chocolate kettles

i tend to average about 1 post per week.  i'm not busy.  until classes start back on monday, i'm just sitting in the same spot on my couch surfing the interwebs during the day, then getting dressed, then heading out to socialize at night.


how, then, am i not posting 560,098 times a week? you pose an intriguing question that i could not have honestly answered 24 hours ago.


last night, with no plans, i settled into my couch corner and started to research my next post--i.e. online shopping at barneys.com.  i racked up an impressive cart of items during my two hours on their website, only to take a screenshot of each coveted dress, coat, and blouse.  


of course while completing any online task, i have a facebook tab ready, as any attention-holic would, in case someone wanted to chat, express their endless devotion on my wall, or tag a primo picture of me from last night's escapades.  every half hour or so, i would switch from barney's to the social networking hell, but with nothing juicy blooming on the newsfeed, i could continue "shopping".


that is... until i saw a video of a toilet.  i read the description, and saw that it was my friend receiving a swirly.  i hate germs, and i had friends in middle school who attempted to give me swirlies on multiple occasions.  it is an indescribable sense of impending doom, and i watched in horror as my friend succumbed to her loss of a farkle  bet.  


well, naturally, i had to see who posted it.  then go to their page.  then click their website.  (you're beginning to see how i don't post more often, now, right?)  the website on which i landed was that of my friend's husband.  I read a few of his posts and his intellectual wit had fully captured my attention.  i saw in the sidebar that he had recently finished a book that was free for download.  i clicked.

the book, entitled melting chocolate kettles, authored by austin l church, addresses common hurdles in following through with your creative ideas.  every artist struggles with their own form of writer's block, and are quicker to make an excuse than to write the first word.  as a frequent victim of this process, i started reading my personal pdf copy of the book and could not put it down until i finished it (at 3.30 am... i'm a slow reader).  It is 59 pages of respectable, intellectual, and totally relatable advice for the lackadaisical artist.  i was consumed with the wit, flowing sentences, and impressively organized content, and it left me inspired. 


the author promotes blogging as a key tool in honing your creative abilities, as readers provide an "assignment", posts provide a "due date", and comments provide "editing/feedback".  so if you are in the same creative boat gone adrift, head over to the gu.e website, skim a couple posts, read up on the author, and DEFINITELY download his book, if for nothing else but a creative resource for your next slump.  and don't let the 59 pages frighten you. i'm a slower reader than your two-year-old cousin, but it was so entertaining it seemed unbelievably quick.


i implore you to comment on/edit/complain about/contribute to my posts as freely as you like.  it can only help me become a better writer/illustrator/designer, and you should be open to the same critique.  i know this isn't about fashion, but a lot of you are creators of different sorts, so let this challenge you, and me, to keep up with our processes and share our art(s) with the world just as austin has.


image from www.whatsleftout.com