Friday Fun: Happy Halloween!

When Pumpkins Drink ....

Site Seeing: Holley Portraits

One of my favorite Paul Simon songs touches on The Myth of Fingerprints.

Holley Portraits make it clear: No one leaves a fingerprint like you.

Thanks to Leslie for the link to Holley Portraits. And let me know if you make your own fingerprint portrait!

Creativity Exercise: Head Start on a Haiku

I know, I know. It's not the first time I've asked you to write a haiku. But here's why I keep coming back to this poetic format: It's doable. No matter how busy you are, you have time to write 17 syllables.

Remember the rules: Five syllables in the first line. Seven syllables in the second line. Five syllables in the third line.

And, there's a twist this time. Let's all incorporate the phrase: Love is letting go.

(The wonderful thing about creativity? None of us will do the same thing with that same line.)

Creativity Tips: Lessons from Fourth Grade

In my attempt to turn the recent basement flood into a positive*, I've been using the resulting disarray as incentive to clean things up. And I found this among the school papers from Mary's fourth-grade class:

From the author talk today I learned ...

that you never, never, never give up.

And don't throw away your first draft.

I can't think of any better advice.

*Pollyanna lives. And don't cold, wet Octobers make you want to watch Pollyanna? Possibly with a cold, wet beverage ... but still.

Creativity Tips: Make It Personal

One of the first things you learn as a copywriter (or a radio newscaster, in my case) is: Make it personal. Don't talk to thousands of people. Don't talk to some ephemeral "audience." Speak directly to one person.

Last week, MoveOn came out with a classic example of using technology to personalize a message. In this case -- Jan, get out there and vote! Take a look.

P.S. Thanks to Amber and Leslie for the link!

Friday Fun: She's Such an Easy Target

Creativity Exercise: Thursday's Child

In the classic children's poem, "Thursday's child has far to go."

Take out a clean sheet of paper. List seven places where Thursday's child is going. Give reasons, if you want, or just locations.

Remember, this is a creativity exercise: a location can be anything from a galaxy to a chair. You choose.