Field notes are observations made on the day published. * Drippy sky. Better than sweltering. There will be an opportunity to swelter at some later date. * Strangely difficult to run in rain with a hood up. * Unwashed lunch container from god-knows-when in plain sight under the kitchen table. * Parrot wisdom: When in…
Author: kittyireland
Paying attention to attention, psychology, habits, art, writing, literature, mysteries, nonsense, addiction, humanism, humor and cake.
Remember 2007?
Yeah, neither do I. But that seems to be the year that everyone and your grandma started a blog. Like the “desktop publishing” revolution of the 90’s, suddenly everyone could do it… and they did. In most cases, it was not a very good idea. Those LiveJournalers who had been at it since 1996 rolled…
productivity and cans of worms
I admit it. I’ve spent the last several months ignoring this blog and others, feeling unable to commit to a direction or purpose. I enjoy thinking and writing about projects, planning, creativity and productivity, but it is hard to do when I am not personally being very creative or productive. It rings false – to…
money is not a thing
Money. Currency. Cash. Bank balances. These are merely ideas and concepts we use instead of direct barter. It makes things convenient, but it is no more real than a piece of paper with the word “egg” written on it is an actual egg. And yet most of us think more money is what we need…
now is not the time to stay in bed and watch tv
More people than usual are unemployed right now. I not only lost my day-job, but I seem to have a cold. Which is totally uncool (the virus part, that is). The urge is strong to wrap myself around a bottle of Nyquil and hide. I am resting and drinking water and taking vitamins and hot…
social media is making my head explode
So yeah, I twitter. I actually enjoy twittering as a creative mini-exercise. What is fascinating in life, and how do I write it in under 140 characters? It can be quite an exercise in concision, and also a good way to determine what is relevant. Not that everything I tweet is relevant, by any stretch…
the inevitable
It was only a matter of time before “the economy” caught up with me. As of Monday, I joined the ranks of the unemployed. And if I’m honest I’m quite glad about it (in betweeen waves of terror). Now is the time for me to push forward plans that have been floating around for some…
Seattle Moves… or at least half of Seattle
Yesterday a colleague and I (both of us women) went to a panel discussion on video and motion graphics at Northwest Film Forum, called Seattle Moves. We were intrigued, because we are both involved in motion graphics and video projects from time to time, and they promised to show some of their latest work. It’s…
the essentials
So much noise and clutter. It’s surprising we can still function at all, and this is surely much of the reason that suddenly we are seeking out “productivity systems” to help manage our daily lives. We are immersed in tiny decisions about what to look at or think about. And no matter how minuscule the…
“Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say” – Cheshire Cat
I read a lot of RFPs and Project Briefs and Proposals. These are documents that are meant to define slippery items like “scope” and “deliverables”, but it is alarming to see how often these documents are vaguely and poorly written. Part of this has to do with the fact that they are often written by…
Plumb Wonderful 