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Learning to Paint, Millennial Style?

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Recently, I took some steps to finally get “painting” off my bucket list of life skills to acquire. In March, I got a handful of Paint-Nite (now known as Yaymaker) coupons that must be used in 6 months, so I’d lose the $100 US if I didn’t use them, in other words. I also had a dozen or so online courses from the platform formerly known as Craftsy, before they were taken over by some other entity, on sale for about $10 each as “foundation theory”, when I had failed to actually take it up with the “doing” part. I was going to supplement the rest of what I’ll need to know with YouTube, online searches, networking with real painters, etc. All instead of spending almost twice as much for just one introductory post-secondary course (not including supplies) that would be the old-fashioned, or at least, traditional, way of learning! It would also be one that would get me far less knowledge and experience. Sure, it’d be less work on my part not to go do all this research, watch and read all this information, some of which isn’t the best, go find people to make friends with to be my “consultants”, etc. However, that just wouldn’t be me… or the innovating and resourceful millennial, for that matter… though I want to be absolutely clear I’m no millennial! You can always take the best of any group and incorporate it into your life to improve it, right?

Forward to the past few weeks and I finally got out to my first Paint Nite, where we painted a slightly challenging scene called Heron Pointe! The results are below. It’s plural because initially, I improvised for some fun to make a Death Star instead of a moon in my painting, when the instructor said something about how the wrong technique resulted in a blotch and “that’s no moon” (same quote by Obi-wan Kenobi from Star Wars). The Death Star looked terrible because the instructor taught us how to paint a moon, not a Death Star, and I’m no prodigy lol.

https://www.instagram.com/p/By_x3D9ndmq/

Upon seeing my output, and reconsidering it, I realized that to give this painting to anyone, whether my Parents or whoever may take it from in the laundry room where I may leave it as I run out of wall space with future paintings, there was going to be a seriously limited audience who might take the painting. As a result, after a recent Paint Nite where we learned to paint a moon (upcoming post), I fixed the Death Star in my painting to be the moon shown below. Flip through the collage to see the full painting. The moon’s not great, but it is far better than the Death Star, and someone might actually want to take this painting off my hand one day. 🙂

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzYEn0ZHcNN/

More of my painting adventures to come in the future!

 

Happy Semi New Year 2019.5! (and Canada Day for Canadians)

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First, for any readers in Canada, as I am based, Happy Canada Day! We are so lucky to be living in what many global polls suggest is the best country in the world!

For everyone, I would like to wish you a Happy Semi New Year for the second half of 2019! Now, what is this “Semi New Year” business, you ask? Well, it’s something I came up with earlier this week in the continual development of my Life Strategy (draft at right) and making it a reality. I am currently making enough changes in my life that they could comprise of a set of New Year’s resolutions. However, it’s not New Year.

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A Life Strategy Map Draft – Part 1

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I am in the midst of designing the next phase of my life, as per the course at Stanford, taught through the book of the same name. In my own innovation to this process, I created what I called a Life Strategy Map (diagram below) to clarify for myself what I really wanted out of life so I can focus my living as much as possible towards achieving outcomes on that map. Since I had, both, the diagram and supporting explanatory text for me to be able to use it, I thought I’d share in case anybody wanted to try the same thing for themselves.

I’ll start with explaining what a Life Strategy Map is, and what it’s supposed to do, along with some instructions on getting the right level of details in it. In a few follow-up posts, I’ll go through mine in hopes it may clarify examples for you, and/or give you ideas for your own Life Strategy Map if you should want to try the exercise.

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I Dream of 2D Printing

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The kind like 3D printing, except where height and depth matters little, only a general thickness like paper. In fact, I dream of printing paper, into whatever shapes desired, rather than by the sheet that have to be cut into some shapes. Even size may only matter in one dimension if printed on a treadmill like surface like done for some 3D printing, constrained only by the width of the rolling surface.

And what would that 2D paper printing be used for?

Well, sewing patterns for one thing, to save paper waste between the pieces, as well as time to cut out the pieces. Crafts of all sorts, for another, from kirigami to frames to other intricate cut outs for activities like scrap booking, creative cards, and so on. Even blueprints where pieces would otherwise have to be cut out to rearrange for options in layouts, mixing and matching, etc. Imagine the possibilities of what is either not possible, or not feasible given the effort and/or resources required that would stop many from fulfilling their artistic ideas!

But doesn’t this technology exist?

Maybe. Hard to say. It seems a simple enough concept it should. Searching for terms with some form of “print” and “paper” won’t get you anything but the paper you print on, or the printers that print on that paper. Anything resembling a 2D printer I am imagining is really a 3D printer that prints out some plastic or rubber like sheet, rather than paper. The 2D sheets from 3D printers aren’t generally useful for all the things I’m thinking about.

And so I come back to my original idea…

And I dream of 2D printing.

Hoping someone will be able to fulfill that dream.

Hiding Like (and Follower) Counts to Reduce Social Media Addiction

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Word on(the)line is that Instagram is considering hiding the number of Likes posts get!

https://twitter.com/digitalcitizen/status/1119018228553011202

I don’t know about you, but I see that as an ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT way to reduce social media addiction.

Lots of people posts to get those micro-dopamine shots from the Likes others give them on Instagram. Part of it is the notifications and numbers, but a big part of it is also knowing others can see that number, too! If it were not for the latter, the former would have limited meaning. You’d have to make an effort to tell one person at a time how many Likes something got, and update it. And if you were to make a post, lots of people might see it but would only call you out for vanity on it.

Now, think about if Instagram also hid the number of Followers! If Likes were micro-dopamine shots to the brain, Followers are milli-dopamine shots! If you’re not yet metricized, that’s 1000 times more potent for Followers to Likes. Imagine what hiding the number of followers will do! All kinds of people’s egos and image will be shattered. All those fake followers they paid for to make others believe they’re popular will no longer be seen! Some will lose their entire identity! No, seriously. Some will lose their entire identity! That was not sarcasm by exaggeration!

Now, think about if Twitter and other social media services did the same? Let people do all those Likes and Follows, just don’t show the totals!

Wow! What will the social media cartel do? Oh, wait. Those social media platforms are the cartels! Well, all the better on them, then!