the idea: connect something back to a good fiction world If you’ve ever submerged yourself in a fictional world, you know that it can connect to everything around you. That being said, I have to admit that I have spent more than my share of time hidden in Hogwarts. Today, while driving home, I saw …
the idea: give kids simple toys that they can actually create something out of i.e. blocks, legos, clay, paint Now that my brain has finally had a bit of a break, I am working my way through Tony Wagner’s book Creating Innovators: The making of young people who will change the world. It was when I was …
the idea: make a drawing as big as you can, only to be told that it’s only 32% done You do strange things when you’re in school,especially when you’re in art school. Some of these things stay with you, some you forget about until, say, you’re helping your mother go through the basement. I only had …
the idea: define “Fun” in a picture book This book, written by my uncle presumably when he was in elementary school, surfaced today when my father and I were going through the basement. In it, he has a pile of stuff recovered from my grandmother’s house after she passed away in Hurricane Sandy. But, amid the …
the idea: set aside some time to crash Today was supposed to be the beginning of me coming home to celebrate Father’s day, spend some time with my sister before she goes to Japan, and other family things. Instead it turned into a few games of Boggle, dinner, and then a nap. And by nap, I …
the idea: go to an open mic with another musician, spur of the moment decide to play together Now, I know that for some other musicians this is a fairly regular thing. You see another musician, you play together, and there’s no other thought about it. But you have to understand, most of my musical life …
the idea: to buy like an artist make your own art and trade it You know you’ve entered the right world when you can go to an open mic with a friend of a friend, have a blast playing music together even though you never have before, and then trade your book for her CD. Obviously, …
the idea: while my students are busy being impressionists, make a quick version of Renoir’s Dance at Bougival When I sat down to teach my last after school class for the year in Cambridge, I thought that I would participate along with my students. I was teaching about canvas (it originally came from the sails of …
the idea: create a feminist medieval fantasy world My sister Mairead and I both graduated within the past month and have been keeping each other updated on where we are in post-school limbo world. For the most part, I’ve been enjoying it so far. I finished my book launch and then spent around a week and a …
the idea: tape random teacher-jokes to the elevator door For my job I travel around to a lot of schools, after schools, community centers, and hospitals. I get to see a lot of different places where kids go to learn, be babysat, and heal, and thus also get to see what the adults in those situations …