Terrific voice actor. One of my favorites.

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Audio Q&A: Peter Cullen, the Voice of Optimus Prime, Talks Transformers, Mario and More

Interesting walkthru from Nate Piekos, a very inspiring creative pro.

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How I made the HAUNT HAVEN logo!

Nothing can stand in for a good night’s sleep. Today we’re not going to show you how to scrape by with less sleep; instead, we’re going to help you reboot your sleeping habits so you get the sleep you need (and deserve).

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How to Reboot Your Sleep Cycle and Get the Rest You Deserve

We decided to approach the six artists that we featured throughout 2009 in the pages of Layers magazine and ask them to submit their best ideas for staying fresh to keep that creative edge. And they graciously agreed. Here’s the result of our efforts (we mean their efforts). We hope their advice leads you to finish that one project that you’re currently stuck on.

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Maintaining A Creative Edge

Yeah, I know it was a long weekend, but it was also a long weekend that included the 3rd birthday of my daughter, who had also been sick. Which meant that everyone else more or less got sick, or at least really damn tired.

Complaint Department

Here’s where I complain a bit and feel sorry for myself while making excuses about the whole thing:

I have been touching the next two strips every day. I have lettering and pencils done for the first, and nearly done for the second. However, each scene takes place on the patio in front of The Winchcombe and feature some relatively in-depth backgrounds and some crowd shots. When there are lots of backgrounds and lots of people to draw, things take longer.

To make matters worse, I suffered an ill-timed bout of insomnia on Monday night, and it caused my motivation and creativity to disappear, leaving only a desire to simply sit on the couch, yell at kids, and sometimes whack them with a stick or throw a shoe when they came within range.

I chose to take a shower during one naptime, which while earning the appreciation of family, also served to keep me from drawing for a few minutes on Wednesday.

But the biggest detriment to my output this week was that I chose to sleep in a few days this week (still have trouble accepting that 6:30 is considered sleeping in) rather than get in a morning session at the desk.

A peace offering

So to keep you coming back, here’s something funny but potentially not safe for work (a captioned photo that DOES feature the “F” word prominently). It made me laugh.

F you, flowers!

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The Big Caption

New research suggests that productivity could be linked to those who are “up with the lark”, while those who define themselves as “evening people” are likely to be less proactive in the workplace.

The research, which surveyed 367 student participants, found a correlation between their self-reported ‘morningness’ (measured by their answers to questions about how easy they find it to get up in the morning and how alert they feel) and their self-reported proactivity (measure by their agreement to the questions), was statistically significant.

I know that I’m usually able to spring out of bed @ 5am to work, but I wonder if that includes people who are rousted out of bed @ 5:30 by children (the wife). And I wonder if there’s a crabbiness study on those same people. I have some data they could include in their research.

But sometimes it feels like the tank is just empty, and there’s simply nothing inside to draw upon. So sometimes a little more help is needed to get things going.

Jon Morrow from Copyblogger has a few suggestions of ways to get that extra help. He’s coming from a blogger’s point of view, but I think the suggestions can apply to any creative person who’s having trouble getting started.

For us, inspiration isn’t optional; it’s the force that drags us to the computer and tells us it’s time to say something that changes the world. Somehow, you have to find it, and you have to keep finding it for as long as you have a blog.

No, it’s not easy, but it is possible. Here are 10 tricks that have worked for me…

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10 Tricks For Getting Inspired to Write

Why would you want to pour so much of yourself into anything less than your best idea? Other ideas might seem more achievable or convenient, but if your heart and mind is elsewhere it’s all for naught.

I agree.

And this is mine.

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Work on your best idea

The contents of the notebooks are as multi-dimensional as their Escher-like structure. They include fully worked-out scenes, historical background, lists of character names, rough maps of imaginary places, stage settings, an idle rebus (the numeral three, a crossed-out eye, and a mouse), and plot ideas that will be recognizable to any Christie fan: “Poirot asks to go down to country—finds a house and various fantastic details,” “Saves her life several times,” “Inquire enquire—both in same letter.” What’s more, in between ominous scraps like “Stabbed through eye with hatpin” and “influenza depression virus—Stolen? Cabinet Minister?” are grocery lists: “Newspapers, toilet paper, salt, pepper …” There was no clean line between Christie’s work life and her family life. She created household ledgers, and scribbled notes to self. (“All away weekend—can we go Thursday Nan.”) Even Christie’s second husband, the archeologist Sir Max Mallowan, used her notebooks. He jotted down calculations. Christie’s daughter Rosalind practiced penmanship, and the whole family kept track of their bridge scores alongside notes like, “Possibilities of poison … cyanide in strawberry … coniine—in capsule?”

Fascinating stuff.

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The Mystery of the Messy Notebooks – Why Agatha Christie’s method was utterly deranged.

Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making

Recently, Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar, did an interview with a writer from The Economist.

You can watch the entire interview here.

Or, you can read a selection of quotes excised by writer Scott Berkun here.

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Inside Pixar’s Leadership