For the last five years, I have been toying with the idea of publishing my letters from my Peace Corps service. I started by typing them up without editing. Then, I waited. When I went back to them this past month, I had to type them up again, and I did a little more research. I found that my memory of life’s events isn’t always accurate, and I am glad to have these letters to help keep things in perspective. As someone who has studied creativity, psychology, and communications with an emphasis in journalism, I know that memories aren’t something we recall. Instead, they are things that we reconstruct through the lens of who we are today.
Continue readingMonthly Archives: December 2020
What I learned at the Peace Corps Cross-Cultural Seminar in Benin
As a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1998 to 2000, I was one of three volunteers chosen to represent Peace Corps Guinea at a cross-cultural seminar in Benin. There was a lot of discussion about culture and the interactions between those of different cultures. One proverb we talked about says, “The fingers on the hand don’t have to look the same, they just have to work together.”
Continue readingTraveling to Guinea with the Peace Corps
When I received my invitation to join the Peace Corps and finished the required paperwork, I had no idea what to expect from service or from the country I was going to see. I was told things about the Peace Corps, and I read letters from volunteers who were currently serving, but that didn’t prepare me for the two years I would serve. (Well, really 27 months and 27 days, but who was counting?)
Continue readingDisney’s Silly Symphonies and the Art of Compromise
Just as “Steamboat Willie” was gaining steam at the box office and launching Mickey Mouse to superstardom, Carl Stalling was scoring the first two Mickey Mouse cartoons: “Plane Crazy” and “Gallopin’ Gaucho.” After some correspondence with Walt Disney, Stalling ended up as the studios first musical director. Because it was complicated to synchronize sound with animations, Walt and Stalling had to work closely with one another to get the two disciplines to work together before they could begin production on the drawings. Walt and Stalling would often argue over what should take precedence in the animated film. Stalling wanted the music to be the first thing to considered; Disney wanted the action and gags to take precedence.
Continue readingThe Art of Collecting Disneyana: a Short Guide
The Fall 2003 issue of “The ‘E’ Ticket” featured a profile of Disney collector Richard Kraft, who had a collection of Disneyana (Disney memorabilia) that any Disneyland fan would envy. It included a Frontierland canoe, a Bog Thunder Ranch sign, and an assortment of Ferdinand the Bull items. Overall, he had 10,000 items in his collection, and many of them were big ticket.
Continue readingSpotlight Saturday: The Disney Gallery
Back before Disneyland changed Walt and Roy’s apartment above Pirates of the Caribbean into the Dream Suite, it housed one of the most magical places in the kingdom: The Disney Gallery. A trip up the stairs above the entrance to the PotC would allow you to explore the magic of Disney, and if you had enough money, you could take some of that magic home. For better or worse, I rarely had enough money, but that was okay because dreams, wishes, and imagination were free.
Continue readingDisney’s Wonderful World of Reading Year Book 2003 and Creativity
Disney’s Wonderful World of Reading published the Year Book series, and it’s a treasure trove of information. Your expectations may be that there would be a lot of Disney stories inside and little else. I was certainly only expecting a little fluff reading before I went to bed. Instead, in the 2003 Year Book (affiliate link), I learned about the airplanes, butterflies, and birthstones. I still got a fix of fiction with stories from “Monsters Inc.,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and Mickey Mouse. More importantly, the Year Book has a few activities sprinkled in for people to do.
Continue reading‘Once Upon a Time’: A Treatment of Jekyll and Hyde
Spoiler alert: The following article contains spoilers for Season 6 Episode 4 for “Once Upon a Time.” If you plan on watching the series, book mark this page and come back to it when you get through that episode. Or read on and discover the spoilers after the trailer.
Continue reading‘Stargirl’ Shines for DisneyPlus
As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence actually liberates others.
– Marianne Wilson
In the town of Mica, nothing ever happens. The high school doesn’t have any trophies in its case to prove that nothing happens. When Leo Borlock moves to Mica, he wears his deceased father’s tie to elementary school and is promptly beat up. The bullies cut the tie in half, and Leo realizes he was going to have to fit in if he didn’t want any trouble. Flash forward to high school. Stargirl, her real name, shows up for high school in Mica wearing her non-conforming clothes and playing a ukulele. She sings to Leo on his birthday, and her charm starts to win over the school.
At a football game halftime show, Stargirl shows up with her ukulele and sings. The football team is inspired and goes on to win the game with her as its good luck charm. Stargirl exerts a force of change over the entire community. Like the rain in desert waking up the mud frogs, her style and uniqueness allow the other students to wake up and become more than they have been. However, she faces pressure to conform, especially after she helps an injured player for the other team and Mica loses the championship game.
By subverting her natural inclinations, Stargirl becomes an unhappy shell of who she was, even when she appears to be happy-ish. When she learns her lesson and remembers who she is, she reminds Leo of who he is. While not every problem is resolved, “Stargirl” offers a look at who we can become if we choose to set ourselves free. More importantly, it shows how one person can make a difference for better or worse. Let your creativity shine and help others to explore theirs.
This review is part of our Disneycember coverage. Disneycember appears to have been coined by Doug Walker, the Nostalgia Critic, and Channel Awesome. Come back every day during December and read a new Disney article.
If you want to read more about Disney and creativity, check out “Disneyland Is Creativity” and “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity.” Read more about the Disney Company in “Penguinate! The Disney Company.” Check out other Disney stories at www.penguinate.weebly.com.
‘Poster Art of Disney the Parks’: Informative and Beautiful
When Disneyland was built, it was done so in the style of a movie. The Mickey Mouse in front of the train station at the entrance to the park is the title card. The tunnel creates a dissolve as you enter a new immersive experience – Main Street, U.S.A. But where would you go, what would you do, and what would you see in this movie? Posters helped visitors understand what was offered in the park and what they could expect. “Poster Art of the Disney Parks” (affiliate link) shows the process of making posters with beautiful full color examples of what you would find in the Disney Parks.
Continue reading
Penguinate! Positive Creativity 