Everyday Creativity... and my Job Interview

So for my final blog entry I decided to write about something very important but seems to be very basic... and that is everyday creativity. In one of the articles we read, there is a boy who hits a girl with is car and then he has to creatively come up with what to do next. He is not a trained doctor or emt or anything but his common sense overrides. This got me thinking that maybe common sense could in itself be a sort of domain knowledge. That may be too far out there...

I also think that everytime I get dressed in the morning I am being creative. I am also creative in the things I buy when I am trying to match things up... you never want to be too matchy matchy. I also like some items that are a bit out there. I have crazy headbands that have giant feathers making it look like I have a big hat on my head, but a stylish nineteen forties hat at that! I have a golden leaf headband and one with two pink tuffeted flowers. And then on the total opposite end of things I like to wear boys clothes too, mainly shirts and sweaters.

OKay, totally changing the subject here.... I am going to be working at a camp this summer... It is a cort of "camp rock" camp for those who have seen the disney movie. It's a MADD camp. Music Art Drama and Design. I will over the Drama section and at the end of the camp everyone will perform or show their art work, etc. The school where I am working also puts on Camp Kaleidescope which is for evil genuis children. It's almost like a mad scientist camp. They do science experiments in the kitchen one day but then the next day they are writing poetry and doing other crazy activities. The second lady who was interviewing me asked me about college and classes I was taking and I told her about creativity and so on and so forth. So she asked me if I was to be in charge of the opt-out room (a place for kids to go if they did not want to participate in the activity of the hour) what would I do... what would I give the kids to make. SO I sat for a minute asked her if I had a budget and she said no. So I started ranting all sorts of ideas. One day I want everyone to paint their own little wooden boat (from Michaels they have mini sailboats) and then we could go out by the pool and have almost a ragatta. Maybe we could all make race cars and then go outside and make our own racecar track with chalk and race our cars. For girls I would have jewelry making things and we could make our own hair bows and cool funky headbands. Make your own puzzle, Paper dolls, play doh, etc. I just went on and on. The interviewer was very impressed with all of the things I could come up with and needless to say I got the job! She told me she has never had anyone come up with that many ideas, let alone good ideas on the spot. I was very pleased and think that this course has helped me to tap into all of my different domain knowledge areas and to be more creative myself.

Performance Creativity... LIVE Music Make Me Lose Control

I attended a concert Saturday night at the House of Blues-Parissh Room in New Orleans. The headliner was Copeland, an indie band from Florida. I have seen them play once before in a much bigger venue on a tour they were not the headliners for. It was such a huge difference in their performances. My friends and I were front row and this was the best show I had been to. I am starting to think that smaller venues are better for certain types of music. I know that even if I was in the back of the Parissh room, I still would have had the same "musical" experience as if I were in the front. It's possibly the visual stimulation that made the difference. The stage is extremly tiny... possibly only two feet high and ten to twelve feet wide. I prefer that because I felt as though I were on stage myself. Being that close, you can witness many choices made during live performance. There were three other groups who performed- Brooke Waggoner, Paper Route, and This Providence. During Brooke's performance, she hit a wrong key on the piano. You would never have been able to tell just by listening but because I saw her face and the way she quickly moved her hand to cover it up. The back up singer for Paper Route also played the guitar and harmonica simulatenously which was very impressive. The keyboardist and guitarist for This Providence kept going back and forth from instrument to instrument. Something went wrong with a distortion pedal and he quickly danced around, fixed the cord, and went back as if nothing had ever happened.

Smaller venues offeer a better connection with performer and audience. When the walls are not too far apart and instead of the music having to extend all the way out in a big venue, only to be absorbed by the walls. I feel in a small venue, the sound bounces off the walls and the audience can feel it run through them.

Something else I found to be interesting.... The keyboardist from This Providence (I mentioned him earlier) is not one of the "four members" a fan would see on the cd cover or posters. He goes on tour and sells their merch and only plays live. I wonder if this is because he just doesn't want the fame? I wonder to what extent and capacity does he engage in, if any, during the music making process. Maybe one of the four actually played all of the parts he plays on the cd and they just need someone to play it live? I also hear that Green Day has a guy like this, who goes on tour and plays in a corner the music one of the three members is unable to play since he is playing something else. I am not sure how truthful this is and am trying to google it.