Diving Deeper into the Miracle of Life October-30-2008
Today's Gratefulness
I pulled out some digital photos I took in early September of towering sunflowers growing in my back yard and was so compelled by this image capturing a sunflowers' profile that I turned it into my computer desktop wallpaper.
Ever since I "birthed" my first sunflower children last year, I've been so fascinated with the growth process of these beautiful creatures, which have reached up to nine feet in my garden. I'll share more photos of these beauties soon. (See the retro-07 Sunflower Babies All Grown Up.)
Meanwhile, in the process of relocating my Inner Diablog archives, I came across a short essay I wrote in 2003 that is timeless: "Diving Deeper into the Miracle of Life" — now available for your enjoyment on CurrentLiving.com.
Gratitude can really help us focus on what's going well and right today and help curb the stress dynamic life logistics bring on tomorrow. Feeling overwhelmed? Take five... More »
Relocating 'Inner Diablog' Archives October-28-2008
Creative Journey Roots
Today I have started relocating my first two year's worth of blog entries from the Creativity Portal published under my tongue-in-cheek Inner Diablog to ChrisDunmire.com. ...
Nit Wits #19: Polytician (Political Humor)
October-27-2008
2008 Presidential Election: McPalin, Campalin, John McCalin
With one of the most history-book making presidential elections in my lifetime only week away — not to mention how saturated everyone is with politics and Tina Feylin-Saturday Night Live satire — I decided to take this Nit Wits comic out of its cage and give it another debatable round. ...
Flowering Mums in October: Mum Would Be Proud!
October-25-2008
Flower Child & Falling for More Craftivities
Fall foliage in the midwest is just sublime. Earlier this summer I planted a set of five mum plants next to my house and watched them grow, bud, and finally bloom into these beautiful orange-ish flower in September. ...
Halloween Creative Writing Story Contest Winners Announced! October-23-2008
Publisher's Top Story Picks
Congratulations to first- and second-place winners of Creativity Portal's first-ever Halloween Creative Story Writing Contest! Jasmine Berry's sweet "Georgia Peach" and Renate Smith's funny "Misconceptions" are Halloween tales with delightfully touching themes that will make you smile. Want more scary and spooky stories? Treat your story sweet tooth here. •
Free Haunted Halloween Paper Toys October-23-2008
Card Stock Creativity
Model makers will love these easy to print and construct Halloween model toys created by Ray O'Bannon. Free models include coffin boxes, Halloween greeting cards, dancing skeleton marionette, ghost houses, an assortment of masks and helmets, mechanical bat, and monster playsets. •
Fontastic Funnin' Around: Turn Your HTML Text Upside Down! October-21-2008
Creative Play Web Tool
ןɯʇɥ˙sɹǝʇʇǝןuʍopǝpısdn/ʎɐןd/ɯoɔ˙sǝɹıʍuǝʌǝs˙ʍʍʍ//:dʇʇɥ
:ʇɐ s,ʇı ¡ooʇ 'uʍop ǝpısdn uǝǝɹɔs ǝןoɥʍ ǝɥʇ uɹnʇ oʇ ʍoɥ ɹıǝɥʇ ǝǝs osןɐ puɐ 'ɯoɔ˙sǝɹıʍuǝʌǝs ʇɐ ʇno ʇı ʞɔǝɥɔ
˙ǝןıɥʍɐ ɹoɟ ɥʇıʍ ƃuıʎɐןd ʇsısǝɹ oʇ pɹɐɥ ʇı puıɟ ןן,noʎ ʇǝq ı 'ǝɯ ʇsnɹʇ puɐ 'pǝɥsıןdɯoɔɔɐ sı ƃuıɥʇ spɹɐʍʞɔɐq ƃuıƃuɐɥɔ-ʇxǝʇ ǝɥʇ ʍoɥ uo ǝʇıs ǝɥʇ uo uoıʇɐuɐןdxǝ ǝɥʇ pɐǝɹ uɐɔ noʎ ˙ǝɹɐɥs oʇ ʇou ןooɔ ooʇ ʇsnɾ sı ןooʇ ƃuıƃuɐɥɔ-ʇxǝʇ ʎʇɟıu sıɥʇ 'ןןǝʍ
¿ǝuoǝɯos oʇ ןıɐɯ-ǝ ɹo 'ƃoןq 'ǝʇıs qǝʍ ɹnoʎ uo ʇsod uɐɔ noʎ ʇɐɥʇ ʇxǝʇ spɹɐʍʞɔɐq puɐ sɹǝʇʇǝן uʍop ǝpısdn ǝdʎʇ oʇ ʍoɥ uɹɐǝן oʇ ʇuɐʍ •
#23: What You Focus On Grows October-20-2008
26 Simple Ways to Nurture Your Creative Life
Long before "The Secret" made the New Thought principle Law of Attraction a household phrase, I understood the concept in an intuitive sense through experience and observation. ...
Udder Pun Fun: Cowpyright Cow October-17-2008
Moooving on to Cartoony Fun, Onomatopoeias
This past Wednesday afternoon I had the distinct pleasure of facilitating one of my You Can Draw Cartoony Things! art playshops to a troop of Girl Scouts in Rockford, Illinois. ...
Ooozing in: Creative Halloween Stories! Visit the Writing Contest Author Showcase October-10-2008
Way to Go Plano East Senior High School!
Stories have been literally oozing in this week for Creativity Portal's first-ever Halloween Story Writing Contest (submission deadline is today). One high school teacher in Plano, Texas, must have used this contest to inspire a classroom or two full of teenagers to write impressive and well-crafted Halloween stories because we've received a flood of submissions from Plano East Senior High. Way to go creative writer's!
Follow the growing list of creative stories as they're published each day on the Halloween Story Author Showcase page. Two story contest winners will be announced on October 15, 2008. •
Hank Kellner On Using Photography to Inspire Writing
October-10-2008
Prompting Creative Writing through Visual Imagery
Retired educator and freelance writer-photographer Hank Kellner has inspired me this week with his piece, Using Photography To Inspire Writing in promotion of his upcoming book, "Write What You See: 99 Photographs to Inspire Writing" (Cottonwood Press, 2009).
He asks, "If 'One picture is worth a thousand words,' can one picture also inspire a thousand words?"
I believe so. Don't you? And if you're game for some, try Kristi Tencarre's latest: South African Safari photo prompts. •
Mythstaken Thinking: The Writing Process is Difficult, Full of Struggle, and Painful October-5-2008
Rita Farin on New Writing Realities
Are you afraid of writing your life because other people have you convinced that good writing is all about skillfully 'overcoming blank page-writer's block, character development, scene creation, narrative arc' or some other writing-related myth? Don't buy into this mythstaken thinking!
Writing coach Rita Farin (www.ritafarin.com) says, "Writing has been separated from other art forms for far too long by the myths that claim it to be a solitary, cerebral and painful experience." Want more? Read her fresh perspective on old writing myths vs. new realities in her inspiring article: Mindless Writing 101: Permission to Play, Have Fun and Be an Artist. •
Scary Christmas! Printable Halloween Activity Pages for Kids of All Ages (Second Edition) October-2-2008
Now Available for Instant Download and Print
I've updated my printable "Scary Christmas" Halloween e-Playbook to include my fused-carrot "Scare-rots" carrots fun fake seed packet AND a second type of fall leaf printable pattern. You can find it with my other famous playbooks at CreativeSlush.com. •
Creativity for Seniors: Creativity Matters for a Lifetime
October-2-2008
Columns for Seniors by Judith Zausner
Creativity is not just for the young at heart — research continues to show the benefits to the brain and body by staying active and creative throughout one's golden years.
Judith Zausner pointed me to her blog on eldr.com with the description: "Creativity: The benefits and paths of being creative; especially targeting for seniors." Though targeted towards those Sage-ing While Age-ing (thanks Shirley MacClaine!), all of us can benefit from this wisdom for the ages.
10/7 Update: Judith also has a Web site called Caring Crafts which "offers craft kits to people with fine motor skill
problems and/or cognitive issues. Visit it at www.caringcrafts.com. •
All Write: A Creativity Portal Halloween Story Contest!
October-1-2008
Submission Deadline: October 10, 2008
Writers, bloggers, and published wanna-be's, take note! Do you have a scary or funny childhood Halloween memory you'd like to share with the world? If so, submit your unpublished Halloween stories (min. 400-600 words) to Creativity Portal's first ever Halloween Story Writing Contest for a chance to win cool prizes and be published and promoted on the Creativity Portal Web site. ... |
