ambient attention.

what follows is just a quick draft of something i wrote on my phone after arriving in detroit earlier in the week.  it was probably 830a and i had been awake since 330a.  i was waiting for a colleague’s flight to land and drinking an aforementioned americano…

thinking abt design & attention. watching ppl photo/video fountain in dtw. goals are set w/ assumption of 100% attention. what abt ambient attention? not looking at the fountain and just hearing it leaves a complete different impression.

cute, right?  lots of opiates rushing to my head, time to kill and an obvious attempt at distracting myself for a bit gets me to realize a design theory that (i’m not sure) is prevalent in actual education about design.

want to really know why i’m essentially marginalizing myself in this post?

not looking at the fountain just made it sound like a urinal row in the men’s bathroom of a football game.  full-on pissing, essentially all day long.

told you.

p.s:  i’m into the neistat brothers now.  thanks thea.

Truth

mknell:

What kind of life do you have if you’re always breaking news, but never fixing it? 

discuss amongst yourselves.

attention to detail.

Even with cheap printed books, you can tell that someone proofed every page. With many e-books, they’ve clearly just been run through a converter with no proofing whatsoever. This is especially true for backlist Kindle titles from Amazon — the formatting is just atrocious.

this will be fixed, i’m sure but it’s certainly indicative of an unintended separation while innovation, in general, is hurtling forward.  part of how we live, as a species, is connecting to the environment around us using all of our senses.  touching a screen and magic happening is nice but it doesn’t engage you completely.  there is nothing tangible interacting back with you that engages all of you at once.  you’ll see something, you’ll hear something - but you won’t physically feel anything.

we still need that.  we’ll always need that.  things go wrong and our balance is shifted.  why is running away and going on vacation, “unplugging” so hot right now?  it’s that balance that has left our everyday lives.  we’re chasing when we can easily bring it back.

Guys, let’s figure out what we’re doing and do it.

putthison:

suitsandboots:

I see too many dudes every day who have no idea what they’re doing: guys who  have no idea how to dress, how to drive, how to lift weights, how to eat/drink, how to sit, how to listen, how to speak, how to spell, how to write, how to think for themselves, or how to even live their lives.

I very, very rarely meet a fellow gentleman and then later think to myself, “He knows what he’s doing”. That sucks. Now, I don’t claim to know what I’m doing most of the time, but I’m trying. Please try with me.

This is a very fair goal for all of us.

agree.

open letter about attitude & hard work.

todd defren, jason calacanis and jason falls - 

are you done yet?  are you done crying over spilt milk?  are you done making sweeping generalizations about “millennials” and “loyalty?”  you dudes are older than i am - i get it.  everyone who’s younger than someone else gets it.  we’re here making the same mistakes you probably did and we’re also here trying to make our own mark on the world.  do i want to be just like you?  no, not in a long shot.  does it mean i don’t respect you?  no, not in a long shot.

i rarely go into all-out “bitch mode” on the web because i’m tired of all the crap that’s already out there.  this technology is moving our entire society forward and 96% of it is complaining.  i’m not into it - anything i like to produce in a public domain, i like to be constructive.  but, in this instance, i’ve succumbed.  your posts have been eating away at me ever since you hit “publish” and, quite frankly, i’m tired of being bucketed.

will you turn this argument right back around on me?  probably, but i don’t care.  it’s my blog.  same goes for you - i’m not saying your posts aren’t allowed to be there or your advice isn’t sound, i just feel like you’re pointing out problems with someone’s attitude and work ethic and pinning them to an entire generation (i’m 27, i’m a millennial, right?  millennial, btw, is a stupid name.  my name is john - call me that).

i learned the value of hard work and having a positive, forward-thinking attitude very early on in my career.  was it while i was standing at a printer waiting for a way-too-long powerpoint deck to print out?  no.  it was when i was building houses with my cousin during college summers and it was when i worked very hard during my internships, being very open to learning new skills and applying my unique points-of-view to the work i produced.  along with a terrific family, great parents and being raised properly - this was my base.  you choose your experiences in life and these help shape who you will become.  are your posts products of your employees or colleagues not having this solid base?  maybe.  probably.  not my problem and i don’t think your bastings are effective modes of recourse.

am i perfect?  no, i have a lot to learn and i’m positive that i’m worlds away from where i could be.  do i have an overwhelming urge to skewer “millennials” everyday?  no.  and i wish you didn’t either.  it bums me out when i see so much passion and energy thrown away on an amazingly subjective issue.  wouldn’t it have been better to set this example in your own work ethic, conduct and business environments?  i just feel like that’s where this is appropriate and not part of sweeping, sensational, public generalizations.  to be honest, if i was your employee, seeing posts like these tell me exactly what i’d need to know.

when my friends and peers ask for advice, i tell them the same things i just typed.  it takes hard work, the realization that no one else is looking out for you, and a positive, forward-thinking attitude.  these things will take you much farther in this world than you’ll ever realize.  it doesn’t matter how old i am, what time of night i sent an e-mail, or what i do for a living.  if i stay true to myself, the people i love and live this life to the brim - then i’m good.

i’m going to step down from the pulpit and get back to work.  i hope you can do the same.

a firm handshake,

john

you’re not the first thing i reach for.

now that i have a new commute in the morning, i have some time on a train to do as i please.

most of it is spent in the new york times iphone app.

what i’m not doing?  twitter, facebook et al.  even if i do, for a second, i’ll close it out shortly.  not that i don’t love my friends, digital and non, but i’ve decided i don’t need you being some of the first items pinging around upstairs.

maybe, it’s like eating breakfast for my brain.  should i have the balanced meal or the piece of candy?

this was inspired by this.

Top 10 Best Roadtripping Songs

bbook:

Looking forward to summer already… can’t ya tell?

1. Sweet Emotion// Aerosmith
2. Hotel California// The Eagles
3. Love You Madly// Cake
4. Where Nobody Knows// Kings of Leon
5. Young Folks// Peter Bjorn & John 
6. Run Around// Blues Traveler 
7. Ramble On// Led Zeppelin 
8. China Girl// David Bowie
9. Love and Memories// OAR
10. Slow Ride// Foghat

today was that day people in the tri-state started to really hope that warm weather is relatively close.  you could just tell by people’s attitudes, the fact that it was friday and the fact that they decided to wear vests instead of jackets even when it was snowing (i.e. me).

btw, hell yes to slow ride!

technology, culture and commodities.

from joanne mcneil:

saying i write about “technology and culture” should sound like “autumn and fall” or “movies and film” but it doesn’t quite yet

me, in response:

it will, ppl don’t realize the connection yet. flip side is that those topics - together - shouldn’t be a commodity like “movies.”

this exchange was the beginning of a few blips on my radar this past weekend about the important connection between our culture/society and the technology that’s part of it.  there is a lot of face-value discussion happening across the web but few areas where we dive deep into why it matters.  people are starting to commoditize technology, especially in terms of communication.  unfortunately for them, it has to matter more.  we have to use it to change the things around us - not just slowly turn it into another crowded pile of useless noise.

for example:

• seven on seven - “pair seven leading artists with seven game-changing technologists in teams of two, and challenge them to develop something new — be it an application, social media, artwork, product, or whatever they imagine — over the course of a single day.”

• ideas42 - (one of their projects) “When it comes to the adoption and application of new technologies, many people are misinformed about technology and its benefits.  Individuals may be misguided by a rule of thumb that results in either non-adoption or misuse.  In the Indian state of Orissa, for example, many rice farmers overuse chemical fertilizers and pesticides on their crops, due to the misperception that the greenness of their plants is positively correlated with improved yields.”

• day19 - revitalizing LA using their gifts.  bringing culture and the arts, as well as their audiences, to a new part of town.

so, a quick kudos to the people who are actually doing something good at the intersection of our culture and our technology.

fun with nicknames

cthewell:

So Tooth no longer wants to be referred to as The Situation, as he doesn’t wish to be associated with that D-bag on Jersey Shore.  No argument here.  He came up with a name designed to keep people on the edge of their seats, waiting anxiously for…The Anticipation.  I like it.  But now I’m jealous and want my own bad ass “I go to the gym, now” nickname.  I thought long and hard (that’s what she said) and since I always seem to be meddling in other people’s affairs, I think I’ll be The Complication.  Ratcliffe, I know you want in on this shit, man.  Since you’ve got an infinite amount of data at your fingertips at all times, you shall be known as The Information.  As Woogie will be spending one night a week in The Well now, we mustn’t exclude him.  Since he’s in training for a triathlon, he’ll be spending a lot of time in the gym.  And if he works hard enough, he’ll undoubtedly become The Condensation.

this made my night.

applesauce cake.

ratcliffe-lee:

tomorrow, alex heads back down to philly after break from dancing & classes.  all six of us had dinner for the last time probably until katie’s birthday in a few weeks.

mom told her story again about great grandma ackerman’s sister, who worked at grand central station as a reservations agent, memorized the timetables for the entire united states rail system.

i also whipped up some apple sauce raisin cake.  mom and pop’s wedding cake.  from the recipes of grandma eliza taylor ratcliffe (1900-1986), edited by mom and eva taylor barclay in 1993:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups applesauce (homemade or McIntosh store bought)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and a little more
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup raisins
• Pinch of allspice
• No eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325o - 350o
2. Cream butter and sugar, add applesauce and spices.
3. Add flour.
4. Bake in greased and floured 13”x9” pan until cake leaves sides of pan and springs back when you touch the top.  Leave in pan.
5. When cool ice with white butter icing.

“I’m sorry, I don’t measure very much, so can’t help you too much, experience is the best teacher, do it when you are not having company. 

Lots of love, Grandma”

Aunt Eva says Grandma always put a good meal on the table even though dinner was always being interrupted by people coming by to talk to Grandpa because he was in politics.  Many evenings dinner was rushed because Grandma had to have her sons, Bob and Jackie, dressed and ready to go with Grandpa to the Preakness Farmers’ ball games.  Grandpa managed the team and Uncle Roy played on it.  Grandpa always had to have his sons along with him at the games.

nice evening with the fam.