Archive for March, 2009
Quote, “Dear web celebrity who never follows anyone back, I think you’re missing the point of social media.” Oooooh, Twitter burn. And from a self-proclaimed Social Media Rockstar no less.
For the love of the internet, will everyone just STOP thinking they have the market cornered on how I’m supposed to use the web? You don’t. You don’t know. In fact, you probably don’t know what will be the most successful strategy for other people because you’re not them and you don’t have the same needs.
The web is not one-size-fits-all. Please keep your social media shoehorn to yourself.
It’s official, I’m apparently powerless against the female voice + ukulele combination. To wit: Sophie Madeleine. I’d stop listening, but you know… the whole apparently powerless thing…
Adam Spooner‘s new blog Lead Neophyte is all about learning. I love the focus, design details, and (especially) the name.
[Post-college] I worked out what I was good at and what I was bad at. It became pretty clear what I wanted to do. I was really only interested in design. I was neither interested, nor good at building a business.
— Jonathan Ive, Senior VP of Industrial Design at Apple
Almost every time I’ve been in-between fulltime gigs (and sometimes when I’m in the midst of one) there’s a groundswell of people who tell me I need to start my own business. They list plenty of reasons, and approach the conversation as a foregone conclusion.
And maybe one day, I’ll actually agree with them. But not today.
1. Endlessly curating the Museum of Macro Flower Photography
2. Your wardrobe only consists of too-short t-shirts
3. Your wardrobe only consists of Too $hort t-shirts
4. Cubicles
5. Your car stereo plays Vitas non-stop
I have learned there is no harm in charging oneself up with delusions between moments of valid inspiration.
— Steve Martin
Do yourself a lunchbreak favor and search the YouTubes for “The Owl”. (via Paul Armstrong)
Noah Stokes officially has the best web developer website ever.
Not to be outdone by the creativity of how some artists are utilizing the web to self-promote and release their music, frequent session guru and recent NIN touring drummer Josh Freese’s new album has a tiered pricing structure from $7 (digital download) to $75,000 (which includes, among other things, an offer to take shrooms, drive Danny from Tool’s Lamborgini and for Freese to play in your band for a month and release a 5 song E.P. about your life.)
Mrs. Blankenship has been doing all manner of research on semi-scary global corporation Monsanto and how far their reach extends. The first of her thoughts on Monsanto and buying seeds for your garden are here. From Agent Orange co-creator to trusted agriculture company—quite the transformation.
Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide whether it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they’re deciding, make even more art.
— Andy Warhol
Mrs. Blankenship and I took a stroll through the South Carolina Botanical Garden this weekend. The Japanese Cherry Blossoms are getting all gorgeous on us. Also, I took this with my phone, which is happiness-inducing.
1. Being gifted a Paul McCobb coffee table
2. Driving Zac’s Audi, sunroof open, on long, curvy country roads
3. Finally finishing The West Wing, which we started watching in Boston in July of ’07
4. Watching some of the NCAA Wrestling National Championships
5. Hearing Iowa wrestler Brent Metcalf respond to an interviewer’s statement “Your opponent was content to sit back…” with “My opponent was content to lose by three points.”
Why should I support Internet Explorer 6? Because it’s my job. Articles and thought processes like this are one of the multitude of reasons why I’m a big Noah Stokes fan.
I’m jaw-on-the-floor astounded by Naturally 7′s acapella skills. I am sad that Universal Music Group disables embedding of YouTube videos by default. I am made happy again by their take on Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight.
An interview with Kyle Blue, Design Director of Dwell Magazine. Despite my once and current misgivings about Dwell‘s recent redesign, Kyle and his team have been one of the more consistent design inspirations for me over the last 6 or 7 years.
Good golly, this live.squarespace.com page is just plain gorgeous. Great use of Twitter feeds, blog feeds and grids.
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
—John Adams, 1770
Too many cooks can raise the price of dinner.
— author unknown
There’s no way around it, design-by-committee will cost you in the long run. So will decision-by-committee. Or anything-by-committee. It’s simple math. You’re going to pay the overhead. It might not be in cash (though it probably will be), but you’ll potentially bleed time and missed opportunities and your sanity in the process. Too many cooks COSTS.
So the buck stops where? Who’s calling the shots? Who’s the filter?
