brian / March 1, 2005 3:33 PM

www.lawngoosedesigns.com

MIkey B. / March 1, 2005 3:46 PM

Amelie soundtrack.
Amelie movie.
www.cockeyed.com

Mike / March 1, 2005 4:02 PM

I always take a walk if I'm really pissed off or depressed. The colder and shittier the weather is, the more it works.

Alice / March 1, 2005 4:13 PM

For getting out of a rut, a real vacation does wonders to restore my perspective. For the everyday stuff, I go for a walk or, if I have more time, I go on an urban adventure -- visit some place I've never been before, revisit old haunts, browse used bookshops, anything to shake me out of my routine.

robin.. / March 1, 2005 5:37 PM

if i need a quick jolt of "get up and do it" i usually turn to a DIY or crafty magazine; seeing projects gets me excited about mine, whether they be crafty, work, or otherwise. for frustration "stuck," the kind i get predictably every 8 to 10 months, a new piercing or tattoo (or even just a plan for a new tattoo) does the trick. and for long term blocks of the "crisis of personal confidence" variety, a good long write in the ol' journal is in store, with consultations of past entries to see how far i've come for proof that i can do it again.

meg / March 1, 2005 5:47 PM

Engage someone with whom I'm acquainted, but don't know really well, in conversation. People are inspiring, and finding out someone else's story, or just a part of it, makes me want to get busy with my own.

Dsharp / March 1, 2005 9:22 PM

Thelonious Monk.

wc / March 1, 2005 9:52 PM

Depending on the reason for the need for inspiration, I often turn to the following:

1. Bible
2. Marijuana
3. Sitting in silence and letting my brain go through a Finnegan's Wake-like stream
4. Talking to my Mom, Dad, or brother
5. Walking/Wandering around the city and people watching - something that never, ever fails to inspire

...in no particular order.

Brandy / March 1, 2005 10:36 PM

Travel. Sure, new locations/stimulus is great, but I really get revved up from the limbo on buses, trains and planes for stretches of time. A lot of great ideas have sprung from that space to think.

Emilie / March 2, 2005 12:44 AM

I think the best formula for juicin' up ideas is to move the body and feed the soul for a good long stretch. Go running with some happy Ramsey Lewis on the headphones. Play soccer with a random group of friends, preferrably without any out-of-bounds or time outs. Take a looong yoga class. Or have sex. Be in the moment, and the ideas flow after.

Emerson Dameron / March 2, 2005 8:40 AM

http://memepool.com/ usually does it. Or tilting my gaze about 45 degrees upwards as I walk to and from work. (Sometimes I bump into strangers, but it matters little.) Or blasting the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray" at peak volume, with my roommate's cat swatting at my hands.

Roni / March 2, 2005 9:16 AM

Sticking pins in the voodoo dolls I have of certain people.

OK...a positive way to get out of a rut. I find the playground to be inspiring to see all the kids with big futures ahead of them running around and playing. You want potential...it's all there and then some.

Craig / March 2, 2005 9:36 AM

Massive cocaine binge.

paul / March 2, 2005 10:02 AM

It depends on what I'm trying to get inspired for.

For work, I have a slew of bookmarked design sites for plagari... er inspiration. (i.e. core77.com and its Studio Bullitts tend to jump start ideas).

For dinner, a quick trip to an independent market, especially one filled with unfamiliar or exotic items is all I need, although the best food blogs, or any cookbook with Tim Turner's photography (Trotter's photog.) sometimes helps.

For general inspiration, any place that my eyes haven't seen yet works wonders, as does a conversation with a stranger in a bar.

Now all I need to work on is Motivation.

anne / March 2, 2005 10:32 AM

Remember all those things you wish you did more of? Do, like, 12 of them all in a row.

Andrew / March 2, 2005 3:16 PM

I tend to hit the magazine stand. Although I'm not a designer, the design mags often lead to inspiration on other things. I'm also partial to music and cooking magazines, for similar reasons.

K. / March 2, 2005 4:59 PM

When I'm in a rut, I go to Quimby's and pick up some zines.

Or I drink copious amounts of cheap wine and watch bad anime.

Maybe I'm not the best person to answer this question.

John Flowers / March 2, 2005 9:24 PM

If the weather's nice I take my old Volkswagen out for a spin.
A couple of miles with the windows down and some favoite tunes "Wild Horses" from the Rolling Stones or "Are You Gonna be My Girl" from Jet usually gets me ready for whatever's coming next.

If the weather's shitty, I take to my favorite chair with my Stratocaster and a cat or two and jam.

annfrankenstein / March 2, 2005 10:49 PM

It's a little bit of what a lot of people have mentioned which for me in particular boils down to: I do something that scares the hell out of me.

I am not comfortable with athletics: I got a team together to participate in a beginners triathlon just to see if we could do it and not die. We lived.

I like to travel but make excuses: so I leave on a road trip without thinking about where I am going with minimal planning (scary for me).

I get into a rut with the safe circle of people I am comfortable with who all have the same views as I do, so I accept invitations to do things with people I normally wouldn't want to spend much time with doing things they want to do.

I make declarations of my truest, deepest, darkest feelings and risk ridicule of those who know me and those who don't. You know, even though it'd be easier not to say anything at all. That kind of stuff.

Thurston / March 3, 2005 10:24 AM

Often times when I am in a rut it is because there is something I have not yet resolved with myself. I find that listening to Neil Young's On the Beach or Luna's Penthouse prepares me to confront myself about what the stiz is.

Nash Ballinger / December 12, 2006 12:06 AM

Classical singer Russell Watson postpones his forthcoming UK tour after undergoing brain surgery...