5 Words I Hate for Friday:

"Help is on the Way."

5 Words I Hate for Thursday:

"Your actions are being monitored."


--this one actually comes up on all of our computer screens at work every time you log in, along with a legal statement that declares that they intercept, monitor, record, copy, audit, and inspect any and all use of their computer system. Douchebags. I'm using their computer system to post this message, because I don't believe in signing my life over to an authoritarian regime. Especially when they paid me an gross adjusted income of $26,000 for a job that normally pays twice that amount. Wow. The people at Move have some large cajones. Which will hurt all the more when I give them a roundhouse to the sack with my Chuck Norris Steel-toed specials.

5 words I hate for Wednesday:

The Great American Dream Vote.

5 words I hate week

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to do this:
I decided that I am going to proclaim this week "5 words I hate week," in which every day I list 5 words that I hate. Since I am a couple of days late here, the following two are for Monday and Tuesday.

5 words I hate for Monday:
"Although your credentials are impressive..."

5 words I hate for Tuesday:
"Must have ad agency experience"

A Manifesto for Growth

I love Bruce Mau's ideas. Here is a sample:

An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth

Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements that exemplify Bruce Mau's beliefs, motivations and strategies. It also articulates how the BMD studio works.

1. Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.

2. Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.

3. Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.

4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.

5. Go deep. The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.

6. Capture accidents. The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.

7. Study. A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.

8. Drift. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.

9. Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.

10. Everyone is a leader. Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.

11. Harvest ideas. Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.

12. Keep moving. The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.

13. Slow down. Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.

14. Don’t be cool. Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.

15. Ask stupid questions. Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.

16. Collaborate. The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.

17. ____________________. Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas of others.

18. Stay up late. Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you're separated from the rest of the world.

19. Work the metaphor. Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.

20. Be careful to take risks. Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.

21. Repeat yourself. If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.

22. Make your own tools. Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.

23. Stand on someone’s shoulders. You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.

24. Avoid software. The problem with software is that everyone has it.

25. Don’t clean your desk. You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.

26. Don’t enter awards competitions. Just don’t. It’s not good for you.

27. Read only left-hand pages. Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our "noodle."

28. Make new words. Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.

29. Think with your mind. Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.

30. Organization = Liberty. Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between "creatives" and "suits" is what Leonard Cohen calls a 'charming artifact of the past.'

31. Don’t borrow money. Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.

32. Listen carefully. Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.

33. Take field trips. The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.

34. Make mistakes faster. This isn’t my idea -- I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.

35. Imitate. Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You'll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.

36. Scat. When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else ... but not words.

37. Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.

38. Explore the other edge. Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.

39. Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms. Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces -- what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference -- the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.

40. Avoid fields. Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.

41. Laugh. People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I've become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.

42. Remember. Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.

43. Power to the people. Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can't be free agents if we’re not free.

Buddha

Buddha - "Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it."

Busy.....Out of the Office

I love having a blog. So, why haven't I posted lately? Let's put it this way: Today I was triple-booked for lunch. I have 2 job interviews in Milwaukee on Monday that I have to prepare for (printing out my latest work for my portfolio, thank-you cards to create, print and address, business cards to print out, etc.), a magazine issue to ship, three freelance jobs on the stove, a housing inspector scheduled to come today, a crumbling bathroom wall that had to be replaced, re-tiled and grouted by this morning, several meetings at work, a small crisis brewing with an AP editor in New York that I'm managing, and a boss that in so many words told me that he doesn't care that I am doing 70% more issues this year. I'm busy this week...month...quarter. Let's hope I can get the hell out of this town and settle into a nice, stable, relaxing routine in Milwaukee with a job that pays more than a Dairy Queen Manager. Mmmmm. Brewtown. Look for more posts when I have more than .2 seconds to spend on something other than emptying out my bowels.

Smoking 2.0

The NicStic is making its way across Europe, and it may hit our shores soon. This product vaporizes tobacco instead of burning it, so you don't get the smoke and funk. Check out the Wired article. By the way, the NicStic English site is hilarious. I don't think they have a capable translator on staff yet. My favorite line: "We kindly ask you to be comprehensive."

That's all you can ask of people. Be comprehensive. Now get out there and be all-inclusive!

Wireless Power at Last

The future of solar may be here. Konarka has been developing solar technology that uses "extremely low-cost photovoltaic cells using organic dyes that convert sunlight to electricity." These can be printed on an abundance of materials, which eliminate the need for wires (wireless power!) and traditional coal and petroleum energy sources. Konarka is already known for producing "light-activated power plastic that is flexible, lightweight, lower in cost and much more versatile in application than traditional silicon-based solar cells." Their product looks a lot like roll film. Awesome. It will be cool to see how this technology will be used in next-generation devices.

Have you met my buddy Ron?

Well, here he is. I was reading a Scooby Doo book to my son the other night and Jessica pointed out the likeness. You can see pics of him at his latest show, Rocks N Glocks. I'd say it's uncanny. Click here to see a larger version of the comic. In fact, here is a pic for quick comparison:

He's definitely sporting a 70's look, and I have to say it looks damn good. I ain't complaining at all. In fact, anyone cool enough to have an illustrated likeness of them published in a Scooby Doo book is probably too cool to be my friend.

Milky Way Makes My Day

For whatever the reason, I always chose the Three Musketeers bar over the Milky Way when I was a kid. Don't ask me why, I think maybe it was cheaper, and when you only have 50 cents, you need to stretch that cash. I tried both of them today and have found that Milky Way is by far the better bar. Not even close. The Three Musketeers has some sort of Mockolate instead of chocolate on the outside, and the caramel in the Milky Way adds another dimension. Why the hell am I writing this? I have to get back to work.

Some Positive News

Somalia just might be turning the corner. The U.N. reports that the country has the best chance in years for peace. Check out the story from Reuters. Why do I bring this up? Because I decided to try to post something positive every day.

Avoiding Fertility Tests is a Crime!

You might not know this, but I am a HUGE fan of Alfonso Cuaron, and I think Children of Men is simply brilliant. The 2nd most important film of the last 25 years didn't get nominated for an Oscar, but I'm over it now. Thanks to this reel of background ads and animations from the movie, put together by the British Animators Foreign Office.

Who Killed the Landfill?

Joseph Longo's Plasma Converter turns our most vile and toxic trash into clean energy—and promises to make a relic of the landfill.

By Michael Behar via Good News.

Nissan to Sell Electric Cars

Nissan Motor Co. plans to develop and start selling subcompact electric cars powered by self-developed lithium-ion batteries in about three years. Via Reuters and PlugInAmerica.

A Real Doozy, Yaugh

Add 11 inches from last weekend to the 12-15 inches we received Thursday night and you get over 20 inches in less than a week. I'm tired. I didn't strain my back, nor did I have a cardiac arrest. Truthfully, I love it. It's the only time I get to slow down and think of one thing only: snow. I actually rested in a snowbank for 20 minutes and listened to...nothing. Nothing at all. Abandoned cars and trash cans stood lonely with me as the wind sang through evergreens and the sky took on a subdued blue. Lovely and quiet. We need more of this. More photos at my flickr page.

Oscars 2007

The photos are finally up! Check out my flickr page for the highlights.

The Search for El Marko

Does anybody know what happened to El Marko markers? I loved them. Now, I find that they have disappeared. Seems they got lost in the Sharpie craze. I can't even buy them on eBay, which is startling. I couldn't even find a decent picture of an El Marko marker online. Talk about a rare find. If you find one, or know where you can still get them, let me know.

I Quit iPhoto (Finally)

iPhoto sucks. There is no other way to say it. I tried it and stuck with it for a long time because it was convenient and it recognized my camera. It's caused me too many headaches. It's a hog, it's slow, and it was engineered by someone who thinks they know better than me how to organize my own photo files. I'm just asking for a little flexibility.

So lately when I import my files, they are organized by date, right? So I have a batch that are "February 27, 2007." O.k., so all I have to do to retrieve the photos in PhotoShop is go to the folder dated 2007 > 2 > 27, right? Well, they're not there. Somehow, they end up in an April 2006 folder!! WTF? I repeat, WTF? Maybe my camera's date has been reset. But this is what pisses me off: The photos should be organized by date of import (you know, like the way they are organized in the iPhoto interface, making me believe they are in the respective dated folder) but instead are organized by the data from your camera WHICH CAN BE TOTALLY WRONG, and I have no clue as to where the hell they reside on my hard drive. To find a particular file now, I have to memorize the ridiculous filename the camera gives the photo (OA00724450007) and then do a search on my hard drive! WTF????!!!!!

I know I need to fix the date on my camera, and my problem will probably be solved. It still doesn't fix the slow-as-molasses navigation and previews, as well as its proclivity for locking up and playing disappearing magic tricks. When I get home, I'm archiving my evil, demented photo file structure and wiping this program off my hard drive FOREVER.

F**k iPhoto. I'm installing the software that came with my camera. The Canon software I had 6 years ago kicks current iPhoto's ass. The Canon camera is long gone, and I'm running an Olympus now, but I'm wondering if the Olympus software will be any good. It's worth a try. If it's lame, I'm going open source. There has to be an alternative.

Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,
You're an idiot, babe.
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

I been double-crossed now for the very last time and now I'm finally free,
I kissed goodbye the howling beast on the borderline which separated you from me.