Rest for the Weary

"Quality is better than Quantity. One home run is better than two doubles. - Steve Jobs"

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:39:34 -0500

“Quality is better than Quantity. One home run is better than two doubles. - Steve Jobs”

- Very true. But what happens when you have quantity + quality?

What's on your learning list?

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:03:37 -0600

What's on your learning list?:

This was a good reminder to me on how it’s important to have goals written down in a tangible form. Find something you want to do, write it down, formulate a plan, and stick to it!

Tools are just tools

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:31:07 -0600

I sometimes have this problem. You see, there are sometimes hundreds of ways to do any one thing. I can never seem to just pick one and run with it.

Take web development for example. The technology is changing so rapidly that we frequently have to change our work flows to accomodate the newest best practices on the block. People are constantly making new tools and resources to make life for the average web developer easier. What’s the problem you ask? It’s great that the community is moving at such a fast pace, but sometimes I have trouble focussing. I tend to get so caught up in finding the newest tools and techniques that I spend more time researching than actually producing work. I have to remind myself that tools are just a means to an end. Do they in some cases make lifer easier for me? Yes. Are they absolutely necessary for me to get my job done? No. The most important fact is that I’m doing what these tools are empowering me to do in the first place.

Does this apply to your life as well? You may not all be web developers or designers, but I’m sure that this idea has some sort of application to everyone’s life.

Piggybacking on the post from yesterday, here’s a short...

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:48:19 -0600

Piggybacking on the post from yesterday, here’s a short video about the film maker behind Sermon on the Mound.

My good friend Zach McNair sent me a link this morning. I...

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0600

My good friend Zach McNair sent me a link this morning. I recommend you check it out. The embedded video below really got me. I hope it moves your insides as well.

Rest for the Weary: The Beginning

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:38:54 -0600

Rest for the Weary: The Beginning:

wearerest:

Hey everyone,

So, today we released our first single. It certainly took long enough! We had a great time working on it! We hope that you enjoy the song, but that you also find meaning in the lyrics and music. We put a lot of ourselves into writing something that means a lot to us, and hopefully…

Photo

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:54:32 -0600

So fresh.

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:45:48 -0600

So fresh.

WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:39:24 -0600

Antartica.

Tonight’s theme song.

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:29:52 -0600

Tonight’s theme song.

"I’m a 24 year old college graduate that doesn’t read. Of course, I’ve read several books throughout..."

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 13:08:22 -0500

“I’m a 24 year old college graduate that doesn’t read. Of course, I’ve read several books throughout my life, but it’s just not something I do often enough. It’s hard to say what the exact cause of this is, but my generation definitely will suffer from greater unwillingness to read due the wide variety of distractions we all grew up with (video games, movies, internet - social networks, youtube, etc). My unwillingness to read has been a bit saddening for me throughout my life. Even if I can convince myself to sit through one book, there is no way I’m going to be able to carry that determination over to the next book. I don’t know, maybe one day it’ll be my time to read consistently.”

- From a comment on an excerpt from Alan Jacobs’ excellent The Pleasure of Reading in an Age of Distraction over at The Chronicle of Higher Education. (I suggest you pick up Jacobs’ book, if only to read his thoughts on what it means to read for Whim.)

I think one of the most sad things is to not realize is that writing can achieve the same level of bad-assery as any television show, video game, or movie. My favorite example has to be the first paragraph of Moby Dick. It gets better after “Call me Ishmael.” Way better. Check out this insanity:

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

Or how about this beautiful little bit from Lonesome Dove, a hearty text I reconsidered thanks to the exaltation of Austin Kleon:

The eastern sky was red as coals in a forge, lighting up the flats along the river. Dew had wet the million needles of the chaparral, and when the rim of the sun edged over the horizon the chaparral seemed to be spotted with diamonds. A bush in the backyard was filled with little rainbows as the sun touched the dew.

It was tribute enough to sunup that it could make even chaparral bushes look beautiful, Augustus thought, and he watched the process happily, knowing it would only last a few minutes. The sun spread reddish-gold light through the shining bushes, among which a few goats wandered, bleating. Even when the sun rose above the low bluffs to the south, a layer of light lingered for a bit at the level of the chaparral, as if independent of its source. Then the sun lifted clear, like an immense coin. The dew quickly died, and the light that filled the bushes like red dirt dispersed, leaving clear, slightly bluish air.

It was good reading light by then, so Augustus applied himself for a few minutes to the Prophets. He was not overly religious, but he did consider himself a fair prophet and liked to study the styles of his predecessors. They were mostly too long-winded, in his view, and he made no effort to read them verse for verse—he just had a look here and there, while the biscuits were browning.

I suppose what I’m saying is that the best art we make acts as a lens through which we see the world. It helps us make sense of things, feel empathized with. Reading, specifically, gives us words to describe the things we feel through the more able minds and hands of those that we read. We use art to understand things, and as a shorthand for experience, to create a space, describe it’s edges, and give it a face. Experiencing art is how we comprehend things and make ourselves aware to what was before only small and invisible. I suppose not reading is a bit like cutting off your thumbs: you’ll never be able to grasp anything.

(via viafrank)

oliphillips: the mona lisa made up of various different pantone...

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 21:29:57 -0500

oliphillips:

the mona lisa made up of various different pantone coloured squares

To whom it may concern

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 23:02:58 -0500

If you’re writing a paragraph to an inanimate object, chances are that I won’t read past the first sentence.

bradfm: Happy (LOST) Valentine’s Day! LOVE.

Sat, 14 May 2011 20:02:07 -0500

bradfm:

Happy (LOST) Valentine’s Day!

LOVE.

Pilotmoon Blog: Scroll Reverser — get in practice for Lion

Sat, 14 May 2011 19:53:52 -0500

Pilotmoon Blog: Scroll Reverser — get in practice for Lion:

pilotmoon:

You might have learned that a certain upcoming version of Mac OS X may have scrolling that is “bass-ackwards”.

That is, when you push up on your trackpad or mouse scroller, the page content moves up too, just like on iOS devices.

I made a very minimal little app that lets you reverse…

Yes.

Wed, 11 May 2011 10:52:48 -0500

Yes.

Sluts Rally Against Sexism...Wait. What?

Tue, 10 May 2011 07:35:00 -0500

Sluts Rally Against Sexism...Wait. What?:

Here’s a link to the video

I don’t get Tamara Holder’s point. She says that is absolutely ok for a woman to look like an object… That’s like saying it’s ok to turn the stove on high, but I’m going to get pissed when I touch it and it burns me. If I were to go and get gang related tattoos and then stroll into the hood of LA, would there not be consequences?

I completely agree with Rebecca St. James. Modest is most definitely hottest. Women need to be responsible for what they wear, and men need to be responsible for what they think; Clearly, that’s too much to ask for these days.

switchedblog: Farewell, Internet. It’s been fun.

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:45:23 -0500

switchedblog:

Farewell, Internet. It’s been fun.

Zach McNair: Reducing The Noise

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:02:18 -0600

Zach McNair: Reducing The Noise:

zachmcnair:

Over the past week or so my friend, Jeremy, has been saying that his New Year’s Resolution will be, “Less Email, More Creating.” To be honest, my mind has been contemplating all the ways that I can reduce various noise in my life. In September of this year, I was subscribed to or following…

"Creative people tend to romanticize their tools. We place them on pedestals as the conduits for our..."

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 14:28:31 -0600

“Creative people tend to romanticize their tools. We place them on pedestals as the conduits for our ideas and the enablers of our craft. Contrastingly, though, I think all creatives believe that a good tool does not make a good designer, and a good designer does not need top-of-the-line special tools. In fact, I’d say all one usually needs is a pencil and a sheet of paper. With that, one can wield the power of visual communication like a sword, a lullaby, or maybe even a stick of dynamite.”

- Frank Chimero