Dean Does

I’ve found myself, with a growing sense of both longing and trepidation, wanting to share my point of view on the various hobbies and passions that I’ve accumulated thus far along the way. I’ve considered starting a youtube channel, and still very much desire to pursue that avenue, but whenever I start an idea for a video, it usually only exists in the form of a script. This blog is my first step into those waters. I am an absorber of information, but it doesn’t stay. The details of my passions are absorbed, shared, and eventually disposed of as my brain’s proverbial hard drive requires more space to be available for whatever new addition I am looking to implement. In many things, I am a generalist, or more accurately, an enthusiast. I am enthused by a wide array of subjects, but an expert in none. I often wish that I could focus on one of my passions to develop my skill into something closer to mastery, but I fear that this desire is something that will take much more elbow grease and determination than I have yet been willing to muster. In the meantime, I still wish to share my enthusiasm and more accurately, my point of view, on these various interests. These will include, but aren’t limited to; videogames, film, music, art, and anything relating to creativity. Adam Savage says that “Creativity” is somewhat of a nebulous and intangible descriptor, so I choose, as he does, to use the phrase “Point of View”, because it more accurately describes, to me anyway, what art is. As soon as you have developed a unique point of view on a task, even within the domain of the practical or utilitarian, you’ve become an artist. “Point of View” does not concern itself with what is and isn’t art. It is a simple and understandable Turing test for creation, allowing for any and all to embrace, or reject it. It really comes down to what each individual sees in their work, art, or commerce? There are no doubt, trash collectors, sanitation workers, delivery drivers, hairstylists, pornstars, fetish-wear designers, fast-food workers, etc, who see their work in one of these two ways, again, art or commerce? I don’t mention this wide breadth of occupations to disparage them, or single them out, I stand with peoples of all kinds, and moral, or class based judgement is not something that concerns itself with what is and isn't an act of creation. The main point is this; whether or not you understand something, is irrelevant.

You don’t have to love your job, and depending on the labor, attribute to it any kind of special point of view for its accomplishment, some jobs you really only see as a way to earn a living, which is honorable in itself. But within each of the jobs I listed, there are going to be more than a handful of people, who’ve found a unique way of solving the various problems in said job, or delivering the service requested, with a point of view that only their vision, and the labor to match, can deliver. Art, music, film, woodworking, among many other avenues of creation, offer a tangible and visual representation of one’s point of view in a very direct way, but we can dispel the idea that some things are, and some things are not, art. As soon as you have imparted your unique point of view on a subject matter, in my book, you can call it art. You don’t have to, it may be as simple as, you don’t feel the need to, because while this task does offer an ability for one to express, the very medium of expression is not one of priority. As an example from my own life, I work a normal job loading delivery trucks. I have a point of view on organization, but I don’t feel that my expression of this POV, in this task, is nearly as meaningful as the other ways in which I express myself, therefore, I’m not going around espousing the merits of my labor as some kind of artistic expression, because I have other works I would rather point to. I’m certain that many who work a trade, have found unique methodologies to being successful, or have compiled a set of methodologies that aligns with their point of view as to how a task should be accomplished, and they would be fully justified in describing their work using the phrase “its an art”. That phrase implies a sort of precision and sensitivity to detail, as well as an applied knowledge only gained through experience and curation.

As I mentioned, I love organization. The feeling that I get when I organize or redesign my office, studio, or garage, is to me, indistinguishable from the feeling that I get when creating music. How I impart my point of view on my space is unquestionably an act of creation and expression. I don’t mean to convey that I believe that my workspace should be front and center on some magazine as an artistic statement in and of itself, but it is undoubtedly expressive of how I work, and how I prefer to organize a space. If you are someone who doesn't believe themselves to be an artist, I would encourage you to reflect upon any task where you imparted your point of view on it. I’m inclined to believe that everyone, whether identifying as an artist or not, is a creator, and the desire to create is universal, as is having a point of view. We’ve all had to make up our own way of doing things, some things are taught and many other things are left for us to figure out ourselves. Maybe some of the processes or knowledge that you thought was universal, is more unique to you than you had previously figured.

All this to say, welcome to Dean Does, a place where I, Dean, share what I’ve done. I suppose, considering my exploits of the last month, that many of these posts will be about the games I’m playing, movies and TV I’ve watched, the books I am reading (currently reading lots of Tolkien), recent 3D Prints that I’ve enjoyed, and things that I have created or am struggling to create. It will exist as somewhat of a public journal, to help, if nothing else, document and express some of my points of view, lest they be forgotten to time.

January 21st, 2026

. - Dean J. Reynolds