Creative Life - 3/30/2019

43.  It started as some little inside joke thing among the Curbs Dogs bike/skate posse in 1986 in San Francisco.  It quickly spread to the rest of the Golden Gate Park BMX freestyle and skate scene.  33 years later, for me, it's kind of a little good luck thing when it pops up randomly.  Today started off pretty cool.  I kind of got off track much of the day, wandering half aimless a bit, but I did get some more writing done on the latest project.  I also found a couple of used books in the sale at the library, and for once, I could afford them.

One turned out to suck.  I tossed it at a bus stop.  It was called Tailspin by Steven Brill.  It's whiny, intellectual bullshit by a guy who thinks today's entrepreneurs "just got too good" for the good of society at large, as did other groups.  Waaaaaah.  No, entrepreneurs never get too good, too many things can go wrong at any time, and their reign can end quick, and they know that. Entrepreneurs continually progress and get better, so people who don't progress get left behind.  What that really means is that millions of people just need to step up their game.  That's all. Don't bother reading that book.

The other book, Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, by Chris Anderson (former editor at Wired) is a great read.  It's old, by today's fast-paced tech standards, it's from 2012.  It's all about the Maker's Movement, another D.I.Y. movement in this world, sparked in about 2005, and exploding since.  I've read Chris Anderson's previous books, The Long Tail, and Free, and both completely changed my way of thinking about business in today's world.  I think every business owner needs to read both, make that all three, of these books.

My last drawing, the second Maya Angelou drawing, is now living in Southern California, and waiting to be framed.  I started focusing on my Sharpie art to try and begin to make a living again back in late 2015.  t's become clear that, while I can actually sell drawings consistently, I can't sell them, yet, for enough to put a roof back over my head.  I've learned a lot in my three years as a working artist, but now I'm going to back off on how much I draw, and focus on some more profitable ideas to get myself back on track financially.

A little idea a couple of weeks ago has grown, and been the foundation of other ideas to use some of my other creative skills to work in a different way.  More on that soon.  I'll still doing drawings if anyone wants one, it will just take quite a bit longer, because I'm going to be spending a lot of my time working in other areas that have a better chance of helping me earn a real living- SOON- again. 

So that's it for now.  Thanks for reading.  Now go do something cool.