The Creative Process

For some reason I instinctually want to begin the creative process in analog.  Maybe it’s because I’m a musician so creating organically feels the most natural.  Whenever I want to write, I always reach for paper first and then I remind myself to use the keyboard.  As a child I kept tons of journals and notebooks. I was always scribbling something. The tactile sensations were part of the experience.  Different kinds of paper were for writing about certain things.  I used different ink styles ranging from ballpoint, to gel rollers, to glittery, all in a variety of brilliant colors.  It enhanced the experience for me.  I felt more engaged.  Over the past few years an injury in my thumb has prevented me from handwriting and it has largely disrupted my creative process.

When handwriting first started to become kind of painful, I was resistant to typing on the computer.  For years, actually, I stopped writing as much.  It felt too impersonal like I was separated from the words.  When I handwrite I’m engaged in the motion.  Typing, on the other hand, feels like punching out a pattern to create words.  It changes the experience.

In a notebook, I have the option to go anywhere with my pen.  Shapes, designs and words all come out in fluid motions.  It’s a different experience on the computer or a device.  On the computer it’s challenging to do anything more than just straight typing.  I have a few drawing apps on my iPad and a couple of different styluses.  Some aspects of this are amazing because I can change colors and implements in seconds.  But the stylus is not as precise as actually holding an implement.  Another challenge is not being able to see the whole canvas.  On some drawing programs it’s difficult to add pages, whereas in the physical world you could tape two pieces of paper together.

After pouting about it for a few years, I decided to embrace the changes. As a compromise I will often scribble a few small notes or sketch something out on paper before transferring it to electronic.  I still consider handwriting to be part of my creative process. Although I am now extremely grateful to have digital options available, without which I wouldn’t be able to write The Deletist every week!

 

Technombie 2

Senjina silently urged the cab to hurry.  She hadn’t wanted to end the date early, but the mayor had just been accused of smoking crack.  As a result everybody was required to receive a special-issue infoozian.  Some mandatory, regulated thing and Senjina didn’t want to miss the first one.

At times Senjina had had a faint suspicion about infoozians, but the thought always drifted away in a fog before she could grasp it.  It was just as well.  Like most people she felt rundown when she slacked on getting the necessary brain boost from routine infoozians.  Anybody who went too long without one automatically received random zaps until they hooked up.

She didn’t mind, really.  The infoozians were totally worth it, especially since installing the system meant her personal informatics were collected, analyzed, and monitored.  Without that data she couldn’t figure out anything about herself.  How was she supposed to know how to feel?  She couldn’t just react to something without understanding if an accelerated heart rate was due to her surroundings, a conversation, or even something she ate.  She just didn’t know anymore and relied heavily on personal informatics to tell her everything she needed to know.  Only then could she regulate her environment for pleasurable and stress-free interactions.

Senjina remembered how personal informatics had first changed her life.  It started with a fitband used to monitor her heart rate and energy levels for optimal weight loss.  The idea caught on and people wanted other things measured.  Apps and devices appeared to monitor sleep cycles.  High-end systems included machines to adjust air quality and temperatures to ensure every night was restful. And still people needed to know more.  New apps and devices flooded the market, all designed to track and integrate stats on overall functioning.

Soon people were wearing as many as 15 devices. Then a genius figured out everything could be replaced with a single finger-sized feed embedded deep in the forearm and fused with the nervous system.  The best part was people no longer had to think because everything was now automatically recorded, analyzed, and spit out in customized stats reports.  Senjina, of course, knew the whole story through her initial infoozians.

The cab arrived and she exited, no need for money and words.  It was all handled seamlessly through her feed.  She bounded up the steps eager to know if the jitters signified the first hints of love or a reaction to the restaurant’s noxious atmosphere.

Next installment: Technombie 3

*This is entirely a work of fiction, but was in part inspired by the sources listed below.  Zombies are often depicted as rotting, brainless, moaning undead humans, but I think other manifestations can be found in today’s society. The story is about how disconnected and zombie-like we become when we rely on technology to tell us how we should feel rather than learning about our own bodies and trusting our instincts.

Chris Dancy, self-described as the “world’s most connected man”: http://mashable.com/2014/08/21/most-connected-man/

Klosterman, Chuck, “My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead,” New York Times: Television Section, December 3, 2010.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/arts/television/05zombies.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 [accessed 12 October 2014]

 

Technombie

A low-pitched gurgling noise escaped the ocean as she heaved her last strangled wave onto the beach.  Gillian Bean was the only person to witness it. She was sitting quietly on the sand at the shoreline near her home.  An ashy cloud covering obscured the full moon, but even so, Gillian still felt bathed in a bright, silvery light.

For years Gillian had been unable to inhale the salty, fresh sweetness of the ocean but still retained a strong memory of what it smelled like.  Just imagining the smell was enough for Gillian to remember the ocean washing up shells, seaweed and small creatures through a never-ending cycle of rhythmic waves.  Tonight the waves stopped leaving behind forever a thick, viscous soup of primordial bacteria and dense jellyfish, teeming with brilliantly colored bits of plastic.

A tear slid silently down one cheek.  Gillian knew a small window of time existed before somebody would catch her.  But she needed to be in control again of what she was feeling.  First she inhaled deeply to slow down her heart rate.  The feed would know she was reaching intolerable stress levels and she would receive an incapacitating zap.  She reached for her flask and took a swig.

With her eyes closed she imagined the salty beach air and could almost hear the soft shushing motion of the waves.  This would be her final memory she decided while removing a straight edge razor from her front pocket.  Acting on a reserve of determination she cut deeply into her forearm revealing the embedded finger-sized feed.  Grimacing from the pain, she separated the feed from her nervous system and flung it deep into the sludge.  The pain was excruciating.  Time was limited before tremors would overtake her preventing the task from being finished.  She risked being “rescued.”

One…two…three, Gillian whispered, placing the point of the blade on the underside of her wrist.  Salty waves, she thought pressing down.  Her form crumpled onto the sand and rolled forward into the slop.

Across the bay, Senjina was in a cab heading home from a first date.  She couldn’t wait to plug in for a stats reading.  She’d felt jittery, which was either a sign of attraction, warning, or the environment.  The restaurant had been trendy and loud triggering Senjina’s aversion to noise.  Nothing about her reactions would make sense until she could see those measurements.

*Happy Halloween!  Read the next installment Technombie 2.  In case you’re wondering, the whole story is completely fictitious. 

Iguassu Falls: Brazil

After our adventure to the bottom of the world and back we returned to Buenos Aires for a night and then took off the following morning for Iguassu Falls. I first posted about the falls last February when it was so cold I needed a reminder of what it felt like to be warm.

Our trip started with a border crossing to Brazil to see these magnificent falls. The pictures only tell a small part of the story. I’m not even sure words could adequately describe the mystic feeling of the falls, the way the air felt warm and misty on my skin, or how magical it felt walking with brilliantly coloured butterflies fluttering everywhere you looked.

One of the many stunning views from the Brazilian side.

One of the many stunning views from the Brazilian side.

Amazing views even through the foliage, though I suspect I snapped this pic because of the large spider on the right rather than the falls.

Sneak peak of the falls through the lush summer foliage.

Sneak peak of the falls through the lush summer foliage.

After about an hour of walking, we reached the climax of the hike, a gigantic waterfall.  I believe the view is the Brazilian side of the Devil’s Throat, featured in the first post of the falls.  A small cormorant perched on a rock enjoying the sun and the mist.

Cormorant hanging out by the falls.

Cormorant hanging out by the falls.

And in the other direction, the cormorant’s view. We were on a walkway enshrouded by mist, surrounded by the gushing sound of falls spilling over.

What the cormorant saw.

What the cormorant saw.

Stay tuned for more pictures from the Argentine side. After Devil’s Throat we hiked along the Upper Trail and the Lower Trail.

Portable Devices

I love my portable devices.  All of them.  My smartphone, tablet (iPad), iPod, and e-reader.  I feel lucky to have so many neat and functional gadgets.  In August I spent a weekend at my friends’ beach house on Fire Island, about a 2 minute walk from the Atlantic Ocean.  It was pure bliss!

The first day I went to the beach armed with my e-reader and my tablet, determined to get some reading and writing done.  I had the foresight to put them both in a ziploc bag, but beyond that I hadn’t really considered any of the other dangers facing electronic gadgets when one is surrounded by sand, intense sun (heat), a huge body of salt water, and rogue waves.  Also my sturdy OtterBox, the case I used in Patagonia that made me so fearless, broke so I was using a rather flimsy replacement.

I felt ok about using the iPad for short periods of time to take a quick picture, but I definitely wasn’t comfortable using it longer for fear of getting sand in it.  The iPad mostly stayed in the ziploc bag. I only took it to the beach when I was walking and could keep it safe in my bag.

In general I felt ok about having the e-reader at the beach, mostly because it’s not that expensive and I only borrow ebooks or download them from the public domain. This means the risk of losing something permanently is pretty slim, especially now that everything is downloaded to the computer before being transferred to the e-reader.

And then the rogue waves came flooding our little area more than once, even though we kept moving further back.  It was a weird, fluky tidal pattern that resulted in some waves extending far up onto the beach where people were sitting.  Fortunately I had the foresight to load up the boogie board with our bags, including the one with my gadgets, so they were safe when the first wave hit.

Even with the precautions, I seriously started to weigh the comfort of having my devices against the fear of them getting damaged.  I love the e-reader, but if it gets damaged I’m without my entire library.  If I have a regular book and it gets damaged, it will just dry out and have some wrinkly pages.  Where’s the balance?

Cold Beer & Satisfaction

My father raised me right.  Among other things he taught me how to appreciate beer. He used to tell me that on a hot day nothing quite quenched thirst like an icy, cold beer.  I’d like to add to my father’s wisdom with a few more scenarios where beer can be thirst quenching and exquisitely satisfying.
In August I went to NYC and Connecticut for a week to visit friends and family. Getting to my mother’s house from Toronto is an epic journey requiring 8 different modes of transportation and 10 separate legs:
  1. Bus
  2. Subway
  3. Streetcar
  4. Ferry
  5. Airplane
  6. Monorail
  7. Train (NJ Transit)
  8. Subway
  9. Train (Metro North)
  10. Car
  11. Plus some walking in between – does this count? 
As I approached leg #9 I spied the bar cart. Saved!
First thirst quencher was sucked down at the tail end of a long day of travel.

First thirst quencher was sucked down at the tail end of a long day of travel.

Some travel could be reduced by taking cabs, or by taking a direct shuttle from Newark Airport to Grand Central Station.  It wasn’t possible this time.
A couple days later I headed to my friends’ beach house on Fire Island via NYC.  It happened in this order:
  1. Car
  2. Train (Metro North)
  3. Subway
  4. Train (Long Island Rail Road [LIRR])
  5. Shuttle
  6. Ferry
  7. BEACH!!!
Along the way I ran errands between legs 2 & 3 and between legs 3 & 4.  I reached Penn Station loaded with fresh bagels, wine, beer, chocolate and a jar of homemade pesto.  Only the heavy stuff.  The voyage to Fire Island was during the Friday afternoon rush hour bustle.  If you’ve never had the distinct pleasure of being in NYC during rush hour it can only be described as organized chaos! You have to know where to go. All movements are carefully orchestrated.
I lucked out at the bar cart before boarding the LIRR with a tasty can of The Crisp, by a very good local brewer called Six Point. Totally hit the spot and gave me a nice memory of Dad. Double win.
Getting into beach mode after hours of moving fast.

Getting into beach mode after hours of moving fast.

And finally, the best and most thirst quenching beer of the whole voyage.  Also gave me a chance to work on those weird tan lines with my summer toes!
The ultimate satisfaction!

The ultimate satisfaction!

For all the conveniences and comforts technology offers us, you still have to put in the hours to get somewhere.  At least for now…but fortunately opportunities for cold beer exist along the way.