Cascading Place Names - The Story of St Albans

St Albans (the town where rapper LL Cool J grew up) in the New York City borough of Queens is named after St Albans in Hertfordshire, UK, which is in turn named after St Alban.

Jevon's Paradox

Jevon's Paradox occurs when improvements in resource efficiency lead to an increase, rather than a decrease, in total consumption of a resource.

It is based on an observation detailed in 1865 by William Stanley Jevons observing that as steam engines became more efficient, consumption of coal increased rather than decreased. LED light bulbs are a modern example.

Skagit Valley Washington

The Skagit Valley hosts an annual tulip festival every Spring. Skagit is also home to migrating birds, such as snow geese coming down from the Artic in Autumn.

Cueva de los verdes

This means Green Caves in English and is an attraction in the North of Lanzarote. It is a lava tube open to the public in Haria. It was a hideout for locals sheltering from invasions. La Graciosa island is also in the North.

Europe's Most Touristy City

Dubrovnik, Croatia, is Europe's most touristy city. In 2025, it welcomed 6.5m tourists for a city of only 40,000 inhabitants.  Croatia is on the Adriatic Coast.

Creativity Hacks

Change your input to change your output.

Example:

• Read something outside your domain (architecture, anthropology, game design)
• Listen to music you normally wouldn't
• Walk a different route
• Watch a documentary on something you know nothing about

Why it works: novel inputs create new mental connections.

The Creative Confidence Podcast

IDEO's Creative Confidence Podcast is here. Topics covered include Storytelling for Entrepreneurs.

In the above podcast, the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, by Chip and Dan Heath, is referenced.