I write. A lot. Sometimes I have to wonder why I don't actually call myself a professional writer and have done with it, seeing that almost everything I do for a living is tied into somehow stringing words together. And, as you've probably guessed by now, I spend a lot of my time navigating both digital and analog methods of doing things (as opposed to "getting things done," which lends a different perspective on matters), and I've formed some pretty strong opinions on the various ways of laying down these words into some sort of vaguely coherent and semi-articulate flow, and occasionally with some actual purpose in mind.

When Doug asked me about sharing my Top 5 Toys for inspiration, my mind started making the list. "Awesome idea," I said. At first I figured this was going to be really easy for me to do. But as I composed my list, I noticed it growing past 5. So, this is my top 5 list of current toys that help bring out my creative “gotta get it done” side.

As I read the e-mither a second time I was struck by a disapointing realisation; Doug had typed desert and not dessert island. My mind now focussed on something other than food I began to wonder; "if my briefcase didn’t contain sandwiches which five creato-productive(1) instruments would I fill it with"...

Here are my top five things for productivity and creativity. =)

• Fountain pen
• Moleskine notebook
• Index cards
• Cellphone
• Happy socks

Read more for details!

A page of unmarked guitar fretboard images for chord notation, adapted from the one generated at Kevin MacLeod's Free Online Graph Paper/Grid Paper PDFs page.

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Staves for music notation, adapted from the one generated at Kevin MacLeod's Free Online Graph Paper/Grid Paper PDFs page.

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Candlelight flickers and dances across the walls of the room. Wispy, light sounds of Japanese pipes drift through the incense smoke into your ears. A tiny woman, her head wrapped in a bright red and gold turban sits at a intimate wrought-iron table covered with a purple, silk table cloth. A white candle, its flame flickering; a palm sized crystal ball; and a pack of cards, the top card displaying the picture of a giant wheel; lay carefully positioned on the table's top. The woman beckons you to take a seat directly across from her. You take a seat as the woman waves her hand over the deck of cards and begins to shuffle them. As you stare at her, gauging her true intentions, the woman begins to position the cards onto the table in a careful layout. Then she begins to tell you your future as she describes how the cards and what each position relate to your life.

Tarot cards. One of the oldest means of exploring symbolism and your spot in the universe. A simple pack of 78 cards with a myriad assortment of images and cross-culture symbols painted on them, used as divination device by people all over the world. It contains a major arcana of 22 cards that seek to explain higher powers at work as well as a minor arcana composed of 4 suites corresponding to the 4 elements (wands, swords, cups and coins). Of course, there's a lot of tarot history I'm glossing over here but I just wanted to give you a small background on the cards. If you're curious about the tarot and want to learn more about its history, check out aeclectic.net and wikipedia's tarot page for more information about the tarot and variety of decks out there.

Tarot for Writers author: Corrine Kenner asin: 0738714577

Creative Whack Pack author: Roger Von Oech asin: 0880793589

Rider Waite Tarot author: Arthur Edward Waite,Pamela Colman Smith asin: 091386613X

Inner Outings: The Diarist's Deck of 33 Cards and Book of Exploration author: Charlene Geiss,Claudia Jessup asin: 1577312201

Me: Hey Muse... feeling uninspired today. You wanna help me out here and cut me some slack.

Muse: What’s up? Stuck again? How can I help you more? I’ve already given you lots of ideas for stories and artwork.

Me: I know, but I need some advice on how to write this article. For some reason it’s not going the way I want it.

My mind churns out a consistent stream of new ideas to turn into artistic works. Typically I have anywhere between 3-4 creative projects in various states of completion at one time. I fall under the "rotational" school of creativity where I'll work on one project and keep on it until I feel I can't progress anymore. Then I switch to the next, and so on and so forth. Being a creative person of this type means that there is some preplanning and organizing involved. There has to be a flexible plan that allows me to rotate between each unfinished project. For each project that I have that does not take an hour or so to create from start to finish, I have a simple workflow that keep my items together with my layout ideas so I can pick up where I left off when I am in the mood.