Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is known for his theory of “flow” and how it relates to creativity.
Flow is the state you get in when doing something you love. Time and space drop away. We’ve all had this experience. We start doing something we like doing, then look up and see that three or four hours have passed. That’s flow.
Tuesday night the Brattleboro Selectboard will hold the first of two public hearings on the town’s new land use regulations. The new zoning rules are up for a final round of public discussion and comment, and a final opportunity to propose changes, before likely adoption in the near future.
At this special meeting, they will also officially announce a series of public meetings to discuss the Police-Fire Facilities project, and possible pre-select pre-qualified engineering firms to perform brownfield site assessments.
You can attend and participate, and bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
Well, that was somewhat unexpected. Some snow at HQ on Cedar Street today.
Surprised cats came to the back door, wanting to come back in after expecting to be out most of the day. Both were covered with snowy ice pellets.
Did you get some flakes, or was this a micro-weather event?
Multiple Intelligences is a theory put forth by Howard Gardner that says that we don’t all learn or think in the same way. Instead of us all having a single, standard brain equally capable of all functions, he says that what we really have is a collection of abilities with our own, unique combination of strengths and weaknesses.
Those abilities fall into categories such as musical–rhythmic, visual–spatial, verbal–linguistic, logical–mathematical, bodily–kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Existential and moral abilities are sometimes included, too.
We’re going to spend some time with this series looking at how other people create things. Last week we watched an animator work out a scene. This week we’ll look at how a musician thinks about a pop song.
Here, Donald Fagan of Steely Dan discusses and demonstrates aspects of his song “Peg” with Warren Bernhardt. He explains why the song is the way it is, and where he got ideas for creating it.
Music theory is one of those mystical subjects to me. I understand it when it is being explained, and can hear it, but the language and use of it escapes me personally. I find people who can do this sort of thing to be rather amazing, but I know it isn’t really that amazing — it’s what they do, and very possible if one applies oneself.
The Brattleboro Selectboard had their first discussion of an option to buy the Reformer building on Black Mountain Road to use for a new police station, as well as the process to decide if the property should be purchased at all. Nothing specific was decided, except that public input was required before the Selectboard could feel confident to make a recommendation. Public comment is expected to come at special meetings to be scheduled, and via other informal feedback.
The Our Town grant was awarded, other grants were accepted and applied for, and other special meetings requesting your input will be scheduled to focus on the FY17 budget and the adoption of new Land Use Regulations.
The north end “mystery property” has been revealed. According to documents on the town web site, Brattleboro will be considering an option to purchase the Brattleboro Reformer’s building at 62 Black Mountain Road to renovate as a police station.
The north end option would be secured initially through March 31 with a $20,000 payment. Total cost, if the town decides to make the purchase, would be just under $750,000. Total cost with renovations would be just over $4 million.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will be discussing options for going forward with the Police and Fire facility upgrades at their regular meeting Tuesday night.
“The news” is reporting that the Vermonter, our Amtrak connection, derailed about near Northfield/Roxbury, VT, 10 miles or so south of Montpelier. Minor injuries, no fatalities reported. 98 people on board. Brattleboro rescue folks going to help.
After much work to reduce costs of the proposed Police and Fire facility projects, the new price tag for the three projects has a price range, depending on the path chosen, from $12.5 to $15 million. The options and corresponding price tags were previewed this week at the Brattleboro Selectboard’s special meeting, and will be discussed in more detail at their next meeting.
Brattleboro’s connection, or lack thereof, to the Connecticut River was the recommended art project chosen as the winner of the National Endowment for the Arts Our Town public art competition. “From the River, To the River” is a multi-artist, multi-media, multi-site installation with numerous opportunities for the community to become involved.
Where do we get ideas? Is imitation a part of the creative process? This week we’ll look at where ideas come from, and how they get re-used, recycled, copied and remixed.
There is some historical tension between creators of existing works and those creating new works. A band puts out a song on an album in the 60’s, which gets sampled and re-fashioned into a new song that becomes a hit for someone else in 2015. A movie is created based on someone else’s story. And so on.
Lawsuits often result, because we tend to think that everything must be owned by someone. But mixed into our world of copyright law are two other principles, fair use and public domain, which are equally important.
A few people have noted that iBrattleboro commenting has dropped off a bit recently and wondered why. Usually, iBrattleboro follows the general trends in town, and Brattleboro as a whole has seen community participation dropping off for some time now.
Few people run for the selectboard or school boards, and town meeting struggles to find representatives. Public participation at selectboard and school board meetings is minimal. Few people commented publicly on major zoning changes being debated. Parents barely batted an eye when Common Core was implemented.
Food drives and non-profit fundraising efforts struggle to meet goals. Citizens haven’t been motivated to hold fundraising events for needed police and fire facilities. Skatepark fundraising efforts are quiet. And so on.
This week we spend some time with surrealist Salvador Dali, speaking to reporter Mike Wallace in 1958.
Sometimes it is important to pay attention to things we don’t necessarily understand. Diving into subjects outside my own skill set can lead to inspiration and ideas which furthers my own work. I enjoy hearing from experts in almost any field discussing their work and ideas, and keep a notebook fo tips and tricks I’ve come across.
The Brattleboro Selectboard began a preliminary discussion of the future of the Municipal Center, somewhat unintentionally, while discussing necessary repairs to bring the building up to current fire safety codes. It began with John Allen questioning the large investment in the structure, meandered through talk of responsibility and stewardship, and ended with a plan to spend the necessary funds one way or another.
Parking ordinance changes were approved. Most of the rest of the evening involved discussions of money.
We’ve done music, we’ve done comedy. It’s time to get creative and intelligent, so I’m shifting my weekend series once again. (Any of you are more than welcome to take over the music or comedy at any time. I bequeath them…)
To kick things off, here’s a presentation by one of my favorite cartoonist, writer, and “accidental professor” Lynda Barry.
The next phase of Municipal Center repairs will get some attention at the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard.
The board will have a second hearing and approval of parking ordinance changes, examine some financial reports for the year and month, and will do their utmost to protect you, dear citizens, from terrorists in our midst with the approval of a mobile data terminal for a police car.
All this and more. Watch on BCTV and read about it here.
I’ve been noting presidential candidates, but we also have an upcoming race for Vermont Governor. So far as I can tell, six people have annouced their intention of running for the state’s highest office. It is your challenge to learn about them and report what you learn here so others can benefit. Become a local correspondent for the VT race.
In alphabetical order, to get you started:
Lawrence Lessig has announced his intention of running to be president, accomplishing one goal, then stepping aside.
“I’m running to get people to acknowlegde the elephant in the room.”
Hi, I’m here for a job interview. I’d like to be a doctor.
Do you have experience being a doctor?
No, but I’m a quick study. You’ll be impressed after I start operating.
Do you know anything about radiocarpal articulation?
That’s a “gotcha question.” I’m not a specialist
You may recognize Wyatt from the Daily Show, but did you know he was a writer for King of the Hill, the Mike Judge look at Texas? I didn’t.
It makes a bit of sense. He was born in NYC in 1976, but was moved to Texas as a kid. He’s now a Brooklyn resident.
Major industrial development near Exit 1 got a hearty endorsement from the Brattleboro Selectboard on Tuesday evening. Over $1 million in loans and grants have been approved to be spent on an effort to convince a local employer to keep good paying jobs in Brattleboro. There are good odds that G. S. Precision will stay, but plans are not yet final.
A proposed Putney Road telecommunications tower was found to be objectionable enough to trigger a letter of concern to the Public Service Board, Groundworks collaborative will be moving forward to help the homeless with food and shelter through a planned resource center downtown, the Our Town grant selection committee was appointed, and more.
