Monday Morning Smile: Thoughts for Oddballs

Usually these Monday Morning Smiles involve some sort of visual or aural treat as an introduction to the week.  (I say that as if the MMS is a thing which, recently, it hasn't been.)  This week, I wanted to draw your attention to a piece written by Linda Holmes at NPR's Monkey See website.   I've always enjoyed Holmes' writing, which makes me smile, laugh, and (when it's called for) think.  And I don't say that just because she's a distant (very distant) NPR cousin of mine.

A few weeks back, Holmes wrote a piece titled "Hey, Kid: Thoughts For the Young Oddballs We Need So Badly," which was an open letter to "young creative weirdos" (her phrase, not mine, though I endorse the term) encouraging to take heart and providing some advice for navigating their tween and teen years in making art.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of commenters -- like me -- noticed the relevance of the advice to creative weirdos of any age (and Holmes herself in a subsequent comment admitted that it was the type of advice she thought of in her '30s).  Advice like learning to distinguish between feedback and criticism and finding your "pod" is relevant to any creative group (like, say, kindie musicians). 

So, go up to that link and read it to your kid and send it on to your favorite kindie musician. 

Monday Morning Smile: Oliver Jeffers Author Film

Oliver Jeffers' illustrations are both idiosyncratic and familiar, and his books are quirky but fun.  So is this brief promo piece for him, which I'm not sure intends to be inspirational about the creative process generally, but sorta is.   His new book, The Day the Crayons Quit, was just released.

Monday Morning Smile: Pig Box

Oh, here's a heart-warming tale of a friendship between a bird and a porcupine animated by David Chao.  Then why is it called "Pig Box"?  (I had to Google the answer to that one.)  I don't even know why the pig/porcupine didn't break into a rendition of "Hakuna Matata" like I kept expecting him to. -- that question I don't think can be answered properly.

But you should watch the video -- perhaps you will come up with a better answer than I've been able to provide.​

"Pig Box" [Vimeo]​

Monday Morning Smile: "This Is Water" - David Foster Wallace

This has been floating (pun mostly unintended) around the internet for a couple weeks now, but this short film featuring highlights of the late David Foster Wallace's commencement address to ​Kenyon College graduates in 2005 earns all the plaudits it's received.

By trimming Wallace's original speech of more than 20 minutes down by more than half, and marrying it to some excellent visuals, both real-life and animated, The Glossary have created 9 minutes that is certainly worth your time and worth the time of your kid-graduates.  Maybe not your preschooler or kindergartener, but as long as you (or, more importantly, your child) can handle a couple salty words they probably hear on network TV anyways, Wallace's speech says important things about attitude, empathy, and learning that folks moving on to junior high, high school, college, or just a new coffee mug should hear.

May 22 Update: I've noticed a lot of folks stopping by for this video today, which I found odd, considering I was about the 412,852nd person to write about it on a website.  I think it probably has something to do that I was among the last to post about it before the David Foster Wallace Literary Trust asked The Glossary to remove the video.  Sorry, folks.

David Foster Wallace - "This Is Water" (film by The Glossary)​ [Vimeo]

Monday Morning Smile: "The Birthday Card"

This video comes from brothers Ryan Mayers and Matt Mayers.  Matt Mayers is the husband of Stephanie Mayers, the swell gal who helps keep the Festival Five and Kindiefest ​trains running on time.  This features a cute kid (Matt's and Stephanie's daughter), a feel-good message, and, most importantly, a very important dessert.  Very. Important.

Monday Morning Smile: "Paperman"

In case you're one of the few who either didn't a) see Wreck-It Ralph or b) see the news of this a few days ago, Disney uploaded the full animated version of its Oscar-nominated short film Paperman on YouTube.  That means you're lucky enough to see the gorgeously-animated dialogue-free 6-minute short that originally aired prior to Wreck-It Ralph last fall for the first time.  I suppose there are things one could quibble about (must those characters' eyes still be so darn huge?), but as an example of storytelling (and melding of CGI and hand-drawn animation techniques), it's beautiful.

Introducing a groundbreaking technique that seamlessly merges computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques, first-time director John Kahrs takes the art of animation in a bold new direction with the Oscar®-nominated short, "Paperman." Using a minimalist black-and-white style, the short follows the story of a lonely young man in mid-century New York City, whose destiny takes an unexpected turn after a chance meeting with a beautiful woman on his morning commute.