i wanna make a cardboard world...

I watched a short film last night about a 9 year old boy, Caine, who really loves arcades and decides to make a cardboard one in his dad's automotive parts shop.  He's super creative and makes a bunch of different games, machines and all the accoutrements that go with an arcade.  His first customer is a filmmaker who... Well, just watch this video yourself.  It's worth the 11 minutes, I promise.  I must have watched it 4 or 5 times by now and it still gets me.

The dad in this movie is a perfect example of supportive parenting.  As a little creative kid, I was lucky enough to have parents who encouraged my pursuits.  (My mom did a fantastic job homeschooling me in elementary school and I made some awesomely creative stuff as a part of my schoolwork.)

This kid is so creative and an amazing problem solver.  He'll obviously be super successful someday, so the people behind this film made a website, Caine's Arcade, where they set up a scholarship fund.  As they say, "Imagine what this kid could do with an engineering degree!"  I love it!  People all over the country are watching this video and loving this kid as much as I do, donating a buck or two and in 8 or so years, he's gonna have every educational opportunity available to him!  (It's over $100,000 so far.)

The little girl in me who took a JC Penny's bridal catalogue and started a fake wedding planning business loves the idea of this movie. (I'm totally jealous that I didn't think of charging strangers for my services; I gave them away for free to my friends!)  I think about having my own kids someday and how to foster their creativity.  How do you make sure kids know that if they work hard, experiment, and trust their inner artist (crikeys, that sounds cheesy), they can really create something special (even cheesier)?  I better have kids with the Corder/Howard gene of "Dude, I don't exactly know how, but I'm pretty sure I can figure out how to make that myself."  Nature/nurture, whatever, they'll have it.

Oh, and I know I made some of you reading this design weddings with me.
"Ok, so you're going with bridesmaid dress #4R79S2 in lavender #5P28D3.  What shoe do you want again?"

I'm pretty sure this is what all my planned weddings looked like.