Author: Andrew Zahn

I'm a son, husband, dad, business owner, actor and good sleeper/eater. On this blog, I pave a highway for creative growth by providing food, water, and shelter for those wishing to live, work, and play with creative zest.

Video Chat with Google+: Better Than Skype?

[box options]This is the forth post in the series “Social Media for Artists.” Social media shouldn’t be a drudgery–at its core, it’s communicating creatively. Today’s topic: video chat with Google+.[/box]

When Google+ made its debut on the social media scene, many thought it would overtake Facebook.

It hasn’t, and it probably won’t. It does, however, have a few features many creatives may find helpful for creative collobation for working with others online. Namely: hangouts.

Video Chat with Google+

The What and Why of Google+ Hangouts

Plain and simple, Google+ hangouts are video chats with a number of stellar features. Initially, hangouts allowed for nine other people to join, view, and chat. Continue reading “Video Chat with Google+: Better Than Skype?”

3 Reasons Why Men Make Breakfast

Many Saturday mornings my Dad made waffles.

Real waffles.

Waffles on a gigantic waffle iron the size of a sheet of plywood.

But Dad’s waffles weren’t normal. They had personality. They often resembled Mickey Mouse, butterflies, and I vaguely recall my alpha/omega initials “AZ” being burned into those wonderful little divits.

Burned Waffles
Photo Credit: ikayama via Compfight

Breakfast is magic. What other meal is it permissible to douse the food with syrups, sugars and whipped toppings? Continue reading “3 Reasons Why Men Make Breakfast”

You Pick the Post and Monkey Tail Beard

My draft folder is brimming with amazing, yet unrealized posts.

As the slogan for this blog is “For the Hungry Artist,” I’d like to know what you’re hungry for. 

Here they are, in no particular order.

  • Why We Hate Work
  • What are You Worth?
  • Monday’s are the Best
  • Ideation Marriage Vows
  • Why I Love Mad Men
  • Social Anxiety and Other Confessions
  • Why Men Make Breakfast
  • MiPhone
  • Weight Loss and Blogging
  •            fill in the blank            

What would you like to see next on the blog?

Leave a comment below to clue me in on what you’d like to see!

***

Finally, in the spirit of being foolish, creative and simply because it’s Friday, here’s a pic of my endeavor to shave my beard monkey-tail style. Continue reading “You Pick the Post and Monkey Tail Beard”

Introverts: Creative Quiets

I masquerade as an extrovert.

But it’s just an act, a role played in pretend-land. Sooner or later, I’ll need to cocoon myself away for a bit to enjoy some silence.

I don’t think I’m alone, am I? Many creatives are introverts, preferring fewer words, fewer friends, and fewer parties.

Extroverts: we marvel at you. We marvel at your abilities to mingle at gatherings. We stand (preferably silently sequestered) amazed at your bombastic, never-ending ability to communicate with your host of friends while we struggle to maintain contact with the two or three friends in our close-knit circle. We’re jealous of your confidence in social situations.

Continue reading “Introverts: Creative Quiets”

The It Factor

What’s the difference between success and failure?

What makes one sink and another swim?

Who has the ‘it’ factor? And how do we get ‘it’?

If ‘they’ have ‘it’ and we don’t have ‘it’ how do we get ‘it’ so we can keep ‘it’?

 

What is ‘It’?

Anyone in any creative field is an ideator–an idea generator.

But so what?

Anyone can come up with ideas. Even bad ideas flourish… (insert the last corny informercial video you saw here). Continue reading “The It Factor”

Judas Style Creativity

[box options]Editor by profession, writer by heart and baby corn hater by choice, Todd Foley contacted me recently for an interview. After blushing slightly at the thought of typing words out and submitting them to an editor, I sent him some responses to his thought-provoking questions. You can find the interview here. Make sure you check out Todd’s other writings while you’re on his blog![/box]

“I’m just not creative.”

My first thought: how dare you say that.

Here’s what just happened in that short interchange…

  1. You had an idea.
  2. You listened to the idea.
  3. You formed that idea into a cohesive thought you desired to communicate.
  4. You chose words to say to communicate the thought.
  5. You said the words, carefully emphasizing certain syllables to share your message.

And you’re not creative?

It’s a lie. Continue reading “Judas Style Creativity”

Very Much Muchness

I’ve got a problem.

You probably have the same problem.

We all enjoy this… together.

Wait, what? Sorry. Did my phone just buzz?

It’s not so much a problem as it is an abundance. The very muchness of it all.

I need to message them.

I can remember spending hours at a game table laughing and talking. Monopoly marathons lasting weeks. Just sitting on the neighbor’s porch, wheelin’, dealin’ and talking.

I haven’t updated my Facebook status. Continue reading “Very Much Muchness”