The Mark Williamson Creative Universe

You carefully descend the moss-ridden steps.   Torch held high, sword at the ready.  You reach the bottom of the stairs.  A massive door looms, marked with gouges from rabid claws and scorches of wayward spells. You sheath your sword and are about to try the handle when you notice something.  Off to the right, there is a small tunnel.  Curious, you duck in and follow it.  It leads to a small, dimly lit chamber.  A dusty wooden counter greets you.  On it rests a metal plaque.  " Dungeon of Danger: Lost and Found. "   You peak over the counter.  A series of boxes neatly line the back wall.  What will you discover?   Yes, this is another edition of the  Power and Thrill of Naming Things , an exercise in creativity. Box 1: Weapons Dragon-slaying ax, slightly dented Crossbow of a Thousand Arrows, quiver empty Three very small knives, possibly from matching kitchen set Hilt of gilded dueling saber, personaliz...

I've been informal as I've gotten off the ground.   My initial focus for this blog was to post five days a week.  It didn't matter so much if some of the recurring ideas were regularly spaced or not.  Now, as I'm forming more patterns, I'm going to try a schedule.  Here goes. Monday: Assorted Tuesday: Explorations in Clayland Wednesday: Assorted Thursday: Adventures in Sketchtopia Friday: Writing and Video Roundup Monday and Wednesday will be assorted topics.  I'll continue to post things like writing and work tools, creative ideas, and other such things.  This is where I'll also start putting in new concepts.  Tuesday and Thursday will be the regular contributions to my clay figures and drawings that have already gotten started.  Finally, Friday will host news and links to my writing website or Williamson Variety Show YouTube channel for the week, rather than posting about the content the day it comes out.  I'll keep including bonus con...

Tired of your waffle maker as a one-trick pony?  Why not try making everything with a waffle maker?  Start with a hearty breakfast.   

So much to do, so little time.   When I have a lot of projects to do, I need to prioritize.  Here's how it goes. First, I write out every task I need to get done for the day or week. Next, I label them from most (#1) to least pressing (#N).   From there, I estimate how long each task will take, using time increments no finer than 15 minutes. With this piece of paper, I've armed myself for task prioritization.  I can fill in my daily or weekly schedule from there. Simple but effective.  Boom.

Monsters and madness.   I turn my attention to a BSC (Bismarck State College) notepad.  It contains a variety of drawings, most labeled with names of some kind. Page 1: Dark Machines and Demons.  I believe the machines were part of a giant pit concept, where each layer deeper was a stronger danger.  For the demons, the Demon of the Pale Blade goes around disguised as a human (center).  His normal form is on the right.  Whereas, the abyssal fiend (left) while chained is humanoid; unchaining results in the true form expanding (bottom). Page 2: Undead and Dark Humans.  The undead includes a vampire-werewolf hybrid. Page 3: Evil Magicians and Assassins.  I'm not sure what makes a 'magi' distinctive.  The demon ninja is either a demon that is also a ninja, or a ninja with demon-like qualities.  Either way, a dangerous foe. Page 4: Barbarian Humanoids and Beasts.  You've got your standard orc, goblin and troll combos.  Followed ...

There's no accounting for taste.   As part of my position as a statistician, I create various training materials.  One such endeavor is a series of animated videos called Bite-Sized Statistics. I decided to include a cartoon version of myself for each video.  To accomplish this, I took pictures of myself to draw over.  My first test was unintentionally hilarious. Ah, If only I had as strong of a head of hair and beard as the cartoon seemed to indicate.  And what's up with those glasses? I'd like to think that later attempts were more of a success.

A simpler way to play Too Many Cooks.   If you want an easy rule variant for Too Many Cooks, look no further than my newest video. Looking to learn more about Too Many Cooks?  Check out Double Diamond Games .  Looking to buy?  Head to the GameCrafter .

Simple concept; spherical body, basic appendages.   I think I got the idea from a book.  Fun.  Cute.  Easy.  Round. Most of them fit a Halloween theme.  Two jack-o-lanterns, two vampires, a ghost, a swamp thing, a dragon, a spider, a devil, a mummy, a werewolf, and an eyeball (with two different vantages). The next two are Star Wars themed.  A poorly shaped Clone Soldier and a Sith Lord with a broken lightsaber.   The last four figures are different formulations of the same character.  Some white-haired protagonist?  The first has him in some kind of armor.  The second is him with a broken weapon.  The third is him with a very large gun.  The fourth is a incendiary finale, as he is apparently on fire.  Odd. Cheers.

PowerPoint is my go-to, low-tech video tool.  If I need to show a screen and maybe my face, PowerPoint is my 'good enough' tool.  Here are three variants of how I use it as a video maker. 1. Presentation Slides with video headshot. This is the default.  When you record, a video (assuming your computer has a camera or is attached to a camera) will show up in the bottom corner.  This lets provides audio and video as you go through your slides. What's more, you can change the size and position of the video.  I'll sometimes create a colored box to put my video feed right onto for each slide. 2. Presentation Slides without headshot. If you don't have a camera, or don't want your face visible, no worries.  You can turn off the camera. If you forgot to click the no-camera option, you can still get rid of the video while retaining the audio.  Simply move the video outside the slide margins. 3. Short Animation sequence. Because you can set up all sorts of basic...