Category: Writing

A common buzz word for companies flouting their “next big thing”, it’s easy to forget the significance behind the word.

I love books, so I always come back to the Gutenberg Printing Press, developed in the fifteenth century. Its invention ushered in a time when knowledge was more readily disseminated throughout the masses and literacy rates increased throughout Europe.

Modes of transportation – both personal and for cargo. Horse-and-buggy gave way to the automobile. Wind, steam, fuel-combustion, nuclear, and electric forms of the ships, trains, and other vehicles.

Those are just two examples that created both connections among disparate communities as well as opportunities for trade and knowledge-exchange. The internet certainly falls into that category as well.

However, what we’re seeing now is predominantly incremental returns on innovative investment. As the Industrial Age wanes and the Information Age still grows from its nascent stages, the advances aren’t taking us leaps forward, but rather a step here and a step there.

All that is to say, be wary of the use of innovation as buzz word. I do believe that we’ll see significant innovation sooner rather than later. I would predict extensions in the average lifespan by another four-five decades; Virtual and Augmented Reality becoming a hub for commerce, entertainment, and socializing; and renewable, safe energies powering everything from city grids down to the smallest microchip.

I spent a lot of time learning about governance during my M.A. work. The responsibility of organizations and their leadership – to be ethical, fiscally responsible, and operating in line with the mission.

There’s not much of a difference between good governance and good governing. But we often seem to let those we elect slide in their behavior, when we expect more from those operating companies or organizations.

As we approach the November elections, it’s a prudent reminder to fully examine the qualifications of the candidates. Whose beliefs and values do we align with?

As they say, vote your conscience.

And you still remember it.

The anniversary of September 11th passed and was filled with remembrances and thoughts of a country post-crisis (oddly amid several crises currently underway).

Nineteen years ago, I was in my English class. The teacher, an amiable old fellow with a doctorate (we called him Doc) was lecturing on, I believe, Heart of Darkness. When the class was dismissed, we ran into other students in the hall who told us what happened. The rest of the day was spent watching the television footage and news reports coming in from New York, Pennsylvania, and DC.

It was my first understanding of the frailty of the world on that level. Generations have defining moments, and at the time I was sure that was it.

While we know more now than we did then, we still have a lot to learn. I remember a call to unity, and one that, for a time, was heeded. I guess it’s encouraging that, even then, the world can go back to a state of normalcy, no matter the catastrophe proceeding it. We’re just waiting now for normalcy to reemerge this year.

The new deal struck by Amazon to bring Marielle Heller’s What the Constitution Means to Me from its 2019 Broadway run follows in a wake of recent stage filmings shown on streaming services. Disney with Hamilton and talks of a Once on this Island addition; Netflix has had Shrek the Musical for some time; and of course there is the BroadwayHD service that you can subscribe to.

All this comes as live theatre is still in a hazy moment of uncertainty. Will the future look less live and more televised, at least while the pandemic is still a concern? Is that even called theatre anymore?

All these questions and more are those that have been discussed ad nauseam in the arts communities. For business models that hadn’t changed in centuries, suddenly outside forces necessitated rethinking what purpose do the arts serve, and in what medium can you connect with patrons.

As in everything else, the internet provided opportunity. However, had this been a more frequent discussion over the past two or three decades – on how best to utilize technology in traditionally in-person arts experiences – the rise of Covid may have been less disruptive than it ended up actually being.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I shared some items for you to check out. I suppose that I’ve been trying to reclaim my routines. Some of them have gotten away from me.

Quote that’s been giving me a hard time: What gets measured gets managed. This gem from Peter Drucker has left me wondering about certain things in my personal life, as well as the way we interact with tracking apps and apps that give achievement progress in terms of streaks – how many days in a row you’ve used the app.

For instance, I wake up every morning a write. There’s no app, no tracking (other than notebooks filled with pages and dated, so I guess that counts), and nothing to be accountable to – save for myself. I suppose that being accountable to a device in a way feels like I’m missing the point. It’s something I’ll spend more time considering.

What I’m reading this week: Financial Freedom by Grant Sabatier. Recommended by someone, I checked it out at the library and gave it a a pretty quick read. It’s only about three-hundred pages, not offering much in the way of new information, and it includes spreadsheets and graphs. What it does do well, though, is give you a call to action. Every chapter is a workable suggestion for how to make more money, save more money, and, in some cases, spend less money. Most of what I spend my time thinking about anyway.

Some stories that I found interesting:

• On Shadow Work. Assume for a moment that the old adage is true: within each of us are two wolves, one light and one dark. The grow in size depending on our actions, our thoughts, and our intents. The light wolf encompasses the positive aspects of us: the good, the kind, the charitable. The dark wolf indulges in all the negative emotions and bad actions that we commit. Which one grows? Whichever one we feed. This binary way of looking at self can prevent us from understanding that negative emotions are a part of us. Fundamentally. Shadow work delves into attempting to reconcile that understanding.
• How a generation grew up thinking about the internet thanks to the film Hackers.
• How C.S. Lewis conned children into asking for Turkish Delights.
• Emmy Award Show this weekend, trying to stay interesting amid pandemic weirdness.

And, finally, a thought about Halloween. October is often my favorite, most busy month of the year. This year, however… Well, my hopes aren’t high. I’m reminded, though, of a tv special I watched as a kid. And I wanted to share it here. The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t.

It seems that I just wrote about the country being a blending place for people of all types, and then I come across something that I like maybe a tad bit more. Clothing designer Ougi Theodore, owner of The Brooklyn Circus, a haberdashery located in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, was interviewed recently by fellow designer and clothing curator Todd Snyder.

Here’s what Mr. Theodore had to say about melting pots:

“I’m not a fan of the melting pot, more the mosaic. Because the melting pot turns the outsider into part of the mainstream rather than celebrating and supporting his or her individuality. … So, at what point is he no longer himself?”

We don’t weight the risks of losing identity when we preach acclimation. Maybe we assume that being acclimated is a true identity. But it’s important to stay authentic.

While we may seek order in chaos, there’s beauty in the world that can only come from nonuniformity.

We all have a drive behind us. Something that pushes us to produce, to create, to work, and to, hopefully, thrive. It’s different for each of us. The little voice that tells us what our best life is, and how to live it.

Often times, we ignore that voice.

You see, it’s difficult for the world as it is to remain as it is if everyone strives to live their best life. The system doesn’t work if everyone pursues their own goals.

To keep the system afloat, we must compromise. A bit of our best possible life to promote overall happiness, health, and well-being. To what extent, though? That’s the question.

Apple’s event today promises to usher in new Apple watches, and perhaps a new iPad. We’ll have to wait for the phone.

I’ve been thinking about watches lately. From this story of a collector who sells vintage watch ads, to this retired Air Force veteran auctioning off his Rolex he purchased in the service, to this quirky piece about how watch-wearing people are superior.

I was a bit of an amateur horologist prior to receiving my Apple Watch. I’ve gotten a few wristwatches since then, mostly as gifts. The thing about the Apple Watch is, you don’t really wear a traditional watch. I imagine it’s true for any smart watch on the market.

You condition yourself to looking at the watch for notifications. Even the phantom vibration syndrome, usually associated with the cell phone, now is applicable to watches. I can be using my digital watch, think I’m recieving a notification, and look down to find it’s not the smart watch. Just my Casio.

Yes, Apple Watches and other brands give more people reason to wear watches than before. And yes, younger people are now predominantly decorated upon on their wrists.

But there’s a kind of cool satisfaction with wearing a watch that will only tell you the time, and that will never go out of style.

I haven’t submitted very much of my writing, and most of the long form I’ve done either hasn’t been seen, or it’s not yet completed. To wit, I’ve pieces from at least as far back as 2012 that haven’t been fully realized.

Authors of all shades tend to have pieces in drawers and on their computers, all in varying states of completion.

It’s part of the reason I started posting here – to get me more apt to share the work I have finished, or at least maintain a writing practice beyond the morning pages.

About six years ago I shared some writing with someone, and she said I wrote in a flowery way. Conversely, I’d read her essays she was submitting and they were very forward and straight to the point.

There’s value in both methods of writing, and neither one of us (I believe) was issuing a criticism. But it’s something that I’ve remembered, and perhaps it does actually color my writing.

Now, when I’m not writing for the blog, it generally is longer. With fiction I include a lot of descriptive words. I tend to get mired in the descriptions. Working my way out through the weeds can be tricky.

No matter what you’re writing, though, it’s important to find your voice. Your authentic voice. Whether it be flowery, straight-forward, or somewhere in-between.

Fortunes were made in the past with less than you can purchase over at Best Buy for about a thousand dollars. The novelty of new creative devices has leveled out, and the equality is spread far enough now that fortunes are more difficult to make in the traditional ways.

Everyone is looking for something of meaning in their life. Something of value. Everyone wants to contribute.