AUSTIN KLEON : TUMBLELOG

Quitting the Paint Factory by Mark Slouka

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:10:00 -0600

Quitting the Paint Factory by Mark Slouka:

Great essay about the importance of idleness.

Idleness is not just a psychological necessity, requisite to the construction of a complete human being; it constitutes as well a kind of political space, a space as necessary to the workings of an actual democracy as, say, a free press. How does it do this? By allowing us time to figure out who we are, and what we believe; by allowing us time to consider what is unjust, and what we might do about it. By giving the inner life (in whose precincts we are most ourselves) its due. Which is precisely what makes idleness dangerous. All manner of things can grow out of that fallow soil. Not for nothing did our mothers grow suspicious when we had “too much time on our hands.” They knew we might be up to something. And not for nothing did we whisper to each other, when we were up to something, “Quick, look busy.”

The title of the essay alludes to Sherwood Anderson:

the writer Sherwood Anderson found himself, at the age of thirty-six, the chief owner and general manager of a paint factory in Elyria, Ohio. Having made something of a reputation for himself as a copywriter in a Chicago advertising agency, he’d moved up a rung. He was on his way, as they say, a businessman in the making, perhaps even a tycoon in embryo. There was only one problem: he couldn’t seem to shake the notion that the work he was doing (writing circulars extolling the virtues of his line of paints) was patently absurd, undignified; that it amounted to a kind of prison sentence. Lacking the rationalizing gene, incapable of numbing himself sufficiently to make the days and the years pass without pain, he suffered and flailed. Eventually he snapped.

via @mattforsythe

Dirty Dozen for Black Swan Avoidance

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:56:51 -0600

Dirty Dozen for Black Swan Avoidance:

…how to avoid negative Black Swans from the perspective an emergency physician. A Black Swan is a term coined by Nassim Taleb that describes an unpredictable event whose effect is greatly disproportionate to its cause.

Ditch your bike and losers, drive a Dodge Ram, don’t do any yard work or get in any fights. I just found my new bible…

UT Campus Watch, November 09, 2009

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:58:21 -0600

UT Campus Watch, November 09, 2009: During the AC/DC concert:

FRANK C ERWIN SPECIAL EVENTS CENTER, 1701 Red River

Public Intoxication / Resisting Arrest: An event staff member reported a non-UT subject, who refused to go to her seat, was “touching” other patrons and was blocking a Mezzanine level aisle. Officers found the subject leaning over a balcony using her shirt as a signaling device instead of an article of clothing. Officers stood by as the subject unsuccessfully tried to put her shirt on. When a female officer stepped in to assist, the subject “swatted at” the officer. The subject then pushed officers who were attempting to control the subject. The subject exclaimed, “Do you know who I work for?” The subject’s place of employment had no bearing on the fact she was under the influence of an alcoholic beverage to the point she was a danger to herself and any officer within her arm’s reach. While escorting the subject from the Mezzanine level via the elevator, the subject began to kick at the officers. One officer used his ankle to brace the subject’s foot against the elevator wall to prevent her from kicking. For his trouble, the subject decided to relieve her pent up bladder on his leg.

via adam

brandonnn: It doesn’t get much more beautiful than this: in Bb...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:22:11 -0600

brandonnn:

It doesn’t get much more beautiful than this:

in Bb 2.0 - a collaborative music/spoken word project

Agreed.

Generalist and specialist approaches by Dave Gray)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:04:00 -0600

Generalist and specialist approaches by Dave Gray)

"No one knows anything."

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:57:34 -0600

“No one knows anything.”

- William Goldman

Wes Anderson storyboards from Fantastic Mr. Fox via An interview...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:52:45 -0600

Wes Anderson storyboards from Fantastic Mr. Fox

via An interview with Fantastic Mr. Fox storyboard artist Christian DeVita

As John Martz points out, they are very Porcellino-esque.

John Cage on not-knowing

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:28:00 -0600

John Cage on not-knowing:

mlarson:

“I am frankly embarrassed that most of my musical life has been spent in the search for new materials. The significance of new materials is that they represent, I believe, the incessant desire in our culture to explore the unknown. Before we know the unknown, it inflames our hearts. When we know it, the flame dies down, only to burst forth again at the thought of a new unknown. This desire has found expression in our culture in new materials, because our culture has its faith not in the peaceful center of the spirit but in an ever-hopeful projection onto things of our own desire for completion.”

— John Cage. What silence taught John Cage: The story of 4’33” by James Pritchett. (via)

Paul Rogers’ “Name That Movie” series:...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:17:00 -0600

Paul Rogers’ “Name That Movie” series: “Six drawings per movie, in sequence, no movie stars”

@robotjohnny points out:

And note how he achieves his blacks here. The drawings themselves are simple line drawings without any blacks; the contrasted areas appear to just be selections in Photoshop, inverted digitally. Deceptively simple, and highly effective.

Must steal this idea for my Sharpie doodles.

via gerry

NyTimes : THE BERLIN WALL: 20 YEARS LATER : A Division...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:37:24 -0600

NyTimes : THE BERLIN WALL: 20 YEARS LATER : A Division Through Time

A really wonderful interactive page that uses photos taken from the same vantage point and a cool slider to see how spaces in Berlin have changed since the wall fell.

My Wife The Architect reminds me that Stewart Brand advocates for this kind of comparison (without the cool web technology) in HOW BUILDINGS LEARN.

Ted Leo = Glenn Danzig

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:05:19 -0600

Ted Leo = Glenn Danzig:

So awesome.

"We’re a hill country band."

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:14:00 -0600

“We’re a hill country band.”

- White Denim, performing live on The Current

“Just imagine yourself back in [the 1700s], sailing in a Spanish...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:59:00 -0600

“Just imagine yourself back in [the 1700s], sailing in a Spanish galleon on the Caribbean… you look out and notice another ship in the distance. When you peer through the microscope to get a better look at that ship, you see a flag flying. As it gets closer, you can make out what’s on the flag – a skull and crossbones. As soon as you see that symbol, you know exactly what kind of an experience is in store for you… [the pirate flag] was a brand promise… and the promise was: You’re f****d.”

—Brian Collins quoted in Warren Berger’s Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life and Maybe Even the World

(via)

artistspaid: britticisms: Arthur Russell

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:07:30 -0600

artistspaid:

britticisms:

Arthur Russell

Dan Chaon's index cards and how other writers write

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:59:00 -0600

Dan Chaon's index cards and how other writers write: Note how many of these writers use index cards, collage, their hands. My friend Dan:

Dan Chaon writes a first draft on color-coded note cards he buys at Office Max. Ideas for his books come to him as images and phrases rather than plots, characters or settings, he says. He begins by jotting down imagery, with no back story in mind. He keeps turning the images over in his mind until characters and themes emerge.

His most recent novel, “Await Your Reply,” which has three interlocking narratives about identity theft, started out as scattered pictures of a lighthouse on a prairie, a car driving into the arctic tundra under a midnight sun and a boy and his father driving to the hospital at night with the boy’s severed hand, resting on ice. He described each scene on a card, then began fleshing out the plotlines, alternating among blue, pink and green cards when he moved between narratives.

During the early stages of writing, he carries a pocketful of cards with him wherever he goes; as they accumulate, he stores them in a card catalogue that he bought at a library sale. It often takes two years before something resembling a novel takes shape. He eventually transcribes the cards onto the computer and writes furiously from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.

"Humor is what happens when we’re told the truth quicker and more directly than we’re..."

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:47:43 -0600

““Humor is what happens when we’re told the truth quicker and more directly than we’re used to…””

- George Saunders, The Braindead Megaphone

My twitter feed yesterday.

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:20:50 -0600

My twitter feed yesterday.

“Let Them Sing It For You” is a sound art project by...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:27:00 -0600

“Let Them Sing It For You” is a sound art project by Erik Bunger

By typing in a text of any kind you can get it sung for you by some of the world’s greatest pop stars. A database of sung words has been built up and is supposed to be gradually growing through the users’ own interaction. If you find a word missing in our sound vocabulary, just tell us, and we will extract the word from a song of your choice, and add it to our database.

So cool. I spent hours doing this kind of thing with SoundForge for our college radio show. I plan on using this “Newspaper Blackout” clip for future videos…

William Shatner Performs Poetic Reading of Levi Johnston’s...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:14:00 -0600

William Shatner Performs Poetic Reading of Levi Johnston’s Tweets

Learn to play “Fake Empire” and “Slow...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:06:27 -0600

Learn to play “Fake Empire” and “Slow Show” during a private guitar lesson with Aaron Dessner of The National (via)