RatLinks: May 2019 - Issue #5
New Orleans | The Vessel | Artist Pages |
Hello and welcome to the May edition of RatLinks.
Did you know May is one of my favorite months?
Why?
it is not because it’s my wife and my birth month
it is not because the 5th day of the month is usually described “en Espanol”
it is not because Disney has tried to monetize the 4th day of the month as Star Wars day
The reason is May 1st brings us, everyone’s favorite internet meme, alerting you that it’s no longer April.
Preamble
This month I attended a destination wedding in New Orleans.
The couple is from New Jersey with no ties to New Orleans, other than they like the city.
Some think that is rude to force your friends and family to travel a long distance to celebrate with you.
Others say a destination wedding provides an excuse to visit a new city.
Like a well publicized heavily redacted political report, I am not one to draw conclusions.
I do like New Orleans and would recommend a trip there, especially if you like good food and live music .
Though, this isn’t a travel blog.
If you want some insight into things to do in New Orleans I suggest you “google a blog.” My wife is very good at this which led us to dinner at Lauren Conrad’s favorite NoLa spot Atchafalaya.
Instead, I would rather direct my focus elsewhere.
Specifically on good design, which this wedding had some issues with.
We have all been to a wedding before, so its not worth rehashing the formalities. This specific wedding was outside of the city of New Orleans. Approximately 80 people boarded buses near Bourbon Street for the roughly 20 minute ride to the venue.
We arrived about 25 minutes prior to the ceremony starting and the below image is what we saw.
To quote famous media theorist Marshall McLuhan “The medium is the message”. The message should have been “Welcome to our wedding”.
Instead, the poster of a dog on an easel sent a confusing message - what happened to their dog and are we at some sort of wedding/ dog tribute?
This led me to look deeper into design and its purpose throughout the wedding.
There was an outdoor space with a pool that we were cautioned to not go near. If anyone fell in the groom would be forced to pay a $500 fine. An outdoor pool on a warm night, coupled with people drinking sounds like bad design but the potential for a really good time.
Unfortunately no one want to hang outside. I walked away from the pool, approaching my wife and a few of her friends discussing the palatial women’s room, which might as well be a spa.
In turn, I was told I should investigate the men’s room.
Well, let me tell you, this was one the greatest bathroom experience of all time.
Upon entering, I was greeted with a hallway leading to 3 stalls and to my left was a sink, but in between there was something strange. There was a little alcove housing a lone toilet.
No door, no toilet paper, no purpose,
Just a show toilet there for some sick reason.
Needless to say I had quite some fun sitting there as people would walk in or out. It was like my own version of candid camera.
Books
This month I read two book by Cal Newport, So Good They Can’t Ignore You & Deep Work. You can read this one page summary of the book if you are lazy. Here are a few highlights from the books.
Don’t multitask instead focus deeply on one project overtime. Focus on deliberate practice.
Doing things we know how to do well is enjoyable, and that’s exactly the opposite of what deliberate practice demands…. Deliberate practice is above all an effort of focus and concentration. That is what makes it “deliberate,” as distinct from the mindless playing of scales or hitting of tennis balls that most people engage in.
When deciding whether to follow an appealing pursuit that will introduce more control into your work life, seek evidence of whether people are willing to pay for it. If you find this evidence, continue. If not, move on.
Compelling careers often have complex origins that reject the simple idea that all you have to do is follow your passion.
As always, you can see all the books I am reading here.
Links
NFL Superstars Sacked by Jock Taxes on Away Games - Bloomberg
Everyone seems to be complaining about taxes. How about being taxed in a state you never stepped foot in.
National Football League players are staring down another season of costly and complicated jock taxes.
How Did James Holzhauer Turn ‘Jeopardy!’ Into His Own A.T.M.? We Asked Him - NYTimes
James Holzhauer has dominated “Jeopardy!” like no one else since the current version of the television game show had its premiere in 1984. He won again on the episode that aired Wednesday, pushing his total earnings above $1.
Key Selection
How did you learn so many facts? What was your education?
I went to Illinois. Most people think I went to Princeton or something. But I was never a diligent student.
I have a strategy of reading children’s books to gain knowledge. I’ve found that in an adult reference book, if it’s not a subject I’m interested in, I just can’t get into it.
I was thinking, what is the place in the library I can go to to get books tailored to make things interesting for uninterested readers? Boom. The children’s section.
Sorry to bother you, but do you say “sorry” too much? What to say instead -IDEAS.TED.COM
Try replacing sorry with excuse me.
When we needlessly apologize, we end up making ourselves small and diminish what we’re trying to express, says sociologist Maja Jovanovic. This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community.
Artist Date | Morning Pages
I have been working through the book “The Artist Way” by Julia Cameron. The book starts with a concept called morning pages where you write by hand uninterrupted for 2-3 pages. It is pretty cathartic and I recommend it
Julia Cameron Wants You to Do Your Morning Pages
As most you know I don’t just read the first chapter of books. I delve deeper into the nut meat of the matter.
Ms. Cameron goes on to discuss the artist date, a two hour block of time set aside to nurture your creative consciousness, your inner artist.
This month did the following:
Watched Jeff Tweedy of Wilco play an acoustic show.
It was a great experience partially because I sat second row due to a slight hack of the seat geek algorithm. (Feel free to follow up if interested in learning more.)
While there I ran into one of my coworkers with two of his friends. Bill, a big fan of the band, and Tim who had no knowledge of the band. Prior to the show I did some very cursory research on the set-list and the opening acts for the tour. This slight level of preparation allowed me to “Jedi Mind” trick Bill. Bill said he skipped the opener, but wished he saw the opener from earlier in the tour whose name. escaped him. Bill fumbled a bit and then said “he’s an actor” to which I responded “you mean Nick Offerman.” At this point the non-fan friend was shocked that I was able to accurately guess who Bill was talking about with no other details.
Listened to Jordan Petersen speak at the Beacon theater.
Dr Peterson was first mentioned in the May 2018 Ratlinks entitled “hold the may(o).” Peterson is not without controversy, but here are two takeaways from his lecture
Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you need to know.
Listen to them hard enough so that they will share it with you.
Saw Rich Medina spin at C'mon everybody in Bed Stuy.
An interesting but unexpected stop on a very unplanned evening.
Visited Hudson Yard’s new experiential art exhibit The Vessel
A few other photos I thought worth sharing from the month
Music on Frenchman St in New Orleans
Little Debbie doesn't fair well outdoors
Spent less than 24 hours in LA
If you made it this far I would recommend that you listen to the executive summary of part I and II of the Mueller Report, free on audible.That way when people are talking about Trump and the Mueller Report you will have formulated your own opinion rather than attempting to regurgitate something you read or heard second hand.