Twitterdate: Victor Maldonado

I very quickly realized that Victor Maldonado has a great mind. And I happen to think he's a great artist, especially for being able to make nothing something that's nothing at all.

We twitterdated once with Kate Bingaman-Burt and Will Bryant (my first ever, which was all kinds of cool), but I knew that I needed to get him to myself. I did on August 16, at Heart Roasters on East Burnside. It was sweltering (for once) and the black iced coffee quenched my thirst while opening my mind. He talked my ear off about Community and Education. My scribbles:

The next page was devoted to "the pedagogy of Isaac," which is something I consider to be under development and not yet ready for the world.

Twitterdate: Bridget Benton

I pinned her down.

Creative Mastermind. Crafty Enigma. Bridget Benton.

Behold, my scribbles.

I have found a kindred spirit in a woman who earned a Master of Science in Creative Studies and all of the irony and circumstantial awesomeness that implies. Thank you, Bridget, for not canceling on me this morning and for successfully avoiding a brain dump. I look forward to reading your book.

Twitterdates are weekly (at best) meetings with one or more person from Twitter, with the sole goal of exchanging ideas. Interested in being my Twitterdate? Say so. Bonus points if you live in Portland.

2011 Summit of Awesome

I'm speaking at Hello Craft's Summit of Awesome again this year, October 20–22! I'll be traveling to the East Coast on an epic tour with my main squeeze to spend some relaxation time in Providence, Rhode Island with my fabulous uncles, visit Etsy HQ in Brooklyn and celebrate our fourth anniversary, then head to Baltimore for this year's incarnation of the crafty summit. How awesome is that?

On Thursday, October 20, I will join Rachel Bone and Jen Menkhaus for a panel called Community, Mafias and Street Teams. Anything with "mafias" in the title is guaranteed to be a lot of fun.

Then, on Saturday, October 22, I will lead Connecting to Your Community, an in-depth conversation into the importance of contributing to a community in order to achieve a balance between meaningful creative life and the hubbub of a commodity-driven marketplace.

I can't wait to meet new people, reconnect with friends I made at last year's Summit, and learn loads of great information, not to mention spread these ambidextrous ideas with like-minded individuals. If you're in the Baltimore area, Early Bird tickets are still available, and at $200 for three days of awesomeness, it's worth it.

I hope to see you there.

My Ambidextrous Brain

I always thought I was my mother's child. Growing up, I was always told I took on her traits or those of her side of the family—her creativity, the joy she found in making things, the Bennett nose, the blue eyes, even the blond-ish hair. So I just assumed that I was most like her and went on with my life.

Enter adulthood, and as self-realization and identity came into play, I was faced with the stark reality that I turned out a lot more like my father than I ever imagined. Don't get me wrong, that's not a bad thing. My father is a brilliant man who I always go to for advice, business questions and much, much more.

But the pendulum had swung the other way, and I started to think of myself as a Watson who looked like a Bennett and liked to make things. Then, one day, it hit me: I scored the best of both worlds. I'm not just talking looks, either. My mother's creativity, humor, way with words and passion melded with my father's propensity for analysis, logic, business savvy and smarts.

Right Brain, meet Left Brain. With our powers combined, we are The Ambidextrous Brain! And that's the inspiration for my new blog. Between having a design background, being a small creative business owner, leading the I Heart Art: Portland project and working in marketing and communications on an institutional scale, my ambidextrous brain is overflowing with thoughts, ideas, advice, knowledge and expertise that I want to share.