
• 16:34 And you thought the Christmas Special was hokey... colleenky.livejournal.com/104640.html #
• 16:41 Tried a friend's suggestion to write down tasks as they occurred to me throughout the day. Currently at 19 and counting. Oy. #
• 16:46 Time to go work off last night's indulgent meatloaf dinner. (Soooo worth it.) #
• 17:49 Catching up on @Coverville podcasts during my walk. Dolly Parton's cover of Stairway to Heaven is awesome! Who knew? (I guess Brian Ibbott.) #

• 00:17 I love this TED talk by @hodgman. It's charming and desperately romantic. :-) trunc.it/ift9 #
• 00:48 Getting lost in old @hodgman McSweeney's articles. Must go to sleep. P.S. I've now broken my two-night streak of going to bed in the PM. #
• 13:38 I had cake for breakfast. :-) #

• 23:03 Getting ready for bed while it's still PM - for *twice*. #
• 10:17 Thanks, @awryone! I had missed the beginning. #
• 10:50 Slept in for the first time in a while. Man, I didn't realize how much I needed that. #
• 12:16 Wearing my @paulandstorm Dept of Geek Affairs shirt in honor of @hodgman's address at the @rtcadinner last night. tinyurl.com/ldpwdz #
• 12:50 Having some friends over today to discuss education policy. Feeling very sophisticated. :-) #
• 13:54 Or not. S'OK. No ed mtg = more time to tidy the apt and wrestle w/ Renaissance composers. Plus, I get to eat all the Bing cherries myself! #
• 18:22 RT @hodgman: MaxFunCon -- the lost album cover: Messrs. @phirm, @hodgman, @zuhl, @mathowie, and @jonathancoulton. flic.kr/p/6y51nn #

• 23:20 Home from a lovely evening of Scotch rarebit, prime rib, chocolate souffle and good friends. (See, Kristen? Sometimes I'm intelligible.) ;-) #
• 12:18 Woo-hoo! Summer weather has finally arrived! Eating lunch outside today.(Leftover prime rib and smashed bodadoes. Mmmm.) #
• 20:18 Supporting the children of folks serving in the Coast Guard (like my dad did), via The Colbert Report: donorschoose.org/twt/277250 #
• 22:55 Another night, another battle with Renaissance composers. Stand down, William Byrd! You are defeated! #

• 23:36 Getting ready for bed while it's still PM - for once. #
• 11:05 The following link is SFW. Really. www.suckandblow.com/ #
• 11:08 In finalizing my work schedule, I realized that I will be out of town for about a month and a half, Aug to mid-Sept. Home for my bday tho! #
• 11:19 Saw James Marsters in a reading of The Importance of Being Earnest last night. :-) To be broadcast on KPCC. tinyurl.com/lugp3b #
• 17:41 Why my tweets don't go to Facebook no more? :-S #
• 17:42 Wait, now that one worked. Whah?! #

• 01:02 Aw, geez. Just discovered that my office building is in the "area impacted" by the Lakers parade on Wed. >:-( #
• 17:28 Thankfully, the Lakers parade interfered very little with my day. #

• 23:07 Thank you, mini hive-mind, for confirming what I already knew. OF COURSE, I should buy more Styx and Pink Floyd. :-) #
• 23:12 I twitter about a feud b/t @paulandstorm and @nerdist and @phirm, then come home later to see that it's actually happening. Whah?! #andvsn #
• 23:15 What does "andvsn" even mean anyway? Google has been no help. Do I need to turn in my nerd card for not knowing? #andvsn #
• 09:25 RT jonathancoulton:@paulandstorm are now feuding with @nerdist and @phirm. (Note to self: stop having sex with comedy duos at cons.) #andvsn #
• 18:24 Thanks to @twinschick1, @robgonzo and @mitch_j, I now know that #andvsn is for Paul *and* Storm *vs* Hard *n* Phirm. #
• 18:49 Jeezy Pete! Styx's Man of Miracles CD is going for $85!!! #

• 00:55 Had a lovely time @ #maxfuncon w/ @jonathancoulton @hodgman @phirm and @nerdist. You're all gentlemen and scholars, to a man. Thank you. :-) #
• 00:57 Also, Valley Youth Chorus had a wonderful final performance today. A student sang @jonathancoulton's Still Alive, then gave me cake! :-D #
• 12:44 RT @youngamerican "MaxFunCon email list for MaxFunCon 2010: bit.ly/mFimG ." This first year was spectacular, so go sign up! #
• 17:08 Money quote from @peirigill at last night's @Jouyssance rehearsal: You can't spell "Dunstable" without "unstable." Hahahahaha! :-D #
• 17:10 RT @ObiShawnC: The H-Wing seems to have been "dugg", and is on the front page: bit.ly/1677kP Woot! #
• 17:26 Researching this "skype" thing all the kids are talking about for an upcoming project... #
• 20:18 What to do with windfall money? Have a spa treatment, or round out my Styx and Pink Floyd collections? #

• 00:54 Um, @Jordan_Morris is sitting at my feet here in my condolet at #maxfuncon. #
• 01:04 I'm drinking a lovely 12 year Irish whiskey (Redbreast), surrounded by a bunch of young hipsters. Who is this? Is this me? #
• 01:08 .@nerdist was HI-larious tonight. Foul and vulgar and freakin' hysterical. :-) Oh, and @jonathancoulton played an unexpected set. #
• 01:10 We seem to have amused @jonathancoulton with our harmonizing and clapping and sign language. :-) #
• 01:11 During s'mores time, I had a lovely, but too short, conversation with @phirm about conducting patterns and delicious harmony. #
• 01:19 Here's a pick of the festivities in my and @JadeSnake's condolet via @ginamai: twitpic.com/79p8x #
• 02:26 It's going on 2:30am. Apparently the people in the condolet next door aren't quite done partying yet. #

• 08:50 .@JadeSnake and I are having breakfast before #maxfuncon, laughing that we're both on our own laptops looking at the same stuff. :-) #

• 23:07 I just might get everything done in time for this weekend's craziness. Maybe. #
• 12:45 Lunchtime! Why yes, I AM putting more cheese on top of my cheese ravioli. :-) #
• 12:46 I like cheese. A lot. #
• 19:39 Well, I've just done my part to stimulate the economy... #
• 19:40 Also, the subject of cheese is apparently quite popular. Duly noted for future reference. #