Earlier this week, a couple friends and I went to Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ to see Leonard Lopate interview Judy Blume as part of their ongoing series, "Conversations on Creativity."  I have to admit I was a little (nerdily) star struck to be that close to an NPR host that I have listened to for years and an author whose books feel like the essence of my adolescence.  That's why I was too skittish to stand up when I took the photo above!  But I am happy that is shows Leonard beaming at her as Judy can barely stay in her chair as she tells him a story.  Maybe she was sharing the story about how when she was little, her mom would bring her a chicken foot which she would march around the house and turn it into a character in her stories!  As much as I like her as an author, she was even better in person with a warm, engaging personality and willingness to share not just those funny stories but her process of writing.  Although it's obviously much different to explore that type of creativity, I found some similarities in what she described and what I do as a visual artist.  She talked about her scribble notebook where she writes all kinds of ideas as the flow out of her brain and that is something I do as well.  And yesterday, as I was staring at a pile of steel trying to decide how to weld it into a stand for glass, I heard her words, "Just begin."  So I did.  Thanks, Judy!