November 12, 2000. Today is Sunday, I have an awkward feeling today, and I am at a creative low. Background and Pattern: For the last year I have had constant nightmares. Not every night, but I would say that I don't go a week without a nightmare where I wake up feeling nauseous or upset. Currently I have been gradually getting more and more nightmares, which I believe to cause my creativity to become slim. I have been curious about creativity since I was in high school. I always wondered about these aspects (patterns) and how they affect creativity: Music, sleep, company, environment, or even cloths. Cloths? You ask, well that attributes comfort. I believe comfort to be a large attribute to creativity. One cannot be creative when nervous. The offices of true creative minds look more like their house and bedroom than an office, this is because that environment is where one feels comfortable, and hence I usually do all of my writing in my room. Brain storming in groups has been proven to be better than if one would brain storm by ones self. Yet, I believe it to opposite while ones writing. One cannot fully be concentrated on their writing while others are around them. Sleep is something I haven't figured out yet, I have had very creative days when I have had no sleep, but for the most part I believe that a healthy amount of sleep, not below 6 and not above 9 hours, will cause for the best creativity. Music, this is hard to say because it depends all on ones taste, but I will tell what is true for myself. First, if I need creative music, I look for a band that has a high voice because it drives me to absorb the music and think with it driving my ideas. Bands like Dream Theater, Radiohead, Muse, Rush, Led Zepplin, Live, or Moby will fuel the creativity fire. On the other hand if I'm studying for a test I want something that is very easy to listen to and ignore, this is true for music that I would want to fall asleep to. These bands include Tom Waits, Ballads of the 80's, Cinderella, William Burroughs, The Cars, Boston, Chicogo, Bob Dylan, Kansas, or even the great Pink Floyd. On the other hand, if I am working, or am doing any kind of accounting with number crunching, I need something that is going to drive me to work fast! In this case I am looking for something with a heavy rift and speedy guitar. Band like Megadeth, AC/DC, Rush (can be used for both), Collective Soul, The Cure, Space, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi, Stabbing Westward, Alice Cooper, Poison, Motley Crue are just a few that can intensify your drive to get everything done in an effective manor. All of these bands have certain categories that they fit because they all have similar patterns to them. And there you have a creative look into my mind and my use of music, while I currently listen to Radiohead for a creative edge.