I thought this was a great idea and wanted to share it. It's called The Hope Revolution..kind of like a viral marketing campaign for hope (someone else called it Guerrilla Goodness.). The idea is to make notes of hope and leave them in public places.
Check out the Web site:
http://www.hoperevo.com/
This project specifically:
http://www.hoperevo.com/hope-notes/
From the Web site:
From now through May 1st, I encourage you to create a stackful of notes with messages of hope and leave them in public places. Blog about it. Tell your friends and family about it. Post photos of your notes to the hopeREVO Flickr group. Or be completely anonymous. Follow your own heart.
2.28.2008
2.21.2008
Heading off for the weekend
I made a conscious decision to like snow this year, and I'll be putting that to the test this weekend. Yay snow!
For the first time in 10 years, I'm going skiing! I hope to have some cool pics up when I get back. Seeing as my goal is to make sure that all my limbs stay connected and point in the right direction, I'll be taking it slow to start. By Sunday, I'll be roaring down those hills like a banshee! If banshees ski, of course.
For the first time in 10 years, I'm going skiing! I hope to have some cool pics up when I get back. Seeing as my goal is to make sure that all my limbs stay connected and point in the right direction, I'll be taking it slow to start. By Sunday, I'll be roaring down those hills like a banshee! If banshees ski, of course.
2.17.2008
I need a new sound
Much like Huey Lewis needed a new drug in the 80s, I think I need a new sound. I grown kind of tired of the singer-songwriter thing, and the recent bands that are making it their business to rehash 80s music aren't really rehashing the thing I'm looking out for.
Not to say there hasn't been great music lately. Actually, there's been some fantastic stuff to come out in the last few years. Still, I'm waiting for the next Nirvana.
My ideal sound would be a mix of Buddy Holly and Otis Redding, with two or three part harmonies, too. So, I guess that would mean jangly, blues-based guitar structures, along with syncopated horns. Or something like that. It also needs to be quick, with a steady beat. With these features, at least the music will be upbeat; the lyrics can tell another story.
Overall, I think I want to take a break from moroseness in music. No more downbeat stuff.
Any ideas?
Not to say there hasn't been great music lately. Actually, there's been some fantastic stuff to come out in the last few years. Still, I'm waiting for the next Nirvana.
My ideal sound would be a mix of Buddy Holly and Otis Redding, with two or three part harmonies, too. So, I guess that would mean jangly, blues-based guitar structures, along with syncopated horns. Or something like that. It also needs to be quick, with a steady beat. With these features, at least the music will be upbeat; the lyrics can tell another story.
Overall, I think I want to take a break from moroseness in music. No more downbeat stuff.
Any ideas?
2.10.2008
The world is flat
I am currently reading "The World is Flat," by Thomas Friedman. In it, he argues that the playing fields are being leveled between countries, and he explains how this came about and why. It's quite entertaining, in a "So this is why I'll lose my job in 10 years" kind of way. It's all about the almighty corporations and their quest for greater productivity and efficiency. While it might leave a pretty mess in their wake, who can blame them? Companies exist mainly to make money for their owners, so they naturally need to find ways to produce their goods and services as cheaply and efficiently as possible. Makes sense, even though the process rather sucks for the average American worker. Globalization is here to stay, and we as employees have quite a bit of competition from India and China. They may be taking our factory work now, but seeing as how they also graduate smart and competitive scientists, engineers, etc., they could in theory take those jobs as well, seeing as how the world is being flattened n' all.
It will require us to develop new skills and re-energize our competitive spirits, to innovate, and to improve our educational system to meet this brave new world, so to speak.
So, at any rate, the book is interesting. Quite long, though, so I might have to buy my own copy so that I don't have to keep on checking it out at the library.
On another note, I recently read work by Malcolm Gladwell, and he, of course, has a Web site. He talks more about his books and expounds upon his articles found in The New Yorker.
And, of course, to bring this all back into perspective:
It will require us to develop new skills and re-energize our competitive spirits, to innovate, and to improve our educational system to meet this brave new world, so to speak.
So, at any rate, the book is interesting. Quite long, though, so I might have to buy my own copy so that I don't have to keep on checking it out at the library.
On another note, I recently read work by Malcolm Gladwell, and he, of course, has a Web site. He talks more about his books and expounds upon his articles found in The New Yorker.
And, of course, to bring this all back into perspective:
Tennessee
If you don't have anything nice to say...
Some guy at work was telling me about a recent business trip he had in Memphis, Tennessee, and the conclusion he came up with, after spending a few days there and mixing with the natives on a bus ride to Graceland, was that Tennesseans shouldn't vote. I guess this is the opinion of an liberal elitist northeastener who considers himself enlightened because of a brief trip down there.
Some people up here seem to have an odd perception of the south, which I don't quite understand, considering they've most likely never gone down there. Whatever the perception may be, it comes across as naive and condescendingly superior...a sense of superiority they really don't deserve.
Anyway, I have no desire to make people feel like condescending assholes, at least on purpose, so I didn't mention that my sister, who has a Master's degree and plans to vote for Obama, lives in Knoxville, a fantastically vibrant city by the Smokey Mountain National Park. I suppose I could have lit into him, but what's the point? If he somehow got a negative impression of Tennessee, and by extension, the south, he might just be less inclined to visit again, which just means fewer assholes in a state I happen to love.
*On second thought, maybe I should have said something...oh well.
Some guy at work was telling me about a recent business trip he had in Memphis, Tennessee, and the conclusion he came up with, after spending a few days there and mixing with the natives on a bus ride to Graceland, was that Tennesseans shouldn't vote. I guess this is the opinion of an liberal elitist northeastener who considers himself enlightened because of a brief trip down there.
Some people up here seem to have an odd perception of the south, which I don't quite understand, considering they've most likely never gone down there. Whatever the perception may be, it comes across as naive and condescendingly superior...a sense of superiority they really don't deserve.
Anyway, I have no desire to make people feel like condescending assholes, at least on purpose, so I didn't mention that my sister, who has a Master's degree and plans to vote for Obama, lives in Knoxville, a fantastically vibrant city by the Smokey Mountain National Park. I suppose I could have lit into him, but what's the point? If he somehow got a negative impression of Tennessee, and by extension, the south, he might just be less inclined to visit again, which just means fewer assholes in a state I happen to love.
*On second thought, maybe I should have said something...oh well.
2.05.2008
Cough
So, after telling a friend only a few days ago that I had white blood cells of steel, I came down with a cold. First one of the season, and did it come on quick!
I was fine yesterday, but by the time I woke up this morning, I was feeling its effects.
Three vitamin C cough drops, two cups of green tea, and one thing of DayQuil did nothing to stop its progress, so I left work early. It was either that or sleep under my cube--while inviting, not especially conducive.
Now, I'm going to inhale some chicken soup and crawl back in bed.
I was fine yesterday, but by the time I woke up this morning, I was feeling its effects.
Three vitamin C cough drops, two cups of green tea, and one thing of DayQuil did nothing to stop its progress, so I left work early. It was either that or sleep under my cube--while inviting, not especially conducive.
Now, I'm going to inhale some chicken soup and crawl back in bed.
2.04.2008
Paris, Je t'aime
Seeing as how I have decided to forgo cable TV, and seeing as how my TV has decided to forgo any reception, I have been making much greater use of my Netflix account. While the Garden Theater here in town plays independent films, it only has two screens, so I do miss a few.
I watched a moved called Paris, Je t'Aime, over the weekend. A slew of internationally famous directors create five-minute long vignettes, and they are all set in different neighborhoods. The stories are very dissimilar, and each director has his or her particular style, and I guess this is the point. Paris is a huge, diverse city, and each of the stories highlight that. None, however, seem to go out of their way to romanticize Paris. While I suppose it is meant to play a "character" that ties everything together, I don't know if I was necessarily all that grabbed by it. It was interesting to see all the different styles, but I don't my attention is geared toward small little snippets.
On another note, what's harder: being rejected outright, or small, little incremental rejections...kind of like rejection by paper cut, rather than by a vicious punch to the stomach.
Just curious.
I watched a moved called Paris, Je t'Aime, over the weekend. A slew of internationally famous directors create five-minute long vignettes, and they are all set in different neighborhoods. The stories are very dissimilar, and each director has his or her particular style, and I guess this is the point. Paris is a huge, diverse city, and each of the stories highlight that. None, however, seem to go out of their way to romanticize Paris. While I suppose it is meant to play a "character" that ties everything together, I don't know if I was necessarily all that grabbed by it. It was interesting to see all the different styles, but I don't my attention is geared toward small little snippets.
On another note, what's harder: being rejected outright, or small, little incremental rejections...kind of like rejection by paper cut, rather than by a vicious punch to the stomach.
Just curious.
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