Brian Dettmer’s Book Autopsies are infinitely beautiful. I wish I could see them in person!
Archive for March, 2008
I have been so busy lately and I am just now getting the chance to start posting about some of the SXSW Interactive activities that I attended. One in particular was my lovely friend Leslie’s panel “Building Portable Social Networks“. Bottom line is that we need to rethink the way we use social networks and how our online lives can be a seamless and transparent interaction as we move about the internets. As Leslie said in the discussion: this is a complex problem and it is only going to become more complex - and that means we need to be thinking about this now. We need to be considering what we CAN do and not what the limitations will be.
Leslie sent me a link to Kathy Sierra’s blog, my favorite speaker at the SXSW conference 2 years running, and wrote in the email subject line “This article is particularly good”. Boy was she right. In this article Kathy discusses her popular topic “How to create passionate users” but in a different light: the teacher student model. She begins the article by speaking directly to you:
Do you care what your users think of you?
STOP IT.
Our best advice for creating passionate users is:
Care ONLY about what your users think of themselves as a result of interacting with your creation.
Continue reading ‘Kathy Sierra: “Users shouldn’t think about you”’
Someone mentioned something to me today that reminded me of this poem that I am sure we all learned in middle/high school. I have always liked it and I am not sure exactly why, but I decided to revisit it today.
Dream Deferred
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
–Langston Hughes
I have only recently been introduced to the artist Jenny Holzer. Her ‘truisms‘ first took shape as one liner posters and were then transformed into projections onto buildings and landscapes as well as installations with LED lights. Some of this work can be seen here,as well as a plaque, and some benches. She was featured on PBS’s Art:21 (another favorite program of mine).
…often holzer’s work presents both explicit content and
minimalist aesthetics that make profound statements about
the world of advertising and consumer society today.
I have always felt moved by the power of words and am undeniably drawn to artists who use words and phrases in their artwork. There is a feeling that I get from a perfectly structured collection of words that almost makes me want to give up everything and create my own set of ‘truisms’ as Jenny has done. Here are a few of my personal favorites:
enjoy yourself because you can’t change anything anyway
go all out in romance and let the chips fall where they may
habitual contempt doesn’t reflect a finer sensibility
a sense of timing is the mark of genius
a sincere effort is all you can ask
a solid home base builds a sense of self
a single event can have infinitely many interpretations
if you can’t leave your mark give up
if you have many desires your life will be interesting
if you live simply there is nothing to worry about
illness is a state of mind
knowing yourself lets you understand others
knowledge should be advanced at all costs
mothers shouldn’t make too many sacrifices
remember you always have freedom of choice
selflessness is the highest achievement
slipping into madness is good for the sake of comparison
solitude is enriching
the most profound things are inexpressible
you owe the world not the other way around
The great Trafalgar Square freeze!
What a beautiful film! I saw Persepolis last night and truly enjoyed every minute of it. The story was very interesting with the “down to earth” voice of Marjane, the main character, describing her young life growing up during the Iranian revolution. The animation style was exquisite in black and white with creative dream sequences and beautiful details that made the film a work of art.
