This video has been out for a bit, but wanted to post here: Brene Brown, qualitative researcher, on the importance of vulnerability. So, so critical.If you’re interested in more, I’ve also heard good things about her book, Daring Greatly.
austinkleon:
How to graciously say no to anyone“There is no money in answering letters.” —Groucho MarxA couple of years ago, I was getting sent this article, “Creative People Say No,” at least twice a day. The idea was that creative geniuses say “no” to a lot of requests (like, a psychology professor researching processes of creative genius) in order to get their work done, so if you want to be a creative genius, you have to say no a lot so you can get your work done.A bunch of people asked me what I thought about it, and I said, “It’s good advice for the rich and famous. Creative people say yes until they have enough work that they can say no.”Ian Bogost explains it nicely, here:[Y]ou have to say ‘yes’ for a long while before you can earn the right to say ‘no.’ Even then, you usually can’t say ‘no’ at whim. By the time you can say ’no’ indiscriminately, then you’re already so super-privileged that being able to say ’no’ is not a prerequisite of success, but a result of it.There was a little index card in the back of Steal Like An Artist that didn’t make it into the book that sums up my own point of view: “Be as generous as you can, but selfish enough to get your work done.”Of course, sometimes you just have to say no for whatever reason. For that, Alexandra Franzen suggests this format in her piece, “How To Graciously Say No To Anyone”:Hey [name],Thanks for your note. I’m so proud of you for ___—and I’m flattered that you’d like to bring my brain into the mix.I need to say “no,” because ___.But I would love to support you in a different way. [Offer an alternative form of support here]Thank you for being such a wonderful ___. I am honored to be part of your world.[A few closing words of encouragement, if you’d like][Your name here]
Images above from The Ransom Center, Tim Ferriss, @maudnewton, and my letters archive.
I’m not fully able to articulate why, but this space is really appealing. Maybe it’s the mixture and good balance of basic materials. There’s both a warmth, but a simplicity. It’s tidy, but there’s also a natural lived-in-ness to it. And there’s some surprise, creativity, and unrevealed-ness to it. Okay, enough made up words. Here it is. :)nonconcept:
archatlas:Loft 9b Dimitar Karanikolo“After several years living and working in London architect Dimitar Karanikolov and interior designer Veneta Nikolova moved back to Sofia, where they found a small but interesting attic apartment in a newly built development.They spent the next two years reconstructing the place, designing furniture and experimenting with details, and finishes.”
Pretty much amazing.
Grant Thompson - “The King of Random”
I’ve been told that this is a pretty accurate depiction of what ordering coffee in San Francisco is like – not for the uninitiated.(Video by the awesome makers of life coaching, Everything But the News)
The AeroPress – allegedly the bees-knees when it comes to coffee presses, and carrying only a $30 price tag.From the maker of the Superdisc, you know it’s gotta be good. :)Might have to give this a try!(Bonus: Instructions and brewing tips.)
Scapple, “an easy-to-use tool for getting ideas down as quickly as possible and making connections between them.”Although I haven’t used it as much lately, I’m a big fan of Scrivener, “a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents.” From the same makers, comes Scapple, which looks like a great digital whiteboarding tool, with an endless canvas, ability to embed images, export to PDF/image, and shortcuts for formatting/zooming/etc. Check out this video for a 7-minute overview.Visual brainstorming is such a powerful tool, and I’d been looking for something with this feature set without much luck. Happen to run back across the folks at Literature & Latte, and shazaam – they had thought of it. (no big surprise there I guess) :)Thanks developers, and if you have a use for either of these, I highly recommend you check it out!(Bonus: If you’re looking for iOS integration, aside from a DropBox sync, Scrivener also has a sync to Index Cards app. Their blog also suggests an iOS version of Scrivener may be coming later this year – sweet!)
How To Set SMARTER Goals
Paper, by the folks over at FiftyThree, was a step forward in blending digital and analog worlds.Looks like they’ve taken another step forward with their new Think tools, which makes ideation visuals easy to work with. (See video above.)They’ve even put together a Think toolkit to help users get familiar with how. Neat.
What3Words.This is a fascinating idea that solves a global problem and has lots of hidden applications. Creative, simple, and practical. Three words can describe any location on the planet.I’ve downloaded the phone app.(via C)