July 12, 2009

For a long time, I've heard that we get great, novel ideas when we're dreaming, or when we're still in a half-sleep-half-wake state, and that we should keep pad and pencil on our nightstands so we can record them. I gave this up when I couldn't do it. Trying to recapture ideas that come from the edge of sleep is like chasing smoke with a butterfly net.

Once in awhile, good ideas come to me when I'm actually awake and cognitively focused on a problem. These are the ones I have to write down, because they'll for sure go the way of unsubstantiated trivia. (Of course, there's always the problem of remembering that an idea has been recorded, resides in one's jeans pocket, and should be logged somewhere. I have often found a scrap of paper in the dryer that reads something like, "Wedgewood blue and tomato red." At least I still have enough smarts to know what that means.) So it came to me while I was putting away dishes that the background of the current turkey needs a raw sienna background.

And that brings me to this morning's task. We'll see how good an idea it was!

PW