King Crimson is a creative band I believe will always be ahead of its time, even 100 years later. I'm just getting into these guys per the recommendation of several music buddies. I'm digging the tunes, but have to say that it does take some getting used to.

But it made me think....

You have to start looking at everything around you to see if you are using it to its fullest potential. In other words, have you explored your tool and are you using all of its features?

How many of us use our primary software package to just get things done? I use Photoshop more than Word. My whole career actually. But I still have only scratched the surface of what's available to me.

My thought is that if I'm not using every feature available to me in a tool I already own...can I increase productivity and therefore profitability if I take a day or two and do a refresher course on Photoshop. Not fundamentals, but advanced usage. It would allow me to do more creative and different things with all of my graphics and even speed up some processes if I started using the automated and batching features more. I could have it churning out image manipulation moves automatically while I did the more custom boutique changes myself.

Kapow! It's like I just hired half a person. And I don't even have to pay FICA! Now that's cool. So take some time and learn about or revisit your software feature set to see what else it can be doing for you. You might find a wealth of help in something you've already bought.

The best part is during the learning process you may uncover new ways to use the software that it wasn't intended to do. In fact, this month's Wired Magazine features a little blurb on a graphic designer from Detroit named Danielle Aubert who did a series of incredible artwork using only Excel spreadsheets, here's the link right to that, but check out her site as a whole.

This is an incredible way to use something you already have in a whole new way. Try it! So how does King Crimson play into this? Well here are the lyrics to a song I saw them perform live on a DVD, the song is called "Indiscipline":

I do remember one thing.
It took hours and hours but..
by the time I was done with it,
I was so involved, I didn't know what to think.
I carried it around with me for days and days..
playing little games
like not looking at it for a whole day
and then.. looking at it.
to see if I still liked it.
I did.
I repeat myself when under stress.
I repeat myself when under stress.
I repeat myself when under stress.
I repeat myself when under stress.
I repeat..
The more I look at it,
the more I like it.
I do think it's good.
The fact is..
no matter how closely I study it,
no matter how I take it apart,
no matter how I break it down,
It remains consistant.
I wish you were here to see it.
I like it.

Watch them play the song and how they use their "tools" in new ways and you'll get the point. Good luck sampling King Crimson it will be worth it. I promise.

| patrick |