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