Get out more.

Seriously.

And that’s what I did. I got the hell out of Dodge, a couple of times at least. And while I was out and about, I tried to listen. It was difficult, because my mind is a rather noisy place. And while the Earth didn’t reverse its rotation or anything, I did manage to hear some things. It helped that I went places I actually wanted to visit and see people I wanted to see. And I did only what I wanted to do. That’s all pretty important when you’re trying to listen.

And I’m trying to remember to do that more often. That, too, isn’t easy, and nothing magical happens when I do it. But it’s necessary, nonetheless. Not just for me, but for those closest to me as well. We’re all a lot happier when I remember to take care of myself.

Not the lightweight kind that’s all about weather and idleness. I’m talking about the heavyweight kind that starts out with a interesting question, forcing a dive to the depths of one’s mind/heart/being, and comes up with something bright and unexpected and, in a way, profound.

No introductions, no status reports. Just a simple, interesting question.

When I have something I need to work out, one of my favorite things to do is Google searches. Because, to my mind, if I’m thinking about it, chances are someone’s already thought about it and is talking about it right now. All I have to do is find it, right?

My second favorite thing to do is Amazon searches. Because, to my mind, if I’m thinking about it, chances are someone’s already written a book about it and Amazon is selling it right now. All I have to do is find it and buy it, right?

As a result of doing these things, I’ve become very familiar with what’s out there in terms of “random prompts as pathways to profundity,” and I’ve come to the conclusion that either I suck at searches or what I want doesn’t exist.

What I want: I want a book of questions that make me think. I want an oracle of a sort. Something that will spur me to follow threads I can’t create for myself just yet. Something that will ask me that simple interesting question so I can dive in deeply and come back up with something I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

Perhaps I expect too much. As I think about this, it sounds like what I want is a “coach in a box.” Doesn’t seem practical or even very useful since it can’t be customized. But still, there should be things out there that can trigger positive reflection in everyone, right? Things that are just triggers, that allow you to stop right where you are and do the work, without any pressure to turn the page, finish the chapter, or get to the ending.

Are there?

Specifically, I’d like to know where it says that “creativity” has to be as loose as a bad bowel movement. I mean, I get what the creativity gurus are trying to say: Loosen up a little; put down the hammer, have a drink, and set a spell. Yeah, OK, I get that.

There’s a part of me that thinks that’s pretty weak, though. What starts as “loosen up a little” generally ends as “let it all hang out.” Yeah, that’s OK (and even helpful) for about a day. After that, it becomes annoying. That whole, Doug Henning-esque feel to the notion of creativity just isn’t me and it’s not something I particularly want to be associated with. It all has its place but a steady diet of that brand of creativity is much less substantial than I think I need.

So, what is my brand of creativity?

I don’t know yet, not completely. I know a little better what it isn’t. It isn’t SARK’s brand, all happy colors and (ugh) “succulent juiciness.” It isn’t what a lot of art journalers portray in its messy, primitive, randomness. Again, all this has its place and is helpful in theory and concept, but…

To a lot of people, creativity is a wild animal. Something that we cage up as we get shuffled through our society’s institutions. Something that, caged up too long, eventually weakens and dies. Sure, we might let it out on special occasions, like for Christmas or our parents’ 30th anniversary, but only long enough to sniff the air. Instead, we should be allowing it to roam where it will, do as it will, and call all of its output “art.” Even the shit.

Again, I think that’s helpful and even necessary, but only up to a point. After a while, the wild animal needs to be disciplined. Not tamed, but trained. Indeed, I sometimes think it’s a lot like a spoiled child — bored with getting its way for so long, it starts asking for some rules, some boundaries. It starts wondering what it might say.

What might mine say? I don’t know, but I think I’m getting closer to figuring it out. It’s telling me, at times gesturing wildly, but I can only hear little bits and I can’t see it very well at all. Hopefully it won’t get too frustrated with me.

Well, if you’re using Windows, that’s not always the case.

It took me about 2 days of near-nonstop futzing to get the Airport Extreme and Airport Express base stations to work (and keep working). The issues I experienced were experienced by many, many others, some of whom documented their resolutions which in turn got me closer to getting things working. I’m writing this article to record my own resolution, paying it forward as it were.

The Purpose

Why install a wireless network? Among other things, I wanted to be able to stream music from iTunes to other rooms in my home. Since I don’t subscribe to a cable or satellite provider, I also wanted to eventually stream movies from my Netflix account to my TV.

The Setup

My Dell desktop computer is fairly recent, but it did not come with a wireless card. As far as setup, I just have a DSL internet connection and run Windows XP.

The Equipment

• 1 Airport Extreme base station to create the wireless network
• 1 Airport Express to extend the wireless network to another room and use AirTunes to stream music through iTunes

The Issues

Installing the Extreme (and later, the Express) was a no-brainer: Plug it in. Configuring the thing was something else entirely. My issues:

• The Airport Utility wouldn’t detect the base stations. I’d rescan and rescan, but they’d never show up. Eventually, the Extreme showed up (yeah, after 3 hours of restarting and rescanning) and configuration was a breeze after that. However, no amount of rescanning or restarting could get the Express detected. I briefly entertained the notion that it might just be a bad unit — after all, there are plenty of people who’ve had the same problem, replaced the unit, and everything worked. I knew my unit was good, though, because it would show up as a generic network (Apple Network 123456) on my iPod touch.
• The Airport Utility couldn’t communicate with the Express. Once I got the Express detected (more on that later), I had to configure it as an network extender. Unfortunately, the Airport Utility would return Error 6753 or Error 6722 every time I selected the Express and clicked either Manual Setup or Continue.
• The Airport Utility wouldn’t redetect the Express. Once configured, the Airport Utility needed to restart the Express. However, after the restart the utility couldn’t detect the device again. I could click “Configure Other” and enter its IP address to launch the configuration panel, but it wouldn’t show up as a configured device alongside the Extreme.

The Resolution

1. I turned off my firewall and antivirus. I use ESET Smart Security in automatic mode, which means it defaults to blocking traffic if there’s no rule allowing it.  When I turned it off, the Airport Utility was able to detect the Extreme and then later, the Express.
2. After I established the network with the Extreme, I connected the Express to an Ethernet port on the Extreme. After a couple of minutes, the Airport Utility detected the device.
3. I ensured the security protocols I chose on both the Extreme and the Express matched. I also noticed that if I configured the Extreme as a 802.11n only (5 GHz) network and set the security to WPA2 Personal, the iPod touch couldn’t join the network. That worried me — if the iPod touch can’t join the network, it’s possible other wireless devices I want to use might not, either. So, I set the Extreme up as a 802.11n (802.11b/g compatible) network and set the security to WPA/WPA2 Personal on both the Extreme and the Express.
4. To resolve the Error 6753 issue, I used the solution in this article. When I connected the Express via Ethernet, the Airport Utility detected it and displayed its IP address when I selected the device, which I wrote down. I also opened a command prompt in Windows and ran ipconfig to get the IP address, subnet, and gateway of my computer. I changed the computer’s IP to one in the range of the Express’ default IP (169.254.59.xxx) — voila, the Airport Utility could connect and let me configure the Express. I configured the Express to use an IP in the range of my computer’s original IP (10.0.1.xxx) and then restored my computer’s original IP. Voila encore, the Airport Utility could still detect and connect to the Express.
5. When I finished configuring the Express and set it up again in the target room, I turned my firewall and antivirus back on. It allowed the Express to work for a little while, but then the Express would stop working and the Airport Utility wouldn’t detect it anymore. Meaning, I needed to fine tune my firewall. To do that I switched my firewall to “interactive mode” and used this article to open the right ports.

While I’m glad I got this all working, it was incredibly frustrating. Indeed, I opted for the Apple hardware in the first place because it was supposed to be so easy to set up. I guess it is easy when you’re all-Apple. But woe betide you if you mix makers.

Anyway, hopefully this will be useful to anyone else dealing with Airport issues. If it is, feel free to leave me a comment.

Uhhh, ok. Not quite what I had in mind, though.

See, I’m not an artist nor am I workaholic. Creativity isn’t only about being artistic and business isn’t only about making money. There’s an intellectual facet to creativity that I don’t think gets explored outside of science journals. And there’s a moral aspect to business that’s all but ignored in the real world.

So, what am I looking for? I guess I’m looking for the offbeat, the unconventional, the non-conformist. Yeah, if you’re going to make money without getting in trouble, a business has to adhere to certain conventions (like established accounting principles). And too, the reason for starting the business has to be somewhat conventional, like solving a problem, filling a need, or providing entertainment. But the business itself can be as freaky as it wants to be, as long as there’s a market.

Sounds great when you’re talking about it. And if you already have a freaky idea for a business, there’s no shortage of people willing to help you figure out if there is a market.

But what if you don’t have your freaky idea yet? What do you do to get one?

So, I’m also looking for examples of creative thinking, creative problem solving.

Why am I looking for this in the first place? Because I’m ready to make some changes. Rather big changes, actually. Since I’m now “of a certain age” (and, consequently, living outside of acknowledged chronology), there’s no sense in denying myself what I want anymore.

When you’re young, people are always telling you how you have your life ahead of you, how much time you still have. Personally, I think that’s a lie. None of us has much time at all. So, there’s never a reason to put off your dreams or bury your talents or “wait until next year.” There’s never a reason good enough because no one has a life long enough.

Yeah, I know that what I’m looking for is fairly nuanced, so I’ve no doubt I’ll be looking for a while to find it. While I’m looking I’ll post what I find. Hopefully, I’ll be successful.