idea #2

This morning I am applying for a job I really want. I have some questions, but all of my gainfully-employed, advice-having friends and colleagues are at work. So, my idea is coming from the best kind of place, fulfilling an actual need I have. (Hey, I never promised these would all be art ideas.) 

IDEA #2: An app, put out by LinkedIn, in which you give and receive advice about job hunting. It would function like Lulu but for jobs. 

i.e. "On my resume, should I include brief descriptions of each job I've held?" You would be able to see the line of work of the person answering so you could get a better sense of whether to trust their advice. 

idea #1

When I moved from Lexington, KY, a mid-sized college town, to Portland, OR I noticed a marked difference in the amount of street harassment I faced. It didn't hit me for a while but I remember one day suddenly realizing that I didn't have quite as much tension, waiting for it to happen at any moment. This isn't to say that harassment never happened. It was just a bit different. Most frequently I was getting the comments or the person following me on public transit, which I hadn't used until moving here. There was almost never someone driving or walking down the street who made inappropriate gestures or comments. Then, about a year and a half ago, I started running. For whatever reason, this was the ticket. I have had men literally bark at me (like dogs) out of car windows. It's scarier when it happens after dark, but mostly it just makes me feel angry and sad. (And makes my mile split faster temporarily.) I admit that this one has been stewing for a while, but I haven't made it public in any way yet. So, here it is. 

IDEA #1: Every time I am street harassed I will take a photo of the person. If I can't catch them in time. I will photograph myself at the location of the incident.

a bad idea every day

I had coffee with a fellow graduate of my MFA program this morning and we were talking about how to keep the momentum going after the community of our cohort dispersed. We shared some thoughts on projects we are working on and both agreed that we suffer from biting off more than we can chew. Our inclinations to take on months long projects that require self-funding and often become unwieldy and cantankerous. We both recounted times when we had met with an advisor who had suggested we try doing some "smaller" projects sometimes, just as a way of exercising different creative muscles. She admitted that she had started the summer with the idea that she would write down three project ideas every day, but hadn't followed through with it. I've made similar proclamations and they have fizzled out for me too. But I suggested that maybe the problem with these exercises is the idea that we don't want to write down bad ideas. We want to have "good" ideas come forth right off the bat. We agreed this is sometimes the mental block. The concept of the "bad" idea. I'm going to make the bold claim that most good ideas started as bad ideas. Any concept that isn't worked over enough, or thought fully through will remain a bad idea. But many bad ideas are waiting to become great projects once they've been explored, researched, tested, or just workshopped with others. So, I will begin now. Not three (I don't want to get crazy here) but just one. One bad idea. Every day. From now on.