Sorry, Blogger. But when I found that wordpress makes using categories easy, I decided to switch. Plus, wordpress permits the easy creation of permanent pages. So take the jump to the new location for Steal My Ideas, Please.
Two-person TV show. No, two-person showdown. Total knockdown debating, intellectually at a very high level, but "fighters" wear boxing gloves and dance around a ring, landing verbal jabs. It’s a play, it’s philosophy! Every week a new profound, always relevant topic. Could be a play, actually.
Yo, this also works in Chicago, New York, Miami and other cities. Anyplace with a rich legacy of dastardly illegalities. Forget those namby-pamby horsebleep-and-buggy rides. Instead, get into a long black limo that's riddled with bullet holes. In fact, your guide, Vinnie "Oyster Crackers" Badabing, will grunt, as he waves his tommygun, "Youse'll get in if youse knows what's good for youse." He'll offer you three options: (1) The Welcome to the Gang tour, in which you get souvenir weapons. (2) The Bound and Gagged Ratfink Abduction Tour, in which you're taken to the Godfather's secret hideaway, and (3) The Rat-a-Tat-Tat, You're Dead and Have to Ride in the Trunk Tour, in which, after your ritual ketchup-splashing assassination, you have to ride in the trunk. (Most people will probaby decline the latter two options.) Then it's off on a narrated ride around town to places where alleged rubouts and capers and deals took place. Be ready, the limo is likely to get ambushed, carjacked, or busted by the cops. Of course, it all starts at the American Mob Museum (where members get to steal one souvenir per visit). Hey, Philly lost out to Cleveland for the Rock and Roll Hall, so why not make tourists a different offer they can't refuse? Naturally, disclaimers galore: This attraction is meant to be an educational dramatic historical / anthropological presentation unintended to glorify crime or perpetuate any stereotypes. Oh, and the proprieters have to overcharge, so patrons can scream, "We was robbed!" What, too chicken to steal this for a tourist attraction? Then steal it for a screenplay!
"Vote for Me! My ugly opponent's pro-death and he wants to raise everybody's taxes! This ad, brought to you by the Committee to Re-Elect Joe Jerkweed at Any Cost, not only just wasted $20,000 that could have gone for several children's health-care premiums, but it may cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, gullibility, insensitivity, and major regret. Use only as directed by a mental health professional."
There's sports talk. Opinionated political talk. Even shows all about money. But why not TV-movie-music-media-Web-celebrities-and-maybe-also-a-little sports-and-sex talk? Key to good talk radio is having two lively hosts who often disagree (a la WIP in Philly), and who can juggle several hot topics at once, to hook a wide audience. Keep the whiny politics out of it, unless major news intrudes. Or maybe insert little freelance commentaries, reviews or joke bits, to add to the fun and information. Instead of news breaks, have reports on local concerts, exhibits, etc. As audiences keep fragmenting, could fill a novel niche.
This would be a popular product. Sure, people license cartoon characters for T-shirts and games and underwear. Fun stuff. But aren't laughs even more needed during disgusting chores, like changing a catbox? Look forward to this every week at my house! Anyway, people love Garfield, people love cats, people love jokes, so market some catbox liners with cartoons and jokes and call them: Garfield's One-Liners. Or maybe Heathcliff's. That Mutts cat have a name? Something tells me that cat owners will envision their kitties being just like Mommy or Daddy "reading on the toilet" and think it's sooooo cuuuuuute. Hey, Garfield's even on Commerce Bank credit cards (Regis have one?), so it's not like he has scruples.
Saw a page marked "This page intentionally left blank" in a brochure, and thought of the Zen-like message "This mind intentionally left blank." Thought it might make a good bumper sticker. A Web search, of course, reveals it's been whispered into the empty minds of other souls as well.
Baseball's too slow for me. Make two strikes a strikeout, three balls a walk. That'll force pitchers to throw strikes and batters to swing. Could shorten the game, create more tense full counts, and lengthen pitcher's careers.
Seeing some old guy waddle to the mound in striped flannel pajamas is pretty ridiculous. And a majorly missed marketing opportunity. Put coaches in knit or other casual shirts with team logos, and fans might buy more. (You can pretty much buy anything with a team logo these days.) Theory was you needed a uniform to walk onto the field. (a) Who says? (b) In these days of electronics, why let them go to the mound anyway? Call the pitcher on a cell phone with league-limited minutes ... and a hooked-up feed for fans to hear. Put it on a delay if need be, to keep instructions secret from other team till after the pitch or batter.
If celeb baby news is beaucoup bucks (People mag paid millions for pics of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's newbie, Shiloh), well, celebrity baby publishing is bound to become its own industry. People begat Teen People, so why not Baby People? Babies are people, too, after all. And plenty of advertisers are out to Pamper the world. So to speak.
OK, I'm doubting Chrysler going to call, and pay me for this great idea. But, honestly, as anyone who's driven in a city knows, it'd be great to see a car revamped just for cities. It should have ... bulletproof glass ... a removable glovebox you can carry away ... a removable ignition you can cart off in the removable glovebox ... wheels that turn 90 degrees for sideways parking into teeny spaces ... extra sensitive radio reception, including police scanner frequencies ... turbo shocks that are pothole proof ... Teflon roofs that are pigeon proof ... an intentionally battered look, with optical illusion key marks, dings and graffiti, for coolness and vandal deterrence ... a phone number you call to (a) disable carjacked vehicle, and (b) locate stolen vehicle ... retractable antenna and wipers that can't be broken off ... electronic bumper stickers that flash rude messages and/or paid ads in several languages ... rural-state license plates for cheaper insurance ... total foldability for stowing in fifth-floor walkup closet ... Transformer-ability wherein parts reassemble into twin bicycles ... medication for would-be owners who tend to get creatively carried away ...
Contestants compete at tapping the power of TV to turn great ideas into fortunes. Starting with a bankroll of, say, $25,000 each, they have to buy, sell, invent, promote, invest, beg and otherwise scheme their way into making $1 million free and clear. Gonna take some real imagination, like those people who rented forehead space to advertisers via eBay. Or that guy who traded up, starting with a red paper clip, hoping to get a house. OK, to split proceeds with a charity to boost the appeal. Slap up a website to sell products ... or autographs ... or ads. Get sponsors to fork over cash for logos worn on the show. Do an IPO and sell stock in a some someday startup. Get regular folks to pay to appear on the show. Anything goes. As long as it's legal. And there's no fraud involved. Even fly to Vegas and hit the casinos. Or buy $25,000 in lottery tickets. Get Rich Quick! takes ideas from The Apprentice to dizzying new heights. But no eliminations till the very end. Everybody loves amazing worst-to-first last-minute victories!
Here's an idea I'll probably never do. But it's one that has long intrigued me. Some people have amazing laughs. Shrill. Staccato. Lilts. Snorts. Wouldn't it be cool to sample great laughs and compile them into a song? Hey, email me a clip of a wild laugh from your family or office, and I'll start a collection here, so someone can turn them into a song.
Seriously. Think about it. Does it makes sense to measure cholesterol after you've fasted? OK, sure, gotta establish a baseline, see how high it always is. But think. Some people with high cholesterol never have heart attacks, while some with low cholesterol do. Uh, could it be because some low-baseline people chomp on Dorito and, kablooey, LDLs through the roof, while some high-baseline folks, well, that's about as high as it ever gets. Seriously. If you want to clog a pipe (or a coronary artery), wouldn't you jam as much stuff in at once?
Think an old person could be on Apprentice? Hah! But lots of people start new careers in middle-age. So how about a challenge? The Geezer Throwdown. Team of aging characters against a young, buff, cocky crew. For the right to form a new business and get it bankrolled.
I have a dream. I go to schools, conduct creativity workshops. Help kids learn to invent. As individuals, or as a group, they keep all the rights. And hopes. Wouldn't it be great, as part of this dream, if poor kids could get patents for free? America's slipping, some say. People worry about future generations, what they might be able to achieve. Imagine the ripples on a school, a town, even a society, if a class could develop a source of lifelong royalties. ... Sounds like a plan.
... is that we're taught to be of one mind. I mean, don't we always have multiple reactions? Self-interest says, Darn, I'm disappointed, I wanted that job. Some higher side, your heart says, I'm happy that my friend got it. Everything is a mixed blessing, someone said. I think it was Gay Talese. Life's full of paradoxes. Why fight it? Negative capability. This way lies creativity.
New line item on federal income-tax returns: Number of $1 chances you'd like to buy to have all of your income taxes refunded. Bet 50 million people would buy at least a single chance. You'd keep drawing tickets till half the pot is awarded. Profit for feds: $25 million or more. Earmark for a worthy cause, like cancer research. Maybe have secondary prizes like a year's free postage. OK, we'd all get depressed if some billionaire won first, snarfing up the pool so no one else gets a dime. So maybe impose a top limit per winner, like $50,000.
Here's my nightmare: I'll buy a winning lottery ticket but forget to ever check it. Here's my solution: Lottery ticket subscriptions. It's like having season tickets to a sporting event. Every game, or every so often, you get the same numbers. If they ever hit, this computerized system automatically contacts you. No waiting in line, can't lose if you win, good fortune waits in the wings. Bet a lot of people would like this system.
Gotta love Peeps, those marshmallow chicks and bunnies from Just Born. Assorted permutations appear for various holidays: ghosts, pumpkins, hearts, snowmen and Christmas trees. But departing from the holiday idea, how about this: Hot chocolate duckies! Instead of regular marshmallows, you float cute little creatures. Ducks are archetypal floaters, but swans and whales and octopi are also possible. Kids (of all ages) would find them fun.
Lots of American adults need more education. Could a kind of home schooling be an answer? Grants or government funding could set up a service or registry that would help students form groups taught by volunteers or family members. Perhaps parents who home-school high schoolers could invite an adult or two into their sessions, maybe even get some kind of grant or free materials in return.
Elementary schools don't really teach science, which is a system of thinking, not a set of facts. Suppose, for example, in kindergarten, a running endeavor is to list observations about water: It's wet. It's sticky. It freezes. It flows. Ice floats. Snow has little crystals. Steam is hot. It forms drops. It splashes. Fog is water. Rain is water. We need it to live. And so on. Don't tell. Let the kids discover. And build their sense of wonder. And watch as they start making connections and asking questions ... and seeing that science is all around them, not just in books and movies or out in outer space.
Gasp. I can't believe I'm posting this idea, since it could encourage smoking. But (a) I'd be surprised if it hasn't been thought of already, and (b) if not, it might actually reduce smoking or some of the risks. Simple thought: Instead of cancer sticks as long as a pack's longest dimension, make them only as long as the width. (So they fit sideways, not lengthwise.) Advantages: Instead of 20, you'd get about 26 for the same price. Being shorter, they'd be easier to finish during a break. Cutting the length also means cutting off the riskiest part of a cigarette, the end where tars build up. Moreover, if the smoker maintains the same number each week, that means less actual smoking. Disadvantage: The "miniature" candy effect, where you end up indulging more often because you know each helping is less.
Could charities parlay tax breaks into bigger donations? Scenario: Generous Jill is in a 15 percent tax bracket. If she donates $1,000 directly to her favorite charity, she saves $150 on her taxes, right? But say the charity is also supported by Benefactor Bob, who is in a 30 percent bracket. He could give the charity even more without costing either of them an extra penny. Here's how: She relays $850, her net cost, through the charity, which is handling the deal (so she's sure she's not involved a scam), to Bill, who in turn sends the charity for $1,214. He breaks even, and the charity's ahead an extra 21.4 percent! (Of course, there are other possible arrangements, where Jill and Bob keep a bit more for their troubles.) If it's not legal (I don't know), why not push to make it legal? Businesses barter pollution credits and tax losses, I've read. So why not have transferrable donation tax-credit programs? Would cost us taxpayers more, you say. Maybe not. The government gives a lot of money to help needy people who might be better helped by charities.
Big opening: Bills are dumped off a high roof. Out of the crowd below, the two or three couples who snatch the most cash (without stealing or injuring anyone) become contestants on You Catch It, You Keep It! Each round has any kind of test that fits the title. That opens the door to all sorts of wild stunts. To win a new Infiniti, you have to catch keys dropped from a helicopter ... or catch a fish carrying the keys in a swimming pool. Or catch up with a moving car and jump inside before it smashes into a wall. Or grab a car (without ruining it) by operating a crane. To win a diamond, you have to use your mouth to catch a spouse-tossed grape with the gem inside ... while wearing a blindfold. To win a TV, you have to ride a bike to catch a famous running athlete who has the remote control. To win a washer-dryer, you have to catch a load of wet wash. To win a trip, you have to catch a cab and then a plane, which leaves in 30 minutes. To unlock a safe, you have to catch a dog marked with the combination. Add all sorts of obstacles ... conditions (mud, potholes, wind) ... objects (water balloons, eggs) ... and challenges (opposing team can try to stop your ... perform upside-down in the dark while dizzy) ... and you have lively, unpredictable, vicariously enjoyable entertainment. (Or maybe the title ... or the name of a segment ... is What's the Catch? because sometimes there's a price to pay ... or the prize is, well, not as hot as it sounds. Then again, beware diluting a well-defined premise?) Host could be a famous "catcher" like Jerry Rice.
Imagine if our currency had a little "Brought to you by" section. Sell enough sponsorships, and voila, free money! Blasphemous! Sacrilegous! Tacky! you say. But this could be an ideal form of welfare. Free money for the poor, at no cost to taxpayers. Couldn't possibly raise a dollar per dollar-bill? OK, how ads on coins. Surely on pennies, the Treasury could turn a profit. And you could, too, if those ads said, "$1 off a box of Jiffy Pop." Too crass? Maybe inscribe teeny ads on the rims?
Imagine every day your newspaper had on its front page a little box labeled "Know News." In that box, you'd find a single timely word, term or name with a simple definition. Could be old: Arraignment. Concerto. Insurgency. Or relatively new: Stem cells. Keylogging. Podcast. Finish with a quick teaser or page number to a story that uses the term. The aim is to create a more educated audience -- clue more readers in on more kinds of stories. When feasible, add an intriguing fact so everybody could learn something. The "definition" could also be a picture, chart or map. Scoffers (it's "dumb" or "insulting") might be surprised how often they'll find themselves thinking, "Oh, I assumed it meant ..."
Ever notice how bags of chips or popcorn or cheese curls resemble puffy balloons and weigh almost nothing? Why not take that concept a step or two further? Fill bags with helium for a truly "light" snack. Better yet, figure out how to make snacks that float in mid-air. Maybe whip helium into the mix to trap the lighter-than-air gas in cheesy bubble chambers. Pop a few Hee-Lee-Yums in your mouth and you'd temporarily lose weight ... until you started high-talking like a Munchkin. OK, it's a pie in the sky idea. But I thought I'd float it out there anyway.
Present a weekly whirlwind tour of all sorts of newspaper cartoons, from both comics and editorial pages. Shows inspired by a single strip pull a narrow audience. But delivering a variety of toons at a rapid-fire rate could appeal to almost everybody, young and old alike, in an easy, breezy, short-attention-span kind of way. DO NOT HAVE HUMAN HOSTS! Argh! Nothing worse than yakety yak about history and biography and obviosity. "Here's a cartoon ..." Duh! Have cartoon hosts who act out more than introduce. Ways to boost appeal: (1) Include a few serials with weekly cliffhangers. (2) Include a play-at-home contest -- send in your original jokes, if yours is chosen you win a car and an autographed strip. (3) Have a call-in poll where viewers can pick a punchline or a storyline for an upcoming strip. (4) Toss in some blasts from the past classics -- as long as they can stand alone without histriobioblabber. Prediction: Best not to let movie animation bits infiltrate the show, except during commercials. High-octane screen tomfoolery would overpower the subtle, leisurely joys of less animated toons.
Going to have to post a drawing soon, but until then a description will have to do. Imagine a dome made of a clear semi-flexible plastic. Now curl the bottom edges inside to create an inner trough. If you floated this plastic hemi-bubble on a body of water out in the sun, evaporation and condensation would sooner or later fill the trough with pure water. Could a device like this be low-tech enough to create cheap fresh water in underdeveloped countries? Consider versions of various sizes. Imagine one a few feet across, but put a drawstring along the inside rim, so that when the trough is full, a yank on the string turns the bubble into a bag that a person or animal could conveniently carry. (Such bags might be placed on wastewater ponds, manmade canals, or perhaps even the ground.) At the other extreme, huge hemi-bubbles could be dropped off at sea, so they can turn seawater into fresh water. Perhaps, after unloading oil, tankers could pick up Peter's Pure Water Bags (got a good name?), or pump out the contents, to transport back to oil-rich but arid places lacking enough fresh water. Seems so simple, I suspect this is another idea others have thought of. If not, steal my idea, please, for the benefit of others.
Dear Yahoogle: I wish I could search for two things at once, so I could see at a glance which term shows up more often. Or just find something faster. Say I'm not sure if the country is Furkino Baso or Burkina Faso. I plug one into Google A, the other into Google B. Boom, there I see the results side-by-side: Gotta be B, because, look, Furkina Baso shows up only 10 times. (That many??) Not only good for checking correct names, spellings and familiar phrases, but comparing searches for sites and information.
OK, this is basically a packaging concept based on a pun. Megatrends was a fascinating bestseller that forecast the future and spawned a set of sequels. Being more of a pessimist than is healthy (and always a prankster), I thought: Why not Negatrends, a gathering of gloom-and-doom scenarios into one book? Global warming. Emergent diseases. The death of privacy. Asteroid disaster. Religious juggernauts. Overpopulation. Terrorism. End of fossil fuels. Rise of intelligent machines. Nuclear proliferation. Each chapter would be written by someone who's an expert ... at scaring people's pants off. Too scary? OK, each chapter could have ideas for solutions, how to avert each crisis. ... Well, what do you know? A search of Amazon.com turns up a couple of times Negatrends has been tried in a title. But one publication seems to be an out-of-print 160-page tract from the American Bureau of Economic Research, and the other is a seemingly warm-and-fuzzy 1999 endeavor, PosiTrends -- Or Negatrends? about interpersonal relationships in the new millennium. So idea's still viable. But hurry. The end is near.
Par 3. Par 4. Par 5. Hmm. There are other options. Wouldn't it be cool to have a golf course where you tee off from a mountain and watch the ball soar and bounce and bounce toward the hole a mile away? You hop in your Jeep and zoom after it. Maybe the hole's par 19. But the next hole is just 11 feet long, par 1. No way to get a birdie on that baby. Most radical of all: The totally tree-obstructed fairway. That's right, solid towering forest for 200 yards straight ahead. OK, the trunks will be spaced and the branches trimmed just enough that it's possible to laser your way, oh, 50 yards at a time. Or, you could take the reckless approach and do that whack-away-and-pray-for-a-richochet-routine. Helmets and padded apparel provided. Teeing off from under a waterfall might also be refreshing. Any other way to have a hole be underwater? Oh, how about a hover hole? A hole in a sand trap? A bank shot off a cliff?
Are some ideas ruined by being publicized? That's a worry of mine. Take ideas for novels or movies. Here's one idea: a futuristic geo-political legal thriller in which the world sues America for -- take your pick -- military adventures, resource monopolizing, global warming, bad taste, government destabilization, dastardly business practices, or all of the above. There, the cat's out of the bag. (Sort of. Still pretty vague. But play along.) Now who'd ever write it, knowing someone else could steal the idea, too, and beat you to punch? Possible solution No. 1: I could keep the idea vague, withholding key parts (as above) so thieves (I used this term jocularly, of course) are likely to run with it in all sorts of directions. Possible solution No. 2: As in No. 1 above, but I withhold some key part that I'll reveal to whoever sends me the most compelling email. For example, did I mention I have a killer title for the above book? I could say: Persuade me you'll actually write the book, and you'll be the one I tell. Have misgivings about this approach. Has a slimy, wheeler-dealer vibe. Even if I swear I'll take no money, there's always the temptation to be swayed by offers. And even if there's no quid pro quo, folks will suspect there could be. Also, I'm getting a headache pondering this exclusionary, bureaucratic and arbitrary can of worms (said it was slimy): How could I fairly decide? Do I make the disclosure a limited-time offer? Am I putting myself on a legal hook over a stated or implied vow of secrecy? ("So, Mr. Mucha, how did Joe B come up with the exact same idea? And let me remind you are under oath.") Which leads me to say, my title idea was Earth vs. The United States. OK, maybe "killer" was a bit exaggerated. Possible solution No. 3: You call "dibs." Yeah, why not? You simply attach a comment, saying "I call dibs!" When we were kids, and someone called "dibs," on the jelly doughnut, say, or whatever, we totally honored his right to have it. Well, usually. OK, sometimes. Whatever. Same idea here. First, you're warning folks that someone else is going to do this idea. That should discourage people. So would a short statement about your credentials, like you've had a few novels published before, or your desperate situation, like you're a handicapped single mom who has to write holding a pen with her toes. I think it's also important to keep renewing your dibs. Every few months or so, you come back and post how the project's going. (And check if someone wants to contact you.) If a year lapses without a peep, well, sorry, now Joe C is claiming dibs. In the spirit of the code, of course, if you're relinquishing your dibs, we'd appreciate your returning to let everyone know. Also, no more than one dibs at a time, please. Not going to abide any dibs whores, hoarding or ransoming ideas. Final disclaimer: You do understand this is an honor system that imposes no legal obligations upon anybody, right?
Hic. How wry I am. Anybody could brew a batch of wild possibilities. In fact, each episode could be a takeoff on some other reality show. Extreme Makeover: Beer Edition. Survivor: Beer Island. Beer Apprentice. Beer Swap. Weakest Clink. Who Wants to Chug Like a Millionaire. America's Top Beer-Ad Model. Or maybe this whole premise should be the situation for a sitcom. Hmm, think there might be a sponsor who'd find this idea intoxicating?
In the movie Armageddon, Bruce Willis saves the world by planting a nuke on an Earthbound asteroid. Such a strategy is unlikely to work, however, because asteroids are aggregates of rubble whose bits would absorb the blast, a report concluded a few years ago. Hmm. How about this idea: Don't wait until it's almost too late. Consider a Flash Gordon pie-in-the-sky possibility. Capture our own asteroid by attaching rockets and steering it into an Earth-trailing orbit. Any doomsday rocks comes hurtling toward an unwelcome visit, we steer our chunky monkey onto a collision course. Did run this idea past scientists, though, for a Philadelphia Inquirer article. They said there are likely to be better ways. The trick is to find an asteroid far enough in advance so the slightest nudge would change its course. Paint it black, to create a steady push with heat stoked by the sun. Use a super-doggie digger (not how they put it) that steadily ejects debris into space, slowly causing a course correction. But, hey, I'll leave the idea out there, in case it generates something better ... or just fun discussion ... or even a script for Armageddon 2.
Remember the movie Big starring Tom Hanks? In it, he hops on a giant musical keyboard, stomping out a tune. Typing on a regular keyboard may exercise the brain, but it can almost atrophy the body. So why not have a workout workstation, where the keys are clicked with your feet? Depending on the design, you'd reach to push them -- or you'd have to hop all over the place. You wouldn't and couldn't use such a system for hours on end, but in a business, workers could take turns, increasing office fun and fitness. I'd love to work on this project with someone who has the engineering savvy.
Back when the ratings of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? were falling, I offered an explanation and a solution in a newspaper article. Diagnosis (besides overexposure and foolishly butting heads with other strong shows): Viewers like to think they could win. Questions seemed fairly easy (making it fun to watch with your kids), and the process seemed open to anyone (just call up and take a quiz). But then some developments thwarted that feeling. The questions got harder. One group seemed to dominate -- aging white guys. And, worst of all, the ratings greed led to celebrity editions, where no regular folks won at all! The cure? No, not up the jackpot to $10 million (which ABC is doing for the next doomed try). Restore the "anyone can win" feeling. Here's one way: Mobile Millionaire! Put Regis Philbin in a huge RV, or even a helicopter, with cohorts fanned out around the country. Next thing you know, somebody's pulled off the street to compete there in the mobile studio with Rege. And then somebody in another city is selected by a knock on the door. And someone else who calls in gets to compete -- or win money by being right as a lifeline. It's all random -- anyone could win. Maybe when a question's missed, you could get a call ... and you'd win that jackpot if you're correct. ABC, that's my final answer. Feel free to steal it.
We've all seen wraps, those round tortilla-like flatbreads handy for holding all sorts of tasty ingredients. But they're often so oversized, the carbs and calories add up. Got me to thinking: How about making them smaller, just big enough to fold over a veggie burger, or sideways over a hot dog? Call 'em Flaps instead of wraps. Should be cheap. And much easier to fit inside that brown bag you take for lunch.
Saw another case where a baby supposedly died from being shaken. Maybe it would save lives to do public-service ads on TV and radio stating what seems so obvious: Hey, never shake a baby, because you could kill it. But the obvious often fails to register. Witness Britney Spears driving with her baby in her lap. And while we're at it, add a mention that, oh, put a baby on its back, not on its stomach. Cases of sudden-infant death syndrome dropped after this recommendation got out to more parents.
Speaking of others having ideas first, I once got obsessed with an insight about mazes: The reason most are so boring is that you can see the start and end at the same time. What if ... you had to flip the maze? Or if it was on the six sides of a cube? I built such a cube maze. Each face was a grid 12 spaces across and 12 up and down. Painted it red. A few weeks later, in a toy store, saw a dead ringer for my prototype. Red. 12-by-12. About the same size. Mine had one extra feature this one didn't. Sure made me shake my head.
Or would it be a Wikisaurus? Ever use a Roget's thesaurus? It's fine if you want fine language and literary reference. Look up enormous and you'll find colossal, immense and Brobdinagian. But you'll find few fun, pop culture options, no gigundo, no Burger King ginormous. It'd be great if folks could add their own suggestions, a la Wikipedia. Even mention metaphors. A metaphorapedia? How big was it? As big as ... OK, five minutes after I post this, I find Wikipedia has started a Wikisaurus. Not many entries yet. Just goes to show: My light bulb moment may happened to others first.
What good do ideas do gathering dust in a drawer, bogarting electron holes on a disk? No good. So might as well share them. Maybe they can do you some good. Not asking anything in return.
Just call "dibs." Post a comment staking your claim, along with enough info to show you're serious, hopefully deterring imitators. Return from time to time to post updates, renewing your "dibs." If you give up, please return to let folks know, helping the next guy by sharing your story. Obligatory disclaimer/warning: This is a suggested honor system, relying on good will, trust and faith, without any guarantees.
I fail a lot. Yup. I wrote two kids' novels that haven't found a publisher. Designed a dozen or more games, only had 1 published. In Finland. About 100 ideas I pitched at work got rejected (and ultimately so did I). OK, I have a good job, good family, and my heart condition hasn't killed me yet. And I have won a few awards for writing such headlines as "Yabba Dabba Doodles" for a story prehistoric cave art. But, you see, I just know all these ideas that come to me must be good for something more than a laugh. Since I'm not savvy enough, rich enough (in time or money), or brave enough to turn these dreams into reality, well, here, grab a dream and run with it.
By the way, this picture of me was drawn by my aspiring comic-artist daughter, Corinne. See more of her work at maidenhousely.com.
Sure. Gotta have my own dreams and secrets. So, at least for now, I'm holding onto ideas for card and board games I've already designed, or have realistic hopes of finishing someday. Also not divulging notions for novels or other books that feel right for me to write. Lastly, I just have this thing about giving away ideas that might make rich companies richer. So, sorry, Dunkin' Donuts, not telling about a neat new product line for you. Not detailing my car concept for Chrysler. Or my innovations in laptop computers and licorice. (Two ideas. Not talking candy keyboards here.) Am I open to a deal? Sure ... if there's a charitable payoff. (This experiment is about giving, not getting.) I'd love to show how to teach creativity in schools, with lessons like "100 Ways to Get Godzilla to the Other Side of the Great Wall of China." (An exercise I plan to post.) I'd love to see my half-dozen word games (plus assorted puzzles) help foster children's literacy. I'd love to help kids and poor neighborhoods generate ideas ... and profitable futures. Not sure what to do. Gotta think this through.
