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I’ve always loved the way Merlin Mann writes and does stuff. Whether it’s writing about his day to day learnings on doing things or the sarcastic, witty randomness of You look nice today, he often brings a smile to my face. But, that smile is often followed by a feeling of emptyness due to me not being as witty, clever or funny as him. Anyhow, he’s gone and stole the words right out of my poncy fountain pen, well he hasn’t, because the words are quite good. They are so apt and spot on with current challenges in my life that I wondered if Merlin had been reading my journal.
The post is about cutting back on the pointless things in life, it’s about craftsmanship of which Merlin thinks is lacking in many peoples worlds, epsecially the online one. It’s about looking after yourself by doing good things and focusing on stuff instead of trying to smear yourself everywhere with little or no concern about quality.
Here’s some stuff he tries to do everyday:
- identify and destroy small-return bullshit;
- shut off anything that’s noisier than it is useful;
- make brutally fast decisions about what I don’t need to be doing;
- avoid anything that feels like fake sincerity (esp. where it may touch money);
- demand personal focus on making good things;
- put a handful of real people near the center of everything.
It’s heartwarming to read this post and especially to know Merlin will endeavour to make world class dick jokes, instead of just dick jokes. I applaud that kind of dedication to quality.
Go read the post
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I like this a lot - shame it doesn’t work in the UK
Via Noah Brier
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“The power of connecting with people in an authentic way (no, not in that cheesy, half-assed, internet “friends” way) falls apart at the point where its resource consumption curtails your ability to keep making new stuff. It’s a twisted paradox, for sure. But, in essence, it’d be a little like the Beatles skipping the writing and recording of Rubber Soul in order to catch up on 1964’s fan mail.
― Making Time to Make: The Job You Think You Have | 43 Folders
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I’m just going through my toread folder on Evernote and found this cutting. It’s from the Monocle issue number 13.
It made me think about people’s need to send and receive real things. I wonder if that need will ever be replaced by teleportation? I doubt it, not in my life anyway. So, humans need touch, they need to feel physical things. This is something a computer can’t replicate with an email or web page.
So, these guys in Germany are building underground Victorian-style
pneumatic pipes - think of it as a cross between a minuture ghost train come rollercoaster for mice, and your almost there.
There is a long history of my family working in the post office, and I often have discussions with my dad about the changes in the way people communicate compared to 5/10/20 years ago. He has seen some massive mostly negative changes in the way people use the Royal Mail. Maybe they need to be investing in these pipes.
In my eyes, there are always gonna be things people want to send by post or underground pneumatic pipes.
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“Every track these days should be considered a work in progress,” says Hawtin. “Everything is version 1.0, and anybody should be allowed to take your ideas and add their own ideas to it. We need to be more open about music, ideas and ownership.
― Richie Hawtin: Every Track Is Version 1.0 Today » Synthtopia
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On the 10th of September 2008, CERN will throw a switch to try and find out where we came from. Big machines are needed to look at the tiniest things. But these tiny things could unlock some amazing secrets.
Creating a black hole
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