The Daily Muser

While idling around online, I came across something I used to do a long time ago: cardboard furniture. Yes, yes, I know, I know. Cardboard furniture? You've got to be kidding me! No. Thanks to the SC Governor's School for the Arts where I attended high school, it became a source of not only great angst, but fascination. I couldn't get the hang of the stuff at the time. We used cardboard strips to make life-sized human models. Mine at the time left much to be desired. A laid out piece propped on its arms with its neck thrown back. Dowdy and stiff it was. I named it Bounded Passion. Very appropriate. Only thing missing was a chastity belt. Later in college, inspired by Louis Nevelson's shadow boxes, I created a box with a hand wounding through and an abstracted face screaming out. I finally got the hang of cardboard by that point. I wish I had pictures of that thing. My balcony is still black from that project!

I didn't realize that cardboard furniture was such big business. I recall a few years back hearing about this young man that furnished his entire apartment out of fedex boxes. Fedex was not amused. One would think Fedex would be thrilled. I mean, free advertising, if nothing else. The site wasn't an ecommerce type deal and he obviously had a lot of stuff delivered via fedex which equals more moolah for them. Am I right?

Here are some examples of what I have found online.


Foldschool.com Modular Cardboard Children's Furniture


Frank O. Gehry


.....it looks sturdy

All in all this stuff looks like loads of fun. Would I decorate my house with it? Eh, maybe my art studio. I'd make a wall piece for the house and spray paint it to match the decor. Maybe a wall piece with a clock slightly off center that spreads out like the branches of a tree with a kinetic and tactile quality. I love art that moves! Painted black against the right background, perhaps an intermingling of oranges and reds with a backlight behind the wall to denote the horizon, and it's definitely a conversation piece. Needless to say, I doubt I'd be a candidate for Architectural Digest! Perhaps I'll reserve my creative sparks for my future art studio. I might actually want to SELL my house one day lol!

Edited to ADD!

Please visit THIS SITE! Really awesome! This guy really sparks my imagination as he will yours!

Labels: art project, cardboard boxes, diy, fun

Brainstorming. It's the bane of many middle and high-school students scholastic endeavors. I mean, how creative can one be about rock formations in the Grand Canyon or mitosis? We all know what it is. Whether we choose a list format or mindmaps, it's basically coming up with ideas through a mental flow or storm and culminating those thoughts into vibrant, interesting writing. I only brainstorm for essays. I've always been more of a freewriter. I sit. I write whatever comes to mind and hopefully, it will make some sense. I take ONE idea and run with it. With the story I wrote previously, The Victory, I wanted to write about a lake. Somehow thinking about a boy sitting by a quiescent lake stemmed that story. That's just the way I have always been able to write stories of fiction.

Now for those of you who are not inclined to freewriting or are suffering from a serious case of writer's block (I've been there), there are two reasons (in my opinion) brainstorming can be your best friend.

Reason 1:
You do not have the slightest idea what you want to write about. You have zero, zilch, nada and quite frankly it's depressing the heck out of you. Or maybe not. You might need a brainstorm to get the old juices flowing especially when you find a topic particularly boring, you're overly anxious, or heck, if you're just plumb exhausted. College students can relate. Jotting down one or two words or phrases can kick up some dust in the "brainosphere" and get you on your way.

Reason 2:
You have a million and one thoughts buzzing through your head. Writing out your ideas as they come to you, then putting them together into something more cohesive can not only reign in your ideas, but give you something to reference later. You never know when a list of words or ideas relating to the apartheid could come in handy.


Okay, everyone! It's pet peeve time! Please forgive me for this jumbled mess of thoughts...I write as they come.

What do I miss these days? People who actually WRITE. Whatever happened to sitting down with a pencil and paper and just having a go? Everyone is hunched over laptops or desktops these days. Even second graders in schools are pecking away at keyboards. The art of actually writing seems to be dying in this age of technology. I recall at a doctor's office where the sign in sheet clearly stated PRINT here and SIGN here. Most people printed their name for both. Don't tell me the art of cursive writing is disappearing too?!? I don't know why I care so much especially given as much time I spend on a computer myself. I do write everyday. I have a habit of chewing number twos so I use mechanical pencils mostly.

The local library up the street is forever abuzz, however a quick walk through on any given day shows that the computers are always jammed and the free wifi spots are overcrowded. The only people reading are the parents, such as myself, to their little ones. How much ABC, Look at Me
can one take! I might try my hand at children's stories. A lot of the time I sit the kiddies down and come up with stories straight off the dome. They get a kick out of me doing various voices (another talent) and I use characters they are already familiar with like the big bad wolf's daily words of wisdom. Let's not forget Piggy's revenge and the Billy Goats Gruff head-butting contest. I let them come up with their own too and we keep the story line going until we're laughing too hard to continue. We have a ball!


Okay, that's all folks! I'll go on all day if I get the opportunity. Below is something I found on youtube that I thought was just awesome! Enjoy!

Labels: brainstorm, pet peeve, reading, writing

Thanks for viewing my very first writing sample. Now I haven't written or published anything in years. Please, please, please don't hesitate to give some constructive criticism!

Victory


     The shadow of dusk stretched across the evening sky. A soft wind stirred ripples across the lake. Boris watched the horizon, sighing as he dreamed of a place he's never been. His gaunt features, once handsome, are now distorted with deeply etched crevices lining his eyebrows. He nodded off slowly. All of a sudden, a woman's terror-filled scream cut through his torture thoughts.
     "Mom!" He stumbled to his feet and ran down the rock-strewn path. Tree limbs slapped his face and he stumbled over holes and tree roots. Finally he made it to the clearing. A shadow, more ominous than his worst nightmare, loomed over the clearing, dwarfing the small figure on the ground.
     "You never listen, woman!" growled the shadow. The figure on the ground weeped quietly. Boris came to a stop. His breath quickened at the sight, his heart raced. The shadow raised its arm, then paused, catching sight of Boris in the dwindling light.
     "What do you want boy?" it snarled. Anger rose in Boris, hot like a fever, pouring from his chest and radiating to his extremities. The heat overpowered his fear, threatening to burst his heart in his chest. He took a step forward.
     "Oh, is little Bobo mad?" the shadow taunted. A hideous laugh cut through the air, followed by a loud crack as the shadow's arm came down on the weeping figure. The weeping stopped. Everything around seemed to stop. Except that laughter. That hideous gutteral sound that seemed to shake the ground. It filled Boris' ears and drowned out his dreams of a place far away. Hot tears burned his flesh.
     "Mom!" The ground between Boris and the shadow disappeared, his fist connecting firmly with a wall of flesh. A gutteral growl of pain. A scuffle. Then silence.

All definitions taken from Merriam-Webster Dictionary online!

9.24

Pontificate: (n) to speak or express opinions in a pompous or dogmatic way

The senator's habit of pontificating irritated his colleagues in Congress during an hour long filibuster.

9.25

Dogmatic: (adj.) characterized by or given to the expression of opinions very strongly or positively as if they were facts
syn. overbearing, oppressive

The king's dogmatic demeanor further alienated the townsfolk and sparked rebellions.

9.26

Erudite: (adj) possessing or displaying extensive knowledge acquired chiefly from books; learned

The lecture on ecology was given by the erudite scholar Lance Collins.

9.27

Quiescent: (adj) marked by inactivity or repose; tranquilly at rest. * causing no trouble or symptoms

The wind caused ripples to play across the surface of the otherwise quiescent lake.

9.28

Benison: (n) a blessing; benediction * a prayer calling for divine care, protection or favor

The townspeople called on the holy men for a benison before the great harvest.