Who are you and why are you doing this?

My name is Dale Lyles.  I am a retired educator who has spent his life Making The Thing That Is Not: creating.  I have been the artistic director of a theatre company, a choir director, a website designer, a composer, a painter, a writer, an actor, a dancer, and above all, a teacher.

This website is to promote what I have found to be effective ways to allow yourself to be the creative human that you want to be.  I've written a book — Lichtenbergianism: procrastination as a creative strategy — which is an incredibly handy source of inspiration.  You should buy it. (There’s also a A Young Person’s Guide to Lichtenbergianism!)

NOW

September 2026: for the time being, just a bit of coasting while every now and then taking a whack at something on this list; another Bug book; working on video lessons for CREATE•U; getting serious about learning Dorico, then composing “two showstopping dance numbers”; The Beethoven Blueprint (Hire me.)

Next: starting to think about a piece for a pas de deux for Southern Arc; collaborating on a satirical script;

Reading: Don’t Call It Art, Austin Kleon; Glorious Exploits, Ferdia Lennon; more back issues of The Sun magazine that I am willing to admit

Watching: Ride or Die

Listening: random stuff