Mr. Bacon accompanied me this morning when I covered President Obama at a bill signing ceremony for one of my freelance clients. The bugger kept inserting himself into every photo I took. Fortunately the many Secret Service agents present did not consider this bendable children’s toy a threat. Not sure how he’d hold up in Gitmo. Now on to this week’s list of the best links on creativity and writing I tweeted and shared on Facebook this week.
CREATIVITY
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Hey! Mr. Bacon! Do you mind? I'm trying to take a picture of the President! “7 Creativity Roadblocks You Need to Be Aware Of,” A.R. Karthick: The first one? Perfectionism. No worries, any reader of this blog knows they won’t find perfection here. (Related post: Maximizing Your Creativity)
- “10 Ways to Unleash Your Kids’ Creativity,” Pam Pastor, Philippine Daily Inquirer: I like “Make your own family newspaper.” But how many kids even know what a newspaper is? (Sigh.) (Related post: Our Annual Crustacean Christmas)
- “Creativity? Train Your Brain to be an Idea-Generating Machine,” Cheryl Craigie, guest post on Write to Done: My problem is too many ideas, and no clue which one is any good. (Related post: Ideas are Plentiful, Choosing is the Key)
- “Is Your Smartphone Ruining Your Creativity?” Laurie Tarkan, FoxNews.com: Beg your pardon? Sorry, I’m watching an ESPN highlight on my Evo. (Related post: When I Unplugged from the Grid)
WRITING
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The White House press pass was a bit large for Mr. Bacon, but how fortunate, because it hid the fact that he appeared at the event displaying the audacity of nudity. “I’m Tired of Writing,” Shari Lopatin, Rogue Writer: This talented writer needs a pep talk. Pronto. (Related post: Is It Wrong to Imagine Success?)
- “The Art of Avoiding Burnout,” Danyelle Leafty, QueryTracker.net: Maybe Shari should read this post. (Related post: Inspiration Meditation)
- “Tuesday Ten: Skills Every Writer Needs,” Cheryl Reif, Cheryl’s Musings: I’m not sure I’ve ever had a day where I truly felt mastery of all ten. (Related post: When Do You Share Your Creation?)
- “How I Write,” Jane Chin, PhD: Here’s the opening: “Ten minutes lapsed between my typing ‘How I Write’ and this sentence.” Surprise, she has a 3-year-old. (Related post: Allowing Time for Creativity)
I’d like to look online for tips on how to get Mr. Bacon to behave, but I’m afraid of what might appear if I use the search terms I’ve come up with, like “beating your bacon.” Any advice you have on pork discipline is welcome.
The Artist's Road 
Can you pass a message along to Mr. Bacon? Can you please tell him to get his own blog? I am convinced it would be brilliant! Oh, and as always your picks for the week are brilliant.
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I don’t think he feels he needs his own blog. He’s happy hijacking mine.
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He could certainly have his own blog.
And, if my kids are any judge, a children’s picture book series.
But, I won’t tell him unless you do.
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I think you and Mr. Bacon are my new favorite press pool members… top 10 blogger, too. Wish I’d been there, and (as I reported on Twitter) I don’t know how I feel about being jealous of a bendy toy….
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Don’t tell him you’re jealous, his ego’s big enough as it is!
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OMG that picture is priceless! Mr. Bacon looks like he’s up to a whole bunch of mischief at the White House.
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If he had a first name, it would be “Mischief”…
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Advice on pork discipline. . . .
Well, Mr. Bacon told me he thinks you need therapy and he would be willing to pick out a therapist for you.
Oh, wait. That was when he appeared to me in a dream last night in a state of megalomania.
(He also said that his appearing naked at the White House is your issue. He’s completely comfortable in his own skin.)
Haha! But seriously, your collection of tweets is fantastic, as always. I only hope you aren’t detained for perpetrating bacon on the White House before you can do your next Friday post.
OK, I’m off to Google bacon joke obsession (BJO). I might be a candidate – along with a few others I’ve seen tweeting 😉
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I need therapy, when you’re the one having conversations with anthropomorphized action figures? 🙂
I’m comfortable in my own skin, but I was wise enough not to show up at the event naked.
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Laughing pretty hard right now. Touché!
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I could relate to Jane Chin’s post, though my baby girl is now an 11-year-old middle schooler. Oddly enough, I sometimes think I had more time to write when she was a baby and took those long naps. Now I feel it’s even more important to spend time with her as she navigates the pitfalls of mean girls and rising curiosity in boys and everything else that accompanies this age.
And she is now a writer, so we have to share my laptop. That really reduces my writing time!
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Melissa, that’s so wonderful about having to share your laptop with your 11-year-old daughter who is also now a writer. 🙂
~ Milli
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Melissa, I understand. My son is almost 13, middle school is tough for boys too. And high school for my daughter, 16. I too want to spend more time with them but don’t always get to, they have such busy lives with friends, etc.
And my daughter has started writing (as well as drawing and photography) and yes, sometimes she takes my laptop. Call me a dream killer, but sometimes I say “Daddy has MFA homework” and make her cough it up! (Especially when I think she’s really sneaking over to Facebook.) 🙂
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Hi Melissa: I definitely had more time when my son was a baby and needed to take multiple long naps a day… now that he’s a toddler though, the nap is gone and he is very active. It’s wonderful that you share your passion for writing with your daughter!
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Patrick,
Thank you for the link to Jane’s post. I find that the only part of writing that I can do while the kids are awake is make notes and copy-edit. Everything else requires more focused attention than they ever leave me with. But, I have more kids than either you or Jane – and special needs kids on top of it. So, I do what I can, but I keep working on making more snippets of time.
Kate
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Kate, I find it remarkable your dedication to writing and your ability to produce creative writing and blog posts, given these other critical commitments in your life.
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Rolling on the floor over here. You remind me of my brother-in-law, who takes a Mr. Bill doll backpacking and takes pictures of him on top of Mt. Whitney, etc. Takes some Colbert-style audacity to take Mr. Bacon to the White House, though! (And I don’t think that was the kind of audacity Obama was referring to in his book.)
Thanks for all the great links, as usual!
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I’m sure Mr. Bill enjoys his time away from Mr. Sluggo!
I have another adventure scheduled for Mr. Bacon soon; I’m considering letting him guest-write the accompanying blog post.
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Late to the party, as usual. But Mr. Bacon reminded me of something similar I did years ago. I lost a little bet with my brother who made me take a Mets cap to press conferences and get pics of it so that it looked like the person speaking behind the podium was wearing the hat. This was back in the day before digital cameras came along, so I was using a tiny disposable camera. At Japanese Finance Ministry pressers. Eventually, the camera, the cap and I were removed from a venue. And scolded.
Printing out Pam Pastor’s article for future use.
Hope you’re having an okay week.
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Those pictures…too funny. That little guy has star power. What makes him so unforgettable is that he has nary a clue his mega-wattage.
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