We are about a month away from starting our search for a physical location for our Creativity, Book and Penguin Emporium. (C.A.P.E.S. was already taken in Oregon, so I had to scrap my first choice in names. I’m open to suggestions.) While I would like to think that finding a location is the first step on the list, it’s really just a part of the jumble that we have to do all at once. We need to gather and/or create inventory, like penguins, and get the fixtures ready, like shelves and flat screens. We are still accepting indie author applications, and we will need to reach out to the authors we like. However, since it’s easier, I’m going to write this in a linear fashion.
Continue readingDisney Lego MiniFigs Series 1: Collectors’ Corner
(This article contains affiliate links. If you click on a link that goes to Amazon and purchase a product, you support our writing effort without having to pay more for the items you order. Thank you.) If you couldn’t tell by my numerous Disney blog posts or the books I’ve written about Disney (“Disneyland Is Creativity,” “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity,” “Penguinate! The Disney Company”), I’m a Disney fan. Maybe a little less well-known is I love Legos. They’re great for inspiring creativity, especially the basic sets that allow you to build what you imagine rather than following a set of plans and instructions. So, when I saw the Disney Lego Minifigs series 1, I looked at my budget and knew I had to have them.
Disney Lego Minifigs Series 1 Characters
Lego decided to start its series with three of the Big Five represented. Mickey, Minnie and Donald or among the 18 figures. They added Daisy to the group assumedly for symmetry in the release. In fact, only Maleficent and fan-favorite Stitch are without a partner of some sort. Buzz Lightyear has a Little Green Man, Aladdin has the Genie, and classic Alice has the Cheshire Cat. Grown-up Syndrome is ready to battle with the young Mr. Incredible, which I guess timeline-wise doesn’t really work. Peter Pan can take on his nemesis Captain Hook, and Ariel can sing for Ursula.
Appeal of Disney Lego Minifigs
Aside from the fact that they are Lego and Disney, the minifigs have an additional appeal of the blind draw. Not knowing what’s inside increases the anticipation. With each packet you open, you narrow down the one’s you want to get. Soon, you’re wondering if you’re going to get your 10th Syndrome, or if it will be one of the other three characters you need to complete the question. At the end, you hoping to get either the character you need to complete the collection or another of the best characters in it. When that final character is revealed… YOU WIN! It’s exciting and wonderful and fun. Some people would prefer to know what they’re getting, but others enjoy the thrill of the chase.
The Best Disney Lego Minifig
The blind draw gives the Little Green Man the advantage as the best Disney Lego Minifig in Series 1 because you can get a thousand Little Green Men and never have too many. It’s the only character where repetition doesn’t hurt, and in fact, it might help. Little Green Men always seem to travel in groups, except when they are selected by the claw. Some of the other characters seem to be available in other Lego sets if you can afford them. That makes Mickey Mouse a little less exciting though he appears to be in different outfits. The Cheshire Cat is cool, but I’m going to have to give the nod to the Little Green Man.
Collecting and Creativity
Why is collecting a part of our creativity? Ideas come from combining two or more things that haven’t been previously combined. Collecting allows us to have visual and tactile stimulation to improve connections. Oftentimes, people who collect items, don’t focus on just one thing or category. They tend to collect multiple categories of items over time. Perhaps, the most famous example of this is Ray Bradbury’s office at the beginning of Ray Bradbury Theater. He characterizes it as a place where he’ll never starve for ideas. Join us on Patreon for more creativity (and penguins)!
Did you collect and complete your Disney Lego Minifigs Series 1? What are you collecting now? Let us know in the comments.
Mr. Rogers and Impostor Syndrome
In the writing community, many writers, even successful ones, have a specific fear or anxiety. They are afraid that they aren’t real writers, and they wonder when their fans, publishers, agents, family and the public at large are going to find out that they are fake. When will people discover that the author’s writing is trash? It’s called “impostor syndrome.” For them and for anyone else who wonders if they are faking it, if they are impostors, you are not alone. In fact, Mr. Rogers also thought he might be a fraud, an impostor, and a fake.
Continue readingCommit to Moving Forward: Tip Tuesday
You got big dreams. You want fame. Well, fame costs, and right here is where you start paying – in sweat.
Lydia Grant (played by Debbie Allen) in ‘Fame’ (affiliate link).
You may not want fame, but whatever it is you do want will take commitment. If it’s worth having it won’t happen overnight. You’ll need to work for it. It will take time, perseverance, and change. To get through the long period of time when nothing seems to be happening or circumstances are blocking your opportunity, you need commitment. You need to look at where you want to be and keep that as your focus. It’s easy to slide into what’s comfortable. Comfortable keeps you from feeling pain, but it also numbs you to possible pleasure. Comfortable will keep you from experiencing the kind of life you were meant for.
On Being Comfortable
Most people will tell you that it’s okay to feel comfortable with where you. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying what you have and what you have achieved. And if you’re happy with it, few will fault you with your stagnation. A majority of people want to be comfortable; they don’t need, or even dream, of reaching for their full potential. But resting on your laurels will keep you from a far more fulfilling life and way of being. Even if you are satisfied with your life, you can still move forward in your development.
Keep Moving Forward
No matter where you are with life, you can keep moving forward. All it takes is commitment to improving yourself. You don’t have to change your job or your family, but you may have to change what you’re doing in your free time. Change is hard. It takes courage to change and to create a new way of life for you to feel even more fulfilled. Commit to your next creative project, bring it to fruition, and keep moving forward.
More on Creativity
Join our Patreon for more on creativity and penguins. Check out my books: “Disneyland Is Creativity,” “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity,” and “Penguinate! Positive Creativity.” Follow this blog for more tips and posts about creativity, penguins, and books.
‘So, You Think You Can’t Draw’ Episode 2 Going Live
I’ve designed ‘So, You Think You Can’t Draw’ for people who think they can’t draw. It cuts down the essential shapes you need to draw anything and gives you time to practice them, so that you feel comfortable drawing. Episode one was released on June 15, 2020. Episode 2 will be released today. You already know how to draw; these will just remind you. The series is on Patreon only, so here’s what you need to do if you want to remember how to draw.
Continue readingPenguin Sweaters for Stuffed Penguins
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Willow and Patch both got penguin sweaters recently. Patch was being a model for our friend Checkers Penguin, who lives in New Zealand where it’s winter. The neat thing about these sweaters is that they are made from a pattern used for actual penguins. But why would penguins need sweaters?
Continue readingSicilian Cookies Pale Compared to Grandma’s
This story is brought to you by #CookieSaturday. Part of my family comes from southern Italy, specifically, Sicily. While I never had any plans to go there, when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance. My first sophomore semester of college I spent in Vienna. A friend and I planned a trip for our two-week fall break. We included Sicily in those plans. When we got to Palermo, we ended up in a street market where they were selling different kinds of cookies by the kilo. I found some that looked like the cookies my grandma made, and I had to have them just too see how close they were to my grandma’s recipe.
Continue reading‘Invasion’: Societal Issues Easy to Digest in Young Love Story
If you want to read a book and be surprised, pick up Russell Nohelty’s “Invasion” without reading any of the summaries or the rest of this review. Until June 25, 2020, you can get “Invasion” as part of the Wannabe Press Summer Fantasy/Science Fiction Novel Slate Kickstarter. The project is already funded, so you can rest assured that you will get your copy of this great book. If you read any further, there will be mild spoilers ahead.
Continue readingDisney’s Olaf the Snowman: Collectors’ Corner
(This article contains affiliate links. When you purchase something from an affiliate link, you support our website without incurring additional costs. Thank you.) When “Frozen” came out in 2013, I was hooked. It became my favorite movie of all time, possibly only matched by the original “Mary Poppins.” It was a fresh story about the love between sisters that turned Disney’s normal true love stories on its head. Like many children, I could be caught singing “Let It Go.” When I made it to Disneyland in the summer after “Frozen’s” release, I stood in line to meet the Anna and Elsa. However, it was the connection with Olaf the Snowman that really permeated my life and led to memorable friendships and interactions.
Mr. Rogers: The Outside Around the Child Changes, but the Inside Stays the Same
On his show, Mr. Rogers addressed the assassination, using that word, of Bobby Kennedy; he also addressed race, specifically through the use of pools by black and white people at the same time. He knew that children saw what was going on in the world and heard what their parents were talking about, and he knew it was scary for them not to know anything about what was going on. Rather than hide those events and ignore discrimination, he met the subjects on a level that children could understand. When Mr. Rogers ended his first run of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” it was because he thought he had taught everything he could to children about different subjects.
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Penguinate! Positive Creativity 