The Quads and Yale

This brilliant set of African-American quads from Danbury, CT have made history by being the first set of quadruplets to be admitted to Yale. The siblings (Martina, Ray, Carol, and Kenny Crouch) had their pick of Ivy League and top tier schools including Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Tufts, Wesleyan, and NYU, but ultimately settled on Yale because of its "down to earth" atmosphere and a generous financial aid packet.

These kids should be celebrated for their hard work and the example they'll be setting for thousands of other minority students. Instead of desiring to be rappers, video vixens, or pro atheletes, these four have set their sights higher.

With the cost of tuition steadily rising, they weren't dismayed and neither did they tell themselves to dream smaller. In general, there is nothing wrong with applying to local state schools or going to a community college. However, too many of our Ivy League ready students do so because they become overwhelmed by the prospects of the college application process and the exhorbant costs.

We have a responsiblity as parents, aunts, uncles, mentors, friends, and even neighbors to help out those coming after us. And if that includes helping them navigate the college admissions process so they can soar among the elite minds of this nation, then so be it!!!

A friend of mine, The Chi-Town Stepper, has come up with ways to teach kids to "dream out loud, often, and together". I'd also add to dream BIG, WAY BIG!!!! Let's make the Crouch story the rule and not the exception!!!

Read more about them at The New York Times.

White Void

In a previous posting, I mentioned how I had not previously invested in any way into making my apartment a home. However, after realizing that my home should be a reflection of me and it's where I spend the most important time, I'd decided to commit to this project.

I have now officially gotten into the swing of things with the apartment redesign. I've decided to take it one room at a time, only buying what I really love and want to live with for the next couple of years, and piece by piece as that's what my budget allows for. In case you're wondering, the bedroom is the first room to see a change. I hope to be able to show you pictures in a couple of weeks.

Being a renter put some limitations on what I can do. Most notably, painting is an issue. While I want a colorful and vibrant home, I don't want the hassle of painting the walls now and then repainting them when it is time to leave. So, I shall be leaving the walls white!!!!

While appealing to my laziness (don't want to repaint), my thriftiness (don't want to pay for painting), and my impatience (no time investment needed if they are left as is), the idea of leaving the walls white didn't really appeal to my creative passionate side.

Also, I believe wall color greatly affects the mood of the place. I was thinking white walls, no matter what else was done in the rooms, would leave the place feeling too spare and therefore, boring. But I couldn't be further from the truth.

Leaving the walls white can look crisp, glamorous, organized, modern or retro, and serve as the perfect backdrop for accessories and furnishings! Here are a few inspirational rooms with white walls.

Continue ruminating...

Up In The Air

Last Friday, The Chi-Town Stepper and I caught a showing of George Clooney's Oscar nominated movie "Up In The Air." I hadn't expected any part of the movie to resonate with my own life. Clooney plays a professional downsizer. In other words, he flies across the country firing people for a living. He is also a motivational speaker. Although, his particular brand of motivation advises people not to get too close to things and other people. He is estranged from his family and hasn't had any meaningful romantic relationships. He lives a lonely and isolated life.

In a rare moment of being in his Omaha apartment, we see that he has never taken the time to put any personal touches to the place. The apartment is drab, cold, void of personality, and thereby, detached and void of life. It is clear that he doesn't like spending time there. It does not appear to be the home of anyone enjoying their life. This was the part that resonated with me. Sad but true:-(

Continue ruminating...

Tough Rumination

See, I can't stop finding things to be inspired by. But I'm sure if Mr. Foutain Hughes had the opportunities I have before me, he'd make everyday as productive and meaningful as possible. I shall sleep now wondering what Mr. Hughes would do today with the privileges we are now afforded and what would I really do with all this inspiration if those same privileges were no longer available to me.

Inspiration: Stalker or Addiction

I have a problem. My problem at the moment is rather unique and confusing...

I am, as I have been for the past month or so, completely inspired. I can't blink my eyes without opening them to some new form of inspiration. As a person who fancies themselves a creative, this is the perfect place to be in. But of course I go against the tide and therefore massive inspiration has turned out to be a thorn in my side. Being inspired is a wretched place for me because I haven't been able to do anything with it. Sure, I could jot things down in one of my many journals bought for the expressed purpose of doing so or my lovely iPhone app bought for the same, but I can't. Or rather I won't. I'm not sure why.

People I've never met in situations I've never been in beg of me to write their life stories to gain confirmation from the world that they exist. They seek solutions from me that give them a process to a more peaceful existence. And yet each time I am introduced to them, I am forced to turn them away. Thus, another day goes by without them having closure, healing, peace, joy, or the overall abundance that they need and deserve. There is also beauty seeking to be created by me that I cannot be bothered with finding the time to do so. Or the organization for execution.

The inspiration at this point is stalking me and I don't like it. Having had a stalker for a very brief moment in college (long story, another post) I know what being stalked feels like. Literally everywhere I turn there is something there begging me to provide commentary or creation. If I watch the news, read a blog, read a magazine, walk down the street or in the grocery store (I took photos of colorful produce in Whole Foods last week), sit on the train, have a conversation, hell even reading gouge-your-eyes-out-it's-so-boring legal deposition transcripts provide sources of inspiration.

Or is it not stalking me at all, but rather I've become addicted to it? I can't sleep without having a hit of inspiration. I literally stay up much longer than is necessary or what can be tolerated to look at "one more movie/tv show/blog/magazine/book." That's what I literally tell myself at night. I wake up and, deeming the computer that is truly only 2 feet from the bed too far, I reach for my phone and let the powers of 3G welcome me to a new day. I sit at work wondering where the new shot of inspiration will come from.

I must beat this demon. Inspiration is supposed to be a good thing. Too many people are depressed over living an uninspired life. Despite the challenges I face in this current season, I have what many don't: inspiration which gives me reason to press on, a basis for creativity. Some would simply call it hope. Some may call it the blueprint for a vision. No matter what, I must translate it into productivity and not the vessel for idleness it has become.

"Can of Inspiration" by Department of Doing