Very inspiring stuff.
Thanks to Amy.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Standards
"Letting your customers set your standards is a dangerous game, because the race to the bottom is pretty easy to win. Setting your own standards--and living up to them--is a better way to profit. Not to mention a better way to make your day worth all the effort you put into it."
-- Seth Godin
TTL said:
This topic seems to be a recurring theme here, but it is a central question to every artist so it deserves to be.
If I had to choose between self-expression + small income, and letting other people dictate my expression + high income, the choice would be very easy. You can only enjoy life when your actions align with your higher self. Money, in comparison, is of little significance.
It is possible to get both. But only if you make self-expression the highest priority. It is a slower route but a much more satisfying one. Doing it backwards can result in a lock-up were you find it difficult to let go of the income in order to start anew the right way. I speak from experience, I made this very mistake years ago and learned a painful lesson.
-- Seth Godin
TTL said:
This topic seems to be a recurring theme here, but it is a central question to every artist so it deserves to be.
If I had to choose between self-expression + small income, and letting other people dictate my expression + high income, the choice would be very easy. You can only enjoy life when your actions align with your higher self. Money, in comparison, is of little significance.
It is possible to get both. But only if you make self-expression the highest priority. It is a slower route but a much more satisfying one. Doing it backwards can result in a lock-up were you find it difficult to let go of the income in order to start anew the right way. I speak from experience, I made this very mistake years ago and learned a painful lesson.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Fear and Loathing in the Galleries
Lum-Land has an article about how the fine art print may disappear in favor of wall screen art.
Funny enough I wrote just the same thing nine years ago.
Funny enough I wrote just the same thing nine years ago.
Miroslav Tichý and bohemianism
Miroslav Tichý. Must be the ultimate bohemian.
Dictionary: bohemian (bō-hē'mē-ən)
n. A person with artistic or literary interests who disregards conventional standards of behavior.
---
I'm reminded: I had a dear friend (sadly we separated over religious differences), who considered himself a bohemian and considered it an important ideal to be a bohemian.
He was a odd sort of behemian, though. He liked Hong Kong because he'd heard that there it is punishable to litter or spit on the street. And he actually walked around with a shoe horn in his coat. And folded his clothes before sex. (The last one is second-hand knowledge.)
I was also proud to consider myself a bohemian. (I guess I still am one, but I don't care so much anymore.) And when both of us started earning good money, the question became: can you be a proper bohemian and be well off? I think that despite most bohemians traditionally being poor, it's not actually part of the definition, so I don't see why not.
Though actually I think that pride in being bohemian is probably just rooted in separation. You disrespect the bourgeoisie, so it's important to you to separate yourself from them and elevate yourself above them.
Of course that's no difference from the basic human condition. We are different, and therefore better. "I'm Danish, so I'm better." "I'm an American, and damn proud of it." "I'm black and I flaunt it." "I'm a man who works with my hands!" "I'm a Harvard man."
DreamingWolf said...
Bohemian = a native or inhabitant of Bohemia in the Czech Republic.
... and Miroslav Tichý IS a Czech photographer ;-)
So, he is Bohemian: as both the person with the Czech origins and the nonconformist artist who lives an unconventional life...
Yes, very good point! I knew that and I didn't even think about it.
So he is doubly the ultimate bohemian!
Though he'll have to fight it out for the title with Jana Pope (/KRATOCHVÍLOVÁ/Uriel). Her album Bohemian is one of my all time favorites, and I'm sure it was called that for all those reasons. She is also Czech. And if anybody is unconventional... she's never met a convention she could not tear down.
I remember in the late eighties I was so enthusiastic about Bohemian that I even tried promoting it in a couple of record stores. No interest. In one of them the girl showed it to another girl, who said with sarcasm and disdain: "yeahhh. I'll bet there'll be one every year too..." Never have I seen anything understood more poorly. Jana never did anything twice, I'm sure. Which is the reason she is not a household name. (The lyrics to Bohemian are not even found online.)
Dictionary: bohemian (bō-hē'mē-ən)
n. A person with artistic or literary interests who disregards conventional standards of behavior.
---
I'm reminded: I had a dear friend (sadly we separated over religious differences), who considered himself a bohemian and considered it an important ideal to be a bohemian.
He was a odd sort of behemian, though. He liked Hong Kong because he'd heard that there it is punishable to litter or spit on the street. And he actually walked around with a shoe horn in his coat. And folded his clothes before sex. (The last one is second-hand knowledge.)
I was also proud to consider myself a bohemian. (I guess I still am one, but I don't care so much anymore.) And when both of us started earning good money, the question became: can you be a proper bohemian and be well off? I think that despite most bohemians traditionally being poor, it's not actually part of the definition, so I don't see why not.
Though actually I think that pride in being bohemian is probably just rooted in separation. You disrespect the bourgeoisie, so it's important to you to separate yourself from them and elevate yourself above them.
Of course that's no difference from the basic human condition. We are different, and therefore better. "I'm Danish, so I'm better." "I'm an American, and damn proud of it." "I'm black and I flaunt it." "I'm a man who works with my hands!" "I'm a Harvard man."
DreamingWolf said...
Bohemian = a native or inhabitant of Bohemia in the Czech Republic.
... and Miroslav Tichý IS a Czech photographer ;-)
So, he is Bohemian: as both the person with the Czech origins and the nonconformist artist who lives an unconventional life...
Yes, very good point! I knew that and I didn't even think about it.
So he is doubly the ultimate bohemian!
Though he'll have to fight it out for the title with Jana Pope (/KRATOCHVÍLOVÁ/Uriel). Her album Bohemian is one of my all time favorites, and I'm sure it was called that for all those reasons. She is also Czech. And if anybody is unconventional... she's never met a convention she could not tear down.I remember in the late eighties I was so enthusiastic about Bohemian that I even tried promoting it in a couple of record stores. No interest. In one of them the girl showed it to another girl, who said with sarcasm and disdain: "yeahhh. I'll bet there'll be one every year too..." Never have I seen anything understood more poorly. Jana never did anything twice, I'm sure. Which is the reason she is not a household name. (The lyrics to Bohemian are not even found online.)
Jewish Girl Prank Calls Her Parents
Jewish Girl Prank Calls Her Parents. Pretends to be dating a gentile.
"He's Italian, he could be a murderer, he could be anything!"
"He's Italian, he could be a murderer, he could be anything!"
War! Huh! What is it good for?
A Georgian journalist was apparently shot (grazed her arm) by a Russian sniper.
They say that over one hundred and twenty journalists have been killed in the war in Iraq.
For a moment I thought that this might teach people that something like this does not only happen to small brown people or to soldiers. In other words, that war is counterproductive.
But then you look at human history, and nothing has yet taught humans that war is counterproductive. The best they've learned so far is that the people dying should preferably be those you don't know personally. Then it's all right.
Update: article.
"...it has become an article of faith on the political right that grisly images of the Vietnam war - including the famous pictures of a street-side execution and of a naked young girl running from a napalm attack - undermined public support and led to the American defeat. Subsequent administrations have made it increasingly difficult for journalists to cover war in all its horror."
They say that over one hundred and twenty journalists have been killed in the war in Iraq.
For a moment I thought that this might teach people that something like this does not only happen to small brown people or to soldiers. In other words, that war is counterproductive.
But then you look at human history, and nothing has yet taught humans that war is counterproductive. The best they've learned so far is that the people dying should preferably be those you don't know personally. Then it's all right.
Update: article.
"...it has become an article of faith on the political right that grisly images of the Vietnam war - including the famous pictures of a street-side execution and of a naked young girl running from a napalm attack - undermined public support and led to the American defeat. Subsequent administrations have made it increasingly difficult for journalists to cover war in all its horror."
Thursday, August 14, 2008
New Finepix camera
New Fujifilm camera.
A few years ago I'd hardly have imagined we'd have a ten-megapixel camera with image stabilization and a 15x wideangle zoom for $300. My first camera cost about that, was a basic one, and then we haven't even taken 30 years of inflation into account!
A few years ago I'd hardly have imagined we'd have a ten-megapixel camera with image stabilization and a 15x wideangle zoom for $300. My first camera cost about that, was a basic one, and then we haven't even taken 30 years of inflation into account!
Demented sex
Article.
"Care home practitioners and old age psychiatrists have been warned that they could face long jail sentences if they allow a patient with dementia to have sex even with a long-term partner."
Wow. Talk about a rats' nest of problems.
Another illustration of the intense fear we seem to have of sex. We would throw caretakers in jail for years if they allow a demented person to have sex with their spouse, on the grounds that it's a judgement call if the person is enjoying it or not.
"Care home practitioners and old age psychiatrists have been warned that they could face long jail sentences if they allow a patient with dementia to have sex even with a long-term partner."
Wow. Talk about a rats' nest of problems.
Another illustration of the intense fear we seem to have of sex. We would throw caretakers in jail for years if they allow a demented person to have sex with their spouse, on the grounds that it's a judgement call if the person is enjoying it or not.
Communication software for the deaf
From Pogue's blog.
"My wife and I discovered Dragon NaturallySpeaking about 8 years ago, and have been using it successfully ever since-- not for dictation, but as a communication aid. My wife is deaf; her hearing loss began about 25 years ago (we are in our late 60's) and she has become a skillful lip reader to compensate. That works pretty well in face-to-face communication, but is not helpful in many other situations, such as when we are driving; when I drive, I give her a side view, which isn't clear enough.
"I've made brackets to hold a laptop both in our car and motor home. I use a lapel mike to speak; NaturallySpeaking transcribes what I say. She reads what I'm saying, and then responds by voice. When we got this working, it was the first time in 15 years that we could converse on the road."
"My wife and I discovered Dragon NaturallySpeaking about 8 years ago, and have been using it successfully ever since-- not for dictation, but as a communication aid. My wife is deaf; her hearing loss began about 25 years ago (we are in our late 60's) and she has become a skillful lip reader to compensate. That works pretty well in face-to-face communication, but is not helpful in many other situations, such as when we are driving; when I drive, I give her a side view, which isn't clear enough.
"I've made brackets to hold a laptop both in our car and motor home. I use a lapel mike to speak; NaturallySpeaking transcribes what I say. She reads what I'm saying, and then responds by voice. When we got this working, it was the first time in 15 years that we could converse on the road."
Blue Man Group
I heard about the Blue Man Group in Arrested Development, and I finally got curious.
Pretty cool!
Pretty cool!
Unnatural acts
Maybe nutritional experts have changed their tune again as they do all the time, but last I remember, they said that you should "eat like a king in the morning, like a duke at noon, and like a pauper at night".
They said that if you're not hungry in the morning, that's just an admission that you have eaten too much at night. But many years ago I tried to follow the advice of not eating in the hours before bed time, and that's when I developed stomach pains which haunted me for years.
I just don't feel like eating much in the morning, it does not come natural to me. And I don't like to force unnatural acts upon myself or others. Except, you know, in the right circumstances.
They said that if you're not hungry in the morning, that's just an admission that you have eaten too much at night. But many years ago I tried to follow the advice of not eating in the hours before bed time, and that's when I developed stomach pains which haunted me for years.
I just don't feel like eating much in the morning, it does not come natural to me. And I don't like to force unnatural acts upon myself or others. Except, you know, in the right circumstances.
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