* * * * *

          “A student who changes history is probably taking a test.”

Creativity is a weird thing, something I haven't given much thought to to
tell you the truth. I've always been creative, and I've managed to surround
myself with creative people so it was something that's always there, in the
background, something I can pull from, sometimes easily [1], sometimes not so
easily [2], but I manage to pull something out of the air when the time
comes.

And like I said, I've never given it much thought, until I received the
following in email from Bunny:

> My friend XXX has a son who's been accepted at XXXX XXXXXXX, but needs to
> do this essay to qualify for a scholarship. I'm really no good at stuff
> like this. You have any ideas, being creative and all? You have such the
> imagination! I'm in awe!
>
> Here's what she sent me:
>
> > XXXXX has to write a scholarship essay. The prompt is:
> >
> > A dinner party is a comfortable venue for guests to engage one another in
> > a discussion of ideas. Imagine a dinner party where you could invite any
> > four people, living or dead. Whom would you select and why? What issues
> > or themes would the guests discuss? Answer these questions and develop a
> > portion of the conversation in an essay of no more than 800 words.
> >
> > He's totally blank. He can think of lots of good people, but can't figure
> > out what they should talk about and how it should be structured. What's
> > the premise, the setup? You can't just jump in and start talking, it
> > wouldn't make sense. He's very uncreative but so am I and I can't think
> > of anything either. He came up with a stinker of an essay that was sort
> > of an allegory tale—World War II Food Fight, where Stalin, Hitler,
> > Churchill and either Mussolini or Hirohito were gathered together and
> > started a food fight that paralleled their battles in the war. But I
> > don't think the prompt wants an allegory, and it wasn't very funny,
> > anyway.
> >
> > Any ideas?
> >
>

That forced me to think about creativity, and in the span of maybe twenty
minutes or so, I somehow managed to come up with six different groups of
people to write about. One of the ideas:

> Okay. I might be inclined to do one with just about any four famous people
> (really, could probably just pick four at random, say, Sean Penn, Karl Marx
> [3], Oliver Cromwell [4] and Ayn Rand [5] and just have them complain about
> the food service, the food itself, and how young kids today just don't know
> how good they have it—much like the Four Yorkshire Men Sketch [6] from
> Monty Python).
>

I'm not sure why exactly I included Sean Penn [7] in the mix (perhaps his
self-important goofiness [8]?) but the other three I picked simply because
they would hate each other (you'd probably be hard pressed to keep Rand from
killing Marx), but then to just have them complain about the service I find
terribly funny.

Yes, I do like my humor dry.

Another idea:

> Or possibly a dinner conversation between Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin [9],
> Groucho Marx [10], and John Lennon [11] (with the latter two rubbing the
> fact they got a stamp together [12] while the other two didn't).
>

And there is no way that Karl or Lenin would be able to dominate the
conversation with Groucho or John in the same room. Oh, to have Lennon tell
Lenin to lighten up …

But, again, I certainly can't explain how I came up with these groupings
(like the Presidents Andrew Jackson [13], William McKinley [14], Franklin
Roosevelt [15] and George Bush Jr [16]), other than picking groups of people
that would have a complex group dynamic (McKinley and Bush have similar
administrations and both got us in unpopular wars, but Bush's cowboy image
would certainly not appeal to McKinley, but would appeal to Jackson, but
Jackson wouldn't care for Bush or McKinley (or Roosevelt for that matter)
because they were city-bred rich folk—dynamics like that). Heck, these
groupings almost write themselves.

Perhaps part of it is being well read, and certainly knowing history doesn't
hurt matters either.

Anyway, I just find coming up with ideas pretty easy—ooh wait! I know! Three
friends grilling George Lucas [17] about Star Wars [18] and what exactly was
he smoking when he wrote Episodes 1–3?

See?

I can't exactly say where my creativity comes from, except the few I buy
wholesale from Schenectady [19].

Anyway, some time later Bunny replied to my reply that her friend wrote back
[DELETED-with a successful conclusion:-DELETED] saying her son managed to
successfully write the essay.

> XXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXX XX XXXX X XXXXXXXX XX
> XXXX XXX XXXXX XXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX
> XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XX X XXXXXX XXXXXX XX XXXXX XXXX
> XXXX XX XXXXXXXXX XX XXX XXXXX XXXXXX X XXXXX XXXXX XX XXXXX XX XXXX XXX
> XXXX XXXXXXXX XXX XX XXXX XXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXX XX XXXXXXXX XX
> XXXXXXXX XXXX XXX XXX
>

XXXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXXXXX XX XXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXXXX X
XXXXX XXXXX XXXXXX XXX XXXXX XXX XXXX XXXXX XXX XX XXXXX XX XXXXXX XXXX
XXXXXXXXX X XXXXX XX XXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXX X XXXX XX XXXXXX XXXX
XXXXX XXX XXXX XXX XXXXX XXXXXXXX X XXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXXXXXX XXXX XX
XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXX XXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXX XXXXXXX XXXXX XXX
XXXXXXXX X XXXXXXXXX XXX X XXXXXXXXX

Update on Friday, January 5^th, 2007

Major redaction [20] as you can tell—Bunny's friend requested I remove this
material, and since her friend didn't expect this to happen, I'm respecting
her friend's wishes.


[1] http://www.conman.org/people/spc/writings/misc/gothic.html
[2] http://www.conman.org/people/spc/writings/sketches/suicide.html
[3] http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/marx.htm
[4] http://www.olivercromwell.org/
[5] http://www.ayn-rand.com/
[6] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqNGhcdtMbc&eurl=
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Penn
[8] http://www.florida-cracker.org/archives/002319.html
[9] http://lenin.ussr.com/
[10] http://www.groucho-marx.com/
[11] http://www.johnlennon.com/
[12] http://www.answers.com/topic/marx-and-lennon-stamp-from-abkhazia-jpg
[13] http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/aj7.html
[14] http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wm25.html
[15] http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/fr32.html
[16] http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html
[17] http://www.starwars.com/bio/georgelucas.html
[18] http://www.starwars.com/
[19] http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb1421/is_200203/ai_n5787366
[20] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2007/01/05.1

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