Tag: Art

Friday Morning FYI – 1/19/2018

Ron Delaney Jr1 Comment

Eyes dry and vision blurry, I crane my stiff neck to peer up from my manuscript. I shape my sore, crooked fingers back into something resembling a human hand, and wipe dust from the lower right corner of the screen.

Can’t be. How could so much time have passed without a Friday Morning FYI?

Must. Fix. That.

***

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI (been-revising-my-MS edition) – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

I decided to crawl out of my no-blogging hole to address something I keep hearing/reading: that creative people are bad at, well, everything that folks consider uncreative. You know the story…

“It’s okay, Cynthia. I never expected you to finish on time. You’re the creative type.”

“We can’t give that project to Scott. He just does creative stuff. He won’t be able to coordinate everything.”

“I’m not good at managing my time, or my money, or my life; I’m a creative. Wanna do shots?”

Utter nonsense.

Baring some life tragedy, I make my deadlines, for instance. Be it day job stuff or writing stuff, I get done on time. Just because someone can draw/paint/write/sculpt/design/make original music/act/dance/Photoshop (yes, I used Photoshop as a verb, move along) doesn’t disqualify them from effectively managing their time, carrying out defined processes, or meeting deadlines. That’s this week’s FYI:

To anyone working with creatives, please stop assuming we’re one-dimensional art monkeys who don’t know how to (or care to) tell time or have any other appreciable skills besides sleeping late. That’s silly.

To creatives who perpetuate this impression, please stop honoring only your creative side. You’re doing yourself (and the rest of us) a disservice. We’re more than an elegant turn of phrase, and understanding of color theory, and perfect pitch. Those things are pretty cool, though 😀

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Friday Morning FYI – 2/24/2017

Ron Delaney JrLeave a comment

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI (still playing catch up, and going a little deep on this one edition) – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

So I just got a new tattoo, which always prompts conversation with coworkers and friends. The most common argument I hear from people for why they’ve never gotten one is “I want one, but it’s so permanent.” That brings us to this week’s (philosophical) FYI:

Nothing is permanent. That’s right, nothing. You’re only going to be here for a while, and then you won’t be, along with that tattoo. Same for your favorite t-shirt, your spouse, your car, your home, your town, your state, your country, your continent, this planet, the sun, this galaxy, etc. Each of those things will, sometime in the future, no longer be because permanence doesn’t exist. The nature of, well, nature, is change.

So where does that leave us?

Write that book you’ve always wanted to write. Take that trip you keep putting off. Cut your hair or let it grow out. Get that stupid, silly little tattoo that no one else will understand. Do the (reasonably-safe) things you want to do. Have fun 🙂

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Friday Morning FYI – 1/13/2017

Ron Delaney Jr2 Comments

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI (internal darkness edition for Friday the 13th) – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

This week, I sent a story to some writer friends whose opinions I value. The responses were all positive, each picking up the cold and sinister vibe I was going for (serial killer-y goodness). One response was an observation on me, which is great to get, and made me think. It started:

“Sh!t, dude, you’re dark!”

Here’s the thing: I am dark (insert sinister laugh). I’m also very positive, light-hearted, and an all-around decent human being. I love ridiculous, over-the-top deaths in horror movies, and give to various charities. Seeing someone fall down makes me grin (unless they really hurt themselves, but by the time I learn that the grin is already grinned, if I’m honest), and I do yoga and meditate. Like most people, I’m multi-layered. That brings us to this week’s FYI:

One of the great advantages to being an artist (yes, writers, you’re artists) is having an outlet to express all the sharp angles of you. If you keep hearing your characters all sound the same, you’re holding back. Maybe it’s fear of what people will think, or maybe you just don’t think you have “that” in you. Nonsense. We’re all capable of imagining (there’s the trick – going to places in your head is not the same as acting) joy/sadness/mania/horror/relief/loss/etc.. We just have to be willing to type it out and see where it goes.

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Friday Morning FYI – 6/24/2016

Ron Delaney JrLeave a comment

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

I’m late today because I was helping a friend/coworker record a video. She’s enrolling in a holistic coaching education program that’s offering free tuition to a subset of students, and to qualify you submit a video explaining why you should receive the scholarship. I helped her tighten her (personal) story down for time, and shot her (with her iPhone) speaking against a backdrop of NYC. It was a neat, fun, creative project, and I’m thankful she asked me to help. That leads us to this week’s FYI:

Asking for help can be difficult, especially when it comes to personal stories. Be open to others, listen earnestly, and offer enthusiastic help where you can. That person is trusting you enough to take a chance. Honor that and it will pay off for you both.

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Friday Morning FYI – 6/10/2016

Ron Delaney JrLeave a comment

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

In my younger years, I pirated stuff off the internet. Music and software mostly. I was young and money-less and got sucked into the pit of “Screw them, they want too much for this.” I’m not proud of having done that and don’t do it anymore, though I do know people who routinely steal content (yes, downloading for free is stealing – what else do you call taking something without compensation?). It’s wrong on every level, and can have impacts far beyond the money you think that content’s creator won’t miss, as thoroughly explained by this post by Sarah Madison over on her BLOG. That brings us to this week’s FYI:

I get it, HBO is expensive. So is Photoshop, the latest hardcover book by your favorite author, and whatever album you just have to listen to. But high cost doesn’t mean you have a right to consume any of those things for free, and more to the point, it doesn’t mean the creators shouldn’t benefit financially from their work. Yes, work. Writing a book is work. Filming a show is work. Not charity, not free art, work. You get compensated for your work, so should they.

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}