The Inspiring Inspiration Thread of Inspiration

Flay

One of the advantages of doing a mainly visually-based university couse is that I can listen to a lot of podcasts and lectures on various topics without them distracting me from my work. One of my particular favourites is TED talks, and this afternoon I was listening to this particular video of a lecture by Adam Savage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEg-ZNB3qyI

People so genuinely enthusiastic are so few and far between, and this talk really resonated with me. All of a sudden I wanted to get shit done, to remember why I really like studying graphic design, and basically, I wanted to live my life more like he did.

So, what have you guys run in to lately that has kicked your butt in to gear, or made you want to change the way you do things? Talks? Speeches? Films? Artworks? Music? Whatever, lets have a thread of awesome things that inspire us.

bsjezz

Hemingway wrote:

It was wonderful to walk down the long flights of stairs knowing that I'd had good luck working. I always worked until I had something done and I always stopped when I knew what was going to happen next. That way I could be sure of going on the next day. But sometimes when I was started on a new story and I could not get going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, "Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know." So finally I would write one true sentence, and then go on from there. It was easy then because there was always one true sentence that I knew or had seen or had heard someone say. If I started to write elaborately, or like someone introducing or presenting something, I found that I could cut the scrollwork or ornament out and throw it away and start with the first true simple declarative sentence I had written.

Blake T

I want to go hanggliding currently.

I have no idea how.

I've looked at some of the clubs around the town but they all seem to be for people that already have hang gliders and not for dudes who want to do it for a laugh.

Blake T

Also jezz since you love writing so much shouldn't you write something yourself as opposed to copying some old dude?

L|ama

bsjezz

i wrote today but the aim of my writing is not to inspire but to crush the reader's spirits with their own dawning inferiority

Flay

Click for Hueg

The Z machine is the largest X-ray generator in the world and is designed to test materials in conditions of extreme temperature and pressure. Operated by Sandia National Laboratories, it gathers data to aid in computer modeling of nuclear weapons. The Z machine is located at Sandia's main site in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

YaYa

I'm determined to write a page of my play before I go to bed tonight

perhaps I will even write another one tomorrow

Blake T

bsjezz wrote: »

i wrote today but the aim of my writing is not to inspire but to crush the reader's spirits with their own dawning inferiority

Just write you suck forty thousand times, that'll crush them.

Edcrab

I had someone dig up some crap I wrote a while back and compliment me on it

It kind of makes me want to finish writing something good and try going places with it

Borommakot

Every time I have doubts about what I'm doing in college I tend to watch this and then build/fix something and feel good about myself.

Mike Rowe TED Talk

YaYa

yaaaaaaaay, wrote an entire page

Flay

Borommakot wrote: »

Every time I have doubts about what I'm doing in college I tend to watch this and then build/fix something and feel good about myself.

Mike Rowe TED Talk

This is actually something I've thought quite a bit about. I don't know why manual labour gets as bad a rap as it does.

Lost Salient

This constantly inspires me when I'm feeling hemmed in by shitty choices. It's probably a surprise to no one:

"Are you going to stop me?" Yossarian asked Major Danby, and gazed at him steadily.

Major Danby skipped away from the chaplain and hesitated a moment longer. "No, of course not!" he blurted out, and suddenly was waving both arms toward the door in a gesture of exuberant urgency. "Of course I won't stop you! Go, for God's sake, and hurry! Do you need any money?"

"I have some money."

"Well, here's some more." With fervent, excited enthusiasm, Major Danby pressed a thick wad of Italian currency upon Yossarian and clasped his hand in both his own, as much to still his own trembling fingers as to give encouragement to Yossarian. "It must be nice to be in Sweden now," he observed yearningly. "The girls are so sweet. And the people are so advanced."

"Goodbye, Yossarian," the chaplain called. "And good luck. I'll stay here and persevere, and we'll meet again when the fighting stops."

"So long, Chaplain. Thanks, Danby."

"How do you feel, Yossarian?"

"Fine. No, I'm very frightened."

"That's good," said Major Danby. "It proves you're still alive. It won't be fun."

Yossarian started out. "Yes it will."

"I mean it, Yossarian. You'll have to keep on your toes every minute of every day. They'll bend heaven and earth to catch you."

"I'll keep on my toes every minute."

"You'll have to jump."

"I'll jump."

"Jump!" Major Danby cried.

Yossarian jumped. Nately's whore was hiding just outside the door. The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off.

YaYa

LS do you want to read two and a half pages of a play

Lost Salient

I gotta write some pages of a murder mystery, myself

But certainly I do!

NotASenator

I'm seeing Sam Harris give a talk on Tuesday.

Air

My plan for dealing with a lack of motivation is to develop an addiction to amphetamines

L|ama

I've been tempted by that recently

semester's nearly over now though, so no point yet

#pipe

David Carson inspires the fuck out of me.



I'd love to get a little tattoo of that

Lost Salient

NotASenator wrote: »

I'm seeing Sam Harris give a talk on Tuesday.

Man.

Way to make my inspiring inspiration seem way less inspirational now.

Lost Salient

pipe, that would be a pretty rad tattoo.

Also chiquita is spelled wrong in your thingy, is that deliberate?

#pipe

Lost Salient wrote: »

pipe, that would be a pretty rad tattoo.

Also chiquita is spelled wrong in your thingy, is that deliberate?

we don't actually get chiquita bananas here so I've never seen it in print. I just spelled it phonetically :oops:

NotASenator

Lost Salient wrote: »

NotASenator wrote: »

I'm seeing Sam Harris give a talk on Tuesday.

Man.

Way to make my inspiring inspiration seem way less inspirational now.

Yours is pretty cool though

#pipe

#pipe wrote: »

Lost Salient wrote: »

pipe, that would be a pretty rad tattoo.

Also chiquita is spelled wrong in your thingy, is that deliberate?

we don't actually get chiquita bananas here so I've never seen it in print. I just spelled it phonetically :oops:

also it doesn't fit if I spell it correctly

Lost Salient

I figured it was some sort of elaborate banana-related pun I just wasn't hip enough to understand, honestly. I finally asked because it is better to ask and correct possible stupidity than continue to be accidentally stupid, or some other such mangled aphorism.

NaS are you going to have Sam Harris sign your body

You probably should

NotASenator

my entire body

Air

L|ama wrote: »

I've been tempted by that recently

semester's nearly over now though, so no point yet

This is the perfect time
once classes are finished there's little excuse for continuing
so you can take a whole bunch and stay awake for the next few weeks and once assignments are all done you gotta cut it out and hopefully you won't have got to the point of selling all your familys possessions

Lost Salient

NotASenator wrote: »

my entire body

Exactly

mensch-o-matic

L|ama wrote: »

ok so this was amazing

SoaL

seriously

marvelous

L|ama

it's from the student mag here

it's pretty good, all winning awards and stuff

FirmSkater

I really can't think of anything that inspires me.

I have a huge problem with motivation. I get in this mood where I just feel like shit, and all I can do is feel sorry for myself all the time, for no reason.

FirmSkater

And when that happens all i want to do is listen to old Weezer, Offspring, and Blink 182 and then watch Mall Rats.

After a day of that I feel a lot better.

Barcardi

I feel like i need to medicate when i see truely motivated people. That said I love tedtalks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrtANPtnhyg

that 2nd one actually inspired my thesis a little bit

bsjezz

fuck yeah let's do some writing tonight

YaYa

jezz I'm gonna write the fuck out of my play tonight

as soon as I finish this uni work there's gonna words all over this Final Draft document you have no idea

Metzger Meister

i'm not sure what inspires me, really.

i guess if we're being all introspective, the promise of validation is what usually drives me as far as all my performing goes, with the theater and my band and whatnot. that and i genuinely enjoy it.

bsjezz

man i've been resorting to the thesaurus a bit lately

that's a real bad habit

Franko

this was posted in the youtube thread, and I've been listening to these podcasts daily, they are really engrossing

http://themoth.prx.org/

choose anyone, they're all pretty good

YaYa

fuck yeah, 2 and a half pages!