A Quirky Q&A with Jill Badonsky
Plus bonus games to play in 'Creativity Owner's Manual'
By Chris Dunmire | Posted 2/14/13 | Updated 8/20/22
Once upon a time, when highly-traceable leaks from Jill Badonsky's provocative and controversial book The Muse is In: An Owner’s Manual to Your Creativity started trickling out of the Creativity Portal Web site, I braced myself for the forthcoming secret-location CNN-to-influencer interviews.
None came. Well, I did receive two phone calls … from spammers who used my area code to try to trick me. Good thing though, ‘cause my real name's included in the book on the thank you page, along with Bobby McFerrin's and Jill's two cats, Mambo and Sappho.
It's here, baby!
Okay, so now that the book is completely out, I get to ask my author friend and Kaizen-Muse™ mentor some pressing questions that have weighed heavily on my mind. Thankfully, Jill's doing a book tour right now just for such things, so what perfect timing!
ON GOING DEEPER
On the copyright page, this little finned creature appears with a reference to a quote by David Lynch likening ‘ideas to fish’ saying, “the deeper you go, the bigger the fish you’ll catch”:
“You will see this fish throughout The Manual. He’s there as a reminder of your passion for creativity. When you see him, know that you can choose to swim deep or stay shallow with your creativity. Take a deep breath into the vastness of your being; follow its flow.”
Was the same fish used throughout the production of the book, or (like they used multiple Lassie’s) were several fish employed?
It's just one fish but he went on vacation during July, so that month we had a stunt fish named Bill who looked very similar to him except that one of his scales was a little off balance.
Because the symbol of the fish is all about depth and devotion to an idea and staying with an idea past the length of a short attention span, the fish we hired HAD to be dedicated. He worked long hours and I accidentally deleted parts of him more than once, so I appreciate him hanging in there … well swimming in there. (No fish was hanged in the making of this book.)
Does the fish have a name? What is its breed?
His name is Lynch, named after the guy who said the quote he represents. He is a Passion Fish and capable of swimming to great depths where all the beauty of the creative process is. He is not satisfied with just swimming on the surface. And he is not available grilled, fried, as sushi or cat food.
Since having the fish pointed out, I’ve had this weird Where’s Waldo compulsion to search for all the fish in The Manual. If I tell you how many I've counted, will you please let me know when I’ve found them all?
Yes and if you get it right, you will win the fish's voice on your home answering machine or what's behind the curtain. (Not available in any store, offer may vary, void where prohibited by law).
ON CUTTING CORNERS
I noticed that you cut a lot of corners making this book — on the cover and on every single page. And then rounded them.
Can you explain how we can still turn a corner on rounded corners? And what did you do with all the leftover little triangles?
Turning a rounded corner is much easier than turning a square corner because it's not as abrupt. The kinder we can be to ourselves, the more creative we are likely to be.
Yes, all the pages are rounded. I cut each of them separately, which took a lot of time and two psychiatric hospitalizations. The little leftovers I use as confetti and I throw them in the air every time I complete a step in my creative projects. They stick to your feet if you're not wearing socks.
Rounded edges are easier than square ones. One of the secrets to staying with your creativity is TO MAKE IT EASIER. The Manual helps you do just that with its gizmos, states of mind, troubleshooting section, and daily maintenance section.
ON THE ‘PAW-DON ME’ CAT
Is the kitty that appears in February’s maintenance section on page 125 Mambo or Sappho? And can you please assure me that this feline isn’t eating the fish I’m counting before I find them?
It’s my gorgeous, blue-eyed silver tabby/Siamese mix, Mambo. He and the fish, Lynch, are good friends so you don’t need to worry. He did eat Bill though.
Sappho’s cat hair is somewhere in one of the art pieces in the book too.
Yeah, I found the cat hair … even printed cat hair gets on your sweater!
Well, thanks for stopping by, Jill. I'll let peeps know An Owner’s Guide to Your Creativity is out and about, and I'll be in touch again as soon as I finish counting the fish.
One fish … two fish … passion fish …
The Muse Is In: Bonus Games!
I know … I know … you just visited earlier for Jill's book tour Q&A above, but the way I see it, if one stop is good, then two is better. Three's also a charm … and a crowd, but I promise: This. Is. It.
Actually, what I really wanted to do by bringing you back here was to point out an often overlooked thing about the non-linear nature of creativity. Sometimes you need to take a U-Turn and revisit a place you've already been. Maybe even more than once. See, coming back to my blog again has a nice sharp point!
That might look like any number of things — from re-doing some creative work to reminding yourself of what's worked in the past when you're feeling stuck … and doing that again. In The Manual Jill calls this the Reminder Gizmo (p.61) with the best nickname ever: “Oh yeah, that.”
Anyway, with that lesson done, I'll make it worth your while with some bonus games. Yes, in case you run out of things to do in The Manual or desire diversion, here's a few fun games I've invented. (Lesson 2: You can make up stuff to do in the pages of other people's books without asking. Who would've thought?)
Game #1: Find the Fish
If you read the Q&A with Jill above, you'll know that I have a fascination with these little colorful passion fishes. The Manual's copyright page says these fish are sprinkled throughout the book in places where you can choose to go more deeply with your creativity.
So with the Find the Fish game, you get to page through The Manual ala Where's Waldo? and see how many fish you can find. And keep track of them and send me the final count so I can win the fish's voice on my answering machine. Betcha there's at least a couple dozen you can catch … no worms needed.
Game #2: An Unlikely Pair
I haven't officially tested this, but I'm pretty sure you can't go three pages without happening to a jewel-encrusted quote by some well-known artist, writer, actor, or other famous person … past or present. Here's just a few names I found:
J.R.R Tolkien, Will Rogers, Alan Cohen, Kurt Vonnegut, David Lynch, Henry Miller, Carl Sandburg, and Winston Churchill.
Actually, that's my modest list. Here's my immodest list, which is a tad bit longer:
When a List Goes from Short to Long:
J.R.R Tolkien, Will Rogers, Alan Cohen, Kurt Vonnegut, David Lynch, Henry Miller, Carl Sandburg, and Winston Churchill, Henry Link, Steven Furtick, J.C.F von Schiller, Mark Twain, Henry David Thoreau, Johann von Goethe, Vincent van Gogh, James Poland, Louise Hay, Buddha, Leo Babauta, Gertrude Stein, Jack Kerouac, Tom Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Jonah Lehrer, Steve Martin, Elie Weisel, M.C. Escher, Frank Zappa, R. Buckminster Fuller, Albert Camus, Thomas Edison, Julie Andrews, Ray Bradbury, John Steinbeck, Laurie Anderson, Rowan Atkinson, e.e. cummings, Martin Luther King, Jr., Edgar Allan Poe, Federico Fellini, Lewis Carroll, Marcel Duchamp, Sinclair Lewis, Jules Verne, Charles Darwin, Matt Groening, Tina Fey, Steve Jobs, Victor Hugo, Dr. Seuss, Bobby McFerrin, Quentin Tarantino, Virginia Woolf, Lady Gaga, John F. Kennedy, Maya Angelou, William Wordsworth, Anne Lamott, Terry Pratchett, Jean Houston, George Carlin, L. Frank Baum, Enya, Edward de Bono, Mary Cassatt, Allen Ginsberg, Jean Cocteau, Henri Matisse, Hugh Laurie, Chick Corea, Ranier Maria Rilke, Helen Keller, C.G. Jung, Dave Barry, Dean Koontz, Phyllis Diller, Hunter S. Thompson, Ernest Hemingway, Emily Bronte, J.K. Rowling, Andy Warhol, Ted Hughes, Leo Tolstoy, Mary Oliver, T.S. Eliot, W.S. Merwin, Marianne Williamson, Groucho Marx, Neil Degrasse Tyson, R.L. Stine, Lenny Bruce, P.G. Wodehouse, Dizzy Gillespie, Bonnie Raitt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Lorne Michaels, Milton Berle, Dalai Lama, Pablo Picasso, John Stewart, C.S. Lewis, Woody Allen, Tom Waits, Emily Dickinson, Seth Meyers, Rudyard Kipling.
There's a few more names in The Manual that I just skipped over because after a certain point in my compiling, I admit, I got lazy.
So, in the An Unlikely Pair game, pretend you're match-making an odd or controversial couple for some creative collaboration. Or a blind date. Or the three of you for a cup of coffee and a wifi lesson (if they're from the past). Here's some ideas to get you started:
- George Carlin with Virginia Woolf
- Marcel Duchamp with Lady Gaga (these two will probably get along well)
- Edgar Allan Poe with Bobby McFerrin
- Quentin Tarantino with Julie Andrews
- Vincent van Gogh with Enya
- Charles Darwin with Marianne Williamson
Oh, imagine the endless possibilities and twisty story plots. Isn't this great fun?!
Bonus Game:
List all the people you find with names that have just initials for the first and/or second names (i.e. C.G. Jung, E.L Fudge, R.U. Crosseyed).
Game #3: Scavenger Hunt
You'll win the Scavenger Hunt game if you find these 13 Things* in The Manual:
- “You art” bird
- A giraffe grazing on stars
- A Flock of Flaws
- A quote by C.G. Jung
- “Yes!” bird
- The lone cupcake (yours?)
- Hanging Laundry in Italy
- Two quotes by Tina Fey
- The behind of a bunny
- A string of pearls
- A typed quote by Ray Bradbury
- An octopus with nine arms
- A collection of Thinking Caps
*One Thing on this list isn't really in the Manual. But let me know if you find it anyway.
Game #4: What's APPening!!
Nope, this ain't a 70s sitcom with lots of Reruns. But I have it on good authority that a sassy little Dee would give a whole month of quarters to get this cool app just to replace that old Little Professor calculator. This is true. Just don't tell momma. Hey, hey, hey!
In the What's APPening!! game, you get to invent your own iTunes app for The Manual. Use your imagination and be creative and really have fun with this — your app doesn't even need to be feasible in the real world.
For example, the app I invented for is named Jillustrations. It makes all of Jill's whimsical artwork act like a neat-o pop-up book, see:
Of course there's a app for that! What can your app do?
©2013 Chris Dunmire. All rights reserved.
