#(yes we've been reconstituted! somewhat)

[cosmogyros]

Today, Cinnamon was lamenting his inability to come up with band names, so I spontaneously gave a lecture that I hereby title: "How to Encourage Your Own Latent Creativity, or, 'Where Do You Get Your Ideas?'" (transcription below).

Him: The only reason I’m not in a wildly successful band instead of sitting at this desk is my inability to make up names for things Him: Literally the only reason

Me: I have GOT you Me: I have whole folders of name ideas stored on my computer

Him: Same way thinking up a team name is by far the hardest part of any pub quiz

Me: People names, song names, album names, band names

Him: >I have whole folders of name ideas stored on my computer How does your brain

Me: Well the secret is Me: And this is absolutely true, I’m not being funny Me: The more you practice noticing things that would make good names and writing them down every time you do, the better you get at noticing them Me: You’re probably saying or reading or hearing phrases all day that would make great names for things, but if you’re not in the habit of pulling out your phone and noting down every single one, your brain feels unappreciated and won’t put any extra effort into helping you notice them Me: Frankly even “Names for Things” would be a kind of fun band name Me: Be careful, though, Cinnamon, because if you do this too well, you might start looking at your source texts and suddenly EVERYTHING looks like a potential band name and you completely forget you’re supposed to be translating Me: This happened to me at work a lot Me: Translation texts are chock full of good names for things Me: It’s all in your perception

Him: Let’s see Him: Orthograde Flow Condition Him: Transtemporal Window

Me: Coming in strong, damn Me: Those are heavy af

Him: Non-Drug Therapy

Me: Hang on, I’m still stuck on Transtemporal Window

Him: From a misreading of a reference code: Malady Fork

Me: An instant classic Me: See? You totally got this Me: The other secret is to not start editorializing and scoffing at them, deciding if they’re “good enough” etc., because then you’ll convince yourself that NONE of them are good enough and your brain will stop seeing them Me: A good remedy for that problem is just to look at some real famous band names and remind yourself how stupid most of them are Me: All you gotta do is believe in the name and then it gains power

Him: Epicrisis Him: >A good remedy for that problem is… This is true Him: I know Dave Grohl hates the name Foo Fighters and regrets it immensely Him: As well he should Him: Because it’s a really stupid name

Me: >Epicrisis Fuckin genius Me: >Because it’s a really stupid name It really is hahaha Me: But it does roll off the tongue

Him: I’ll give it that

Me: Oh also you have to respect the magical power of misreading and mishearing Me: Probably a solid 10% of the names I come up with, lines for songs, etc. are all just misreadings or -hearings of something else Me: It’s an extremely fertile ground of creativity

Him: Like Malady Fork above

Me: Exactly

Him: I did actually start a list of potential song names a while back Him: Including some mishearings

Me: Or (especially for song lyrics) “mis-expectations”, as I call them – hang on, let me try to find some examples Me: >Including some mishearings Boom, you’re on the right track Me: Oh here we go Me: You know the song “Scar Tissue” by the RHCP? Me: There’s a line in the chorus that goes “With the birds I’ll share this lonely viewing” Me: But I used to hear “But the blood we shed is so lonely for you” instead Me: Which, nobody can deny, goes HARD

Him: Oh is that what that dickhead is saying Him: I think I’ve always heard it as “but the blood we shed, it’s a lonely view” Him: Which makes no sense

Me: So once I realized I’d got it so wrong, I was like, “wow, thank you brain” and wrote down my own awesome version to use in a song someday

Him: But nothing that comes out of that man’s mouth makes sense

Me: >I think I’ve always heard it as “but the blood we shed, it’s a lonely view” I feel extremely validated that your version is closer to mine Me: >But nothing that comes out of that man’s mouth makes sense Very true haha Me: I love singers who are hard to understand, they give me so many opportunities to mishear brilliant new lyrics

Him: How fortunate that there are so many

Me: Also when I listen to songs in other languages and I can only vaguely understand said language, my brain often fills in the gaps and invents its own translation Me: Which, again, is a great way to come up with new stuff Me: The secret to all of this is switching from thinking “oh I’m so dumb, I got that wrong haha” to “oh fantastic, my brain invented a lovely new idea” Me: You just gotta respect your own accidental creativity and take it seriously, and that will encourage more of it Me: That’s the end of my TED talk

Him: I thank you for the lecture and will subscribe to your newsletter for updates on future events

Me: Oh except here’s one more great example to end on: in Bruce Springsteen’s song “Ain’t Good Enough for You”, he actually sings: “Here comes the pitch / A swing and a miss” but I heard “If I’m a bitch / You’re a fucking abyss” which I’m OBSESSED WITH Me: So now you know two lines, at least, to look out for in future songs of mine someday hahaha Me: And if I get famous you’ll be able to reveal the sordid truth about my so-called “genius” in a tell-all interview