Are you a Picasso or a Cézanne?

I just read an interesting article in the July issue of Wired magazine about an economist named David Galenson who has proposed an unified theory of creativity that groups creativity into two distinct forms -- "quick and dramatic" or "slow and quiet" -- which are expressed by two types of people.

The first character type - the "conceptual innovator" - is someone who does breakthrough work early in life. Conceptual innovators make "bold, dramatic leaps in their disciplines" and know exactly what they want and know when they've achieved it. Examples of such innovators include Edvard Munch, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Wolfgang Mozart, and Orson Welles.

The second character type - the "experimental innovator" - is someone who labors and plods along through a lifetime of trial and error, and thus, peaks later in life. Experimentalists never know when their work is finished. Examples of this type of innovator include Mark Twain, Paul Cézanne, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Seurat was 25 when he painted Sunday on La Grande Jatte. Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d'Avignon at the tender age of 26. Makes you wonder what you've accomplished lately, doesn't it?

Call me ambitious, but if I can just learn to look to my right before I cross the street here in Australia and not get myself killed, that would be a pretty big accomplishment for me these days. For me, great achievement comes in baby steps.

So, What Kind of Genius Are You?

Side note: A great majority of creative geniuses described in the article are white males. Sylvia Plath and Maya Lin were the only women and person of color mentioned. What's up with that? Wired needs to get a clue that geeky white men are the not only people who read their magazine. For reals.

Whale watching at Victor Harbor

Last Sunday, a group of us went whale watching at Victor Harbor. It was the first time we left the confines of the Heinz school in weeks, and we couldn't have picked a more gorgeous day to go.

I picked out some photos and uploaded them on Flickr for your viewing pleasure.

My current desktop wallpaper:

Happy Birthday, Ella!

<-- This is my adorable munchkin of a niece. She turns four years old today. She has been watching Animal Kingdom's Australia DVD and knows more about kangaroos, koalas and other Aussie wildlife than the rest of us put together. And she's so excited about coming to visit. I can't wait!

What's a Coro Fellow?

The question I most dreaded while I was in the Coro program was--

So what do you do?
Me: (internal sigh) I'm doing a fellowship in public affairs.

Oh, at what school?
Me: I'm not in school.

So this is an internship?
Me: No, it's professional work experience. Coro is an experiential learning and leadership training program.

Do you get paid?
Me: Um... no.

Oh. And where are you again? Philly?
Me: No, I'm in Pittsburgh.

Oh. (awkward silence) So why Pittsburgh of all places?
Me: (What is this, Larry King Live?) Uh...cuz that's where the fellowship is?

Ha! Right! ... So how do you like Philly?
Me: Pittsburgh, Larry. I'm in Pittsburgh. And I like it fine. Thanks for asking.

[end]

So what did I actually *do* for nine months? A lot of things for one, but much of which I either don't want to explain or would rather forget. It was a very good learning experience, I wouldn't be in Australia if it weren't for Coro, yadda, yadda, yadda, but the truth of it is that it's exhausting to describe the program. Some people would just leave it alone at that, but for those who are dying to know more, I'll try to paint a picture of what it was like being a Coro Fellow.

First - if you ever see a large herd of 15 twenty-somethings dressed in business suits running after buses or roaming downtown with backpacks, computer cases, and notepads in hand, those are Coro Fellows. If you ever see a 1950s newsboy selling "Community Threads" magazines on a street corner, that's also a Coro Fellow. And if you see one Fellow, the other 14 are not far behind.

That person dropping off a yard sign by your front door a week before local elections? Coro Fellow. That young person shaking Mayor Bob O'Connor's hand and posing with Governor Ed Rendell for a photo op? Coro Fellow. The person on the phone asking for an interview with your executive director? Coro Fellow. That person wearing an "I heart Pgh" t-shirt whom you pay the cover charge to enter a club? Coro Fellow. Those people you swore you didn't invite to your fundraising party and are drinking your wine and eating your cheese? Take a guess. Coro Fellows. We were fuckin' everywhere.

We interviewed community leaders. Schmoozed with politicans. Worked on group and individual consulting projects. Planned events. Fundraised money for a trip to DC. We spent many consecutive hours in a windowless "board room" where we dissected, debated, disengaged, collaborated, and struggled to find meaning in what we did and learn from each other. We were given management tools and Coro-isms -- OARRs, DKDK, LDWpF, 4WH, WIGO, DiSC, Ryan's BITS. That wasn't enough for us so we created our own -- MVOU, PINO, ITO, WTFIGO.

And that was just group activities on Tuesday nights, Fridays, and weekends. I also had short-term individual placements during the week where I:

• Fit-tested some fire equipment at the City Emergency and Homeland Security Agency;
• Delivered yard signs and doorknocked for a judicial campaign;
• Created a marketing plan for Attack Theatre, a dance company;
• Developed a framework for a community dialogue event for the Sprout Fund;
• Conducted benchmarking research on sustainable tourism initiatives at the PA Environmental Council;
• Researched local, state, and federal biodiesel and renewable energy legislation for Steel City Biofuels.
  

And that was how I spent nine months of my life before grad school. (It's really not as glamorous as I may have somehow mistakenly made it seem.) Now can you see why I don't talk about Coro? No? I guess you just had to be there.

It's funny that when people here in Australia ask me what I did before coming to Heinz, I say I did a fellowship in public affairs in Pittsburgh, to which they just nod and move on. No one knows what a "fellowship in public affairs" actually means and no one cares. It's kind of nice.

Skype On The Go

Just a few days ago, Indhu and I were lauding the wonderful technology of Skype and we agreed that if we didn't have to be physically attached to our laptops to make calls, we'd be in VoIP chat heaven.

Well, lo and behold, I came across this while reading Wired magazine -- A Wi-Fi Netgear mobile phone that allows you to place Skype calls from any wireless network. The coverage areas are limited but the rates are much cheaper so you can save some $$$ on calls (that is, if you don't count the cost of the phone, which is currently selling at $250 retail).

My Acting Debut

Last Saturday, Indhu and I starred in a short film project in which we acted out a scene from American Beauty to help some CMU entertainment technology students with their assignment.

I was cast in the role of "Jane" who is an insecure, angsty, goth teen who is intrigued by "Ricky", her new next door neighbor. In the scene, I'm standing with "Angela" (played by Indhu) at school, smoking a cigarette, and looking moody when I'm approached by the creepy-sexy, enigmatic Ricky. I didn't get a chance to watch the scene before filming (it had been years since I saw the movie), so I had only my own unremarkable high school memories from which to draw inspiration for my character.

When I was told that Jane should appear uncomfortable and awkward, I thought, Wow, I don't even need to act! But dressing for the part was a whole other story. Since I happened to have left my entire goth wardrobe back in the States, I had to make do with what I had here in Australia. The end product was an outfit consisting of jeans, a purple Hillary Clinton t-shirt, and a brown track jacket. Yeah. Needless to say, I was more than a little misguided at understanding goth fashion.

I haven't received the film clip, so unfortunately, I can't share my Oscar worthy performance with you all, but I included the script for the scene we did. I had such a great time that now I'm thinking acting can be a fallback option just in case my career in public policy doesn't work out. (No, not really.)

Script from Asian, er, American Beauty:

ANGELA and JANE talk at school.

ANGELA: Cunt!
[to Jane] I am so sick of people taking their insecurities out on me.

JANE: Oh my god. That's the pervert who filmed me last night.

ANGELA: Him? Jane, no way! He's a total lunatic.

JANE: You know him?

ANGELA: Yeah. We were on the same lunch shift when I was in the ninth grade and he would always say the most random weird things. And then one day, he was just like gone. And then, Connie Corduello told me that his parents had to put him in a mental institution.

JANE: Why? What did he do?

ANGELA: What do you mean?

JANE: Well, they can't put you away just for saying weird things.

ANGELA: You total slut. You've got a crush on him!

JANE: What? Please.

ANGELA: You are defending him! You love him! You wanna have like 10,000 of his babies!

JANE: Shut up.

RICKY walks up to them.

RICKY: Hi. My name is Ricky. I just moved next door to you.

JANE: I know. I kinda remember this really creepy incident where you were filming me last night.

RICKY: I didn't mean to scare you. I just think you're interesting.

JANE: Thanks. But I really don't need to have some psycho obsessing about me right now.

RICKY: I'm not obsessing. I'm just curious.

JANE stares at RICKY who maintains eye contact until she uncomfortably looks away. RICKY leaves.

ANGELA: What a freak! And why does he dress like a Bible salesman?

JANE: He's like so confident. It can't be real.

ANGELA: I don't believe him. I mean, he didn't even like look at me once!