A Sense of Doubt blog post #3041 - BE NON-LINEAR: Thoughts on creativity, being geeky, and OBLIQUE STRATEGIES

 

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3041 - BE NON-LINEAR: Thoughts on creativity, being geeky, and OBLIQUE STRATEGIES

This is one from the archive. It's been on the list for some time.

Have I mentioned that I plan the blog months in advance?

Not every post is planned, and there are plenty of blank spaces in the future schedule; however, I have many posts in the works that I keep delaying until the time is right to work on them.

Part of my efforts in the upcoming break from school is to finish and publish several of those posts. Then again, I have had that plan before.

I also want two days in Portland, a hike around Coldwater Lake, a road trip to Aberdeen-Olympia, as well as work around the house (still unpacking), and prep for next quarter (for which I am not paid).

I probably originally planned to do a  lot more with this post, but now, I am grading research papers, so it's what I have here more or less.

I believe that originally this post came from an assignment when I taught Creative Writing, which was in the summer of 2020, meaning that this post has been in the works for three years.

I suspect that some of my other posts have been on the schedule as long or longer.

Not here, maybe in the future, I will share more on my process and publish some pictures of the plans for the blog. I started the planning in paper with blog post #1405, which was published on December 26, 2018.

I collected some of my past posts on being geeky and Eno.

I want to get this Oblique Strategies card deck...

Here, you go; thanks for tuning in.

SUBJECT: Getting Ideas: Brian Eno and Oblique Strategies

Hello, I am chris tower. I do not like to capitalize my name, and I am a card-carrying geek, long in the GEEK CLOSET.

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #539 - Geek Shaming 

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #268 - Geek Closet

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #159 - I AM GEEKY 

As such, I am required to be a fan of nerd chieftain BRIAN ENO, who has produced some of the greatest music in the modern era (Bowie, Talking Heads, U2) and invented ambient music.

If you draw inspiration from music, check out his collaboration with David Byrne that still is modern and Zeitgeist today, 40 years later:

A Sense of Doubt blog post #1728 - MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS

That said, if you want to explore some creative process in your writing, check out this post:

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #313 - ANOTHER GREEN WORLD

It’s a love letter to Eno, but it also contains links to his 

OBLIQUE STRATEGIES.

When working with David Bowie during his (Bowie’s) Berlin period, Eno made a deck of cards that he named OBLIQUE STRATEGIES as a way to shape the creative process.

Write something. And then draw a card from Eno’s deck and rewrite your thing (story or poem) in light of what the card tells you, such as the first card in the deck:

“Honour the error as a hidden intention.”

You could read about OBLIQUE STRATEGIES, a book about Eno’s album Another Green World, and some of Eno’s music at the blog link to post #313 above.

Give it a try.

I am kind of a zealot for other artists who inspire me, and Eno is in my top ten.

Also, Eno just re-issued one of his most famous creations. This book:

 

BE NON-LINEAR.

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2306.16 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2905 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.