The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice by Todd Henry

(Portfolio/Penguin, July 2011)

It seems to me that now is the perfect time to read this book. As a result of the recession, those of us in small business have been slammed with challenges  in which we don’t have defined skill sets to meet. We question whether we can stay inspired since our old ways of being successful are not working so well. We wonder where our needed level of creativity will come from. Everyday we are faced with frenetic demands that effect our creativity and productivity. Producing insights for success is a constant need. New challenges are causing more demands on our creative ideas. Figuring out that these money-making creative sparks are harder to activate.

Todd Henry’s broad book can helps us actualize our creative juices. Accidental Creative is a guide for establishing a new framework to help move our business forward and set realistic goals.

We own our growth. It is up to each of us to build practices that help us to bring about and focus our creative energy. Creative accidents can bring the best of who we are to our work. At the same time, we need the stability and consistency to take a chance on the ideas brought about by creative insight.

Todd’s new book gives insight on how to hone skill sets and manage boundaries. Several key elements are vital for discovering a personal creative rhythm.

1. Maintain a defined goal, a road map–it will be easier to react to opportunities and take risks with a goal in mind.

2. Work together with a team-ego to yield unselfish results that head in the direction of that defined goal. We improve as we learn to share and receive insights and perspectives from others.

3. Manage energy in order to follow through, not wasting our resources on unproductive projects. Stay out of ruts. Creative work requires that we stay ahead of our work. Stop reacting to work load. Manage the work load with a goal and framework in mind. If we are wise with our energy management, we will find that ideas energy when we least expect them.

4. Choose input strategically. Develop a BS meter. Get real wisdom from books and practice the application daily. Look at opposing ideas at the same time and make decisions that fit into the framework.

As I’ve studied The Accidental Creative, I’ve not only found it helpful in reestablishing my own operative framework, but I’m adapting this pursuit in my own group of Lemuria booksellers. As we create a successful team ego, we hope to become a more consistent and predictable unit. And in the end, we will seek out creative tasks which yield more rewards and satisfaction.

Not only is Lemuria striving to be more creative within but also to generate more creative energy in our community, especially Jackson. Chuck’s Damned Book Night was the first JXRX event. JXRX is a grass roots community campaign is now launched. We encourage individuals and businesses in Jackson to carry the JXRX banner to make Jackson a better place to enjoy our creative talents.

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (Bloomsbury, September 2011)

Watch the National Book Award announcement LIVE at 7pm central TONIGHT: http://www.nationalbook.org/index.html

Mark your calendar: Jesmyn will be signing again at Lemuria on Saturday, December 17 at 3:00. I enjoyed the first event we had with her in September, loved her book and am excited see to see her get this national attention at this point in her writing career. Jesmyn has one previous novel: Where the Line Bleeds. Can’t wait to see Jesmyn again next month.

A Guest Post by Editor Neil White

In researching, Mississippi’s 100 Greatest Football Players of All Time, we discovered some fascinating statistics. Consider this about our state:

• 588 native-born Mississippians have played professional football

• 726 professional players attended Mississippi institutions of higher learning.

Here’s the breakdown:

No. of NFL Players by College or University

University of Mississippi 181

Mississippi State 127

University of Southern Mississippi 97

Jackson State University 89

Alcorn State University 51

Mississippi Valley State University 26

Delta State University 8

Mississippi College 7

Millsaps 2

Rust College 1

Mississippi’s Community College System 137

 Total 726

Breakdown by position:

Receiver/Tight Ends 18

Running Backs 14

Defensive Backs 14

Quarterbacks 12

Defensive Linemen 11

Offensive Linemen 10

Linebackers 8

Special Teams Players 6

Played both ways 3

Breakdown by colleges/universities

University of Mississippi 33

Mississippi State 14

Jackson State 14

U. of Southern Mississippi 9

Alcorn State 4

Mississippi Valley State 4

Jones County Jr. College 1

Itawamba Community College 1

Mississippi College 1

Out-of-state Colleges 19

*

*

Breakdown by race:

African American 58

Caucasian 42

 See the complete list in Mississippi’s 100 Greatest Footbal Palyers of All Time, Nautilus Publishing, Nov. 2011

Neil White, Editor

A Guest Post by Editor Neil White

In preparing the coffee-table book, Mississippi’s 100 Greatest Football Players of All Time, we at Nautilus Publishing have gone to great lengths to create an accurate system of measurement. However, we are the first to admit that any attempts to rank football careers are subjective.

Our system is based on a combination of points for induction into The Pro Football Hall of Fame and The College Football Hall of Fame. We gave points for All-Pro selections, All-American selections, NFL records, NCAA records, division records, team records, Super Bowl championships and Collegiate National Championships. We considered career longevity, dominance at a particular position, impact on the game, as well as intangibles like excitement on the field, impact on a team and leadership. We also took high school play into consideration.

All this said, it is impossible to compare, statistically, the impact of a quarterback against the impact of a defensive tackle. It is also futile to measure player performance (even at the same position) from different eras. Players in the 1930s-‘60s spent nearly every minute on the field — playing on offense, defense and special teams. In many cases, prior to the 1980s, statistics weren’t kept for many positions (particularly on defense). The few active players who made our list are still mid- to early-career. In another decade, Eli Manning or Patrick Willis may be at the very top spot.

Above Right: Quarterback Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants walks off the field after the Giants defeated the New England Patriots 17-14 during Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.  (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

In our ranking, professional players have a certain advantage over those talented Mississippians whose careers ended prematurely. For example, Brookhaven star Harol Lofton’s professional career was cut short by war. Ole Miss star Raymond Brown (the only unanimous choice for Sugar Bowl MVP) left a promising career with the Baltimore Colts because he found a higher paying job in the legal field (boy, times have changed).

All-American quarterback Jake Gibbs (who ranked #45 in our list) chose a spot on the New York Yankees over professional football. Had Gibbs chosen professional football, we’re certain he’d have been in our top ten. If this had this been a ranking of the top Mississippi high school players of all time, no doubt Marcus Dupree would be at #1 (instead of #68). If we had been ranking the top college players of all time, Steve McNair or Archie Manning or, perhaps, Willie Totten would have perched atop the ranking.

Below: Tennessee Titans QB Steve McNair (9) in action, making pass vs Cincinnati Bengals, Nashville, TN 9/12/1999  (Photo by Patrick Murphy-Racey/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)

For Mississippi’s 100 Greatest Football Players of All Time we considered each player’s career in its entirety. Those who excelled in the professional ranks fared better on top 100 list.

Finally, we have defined Mississippians as anyone who played high school football in the state, anyone who played football for one of Mississippi’s universities, colleges or community colleges, anyone who grew up in Mississippi or anyone born in the state — with one exception. We have given Louisiana full credit for Philadelphia-born Billy Cannon.

The entire list — along with the All Time Mississippi Offense and Defense — will be revealed at Lemuria on November 15th!

Neil White, Editor

Mississippi’s 100 Greatest Football Players of All Time, Nautilus Publishing, Nov. 2011

Click here for an Introduction by Neil White.

You might remember the first version of this little book, Food Rules by Michael Pollan, from a couple years ago — an unassuming, small white paperback with a pea pod on the cover. Just in time for Christmas this year comes a new edition, in hardback, with a few more rules and illustrations by Maira Kalman, and Lemuria has signed copies! I read through the new edition in an afternoon; it’s full of straightforward, sometimes humorous advice meant to guide the way we eat, without (though supported by) all the complicated science of healthy eating.

In the introduction, Pollan explains the reason for the condensed (some of his rules are simply a sentence) nature of the book — food science is yet a very young science, and though there is much discussion about the benefits of this or that nutrient, “foods are more than the sum of their nutrient parts, and those nutrients work together in ways that are still only dimly understood.” So some of the best advice on how to eat can be found simply by looking to other, healthier cultures, such as with rule 48; French people “seldom snack, eat small portions from small plates, don’t go back for second helpings, and eat most of their food at long, leisurely meals shared with other people,” or by following the advice of your grandmother — rule 42: “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead.”

While researching his book, In Defense of Food, Pollan says he realized that the best food advice could be boiled down to a phrase of only seven words. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” So Food Rules is divided into three sections based on this maxim:

One that helps us distinguish between real food and what he calls “edible foodlike substances:”
Rule 13 — Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle

One that advocates for what to eat, beyond “food:”
Rule 27 — The fewer the feet, the better the meat

And one that gives us some guidelines for the habits of a healthy eater:
Rule 76 — Place a bouquet of flowers on the table and everything will taste twice as good

Sounds great, right? But I haven’t told you the reason why, even if you already have Pollan’s earlier version, this book is a must. Maira Kalman’s illustrations are amazing. Pollan’s wife suggested they ask Kalman to illustrate his new version after seeing her art show, and she said two things:

He did not hold that against her.

My roommate and I made wonton dumplings, sashimi, and maki (rolled) sushi for the first time last night. The thing about that meal experience that I will always remember is the camaraderie of it. We steamed the dumplings, we sat and ate the dumplings. We stood in the kitchen and fished out of a bowl bits of tuna and sticky rice with a sprinkle of soy sauce. We rolled the sushi, each of us adding different fillings and producing rolls of different sizes and shapes. Then we sat again and ate the sushi. We ate slowly over a long period of time, listening to music, chatting, and even doing the dishes as they were used.

But the rule that sticks with me the most is rule 65: “Give some thought to where your food comes from.” Now, before I eat, I try to say or think this Zen blessing: “This meal is the labor of countless beings. Let us remember their toil.”