There is a grind at work that feels hopeless, and a toxicity that seems to have no antidote. The songs of Hadestown resonate on so many frequencies as a result. Particularly, questioning whether we should just accept our place in life as workers on the line - there is no hope of truly freeing ourselves of the pain and relentless shoveling - "Is this how the world is?" Hadestown seems to put in stark contrast a daily grind of work that seems hopeless - there is purposefully no end to the work in sight - and the poverty of the hippie-dippies who are "Livin' it Up On Top", celebrating their life and freedom but also facing constant hardships. You can have food and shelter, but the price is that you're chained to your work, you lose your humanity, you lose yourself. Or you can have freedom and sunshine, but the price is you're always hungry, tired, and cold, always running, always wanting.
There's a haunting undertone sung by the chorus / mine workers, if you don't listen carefully enough, you may miss the profundity of it.
What's the purpose of a man
If he turns his eyes away
Just to throw up both his hands
What's the use of his backbone
If he never stands with pride
If he turns his back on everyone
That he could have stood beside
We are lectured at with regards to ethics and safety, that if we see something, we should say something. But there are certain "untouchables" whom cannot be questioned or challenged or stood up to, even when everyone clearly knows they are in the wrong. That "untouchable" status is weirdly awarded to those quick to throw you under the bus for not adhering to oddly specific, irrelevant playbooks, but the minute you fight back, call you into the principal's office with HR. It is also awarded to anyone with high up in the ranks, especially those who have even higher-powered sponsors. What we end up hearing is, "Speak up against unethical or unsafe practices, unless they come from me, in which case, sit down, shut up, and do as you're told."
This hypocrisy goes hand in hand with the "If It's True" lyrics, that go like this:
I'll be on my way
If it's true what they say
But the ones who tell the lies
Are the solemnest to swear
And the ones who load the dice
Always say the toss is fair
And the ones who deal the cards
Are the ones who take the tricks
With their hands over their hearts
While we play the game they fix
And the ones who speak the words
Always say it is the last
And no answer will be heard
To the question no one asks
So I ask you as a brother
And I ask you as a friend
And I ask you as a lover
And I ask you once again
Is it true what they say?
We continue to be reassured with words, but the evidence lies in the contradictory actions. What's worse is that this constant churn of being told lies and being tricked and played and betrayed over and over again makes us start to question whether we're not really the insane ones. When you're the only sane person in the asylum, you have no comparable person against whom to validate your sanity. That doubt isn't so far from the "Doubt Comes In" that leads to end of the tale of Orpheus and Euridice.
Perhaps, Hadestown resonates most with me, because it tells me the end of the story, and also tells me that we're going to sing it again.
Cause, here’s the thing:
To know how it ends
And still begin to sing it again
As if it might turn out this time
I learned that from a friend of mine
I've seen the end of this story. Shutting down my greenfield plant in Panama City, laying off all of those employees,, dashing hopes of our community of bringing good jobs and business. All of that essentially because, like Orpheus, we thought we had done enough, but we were set up to fail from the beginning - we were never going to bring Euridice home. And now, the mothership site, and likely other sites, are going to shut down or be reduced, in part, because of that contract we were trying so desperately to save. We felt like we had gone to hell and back, and for naught. Yet, having seen it play out, I willingly came back to the exact same world, as if it might turn out this time.
I've always believed myself to be results-oriented, but if the logic tells me I won't get results, perhaps I'm more hope-oriented than I thought. I've always believed where there is a will, there is a way. Find another way. How many times must I sing the sad song before I will learn? And when I learn, which will I choose? To sell my soul, lose my humanity and work on the chain gang? Or live free but poor? Are there truly no other options?
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
Hadestown Reflection: Relating to the Toxic Grind at Work
Thursday, April 14, 2022
California Bucket List: San Francisco annd Bay Area
A California Bucket List could hardly be complete without some icons of "the city", "the Bay" and/or wine country. This trip was especially significant to Jaiman and I, because we had both gone separately before we knew each other, and I found some absolute gems I wanted to encore, while his trip was largely a bust in his opinion, so we had strong urges for different reasons to go back and do it right, and together. Moving to LA county afforded us the shortest road trip from home ever for us, so it was decided that we'd finally go! We picked a weekend and I took Thursday and Monday off (I have all Fridays off already) to make it an extended weekend. We did some rather unique things as well as some typical touristy things, and I hope this post helps you find some gems as well as prepare for what to expect in the touristy things.
Day 0 - Wednesday
We actually left Wednesday evening when I got off work, to break up the drive. It afforded us the opportunity to stop in Paso Robles, a last minute recommendation from one of my employees that ended up being a fantastic idea. I might go so far as to add Paso Robles to the California Bucket List - it made that big of an impression on me! We arrived pretty late and checked in to the hotel before venturing out for some dinner, so our options were limited. That ended up not being a problem at all, as it led us to The Alchemist's Garden, where the way-too-cool-for-me bartenders weren't the only ones brewing up amazing concoctions! Notably, they have a fancy setup for the absinthe Jaiman wanted to try, and my mojito cocktail was also quite delish. But the food was the most interesting, there. We started with a Sweet Potato Quasadilla which wasn't too sweet potato for me, and very cheesey. I got the Duck Chalupa with spicy slaw, and Jaiman got the Coffee Rubbed Skirt Steak with sweet potato mash. There were at least a half dozen other tantalizing options on the menu that we'd go back to try. And that was just one place in the picturesque downtown Paso Robles!
Day 1 - Thursday
I wanted to split up the drive for two reasons - for one, there was something very specific on Thursday evening that I wanted to make sure we go to (more on that later), and two, I was hoping to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway a bit, which takes a lot longer, but is so much more scenic. We compromised, and decided to 
drive direct to Santa Cruz, and take the scenic route from there. This allowed for an unplanned stop to get additional roller coaster credits in Santa Cruz.
The main planned event for Thursday was an adults-only evening at the immense immersive science museum, the Exploratorium. I had visited before, but during the day while they allowed those short people to run around. Given our dislike of other people's kids, we were both stoked to have an adult bevvy and kick it kid-free. Jaiman's only complaint: 4 hours was not enough time! And truly, it's the kind of place at which you could spend all day. We had no problem parking at a meter across the street, and booked the first entry time reservation to maximize our time (and still left wanting more). If I were to do it again, I'd have dinner before the event because the meal wasn't super special (although it did hit the spot after we worked up an appetite playing with the exhibits) to devote more time to the museum. I thought dining there would be nice with a view, but it was too dark to see much anyways. The gift shop is a lot of fun, too, but you could also do that outside of the limited adults-only hours to maximize time in the museum.
Day 2 - Friday
For Friday we knew we wanted to do Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. We have annual passes to Six Flags, so parking and admission were free, but if you have to buy one-day admission, this is one of the cheapest parks. The annual passes are good deals, though, if you're going to go to more than one park or go a few times, they pay for themselves pretty quickly. Labor Day weekend has the best deals.
Our focus was getting on the rides, which we were successful at early in the day, even waiting out the testing of Batman in anticipation of it opening. But unlike other Six Flags parks, this one has animals, too. We touched the rays, watched the sea lion and dolphin shows and laughed at the penguins waddling around. Unfortunately, we missed the land animals, they had gone in for the night by the time we made our way over there. So if I was going to do it again, I'd pop over there first thing and then worry about the rides, so I could see some giraffes!
The bag / loose item policy is always vague and often inconsistent for theme parks, so here's some ride-by-ride info to help you plan.
• Superman - Had cubbies - Can only have one train so you're pretty safe to leave things
• Batman - Had cubbies - the ride is loading / unloading continuously so leave items at your own risk
• Medusa - Had cupholders, some people left hats and other items - Can run more than one train so leave items at your own risk
• Kong - Had cupholders - Can have more than one train so leave items at your own risk
• Cobra (family ride) - Had cubbies, but it's mild enough you can probably just keep things in pockets or a bag at your feet - Only has one train so relatively safe
• Joker - Had big bins to hold items
That was also the order we rode the rides in, notably, Joker was closed almost ALL DAY... we wrapped up our day - we thought - with shopping and then literally were walking out of the final turnstile when we saw the Joker run - with people on it! The staff was kind enough to let us back in since we had just exited, but normally you would need a stamp. So, if you're interested in riding something that's been closed, get that hand stamp just in case. We couldn't believe how late it had opened, we thought certainly if it hadn't opened by two hours prior to the park closing, it wouldn't open at all that day. Six Flags showed us! Again, it worked out, and while that was the longest wait all day right around 45 minutes, we were grateful to snag that coaster credit.
For dinner, we drove over to the Fisherman's Wharf area for reservations at the 
Bistro Boudin. The food was incredible from start to finish. The Argentinian Empanadas appetizer could easily be an entrée, and they were served with beets and cauliflower which I really enjoyed as well as a creamy avocado-cilantro mousse, which Jaiman really enjoyed despite neither of us liking avocado normally. I went with the Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich, with amazing coleslaw which I don't usually like. Jaiman had the Angel Hair Pasta with Herb Grilled Shrimp.
Day 3 - Saturday
After a late night, we slept in maybe a little too late, and groggily made our way back to the car for one of my favorite drives ever. The drive up to Six Sigma Ranch and Winery is quite a haul, but it is gorgeous, packed with windy, hilly, tree canopy-covered roads and mountainy landscapes. We saw two deer on the way back. Once you turn in, there is a 2 mile dirt road passing by the vineyards and sweeping views with opportunities for wildlife sightings. There are hiking trails at the property, they just ask you to check in with them. We opted for a low-key visit with the day's special tasting, seated on the patio eating street tacos paired 
with Sauvignon Blanc. As we indulged, we were treated to the sights and sounds of dozens of blue birds and woodpeckers.
I like Six Sigma Ranch in particular because of the namesake certication which has been a major enrichment and part of my career professionally. Also, my first experience here has been other-worldly. One of these days, hopefully I'll make it for an actual tour.
After buying a case to bring home (I was gladly upselled), we made our way to Lagunitas Brewing Company. I had tentatively planned both Russian River Brewing Company and Lagunitas, but given the late time of day, we only really had time and energy for one, and Lagunitas was my preference between the two. Partially because I'd been to Russian River twice and Lagunitas only once with a tour, and partially because I prefer their beers and knew their food would be off the hook. I was right, suffice it at that.
Day 4 - Sunday
We managed to get home Saturday night at a decent time so we could get up earlier on Sunday. Our first planned stop was the Walt Disney Family Museum. I had visited this museum on my first trip to the area 10 years prior, and I tell everyone going to the area about it for this reason: I am not a museum person, but this museum moved me to literal tears. Plus, it's about all things Disney: the man himself (and his family), the start of an empire (and how it adapted over the years), and the theme park projects. M
r. Disney's vision for EPCOT is immensely more elaborate than the park we've come to know and enjoy, and while his vision was not even close to realized, I still find a lot of inspiration in it.
The Walt Disney Family Museum is located very near the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, so for planning purposes, if you're going to be taking in the site of the bridge, this would be a great addition to that outing (or vice-a-versa). 
We then ubered to Fisherman's Wharf to let our inner tourists out. Jaiman found a place called the Codfather at which he wanted to eat fish 'n chips, and I ate some of my own "chips" there as well. Jaiman ranked the fish very high in his taste, and that's saying something because he's quite picky in that arena. But the highlight for me, not being a fish eater myself, was the deep fried Oreos.
We wandered to Pier 39 and visited shops to our liking, most notably a Christmas store at which I found a Torii Gate ornament I just had to have. We walked to the north west part of the pier to find the viewing area for wild sea lions. It was super 
windy and a bit chilly, but we braved the cold to watch and listen to the ridiculous creatures fight and bark and wrestle and cuddle.
Jaiman wanted to shop at a specific store in JapanTown so we decided to uber that way and maybe eat some Japanese food for dinner. We were a little unpleasantly surprised to find that there was a Cherry Blossom Festival that was just wrapping up when we arrived, so there were lots of crowds everywhere in JapanTown and we were too late to join in on the festivities. Nevertheless, Jaiman got into the store he wanted to go to, but they were sold out of many of the items he was interested in because of the festival. We had not brought jackets for the day, but it started to get a little chilly so we visited a Japanese grocery store and then ubered back to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. We called it a night early, but had snagged reservations for Monday morning to go to Alcatraz.
Day 5 - Monday
I hadn't intended to do anything in town on Monday, just leisurely pack up and drive home. But instead, we got up early, packed up in a rush, checked out and left our bags at 
the hotel, then ubered over to the Alcatraz ferry terminal. It was a small boat over, so there weren't enough seats for everyone, but we managed to make the most of it by getting a look outside. It was chilly and rainy at the start of the morning, but the short hike up the hill to the prison got us warmed up and the sun came out by the time we finished the audio tour. The audio tour was free / included in the price - you can either use one of their devices or 
download the tour on your phone using the QR code and wifi at the dock. Jaiman opted to use their device while I opted to download it on my phone. I wished I had headphones, but it was just fine without. I stopped my tour to take lots of pictures. Unfortunately, Jaiman's tour restarted and there was no way to fast forward, so he missed out on the backend of the audio tour, but otherwise got most of it. After our audio tours, we walked around outside where, even though the sun had come out, it was very windy and chilly. We watched for birds and identified a few species, but the peregrine falcon alluded us. 
Since we got back to the pier around lunch time, we opted to eat lunch before leaving town, so we trekked up a couple terrific San Francisco hills to a pizzeria Jaiman found on Google. "Sometimes you have to let Google take the wheel," he said. Google did not disappoint! We landed at Tony's Pizza Napoletana and were floored by the menu. It had so many different styles of pizza, let alone different and pretty unique ingredient combinations. We had Tony's Double Roasted Garlic Bread with cheese, Classic Italian Diavola 
pizza with hot red pepper oil (hot oil pizza, anyone?), and the Detroit Rosa. All were incredible, and 
I wish I could try about ten more pizzas!
Sadly then, it was finally time to turn south. We took the fastest route home to Palmdale, which took us through farmlands, and got home in time to unpack and unwind just a bit before going to bed. Back to reality Tuesday. All in all, it was a well overdue trip that lived up to our long-standing aspirations, and we are already thinking about our next San Francisco visit!
Planning Tips
- Pick the main things you want to do, at least one per day, and then arrange your travel dates and activities around the specific activity restrictions.
- Alcatraz tickets can sell out, so you may want to plan and buy those in advance. We lucked out, but had to stay longer than I expected on Monday as a result.
- The adults-only Exploratorium events only happens every Thursday evenings.
- The Six Sigma tours happen only on Saturdays. We didn't make it for a tour, but landed ourselves at an event anyways.
- For difficult-to-get-in restaurants, look at what reservations you can get on OpenTable if it's available.
- Check for festivals / events that may alter your ability to visit areas and/or may be of interest to add to your itinerary.
- Then arrange other far-flung activities around geographic proximity.
- The two breweries I wanted to visit (Lagunitas and Russian River) were both relatively on the way back from the winery, so we opted to them the same day (even if that did imply a lot of drinking - ah well, vacation, right?).
- The Charles M. Schulz Museum is in the same area (Santa Rosa), so if that's of interest, you may want to plan that in.
- Finally, arrange the remaining items based on expected crowds.
- We opted to do Six Flags on a Friday which would limit the crowd because some people would be in school or at work. Monday or Thursday would have likely been even better, but it was minimal on Friday so that worked out nicely.
- We went to the Walt Disney Family Museum as soon as it opened on Sunday to minimize interactions with crowds, and then dedicated the rest of the day to the tourist stuff at Fisherman's Wharf.
Friday, December 31, 2021
Ringing in 2022 - Resolutions in the Pandemic
I usually start all New Year's posts with a reflection on accomplishments for the last year, and general status of my well-being. But it's no secret that 2021 kind of stunk, and much of 2020 was about the same. Nearing two years in a pandemic means we've missed out on some really big Bucket List / Life List achievements, we're limiting travel and get-togethers, and we're meeting more virtually than in person at work. For an extreme extrovert, it's been rough. And despite some positives like my new 4/10 schedule, I'm not healthier or more productive in my personal life than usual. I'm tired and anxious and bored and stifled. 2021 will be the first year since I started my Life List in which I didn't complete at least two things off my list. One of those items was literally cancelled because of COVID-19. So, while I'm usually the eternal optimist, I'm coming into 2022 a little defeated.
Not all is bad, as my 2021 photographic recap indicates.
In January, I treated Jaiman to a
falconry experience for his birthday that was pretty neat. Then the San 
Diego
Zoo re-opened and we were there 45 minutes after little Eleonor the giraffe was
born, kicking off one of my favorite things to do - visiting and walking around
the huge local zoo.
In March, we fed the giraffes at
the zoo, and my friend Laura visited from Phoenix. We 
In April, we
went to Yosem
In May, Danielle and William came to visit and we
went to multiple museums and the zoo, as well as fun places to eat and drink.
We also went to Las Vegas and ate at Hell's 
In June, my sister Linda
and her family visited, and we rented a boat and explored Coronado Island with
them. We househunted in 
In August, we went out with my colleague, Andrew, and his girlfriend, and visited Tucson to see my family for Dad's birthday. We got the keys to our new house in Palmdale, and started working on it right away.
We started November with a Lego Brick Fest
and 
In December, 
2021 by the numbers:
1 Life List Achievement Completed for Me
(Tandem bicycle ride)
1 Life List Achievement Completed for Jaiman
(IAPPA)
3 California Bucket List Achievements Completed
(Yosemite, California Science Center, Vasquez Rocks)
7 Theme Parks
Visited
(Sea World, Six Flags, Busch Gardens, Discovery Cove, Universal Orlando, Disneyland, DCA)
8 Museums Visited
(Balboa Park: Model Train Museum, Art Museum, Automotive Museum, Air & Space Museum, Museum of Us, Museum of Natural History; California Science Center, Blackbird Air Park)
12 New Roller Coasters
(Air Grover, Cobra's Curse, Kumba, Montu, Scorpion, SheiKra, Tigris, Velocicoaster, Manta, Electric Eel, West Coast Racers)
43 Roller Coaster Rides Total
31 Books Read
(See list on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2021/50404019)
All in all, I guess it's not been terrible. Nevertheless, I am hoping for 2022 to be an improvement over the last ~two years.
Here are the things I want to work on in 2022 (dare I say, Resolutions):
- Improve my
Vocabulary and Professional "Polish"
- Double savings (and manage investments to minimize potential losses if stocks go south)
- Work on "Smart" innovations / automation
- Complete at least 3 Life List items
- Could include:
- Recumbent bike
- Penny farthing bike
- Golf in Cabo
- Press grapes
- Ice skate in snow
- Be an extra in a movie
- Send in a Postsecret
- Drive a race car
- Ski in Colorado
- Learn to use a slide rule
- Underwater hotel
- Eat at a Winger's
- Complete some "moderate"-level home improvement projects
- Such as:
- Staircase railing / front room - paint
- Downstairs full bath – wallpaper and replace light
- Laundry room – wallpaper
- Dining room – paint and replace light
- Craft room – Paint and organize
- Office area – Organize and fix up cabinets
What are you hoping to do in 2022? Given the pandemic, I suspect resolutions will look a little different this year. Maybe you want to reconnect with family or friends, or get engaged with charity or mentoring. Maybe you want to get your home office organized with a refreshed style. Maybe you want to try something new, cook a new dish or try a new art form, take an online dance class or study a language. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
California Bucket List(s)
So Cal Bucket List
Between San Diego and the LA area, there are a million things to do! These are the things I either recommend, or have yet to do and want to before I move away from the great state of California!
■S
The giraffes are my absolute favorite, and on certain days you can feed them! Also don't miss the koalas, polar bears, penguins, walk-in aviaries, elephants and big cats! If you have extra days and love animals, head north to the Safari Park and make sure to go on the kangaroo walkabout!
■Universal Studios Theme Park - The Jurassic Park / Jurassic World water ride is the best!
■Ballast Point Brewery - Whether you go to the location in Miramar, or my favorite in downtown Little Italy, the food is unbelievable, and pairs great with the well-known craft beer.
■Six Flags Magic Mountain - Home of Goliath, X2 and Full Throttle, not to mention my all-time favorite coaster, Twisted Colossus, Six Flags packs a day full of some of the best roller coasters in the west!
■Comicon Museum at Balboa Park - This museum never opened while we lived in San Diego, but we made a trip in early 2022 to visit!
■Legoland - Especially if you're a fan of Lego like we are, this is a must-see. Unfortunately, the roller coasters are made for very little kids so it's not great for adults in that respect, but the Lego creations are just so much fun to peruse, it's definitely worth a visit as an adult.
■Stone Brewing Co in Escondido - This one you have to go to the source; beer garden and brewery tour, plus fantastic food and merch awaits you in Escondido. Worth the drive!
■Idyllwild - I read about this place somewhere and decided I should go visit; it was a cute little old-timey town.
■Disneyland / DCA - Obviously, one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area.
■Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park, San Diego
■Pizza Port - Take your pick on locations, they all feature good food and fantastic craft beer. The one in Carlsbad is the best.
■La Brea Tar Pits - Free to walk around outside, but worthwhile museum with paid admission (or get a free pass from the library)!
■Sea World San Diego - Whether you're there for the animals or there for the roller coasters, you'll find something you'll like here. Make sure to dip your hands in the touch pools at the front for a personalized fish manicure.
■Coronado Island - A fun little community with cute shops, beach views and the best pasta at Island Pasta!
■Getty Center - An art museum with fantastic architecture, a tram that takes you from the parking lot and a neat garden labyrinth with views over the city!
■Giant Dipper, Belmont Park in San Diego □Catalina Island
■Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park, San Diego
□Shell Beach
□Gibbon Conservation Center
□Grater Grilled Cheese
□Broken Yolk Café
■Pantages Theater
■Vasquez Rocks ■Donuts! Not at any specific place, just make sure to get some donuts in LA / San Diego!
Ultra-local (to us) Palmdale-area Bucket List
■Broken Bit Steakhouse
■Blackbird Air Park
□Rose City Pizza
□Fatboy's Tacos
■Raven's Nest
■Flying Nun House (Apple Valley)
■Bravery Brewery - One of the dozens of great breweries, but we haven't been yet!
Nor Cal Bucket List
■Walt Disney Family Museum - While I'm not really a "big" museum fan, this is one I recommend to anyone remotely interested in Disney, whether or not they like museums. It was interesting, interactive, and moving, to say the least.
■Six Sigma Winery - For nerds like me, you understand what it means to apply Six Sigma principles to growing grapes for wine. One of my most memorable wine tasting experiences occurred here, and it had a killer drive from San Fran!
■Russian River Brewing Company
■Boudin Sour Dough Factory
■Lagunitas Brewing Company
■Yosemite National Park
■Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
■Giant Dipper Roller Coaster, Santa Cruz
■Exploratorium Science Center
Saturday, October 9, 2021
DIY Lego Artwork: Silhouette Templates for Lego Mosaics
As you may know if you've read my other How To blog posts, I use PowerPoint to do much of my designing. It's super silly in some ways, but it is because I am comfortable with the tools and it is a nearly universal software that most people have. What I'll describe here is a pretty easy process that doesn't require much artistic ability, just a lot of patience and diligence. We'll first create a basic transparent grid of one color, use a silhouette graphic for reference, and then "trace" the reference graphic by filling some of the squares a different color.
1. To start, open up a new, blank presentation. Draw a square by using the rectangle tool and holding down Shift to ensure the height and width are equal. Make it relatively small, since you'll be making a lot of these. Mine ended up being 0.26" by 0.26".
2. Use the Format Shape options to choose the color you want as the background color for your design.
3. Increase the Transparency of the Fill to about 32%. This is really important, so you'll be able to see the reference image later.
4. Add a Solid line that will be visible as well, this well help you see the borders of each shape, both when you're duplicating them and creating the grid, and later when you're drawing your silhouette. I used 1.75 pt Width and a 
fairly dark color.
5. Now, we get to the tedious copy and paste steps. A word of warning, it is worth spending the time to make sure the lines are very straight and lined up here. Copy the square and paste it. PowerPoint will put the new square slightly offset.
6. Grab that new square and drag it next to the first one. Automatic guidelines will temporarily appear and 
help you ensure that it matches the alignment of the first square. When you're satisfied, release the mouse. If you're not happy with the alignment, you can click on it and move it again, or use the arrow keys on your keyboard to adjust slightly.
7. When you're happy with that alignment, copy both squares and paste, to make a 2x2 square. You'll notice the guidelines will disappear if they're not well aligned and will re-appear when they are aligned.
8. Keep copying and pasting bigger and bigger rectangles or squares until you have the desired size (you can keep track of this by making a 2x2, then 4x4, then 8x8, etc). I chose a 32 x 32 grid because that's one of the sizes for the base plates, so that would be 
easy to mount because it doesn't require additional plates. For reference, the Lego art pieces are 48 x 48. If you plan to purchase one of those sets in order to re-purpose the frames and pieces, then you'll want to make your grid 48 x 48 to match. Another note: when you have the top half, if it looks like you're going to exceed the size of the slide, you may want to slide the whole grid up slightly above the slide so that the bottom portion doesn't try to snap to the edge of the slide.
9. Now, if you don't have a reference graphic you want to emulate already, use Google Images and search for the topic you're interested in and use the word "silhouette" in search if needed. Ideally, look for a simple graphic with a white or transparent background and a black or very dark graphic.
10. Copy and paste the image into a new slide and enlarge it if needed. Use the
11. Remove Background feature if needed to remove distracting things in the background. If the silhouette is the wrong color and you can find a good graphic to use that has the right color, you can also utilize the Color and Corrections tools in PowerPoint to make white outlines black, etc.
12. Copy the updated graphic to the slide with your grid. Adjust the size of the reference graphic to fit in the grid but also to take up as much space as possible in the grid.
13. If the "shape" containing the graphic isn't extending beyond the grid, it's a good idea to use the Crop tool to actually extend the shape. This will allow you to select the graphic to delete it later.
14. It's also a good idea to make a copy of this finished reference graphic to a blank slide just in case.
15. Now, go back to the slide with the grid and the reference silhouette graphic. Right-click on the reference graphic and select "Send to Back". Since you made the fill of the squares transparent, you should see the silhouette still coming through but less clear.
16. Select just one box in the grid which is showing inside the silhouette, and change the color to whatever you want to use as your foreground. In the example, I just used white as my foreground color, but because it still has the transparency setting, it looks grey because the reference graphic is black. This is fine for now, you'll see it more clearly later.
17. As much fun as selecting each box and changing the fill each time would be, there is a REALLY helpful tool here that's going to make this a bit faster: the Format Painter. If you've never used the Format Painter before, now's the time to learn. First, click the newly colored square (the white square in my example), then Double-Click on Format Painter. Now, every square you click will turn that color (and take on all formatting) until you either click outside of the shapes or hit Esc on your keyboard. Be sure not to hit your reference graphic (use Undo if you do).
18. Using this tool, you can start "coloring" the area that your silhouette shows. Don't worry if you go too far, you can always use the Format Painter to go back over squares you want to change back. Keep "coloring" until your silhouette is mostly traced / covered. If you want to see how it looks or check your technique, you hit Esc on your keyboard and delete the reference silhouette graphic - your art is taking shape! Use Undo to put it back in place.
19. If you do other steps before putting it back, use the copy of the graphic you made on the other slide, copy and paste it back on your main working slide and then use the "Send to Back" function again.
20. When you're happy with your "colored" pattern, delete the reference silhouette graphic and then select all of the squares and change the line to "No Line". This will give you a better view of what it will look like. Use Undo or add the solid lines back to use for a template.
Voila! You now have a template for making your own custom Lego art. Time to go to the Lego Store for Pick-a-Brick or order online to get the pieces you need.
What are you going to create? Post pictures in the comments!
My finished product shown here, I added a sun behind my palm tree and used regular white bricks instead of the circles for the palm tree and frame. I needed the purple and yellow dots from two Marilyn Monroe sets and two 32x32 white baseplates to make this.
Pro-tip: Employ kids or significant others to help you out by defining so-many rows or columns that are one solid color, to lighten your load. Using my palm tree example, I had 9 columns on one side and 4 columns on the other side that were going to be all the same color, as highlighted in darker blue here. You can use painter's tape to tape over the area you don't want them to place bricks on, if needed.
Update: I made a second one in different colors!
Here's another example of a simple custom Lego Mosaic piece I created for a giraffe with sunglasses:
I used this AI-generated graphic as the inspiration:
Here's the final art:
For more complex graphics, this website is a great, free way to generate instructions: https://lego-art-remix.com/
Note that in Step 1 under Resolution, you can input the size of your canvas.