Getting some zing at BYU


So yesterday I was just at BYU at the Life, the Universe, and Everything convention. The attendance was incredible. I usually don’t get to go to these things because they fall right on a weekend near my middle daughter’s birthday, which is when the party has to be. But I asked this year if she would mind having it later. No problem for her, since otherwise a friend couldn’t attend.

Not only did I get to attend, I got to present. I talked about people being able to do 3D art in their own home now. There are several free programs out there, and communities forming around this new hobby. The funnest part of the presentation, for me, was the history of CG. I’ll have to do a post on that sometime. Unfortunately, the project didn’t talk nicely to my computer and we wound up presenting the powerpoint I’d created in an unfamiliar format where I couldn’t show the videos I had. Sadness!

John Brown was there, doing his “How to Write Killer Stories” seminar. Which is just cool and the second time I’ve gone. He’s been getting better at it. One of his assignments for us was to find 10-20 pieces of Zing… things that spark you, a day and write it down in a journal. I must admit, today I just kind of chilled and didn’t think about it. But I think I can scrape together 10 of them at least.

1. My daughters put on a concert tonight. It was hilarious!
2. Our puppy dog plays with her shadow and can jump really high.
3. I’m just finishing up Pillars of the Earth. This is a bit negative, but now towards the end I’m wanting to shake the author for anachronism. OTOH, I like the balance of the characters and their moral viewpoints. And I LOVE the discussion of cathedral building.
4. I happened to get to use a 20+ year old phone today. The feel of the buttons and and handset brought back a memory of several phones we had as a child. So cool how memories can get triggered.
5. I always like to see how light reflects off things. I draw mental lines from the light to the object to my eyes.
6. I watched my husband put on a tie today. He did it fast, without thinking. Early on, I helped him get his first tie, and I taught him how to tie it.
7. I can’t get this image out of my head of this little girl playing with a particular futuristic toy that is really cool. I’ll be happy to let you steal the toy idea after I’ve written my own story about it.
8. There is this lady at church with such a non-cookie cutter hairstyle, especially for her late middle age. It is short and a purplish, pink brown with blond spikes. She is just a cool lady, and great with the kids.
9. Black leather boots laced up the front.
10. There is this kid in my class who is very, very shy. And yet he has this spark in his eye. I wonder what he is thinking.


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