Archive for the ‘curiosities’ Category
Behold the Power of 22 Words
Abraham Piper & the Second Most Shared Site in the World
Getting shared is the thing today. Maybe it’s always been the thing: interestingness traveled by word of mouth long before the share button came along. Producing (or pointing to) content that is so sticky, so memorable, that you feel like a hero passing it on—that is the point of sharing.
It turns out sharing can be measured.
And somebody, somewhere (Newswhip via The Atlantic), ran the numbers and found that Upworthy.com had the most Facebook-shares-per-article (and it is a huge number). But coming up second was Minneapolis’ own Abraham Piper with his 22 Words. Read Ned Hepburn’s story in Esquire: Second most shared website in the world. Twenty Two Words was way ahead of the likes of the Onion, Rolling Stone, Mashable, NPR and many other household names.
My favorite quote from Mr. Piper—apart from building his empire on the tears of his children along with coffee and Coors Lite—was that his secret sauce was simply, “I can usually guess what my readers will like.” His sensibilities and his occasional wry comment makes his posts must-reads, sort of like the interesting uncle at the holiday table who says very funny stuff at just the right time.
Time after time.
Well done, Mr. Piper.
###
Photography and “built-in objectivity”
Hyper-collage from Jim Kazanjian
Lenscratch features photographer Jim Kazanjian, who makes images without ever picking up a camera. Instead, he pieces together found images to form mad hallucinations that are just a bit off—in the way a nightmare is all the more horrifying because it is so close to normal.
I like Kazanjian’s twist on objectivity (which is also a statement on what we privilege):
I’ve chosen photography as a medium because of the cultural misunderstanding that it has a sort of built-in objectivity.
Kaznajian’s aim is to “render the sublime.” His method is, well…
My method of construction has an improvisational and random quality to it, since it is largely driven by the source material I have available. I wade through my archive constantly and search for interesting combinations and relationships. Each new piece I bring to the composition informs the image’s potential direction. It is an iterative and organic process where the end result is many times removed from its origin. I think of the work as a type of mutation which can haphazardly spawn in numerous and unpredictable directions.
Kaznajian’s method is also a sophisticated comment on the creative process. Have a look at the full article: http://lenscratch.com/2013/12/jim-kazanjian/
###
Image credit: Jim Kazanjian via Lenscratch
Lorde & The Life of Privilege
Because none of us knows everything.
Lorde’s critique of wealth (covered memorably by Puddles Pity Party) got me thinking about privilege. Her catchy pop tune about pop tunes is itself an expression of privilege. Not so much the gold teeth and Grey Goose (spendy vodka) as it is the kind of information she allows herself to dwell on: those privileged sources she and we take as true.
We all have privileged sources.
We might be a red-letter Christian or only read the Apostle Paul. We might consider sacred and true everything we hear on Fox News or NPR or read in the St. Paul Villager. We might listen more closely to a Marxist/feminist/liberation theology reading of any piece of literature. We want the commentator representing our particular bent to comment on life from the perspective of our tribe.
Humans are subjective beings and we do our best work from a perspective. We always have opinions and those opinions are based on whatever we scrape together and push under us, which is to say, we often form opinions first and then seek to support them. Every once in a while we form opinions from available evidence using solid reasoning. But that’s a lot of work.
What texts or authors or people in your life do you privilege? My two friends Rick and Jason often make remarkable book suggestions. Time and again as I’ve read their suggestions, I’ve thought: “Wow. This author is really talking to me.” My friend Russ has made prescient comments that have worked out in real life years later—so I’ve learned to not dismiss his chatter too quickly. My poor beleaguered friend Job wrote poetry possessing an uncanny ability to express my exact experience. Mrs. Kirkistan often sees things before I do. (Often? No: Usually. Typically.)
It’s not wrong to privilege our information sources—we cannot help ourselves. But it is also right to pause to examine what it is we privilege and occasionally ask why and whether we are served well by that privileged source. And perhaps to ask whether there might be other influences that can help us truth things out a bit more fully. Because (and here comes the hard part) even the John MacArthur’s of the world can have their truth sharpened by a Marxist/Feminist/Pentecostal/Whatever perspective.
Because none of us knows everything.
And I hope Lorde watches her lyrics cross the face of PuddlesPityParty. There is something revealing about the scary-tall grownup in clown costume belting out a teenager’s perspective on the world.
###
Image Credit: Paul Noth/The New Yorker via thisisn’thappiness
Taking Direction from Clem Fandango
A Year of Great Clients
I’m counting my blessings these days because I’ve had a year of clients who have been a joy to work with. Which is to say: they let me alone to do the work we’ve agreed on. And then we come together, talk parts through and make the work better.
All in all, there’s been very little Clem-Fandangoing.
And for that I am grateful.
###
Via Sell!Sell!Blog
File Under: Bad Ideas
Please don’t make me drive up that thing.
If driving Pike’s Peak scared me–this would be debilitating.
###
via Retronaut
Step 9: Accomplished (Resist the Irresistible)
Step #9: Try to not eat it all the first night.
This photo taken under the guidance of the Daily Prompt: Simply Irresistible and under the influence of MopMop’s The Golden Bamboo live beat factory.
Let the record show: resistance is not futile.
###
Image Credit: Kirk Livingston
conversation is an engine 