If you just need to access Microsoft Paint but cannot locate the shortcut, you'll need to access the main file location. Regardless of your operating system, the Start icon will be in the lower left-hand corner of your screen. Click on it to open the Start menu. Even when you accidentally delete a shortcut, you don't actually remove the physical program from your computer; however, finding the actual file can be difficult. In this case, you'll use the Run program to access the root Paint file. In the search bar at the bottom of the Start menu, type in "Run" without the quotation marks. The top entry should say "Run" with the phrase "Desktop app" beneath it. Click on this entry to open the Run program.  Older operating systems such as Windows XP will have a shortcut to Run in the start menu; in this case, simply click on the Run icon to open the Run program. You can also use the search function within the Start menu to locate Paint, through which you can create a shortcut by right-clicking the Paint icon and selecting "create shortcut" from the drop-down menu. In the Run dialogue box, type in "mspaint.exe" without the quotation marks, then click on "OK" to search for Microsoft Paint. After a slight delay, this should bring up the Microsoft Paint interface. When you go to save your creation, consider choosing the save location as your desktop, since it allows for the easiest access.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- Open the Start menu. Open the Run program. Use Run to open Paint. Use MS Paint as usual.


Much of what we now celebrate as priceless art was really just Leonardo Da Vinci's daily sketch book, which he recorded not because he was actively trying to make a masterpiece, but because the creative act was integrated to such a degree in his everyday life that it became the way he processed thoughts, writing them down with accompanying illustrations. Writing forces you to think in a different way, articulating your nebulous thoughts as specifically and concretely as possible.  Exercise: Come up with a list of topics on which you'll thoroughly journal over the course of a day. Big topics you've got opinions about, like "television" or "Bob Dylan" would be perfectly appropriate. Start addressing the issue by writing at the top of the page, "On Dylan" and writing, drawing, and free-associating your way through the writing. If you come to a place you're unsure about, do some research. Learn more. Cultivate a rich vocabulary and use accurate words in your descriptions. Use similes, metaphors, and analogies to capture abstract concepts and seek connections between your ideas, continually investigating the roil of your thoughts. Describe things in terms of tactile senses--touch, smell, taste, feel--and also in terms of their import, their symbolism as you're experiencing it, and their significance.  Exercise: Read Charles Simic's poem "Fork". In it, he describes the most pedestrian and everyday object both accurately and with the strangest of eyes. One of Leonardo's mottoes was saper vedere (knowing how to see), upon which he built his work in arts and science.  While you're journaling, develop a sharp eye for seeing the world and turn it onto luminous particularities. Write down images you see throughout the day, striking things, bits of graffiti, gestures, strange shirts, strange bits of language, anything that strikes you. Record it. Become an encyclopedia of tiny moments and record those moments in words and images.  Exercise: You don't have to journal like it was the 15th century. Use your camera phone to take lots of pictures on the way to work to liven up your commute. Make yourself actively seek out 10 striking images on your way and take pictures of them. On your way home, look back through the morning pictures and think about what it was that struck you. Look for the connections in the chaos. Leonardo Da Vinci is the Platonic ideal of the Renaissance Man: equally notable as a scientist, artist, and inventor, Leonardo would be doubtless confused and frustrated by modern notions of a "career." It's hard to imagine him sullenly carting off to work at an office, putting in his hours and going home to watch "House of Cards." If you're interested in a subject or a project that's outside of your everyday experiences, call that an opportunity rather than a challenge. Embrace the luxury of modern life for the instantaneous access we have to information, the freedom we have to pursue experiences, and the limitlessness of it.  Exercise: Write up a bucket list of subjects and projects you want to accomplish over the next several months or years. Always wanted to get a draft of a novel together? Or learn banjo? There's no sense in waiting for it to happen. It's never too late to learn.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- Keep a detailed and illustrated journal. Write descriptively. See clearly. Cast a wide net.


This can help you check that your answer is reasonable. To estimate, round whatever numbers you are working with to numbers that you can easily manipulate in your head. Then perform the calculation and note the estimated value. When you complete the calculations using the actual numbers, compare how close your answer is to your estimate. If it is in the ballpark of your estimate, you know your calculations are likely correct. For example, if you are calculating 11,876÷39{\displaystyle 11,876\div 39}, you can round 11,876 up to 12,000, and 39 up to 40. Then, you can calculate in your head using basic math facts that 12,000÷40=300{\displaystyle 12,000\div 40=300}. Then complete you exact calculation. If you get that 11,876÷39=304{\displaystyle 11,876\div 39=304}, remainder 20{\displaystyle 20}, you can see that your answer and estimate are close, and therefore your calculation is likely correct. You shouldn’t use a calculator to complete your math work, unless your teacher tells you it is okay. However, there is nothing wrong with using a calculator to check your answer once you have finished calculating.  If you discover with the calculator that your answer is incorrect, don’t simply change your answer. Go back through your work and see where you made a mistake in the calculating process, then show the necessary work needed to find the right answer. If you don’t show your work on a math problem, your teacher might think you did everything on a calculator and won’t give you any credit. Inverse operations are opposite operations that undo one another. Addition and subtraction are inverse operations. Multiplication and division are inverse operations. You can create true equations with the same three numbers using inverse operations. For example, if you find that 560÷16=35{\displaystyle 560\div 16=35}, you should be able to make a multiplication problem with the same three numbers by multiplying the divisor (the number you are dividing by) by the product: 16×35=560{\displaystyle 16\times 35=560}. If the equation you make with the inverse operation is true, then your calculation is correct.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary --
Make an estimate. Use a calculator. Use the inverse operation.