“Comfort is not a primary agenda item.” Isn’t convenient how our bills show up about two days after our paychecks do? Just when we start getting used to the idea of having extra bones in the bank, life chimes in with yet another expense. It’s almost funny, in a way. Like life is just fucking with us. Then again, that’s how nature operates. Every new beginning is some other beginning’s end. Besides, it’s certainly better than the alternative, which is having no paycheck at all. Better to have earned and lost than never to have earned at all. 

“To earn one’s bread by the sweat of one
man’s brow.” Growing up, manual labor was not a big part of my life. I didn’t do laundry. I never mowed the lawn. And I couldn’t change a tire if you held a gun to my head. But after I turned thirty, I began to appreciate the existential value of elbow grease. You can’t beat the humility and stewardship and satisfaction that accompany the experience of manual labor. That stuff makes you feel alive, man. I know it sounds silly, by the prospect of toiling away on a mundane household project for two hours is wildly attractive to me. Inspired byWorking.

“Testing dreams in the crucible of
reality.” Ay, there’s the rub in the whimsies we chase. Exposing them to the harsh, raw light of the real world. But that’s the risk in going public with our hearts: Uprooting the horror of irrational optimism. Discovering that our dreams have no relationship with reality. Eric Maisel makesthis pointrepeatedly in his work, and for good reason. As artists, we seduce ourselves into performing solely at the theater of the mind. And that’s fine if the work is just our passion. But the minute we decide to go pro, to actually earn a living doing our art, we have to prepare our lovelorn eyes for the harsh light of reality.

“The
first thing you should learn in a course on entrepreneurship is how to make
yourself valuable.” When I started looking for a new job, I knew two things. First, I needed to show up. Physically. In person. On people’s doorsteps. And I needed to look them in eye, tell them who I was and why they should hire me. Second, I needed to bring a social object. An interesting, useful, memorable, meaningful artifact that was worth talking about. Then, I needed to walk out of that meeting knowing that I gave the company something they didn’t know they were missing. It worked. My dad was right. Value is the only thing that matters. Inspired by anarticlethat should be taught in every business school in the world.

“There’s a lot of pressure for me to be
unhappy.” Marc Maronexplainsthat when your schtick is being the unhappy guy, the minute you start smiling, fans get upset. It’s like you’ve violated their expectations.Interesting paradox. You could make the same argument for the fat comedian, the alcoholic musician, the vulgar cartoonist or the insane filmmaker. Once the audience gets used to having you a certain way, any change in the status quota is a form of letting them down. Even if it’s beneficial for the your health, they’re still mad at you. That’s the challenge with success. It doesn’t breed envy, it breeds expectation. Nobody’s happy for you when you lose weight. 

“What
you saw was only fraction of the wattage he put out.” I’ve always agreed with Whitman’s “we contain multitudes” theory. In this podcast with Huey Lewis, there’s a story about watching a musician perform and knowing he was only using about twelve percent of his full potential. Don’t you just love those moments? When you’re exposed to an artist whose well of talent runs so deep, it’s almost scary? God damn. Those encounters just melt my butter. They make me want to become a better man. Better yet, since I truly believe in all that human potential mumbo jumbo, I’m actually convinced that it’s possible for me too.

“With buried grievances
and dreams unexpressed.” Our country’s biggest selling point is the prospect of not having to die with our music still in us.We are the place where dreams are had and followed. And if we’re lucky, we will go to the grave with our lives poured out. Unfortunately, not every country has this luxury. Not every child can afford to pursue their own interests. And that’s one of those intangibles I always try to remain grateful for. Can you imagine what would happen we never got the chance to let out them demons? Yikes. Thanks for the reminder, Studs.

“As an artist, you don’t want a rear
view mirror.” I’ve been writing music for twenty years. Every time I work on a new song, there’s only one goal: Do something you’ve never done before. Whether it’s a chord change, a turn of a phrase, a strumming variation or vocal variety, the song has to contain at least one moment that’s completely new, totally fresh and artistically surprising. The exciting part is, I never know when the moment is going to happen. But when it does, holy shit. I literally feel the beauty in my bones. And from that point on, I’m always excited to play that song, if only to get to that moment. Inspired by yet another Carollarant.

“Find
someone with a touch of the pathology you require, but not so much that it will destroy you.” Love this passage fromWe Learn Nothing. Got me thinking about relationships. First of all, opposites attract, but that doesn’t mean they stay together. I learned that the hard way by dating someone who was the mathematical inverse of myself. Sure, it seems novel in the honeymoon stage, but we can only spend so much time with a partner whose value system doesn’t overlap with ours. On the other end of the romantic spectrum, you don’t want to date yourself. There’s another lesson I learned the hard way. I pursued a woman who was basically me, but with smaller boobs. Also not an intelligent relationship strategy.

“Overachieve from the very beginning.” The smart move is to start fast. To aim for volume right away. You can always scale back later. For example, when we kick off our research and discovery process for a new client, I always go deep early. I’m sure it’s not necessary to watch two documentaries and read the company founder’s book on the first day, but that’s just who I am. Homework is my thing. I find that by overwhelming myself in the beginning of the process, by inhaling as much content as my intellectual lungs can handle, it always pays off somewhere down the road. Inspired by thisarticleabout giving advice to your younger self. 

“Security’s hand reaches out and grabs me.” Brilliant caption from a beautiful man. Henry calls himself a love junkie light catcher who’s naively in love with everything. That’s what I love about Instagram: The picture is only the beginning. Once the image infects the viewer, what’s interesting and artistic and memorable are the words that the picture pulls out of the viewer. That’s why I gravitate more to the artist’s statement than to the artist’s stuff. I’d rather read the little plaque on the wall than stare blankly into the canvass next to it. For me, it’s all about the story and the process and the inspiration. 

“Stoplights are a suggestion.” That’s how you can tell the tourists from the locals. One looks both ways before crossing the street, the other has an agenda. Which reminds me of the best advice someone gave me about living in New York: This city isn’t hard––it’s fast, rude, cold, and all knowing, but once you break the code, you’re in. Interesting. For us, that acclimation process took a little over a year. Which, from what we hear, is about average. Looking back, I think the hardest part was breaking the code before the code broke us. Close one.

“As soon as you crack your knuckles and open up a comments page, you just canceled your subscription to being a good person.” Louie’sinterviewreminds me why I stopped caring about stuff like that. In fact, I remember the exact moment. About six years ago, my client sent me a stack of audience evaluations from a workshop I had done a few weeks prior. I was standing in my kitchen, in my underwear, staring at the manilla folder, debating whether or not Ireally cared what people thought of my work. But instead of letting one negative review ruin my week, I tossed the folder into the trashcan, got back to work and got on with my life. And I never looked at evaluations again. God damn that was satisfying. Feedback is overrated.

“Sky and water create their own drama around her.” I’m amazed at certain people’s ability to attract useless drama into their lives. To them, life isn’t a glorious project to be lived, it’s a grand conspiracy to be battled. The minute they walk into the room, the tides of anxiety come crashing in. And everyone in their presence has no choice but to get their shoes soaked. It’s so pathological, it’s borderline artistic. And I’m not sure what motivates this behavior. I’m not sure we can even stop it. But I do wonder if there’s a way to conduct all that dramatic juju into something more useful. Who needs wind farms when we can harvest the energy of mass narcissism? Inspired by a description ofLady Liberty.

“Humans always seems to round down.” Carolla and Mandel make a fine point about the default setting of our species. As a fundamentally affirmative person who looks for the good in all things, I couldn’t agree more. When we see a movie or hear a song or talk to a stranger or walk into a restaurant, noticing things we don’t like about the experience takes zero courage or intellect. It’s the easy way out. But to respond to life with deep democracy, to round up, say yes and give most things the benefit of the doubt, it not only makes life more enjoyable, it also makes you less of a douche to spend time with.

“Check that box of
belonging daily.” I’ve been doing Bikram yoga for six years. And what’s fascinating is how my experience has evolved. In the beginning, my practice was largely physical. The purpose was to develop a healthier relationship with my breath and body. Next, my practice became highly spiritual. The purpose was to develop an existential connection. Later, my practice became highly emotional. The purpose was to work through my feelings and problems. And lately, my practice has become highly communal. The purpose is to share my humanity with the other practitioners. The point is, there’s no right or wrong. Yoga is a mirror for what’s going on in your life off the mat. They should write that on the website.

“Families pin their hopes to a bouncing
balls.” For my latest client project, I’ve been researching charter schools. Honestly, until a week ago, I didn’t even know what a charter school was. But after watching Waiting For Superman, I’ll never forget. By the end of the film, I was weeping in the middle of my office. I couldn’t help myself. It breaks my heart to think that a child’s educational trajectory could be radically altered by a random drawing in a bingo lottery. Man. I have never been more grateful for the education I received. Thank you, Parkway Schools.

“Our career is just an appendix to those
conversations.” In the early days of their career, Penn and Teller spent a decade driving around the country, performing at renaissance fairs, honing their craft. Little did they know, it was the endless car conversations that would lay the professional foundation for one of the greatest magic teams of all time. I think every great artist experiences this, whether they know it or not. There’s this idea of accidental preparation, in which we invest thousands of hours and gallons of sweat doing something small, that later proves to be the training ground for something big. Inspired by Penn’s new book.

“Rebalancing
yourself above the precipice of meaninglessness.” I meditated every day for ten years. The practice was a combination of deep breathing, self-hypnosis, guided imagery and progressive muscle relaxation. Greatest thing ever. Meditation helped me navigate that stage of my life with calmness and grace. I wouldn’t have made it out of my twenties without it. But eventually, my practice reached a point of diminishing returns. I knew the drug wasn’t having the same effect anymore. So I decided to give it up. Yes, it was hard habit to walk away from. It’s never easy letting go of a process that’s been good to you. But making meaning is a moving target. In every stage of life, we’re always stumbling into new endeavors that are meaningful in new ways. And it helps to be open to all of them.

“I came here to work, I
didn’t come here to crawl.” Great passage from Working by Studs Terkel. Reading that book reignited one of my longtime bugbears: Not everyone is a hard worker. I came to that realization a long time ago, and it still bothers me to this day.  I wish there was something we could do about it, but I think it’s just one of those realities we have to deal with. Bummer. Hard working just seems like the right way to be.

“Work gives me a secure place in a portion of reality.” The hardest part about looking for work is the devastating affect it has on the human psyche. What killed me most about being unemployed was that I didn’t feel like a real person. I wasn’t a contributing member of society. My life setting was locked in vacation mode. Which was nice for about a week, but our humanity catches up with us quickly. And if we don’t start making meaning on a daily basis, it’s really hard to function as a person. I remember reaching a point where I just started inventing work for myself. I literally assigned myself homework. And after about twenty minutes, it completely pulled me out of my funk, framed me back into work mode and generated the momentum I needed to eventually get hired. Nice. Inspired by this piece from Freud. 

“We’re so deeply screwed that we all should be getting bags of silver and shotguns.” Fascinating article about the anxiety of securing funding. Poses the question, “Will there be another Google?” Part of us says that’s impossible, considering the massive impact Google has made on our daily lives. On the other hand, it is because of Google itself that there has to be another Google. It’s inevitable. If there’s not, then we probably did something wrong.

“Americans are really bad at dealing with slow moving crisis.” Our country is cursed with a broken sense of priorities. Instead of focusing on obesity, climate change and education reform––aka, the things that matter––we’re burning calories on issues that shouldn’t be issues. Instead of spending millions of dollars telling gay people why their love isn’t legal, why don’t we put the money towards telling all people why commitment matters, regardless of whom you commit to and how? Inspired by an overtime rant on Bill Maher.

“Take this chaos and use it to create a world.” I’m too busy. I’m too stressed out. I’m too overwhelmed with emotion. Those are the reasons I can’t make art. Bullshit. Those experiences are the greatest raw material, the very iron ore from which our brightest steel is made. Harry Potter wouldn’t exist if JK Rowling decided that being a single mother was too chaotic to find time to write. Make good art on bad days. Complain by making things. Thanks for the inspiration, Eric.

“A whole series of light fancies which
have been mistaken for love.” When I look back on the history of my heart, I wasn’t in love as many times as I thought. Once I was in love with the convenience of having her around. Once I was in love with the way people looked at me when I was with her. Once I was in love with the stories I could tell my friends about her. Once I was in love with trying to make her just like me. And once I was in love with the version of me that she reflected. Fortunately, now I’m in love with the right person for the right reasons. Whew. Finally.

“Your culture will kill you softly with its song, and you won’t even notice. This article  about startup culture is scary accurate. It’s a bit of a Hamlet moment, if you ask me. When a company starts waxing poetic about how hip and innovative their culture is, I start to wonder what they’re compensating for. Personally, I work at company with amazing culture. Employees know it. Vendors know it. Partners know it. Clients know it. Not because we’ve written a book about it, but because it’s inescapable when you work with us.

“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” Sam Sheridan’s survival advice from Jay Mohr’s podcast. Love it. This mantra originates from the military. But since I’m not a trained killer, I like to apply it to other areas of my life. When I swipe my MetroCard, I recite this mantra to myself. The turnstile always complies. When I’m doing yoga postures, I recite this mantra to myself. The body always performs. When I’m in a rush, hastily bopping from one task to another, I recite this mantra to myself. The world always waits. Best micro practice I’ve learned in years.

“Every time we put something down, we pick something up.” Jay and Silent Bob discuss the addiction tradeoff. Got me thinking about my own fixing patterns. Take diet soda, for example. Delicious, but not especially good for me. So I made the decision to substitute it with sparkling water and lime. Also delicious, but without the slurry of chemicals. A few months later, I learned something about myself: I wasn’t addicted to the soda, I was addicted to the bubbles. Huge realization. Saved money, improved my health and helped me understand the nature of my cravings. It’s all about tricking your brain. 

“I’m going to kiss your ass so you shut up.” Dr. Drew suggests that our relationship conflicts are worth confronting. Reminds me of my high school sweetheart. She was totally hot, I was totally whipped––and I was so grateful to have a girlfriend that I avoided conflict at all cost. My teenage thinking was, “Why risk getting into a fight and possibly breaking up when I can just bury my feelings, pretend we don’t have any problems and get back to squeezing boobies?” Seemed intelligent at the time. Turns out, if everything is perfect, somebody isn’t being honest. That somebody was me. Lesson learned.

“Make art every day, but also support
your identity as an artist every day.” Eric Maisel’s books always do a stellar job of addressing the larger issues artists face. It’s more than just making art, it’s also about continuing your education as an artist, giving yourself permission to be an artist and confidently telling others you’re an artist. Every single day. At the same time, there’s a balance. Like the evangelists who always find a way to unnaturally sneak god into every conversation, we should all strive to be humans first and artists second. Otherwise talking to you just gets annoying.

“There’s no status in catching a fly
ball.” Everyone wants to hit a homer. There’s more glory, more value and more press coverage. But the satisfaction of stepping out of the spotlight and watching your teammate make the crowd go wild is goddamn beautiful. As an entrepreneur, I spent twelve years in the spotlight. And I loved every minute of it. But I must say, it’s nice to finally be able to step back so other people can step up. Inspired by an interview with veteran pitcher Steve Hamilton.

“I keep hearing we’re boring from interesting poor people.” Possibly the greatest tweet I’ve ever read in my life. Brian Clark proves that there are more important goals in life than becoming the most interesting person on the Internet. Besides, just because you do things worth tweeting about doesn’t mean you’re happy. Or wealthy. Here’s to the pursuit of exquisite ordinariness.

“Investing in the reality of other human beings.” What nobody tells you about working for yourself is, it’s easy to fall down the narcissism rabbit hole and not even realize it. Spending ten hours a day in your pajamas, pounding away on your laptop, doing the work you love is a glorious thing. But when we start acting like artists first and humans second, we start trading independence for empathy. We start chipping away at our ability to participate
fully in another person’s experience. Admittedly, I was the biggest offender for the longest time. But I managed to dig my way out of the rabbit hole just in time. Whew.

“Dangling the carrot of exposure.” Well, we can’t pay you any money, but it will be good exposure. Riiiight. Here’s the problem with this transaction. First, it’s just exposure to more people who don’t have any money. Second, it’s hard to buy groceries with exposure. Third, the only value for me is if you cross my palm with silver. Fifteen bucks little man, put that shit in my hands. Otherwise, don’t waste my time. Unbelievable. Doesn’t anybody exchange money for value anymore? Sheesh. Inspired by an article on internships.

“There is no adversity coming their way any time soon.” Moving across the country with no job, no friends and nobody to depend on but each other was hardest thing we’ve ever done. And it was totally worth it. We intentionally put our relationship through the wringer and came out on the other side, stumbling but surviving. And we give thanks for the experience daily. The point is, everyone needs a good low. If life has never handed you a pile of shit, it’s hard to deepen your character and perspective. Thanks for the inspiration, Michael Moore.

“A place where dreams are had and
followed.” Hugh knows how to paint a picture of office culture. But why stop there? This mantra should hang on the walls of homes, schools, sports teams, congregations, yoga studios and all other places people come together. At
the heart of what it means to be a person is the act of dreaming, doing and
finishing. Coming alive through the pursuit of ideas. Dreaming isn’t dead. It never was, and it never will be. 

“The best minds of my generation are
thinking about how to make people click ads.” Stories about wasted genius break my heart. This article abouttech bubblesreconfirms something I’ve thought for a while now: Freedom is finding a home for all of your talents. That’s the biggest difference between my life today and my life two years ago. I upgraded from a four track to a sixteen track. Not to mention, I’m playing with a band now. Sweet. There’s nothing more beautiful than making meaningful use of everything that you are.

“Whatever conquering of selfish habits it may necessitate.” I spent the first ten years after college flushing a lot of the selfishness out of my system. Life was solely about executing my will, building my brand and satisfying my inherent neediness to succeed. It was awesome. But eventually, I knew I couldn’t stay locked inside my own selfish needs forever. So with the help of a magical accomplice, I made a conscious decision to change my pronouns. In spirit, in language and in action. Not an easy transition. Especially for someone who’s never really had to share before. But was worth it. Existing as a “we” rocks.

“I’m creating my own nationality.” Intriguing statement from comedian Jim Gaffigan. Reminds me of a project I did about six years ago. After studying every sacred text from every major religion, I still wasn’t existentially satisfied. So I decided to write my own bible. Seemed like an funky adventure. A few weeks later, I booked a flight to Sedona, spent four days alone in the desert and cobbled together my own holy book. Powerful experience. Everyone can do this. Even nonbelievers. It’s got nothing to do with religion and everything to do with permission.

“Reframe discipline as devotion.” That’s a key distinction. Discipline means we make time do the work, devotion means the work is a permanent, daily fixture in our lives. It just happens. It’s a non-thought. Instead of burning calories preparing to get ready to think about the possibility of potentially doing something, we just start. We invest all our physical and emotional and mental labor into the work instead of debating whether or not we should do it. Solid advice from Pavarotti via Eric Maisel.

“It’s not fun, it’s satisfying.” I love fun. I seek it out daily. And I tend to have it wherever I go. But Ace Man makes an important point: Not everything we do can be fun. And that’s okay. If the experience is satisfying, that’s what matters. If the experience is satisfying, we’re excited to do it again. Fun is a nice bonus, but it’s not the only barometer of meaning.

“Your feelings swallow your thinking.” Love this interview with Aimee Man. As both a songwriter and a highly sensitive person, I can relate. The ongoing chess match between the head and the heart is one of those experiences that always confounds us. Humans seem to get better at playing that game over time, but I’m not sure which body part ends up on top. Game on.

“We’re running down the slope of stupid so fast in our country.” Spot on observation by FBI veteran Don Borelli. I totally agree. For a nation with so much freedom, so much privilege and so much technology, America sure does do a lot of stupid stuff. That’s why I try to invest a good chunk of my time listening, learning and thinking about what’s wrong, why it’s wrong and how we can fix it. Seems like our civic duty as working members of this country. I wonder how many of my fellow Americans agree.

“Blogging hasn’t changed, you have.” I started blogging about ten years ago. Best decision ever. Not only for my business, but for my brain. Since then, blogging has trended up and down multiple times. Internet pundits have dubbed blogging dead on multiple occasions. And like the electronics store in your neighborhood that never takes down their going out of business sign, nobody wants to deliver a final verdict on it. Which is fine. Blogging still matters to me. And my readers. Thanks to Hugh Macleod’s new book for the digital nudge.

“Reality is on a need to know basis.” After watching this gorgeous interview with photojournalist David Guttenfelder, I immediately walked outside and starting taking pictures. God that made me happy. There’s something deeply satisfying about capturing visual moments. And I don’t pretend to be a fauxtographer. I don’t know much about cameras or framing or lighting or aperture. But I am an amazing noticer. I see things most people miss. And I think that’s where the best pictures come from.

“Social isolation is an objective condition in which people have little interaction with others.” Devastating article about the health risks of loneliness. I can relate. When you suddenly realize that you’ve spent the last fourteen hours locked in your hotel room and the only other human you’ve interacted with was the cleaning lady, it’s kind of hard to run from the waves of anxiety. In such moments, it’s helpful to have a surfboard.

“My personal status with myself has gone up a hundred
percent.” When I made the decision to retire from entrepreneurship and transition into my next career, I wrote a letter of resignation to myself. For real. This experience blew my fucking hair back. Ten pages of naked truth pouring out of me like a fire hose. Every feeling I was feeling about my job and career and work and future, I wrote down. Then I sighed. Then I signed it. And then it was over. Best. Exercise. Ever. We can never underestimate the gravity of okayness. Thanks, Farmer Fred.

“Arresting attention in the midst of distraction.” Random article from eleven years ago about an artist named Hisham. Got me thinking about drugs like Ritalin and Adderall, which I’ve never taken. In fact, I’m pretty sure I have reverse ADD. I’m hyper focused. When I get on a roll with something, you have to club me over the head with a shovel to snap me back into the real world. Interesting condition to have.

“Sing like something’s escaping.” That’s how Adam Carolla described John Popper’s singing style. Couldn’t agree more. Singing is a form of sorcery. The whole point is to let something out. That’s why I sing, out loud, everywhere I go, all the time. Even on the subway. People give me strange looks, and I don’t care. There are things inside of me that, if they do not escape, will find a home in my stomach and cause me pain. Music is the healing force of the universe. 

“A lot of things are lying around
waiting to be discovered.” Understatement of the century. There’s so much good stuff out there, it’s intoxicating. All we have to do is pay attention and take notes. If we get writer’s block, we don’t need to get high, we need to get hearing aids. Thanks, Georgie.

“I tried on a lumpy wool cardigan that looked like a lamb had died on me.” Now that I live in the hometown of the hipsters, it’s fascinating to read articles describing them. Most are literary cheap shots, but this piece was so goddamn funny, I could barely contain myself. Much respect to journalist Henry Alford. I aspire to write sentences that good. I mean, that well.

“I wasn’t a full person until my heart
was destroyed.” There are certain experiences every human should have. One is breaking the heart of someone you love. The other is getting your heart broken by someone you love. Personally, I’ve done both. And I’m not sure which experience hurts more, but maybe that’s not the point. As long as you make it out of the minefield alive, you’re better because of it. Thanks, Maron.

“My mother couldn’t stop this other
machine that was revving up.” When mentally unstable kids shoot up a school, we should blame the parents. And when mentally brilliant kids graduate from that school and go on to do work that changes the world, we should blame the parents too. It’s all their fault. the good and the bad. This article about George Carlin’s upbringing should be a case study for new mothers and fathers.

“I just don’t want to subject myself to the butchery.” Pulled this passage from Eric Maisel’s new book, Making Your Creative Mark. Interesting. In all the years that I’ve been publishing books, articles, blogs, presentations and other art, I’ve never felt that way. Subjected? Butchery? Not when you hire yourself. Not when create art your own terms. Sure, the quality of the work might be twenty percent less, but the happiness of your life is eighty percent better. Sounds like a dope tradeoff to me.

“When I work, I exist in a way that
makes sense to me.” I’m wired similarly to cartoonist Scott Adams. Work validates my existence. I’m happier when I’m being productive and prolific. And there’s a place in me
that starves if I go more than a few days withoutnudging the world in a positive direction. Now, I’m not saying everyone should live this way, but I am saying everyone should understand what motivates them. It makes life simpler.

“I’m blessed with a certain amount of
amnesia.” Great line from a great interview with the great Leonard Cohen. It must be nice to be able to forget things. For me, it’s the opposite. I can’t forget things. Memory is my superpower. I can’t explain it. My entire life, I’ve been able to remember names, images, dates, words, experiences and facts. Something that happened once, twenty years ago, I’ll call back on the spot. It’s scary. And what’s even scarier is, I still can’t remember to turn the shower nozzle all the way off each morning.

“God is how we describe the sense that
there is more.” Heard this passage on podcast from a cool church in Portland. Couple of things. First, I believe there is more. Second, I believe it’s important to describe the sense that there is more. Third, I believe God is the wrong word to use for that description. Too much baggage. Too much distorted meaning. Too much connection too much outdated thinking. We can do better. Somebody call Webster.

“Honey, I think that wants to be a song.” As a little girl, this is what Lucinda Williams‘ father would tell her when she wrote a bad poem. So cool. That’s exactly the kind of environment a young artist needs during her formative years. One that encourages, nurtures and channels creativity into the right places. With a foundation like that, the probability of doing brilliant work increases exponentially.

“The show made people appreciate the
entertainment value of cringing.” The Office is finally coming to an end after nine years. What a run. Love this interview with Greg Daniels about the staying power of awkwardness. That’s an emotional experience not every show can pull off. Except maybe Curb Your Enthusiasm, which makes me want to reach through the television and strangle the main character.

“The songs have traveled, not the
recordings.” I’ve been a huge Wallflowers fan since I was a teenager. In this interview with Jakob Dylan, there’s a fascinating segment about the longevity of his father’s work. Songs, not recordings. Interesting. Kind of hard to say that about today’s musician. In a world where production is king and marketing is queen, songwriting feels like but a humble servant. Bummer.

“A thick layer of out-of-stepness.” It’s only appropriate that Carlin’s last interview was with Psychology Today. Among his countless admirable qualities, what drew me in most to George was his skewed perspective on just about everything. He would come through the side door, sneak up on the audience, take them to a place they didn’t want to go, and leave them grateful that he took them there. Respect.

“They have no constitution to answer to.” After watching this interview with Aaron Swartz, I’m even more sad that he’s gone. What a mind. What a heart. That’s the grade of human we need in leadership roles. Not sociopaths. Not narcissists. Not felons pretending to be friends. Good people who know what’s right and what’s worth fighting for. He will be missed, but not forgotten.

“This may be the best thing since sliced
beer.” This article on snarky Amazon product reviews made me laugh out loud multiple times. Freaking hysterical. I don’t think companies realize how creative their customers can be. I also don’t think companies are taking advantage of that brainpower. Why not reward your most ridiculous reviewers by letting them write marketing copy for future promotions? Sure beats what those unpaid interns are coming up with.

“Attacking the very forms that they
functioned in.” Dig this piece about second favorite art forms. That’s something I learned at a young age: Go to the source of the source. Find the people who inspire the people who inspire you. Once you learn that behind every Jeff Buckley is a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, once you discover that behind every Matt Groening is a Joseph Heller, art starts to make a lot more sense.