The Mark Williamson Creative Universe

Hatching a Whole Lot of Talent.    Background In his book, The Talent Code , Daniel Coyle argues that "Greatness isn't born.  It's grown."  He focuses on three key aspects: Deep Practice, Ignition, and Master Coaching. That got me thinking about how to put such ideas into practice.  The term ' Talent Incubator ' kept coming to mind.  So here are my first ideas on how to set up a personal talent incubator. Theory Pieces*: Deep Practice –Everyone knows that practice is a key to success. What everyone doesn’t know is that specific kinds of practice can increase skill up to ten times faster than conventional practice. Ignition –We all need a little motivation to get started. But what separates truly high achievers from the rest of the pack? A higher level of commitment—call it passion—born out of our deepest unconscious desires and triggered by certain primal cues. Understanding how these signals work can help you ignite passion and catalyze skill development. ...

Xenoflora and Xenofauna...   For this third rendition of Five-Minute Drawing, I'll be diving into speculative biology.  I generated random planets using a generator by Zarkonnen .  For the first drawing, I'll create a phylogeny with three species.  For the second drawing, five species.  For the third and final, I'll draw a whole ecosystem. Planet 1 Planet 2 Planet 3

A is for Abomination...   I found some drawings that looked like an attempt to go through the alphabet and draw various monsters for each letter.  I didn't get terribly far, only to D.  Still, there are enough of them to compile for a single post.  Here they are.  B is for things that go Bump in the night. A times three: The Azman is a skeletal bowman with unearthly aim.  The Axer is a goblin-like monster who, given its namesake, wields two axes.  The Agony Weaver is a humanoid spider that spins webs for use in capturing and torturing prey. A  addendum:  The abyssal fiend is a massive demon with an extra long neck.  Its likeness was captured in an earlier Clayland post . B beginning:  The Blood Demon is similarly large, but covered in hard scales and sports massive talons. B plus C:  The Changeling Fairy deceptively appears as a small child.  The Bogeyman is a looming presence in the darkness, rippling with muscles a...

Here it comes.   Go for the gusto.  Back to the Power and Thrill of Naming Things of old.  Brains, braying, and a baker's dozen of random prompts. 1.)  Rebel spaceship names Brash Darter Sword of Truth Razor's Wit Last Jump Bauble Beyond Grasp 2.) Types of dark dwarf golems Adamantium invoker Obsidian smasher Quicksilver infiltrator Ingot defender Charcoal firebomb 3.)  Opening lines of cosmic horror novel "The sun burned out in less than three minutes." "The ones that finally showed themselves screamed with no mouths." "It's confirmed.  All twenty-seven pocket universes we've surveyed are dead realities." "Isle-of-the-Chattering-Beyond stirred itself, stretching appendages that blotted out the nearby galaxies." "Dr. Anderson's mind dissolved into buzzing static as the world-virus took over another planet." 4.)  Character flaws of a demi-god protagonist Insecure: only uses his powers when no one else is around Amnes...

Discount myths, buy two, get one free!   Today's clay figures are an assemblage from various mythologies.  There weren't enough of each to have their own posts, so I put them together.  Enjoy. Atlas (standard): Titan from Greek mythology condemned to hold up the heavens. Atlas (petrified):  A stone version of the standard Atlas. Cuhullin (normal): AKA Cú Chulainn, a warrior hero in Irish Mythology. Cuhullin (battle-frenzy):  While in a battle-frenzy, he becomes a unrecognizable monster that can't distinguish between friend and foe.  His spear is broken off in this figure. Lamp Bearer: Merchent holding a magical lamp with a djinn inside. Lamp Djinn: Spirit from Arabian mythology (often anglicized as genie). Giant:  Unspecified giant wearing primitive clothing and carrying a large club. Hydra: Many-headed monster from Greek mythology.

Everything looks like a digital nail...   I've been working through Automate the Boring Stuff , a book about Python coding.  It's available to read for free.  At the end of Chapter 6, there is a bonus exercise on creating an AI bot to play Zombie Dice.  This is in line with the genre of creating bots to run games automatically, AKA programming games. This is not the first time I've run into the concept of programming games.  In his book, Barking Up the Wrong Tree , Eric Barker talked about AI designed to play the game prisoner's dilemma. That got me thinking, what sorts of problems in my wheelhouse could I design and test AI bots on? Ethically, of course, I'm not talking about unleashing Twitter bots to stir up trouble.  This post is an attempt to come up with a list of such problems.  Here we go. Generating grant applications Battery of Statistical Analyses (vs. ground truth) Analyze datasets (go through and determine variables and what to do wit...

 

Layers and Lines.   Something special for you today.  Drawings of creatures with more than one layer.  I only found two examples, so I added a few more random images to round out today's post. Plague Lord:  Starting with an emaciated frame on the left, the images gradually progress to a fully suited Plague Lord. Biological Blaster:  First, a full skeleton of a monster with arms that are hollow tubes for launching projectiles.  Second, the monster in full flesh, demonstrating its organic projectile launch (from a hump-like deposit on its back). Demon Wizard Death Knight Steel-toe Stabber (Martian Concept #1) Red Planet Galopiter (Martian Concept #2)

Forms most varied, myths most mixed.   Myth Match is a fantastic book of legendary creature combinations, as I've introduced earlier.   Here are a few more combos.  I've added a twist by including an adapted drawing of the final entry to additionally merge the two beasties. Quinix: A combination of the Chinese beast of prosperity, the Qulin , and Greek firebird of immortality, the Phoenix . Tawe Sonney: A combination of the Egyptian river goddess, Tawe Ret , and the swift, lucky Manx beast, Arkan Sonney . Grifdag:  A combination the flying guardian of treasure, the  Griffin , and the North American dinosaurian trickster,  Hodag . Olgoiberus:  A combination of the Mongolian venomous worm of massive proportions, the  Olgoikhorkhoi , and the Greek three-headed hound of the underworld,  Cerberus .

Every which way but living...   In part one, humanoid zombies were the main threat.  Now, other undead forms menace the living.  Attack of the undead, part two! Shadeform Plant:  This undead floral arrangement has leaves in the shape of anguished souls. Zombie Lake Dweller:   The full bulk of this undead monster lies underwater.  Decaying tentacles rise above the surface to drag the living down to a watery grave. Zombie Crocodile:   Used to guard tombs near desert oasis's, this shambling reptile is cold blooded in more ways than one. Headless Scuttler:   It's unclear what sort of creature it once was, given that it's missing a head.  More unsettling than dangerous. Ghoul in a Jar:   It waits in abandoned archeological sites, ready to strike at anyone foolish enough to look inside its container. Skeleton Wall:  An artifact undead creature, it is commonly summoned by necromances to defend narrow passageways. Flying Skeleton ...

Let the Best Idea Win. How to generate great ideas?  Why not create an Idea Bracket ?  It is analogous to a sports league play-off.  Ideas are pitted against each other, with the winning idea moving on to the next round.  The last idea standing is the winner. I do have a few additional rules.  The Three M's : Modify, Merge, and Markup.  These rules allow for both idea modification and saving sub-winner ideas. Simple enough, right?  Let's try it out on some examples. Story Beginning Location Floating City and Haunted Graveyard merged into Floating Graveyard Screaming Wastelands modified into Blasted Wastelands Winner was Floating Graveyard and Sundered Titan merged into Floating Graveyard of Titans Artistic Inspiration Shack Brainstorming and Review Idea/Notes merged to Shack Review Ideas TCG View modified to TCG Mashup Shack Review Ideas marked for later Monster App and Walk and Song merged to Walk and Song with Monster App Priming Winner was T...

For (meme in post) { laugh }   As an enthusiastic and amateur coder who enjoys using R, Python, SAS, and other sundry computer languages to solve problems, I appreciate the use of humor to balance the inevitable challenge and frustration of getting a computer to do what you want it to do.  Import memes.