Field of Streams

Pareidolia is the ability to see faces in things. Let's talk about the possible reasons as to why we see those faces. Is it something to do with the loneliness epidemic? 🤔 View the Behind the Streams theme video , where I do a deep dive into pareidolia and the why of it, here: https://www.jumpinthestream.com/behind-the-streams-faces/ This is an audio reading of the post "About Face” ori...

Listen in on the call between a potential buyer of some "idea fireworks" and the astute salesman in today's episode of Field of Streams. Related: "Hello, I would like to purchase a high horse." https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/field-of-streams/id1689516809?i=1000644343522 This is an audio reading of the post "Idea Fireworks for Explosive Minds” originally publish...

Human is human. I don't know what else to say. Find some empathy and compassion, people! We can do it! This is an audio reading of the post "What is Human?" originally published on June 27, 2022. Additional creative inspirations can be found at that link. https://www.jumpinthestream.com/human/ Support the show About Field of Streams This podcast provides audio readings of The Stream...

Inspired by musician Tom Verlaine's book sale - he's rumored to have amassed 50,000 books at the time of his passing - today I talk about how the books we read play a role in our lives. Raised by literature, built from books - what do the books on your shelves say about you? Watch the behind the scenes video to this episode (where I talk about the sale and dig into what my own books say...

Are you managing your work/life balance? How are you protecting your personal life and projects from being dominated by work-a-holism or the expectation of an always-on-duty employee? Today I talk about the concept of a "mortsafe" but instead of it being to stop bodysnatchers, it's to stop work from stealing time from your life. Here the article on ACTUAL mortsafes that inspired thi...

Is it wrong to love a robot? What about if that robot is a vacuum cleaner? And should you name it executor to your will? In this episode - written in the style of an Agony Aunt letter - I pose this very question about my iRobot Roomba named Reggie.  Watch Behind the Streams and Themes of this episode: https://www.jumpinthestream.com/behind-the-streams-ep-37-robot/ This is an audio reading of the p...

Do you need to quit to be successful? And by quit, I don't mean forever. More like taking a break from the pursuit to regather your stones before charging back in. Inspired by Molly Shannon talking about how she quit for a year due to rejection just getting too much, before coming back and ending up where she is today. She talks about it on an episode of Fly on the Wall with David Spade and D...

Inspired by the cutup technique, this episode is exactly what it says on the tin: Pure Nonsense. There is a Behind the Scenes companion video to this episode which digs into the inspiration, William S. Burroughs, David Bowie, and the beauty of the cut up technique. You can watch that here: https://www.jumpinthestream.com/behind-the-streams-pure-nonsense/ This is an audio reading of the post "...

Nothing makes me angrier than a mattress in the wild. And by that, I mean one someone has dumped down the side of a pristine mountain road because they're too cheap to take it to the dump. It's a perfect metaphor for drafts or early iterations of your work. They are FILLED with mattresses aka bad ideas, not quite right thoughts, and ugly executions of your ideas. Worse still, you can thr...

What do you want to do before you die? What about all the things you know you will never do? That's what this is about. It's a reverse bucket list of sorts. All the things I know I will never do - some of which I know I should work on. Go behind the scenes of this piece of creative writing and watch the companion video here: https://www.jumpinthestream.com/behind-the-streams-bucket/ This...

Scientists recently discovered that rats may have imaginations. Now I'm wondering what they're imagining. Is world domination on their mind? With this discovery, rats have been forced to reveal their plans for global domination. The representative rat, Vernor, will no proceed to hip you to their plans via this address, which I will read to you now. News story about the rat imagination re...

Written around Mother's Day in 2023, this episode digs into the who, what, where when, and why of Mother. What does the word Mother mean to you? Take a listen. Happy Mother's Day, everyone, and to all those with complicated relationships or missing their mother today, go easy on yourself.  Watch the Behind the Scenes video and review supplementary material that goes with this episode at...

Part poetry slam, part Mad Magazine Fold In, today's episode is kinda out there in terms of trying to make a high-falutin' concept work. It works much better as a visual piece than audio, and you can go see what it look like (and watch the video I mentioned where I break it down) at the link below. CORRECTION FOR AUDIO: I state that I wrote this is May 2022 in the intro, shortly after Ma...

Does your outer match your inner? When it comes to the work you're producing, is it playing for your heart or for the algorithm? In this episode, I dig into what it means to find your line of compromise. This is an audio reading of the post "Live your vision" originally published on May 20, 2022. Additional creative inspirations can be found at that link. https://www.jumpinthestream...

In the 90s, Pablo Escobar imported four hippos for his personal zoo. After his death, the hippos flourished in the jungles of Colombia and four hippos grew to 170, now dubbed the "Cocaine Hippos". Inspired by the story of how they're looking to sterilize these hippos, I wrote about "Thought Hippos" which are the invasive thoughts in your brain, and created a guide on how t...

Did you know that from 1896 to the 1930s, there was a traveling show that purposefully smashed locomotives together - head on - for the entertainment of massive crowds? It got me to thinking about how smashing two ideas together can be just a fun, and you can never quite predict what you'll get from the wreckage. Atlas Obscura story: For 40 Years, Crashing Trains Was One of America’s Favorite...

Inspired by a study into why teaspoons disappear in office settings, today I dive into what 'teaspoons' represent from a philosophical standpoint and why we should leave our soul drawer open. Come on, listen to my theory! Watch the behind the scenes companion video that goes with this episode and talks about the study and themes of the post. Links to the study can also be found here: htt...

Comedian, Norm MacDonald, once attempted to calm Larry King's fear of not existing by telling the story of Nabokov and a photograph - a photograph which showed a time where Nabokov did not exist. What does it mean to exist? Are photographs proof of life and why do we need the reassurance of existence anyway? Let's dig into it. Watch the Norm MacDonald and Larry King interview https://www...

Inspired by an Eckhart Tolle technique, in this episode I do a deep dive into the question: "Will my next thought be my best thought?" Well, will it? Let's discuss.  Watch me talking about the inspirations and themes of this episode on Behind the Streams video, here: https://www.jumpinthestream.com/behind-the-streams-next-thought/ This is an audio reading of the post “Will my next t...

I don't know where self-hate comes from, but I do know that it poisons your soul. Today's episode identifies how to recognize you've been poisoned with self-hate and self loathing, and suggests some "antidotes" for attempting to neutralize the poison. You've got this! This is an audio reading of the post "Self-Hate Poisoning FAQ" originally published on May...

Ideas form in your brain. Your brain instructs your body to turn those things into reality. Those ideas become actual and real and in a burst of excitement, you send those things out into the world to find their futures. Without you. You have no control over how they - your art - will be received. You must let these parts of your brain go and be interpreted by others as they will interpret them. T...

In which I go to Scotland to see "LIVE! Justin Hawkins Rides Again...for the first time" on tour; Thom Yorke and The Smile exploding my brain (also LIVE!); and wander around Glasgow feeding on art. Welcome to Art Safari 2024. Let's talk open heart doors, art, bulletproof fragility and how awkward I can be around rock stars. Fun episode! Take a listen.  Companion Video to this episod...

The inspiration for today's little gem came from a story I stumbled upon about a man in Melbourne, Australia, who walks around carrying a giant papier maché carrot. Everyone calls him, wait for it, The Carrot Man.  The Carrot Man https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/12/melbourne-fitzroy-carrot-man Watch me talking about the inspirations and themes of this episode on Behind the...

Sometimes, your mind needs a good sweeping. Fortunately, there are skilled Broom Squires who can craft you the exact kind of broom you will need to sweep. Each kind of broom tackles a different problem. Which one will you use? NASA's Broom gas detection technique: "The Broom Method" https://shop.minimuseum.com/blogs/cool-things/the-broom-method Watch me talking about the inspiration...

Got something inside you, itching to get out? How would you describe the wolf in you? What does it want? The wolf in you can help you achieve a great many things, creatively. Let it out from time to time.  Watch me talking about the inspirations and themes of this episode on Behind the Streams video, here: https://www.jumpinthestream.com/behind-the-streams-wolf/ This is an audio reading of the pos...