Organization

Okay, lurking in other peoples blogs has become a way of life now. I can't start me day off right without seeing what other creative peoples have been up too. It's an addictive drug. Things are starting to blur though. I have a hard time keeping what I read straight and I have led my mom on a few wild goose chases looking for "that amazing picushion". Which blog was it? Damn.

So hopefully I solved it. I started keeping a visual journal of a kind and developed an easier way to keep track of some of the inspiring things I come accross. Before, I kept copies of pictures I found, printed them out and kept them in binders. I have no intention of posting other's pictures as mine own or anything, It's just that I am a visual learner. I can usually figure out how to make something just from looking at a picture. However, when there is a good idea on someone's site, usual that means there are more and pictures don't tell me where they were originally from and I have always regretted not having a complete record for these things. So I have a Word document where, when I find something interesting, I post the picture in there complete with: date of search (helps when trying to refer back to someone's blog), name of the picture file (backclick on a photo and look at it's properties), subject area (to help with sorting), web-addy, Site name, and comments. I actually have a different Word document for each subject area. It is organized into tables and it's wonderful. Now I know who created the wonderful item, I can go back to their website and check for updates, leave a comment or ask permission from them to mention them in my book (if and when I ever get it completed). Much better. And being a research junkie, much more perfessional and satisfying. It's like keeping a scrapbook of newspaper articles and writing the date and newspaper on the top of the article. It just makes sense later on.