Stories

Want To Make An Impression? Give ‘Em Something To Talk About

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There’s a lot of noise out there. Cutting through the clutter is key. Long-term relationships do that. Often, so does a flash of creativity. Make people stop. Make people smile. If you’re looking for a job, looking to start a new venture, take a minute and try to find a more creative solution for greater impact. Read more...

For What Gives Value To Travel, Er Moving, Is Fear

Kayak on Shark

“For what gives value to travel moving is fear. It breaks down a kind of inner structure we have. We can’t cheat any more – hide ourselves away behind the hours in the office or at the plant (these hours against which we protest so strongly and protect us so surely against the suffering of being Read more...

World Domination Summit: I Was Wrong

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The World Domination Summit (WDS) is a provocative conference with a provocative title put on by Chris Guillebeau, an understated provocateur who runs the website, The Art of Nonconformity. The first WDS happened last June. The second WDS happened this weekend. Both were excellent.  And yet I felt conflicted about being there for two reasons. I’m an Read more...

Adrienne Rich: On Creating a Creative Lineage and a Body of Work

Adrienne Rich

Last night I read Austin Kleon’s STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST. He gives this advice: Find your own genealogy of ideas.  I know vaguely how the family idea tree — for me — might look. And I planned to draw the tree–to make my creative lineage sometime soon, when I could find the time. And the Read more...

Private Investigator Found Me Using Google Images or a Facebook Photo Album: Social Movements and False Perceptions

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A few months ago I got a phone call out of the blue from a private investigator. Her initials were JO. Said private investigator is probably reading this right now, aren’t you? Hi. Anyway, when she called with her blocked phone number, I didn’t answer my phone. I never do because I only return calls on Read more...

Killer Content: Get Your War on at SXSW

sxsw interactive

Yesterday morning I saw two tweets juxtaposed in my Twitter feed. I found them so jarring I took a picture. One was offering a free e-book. The other, breaking the news (to me) that a US soldier had killed 16 civilians in Afghanistan. I noticed it. And then I went to my first session of Read more...

Find Your Tiger on the Train or What’s Your Story?

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One day I walked to my usual train on my usual platform with my obligatory cup of coffee. I stepped on the train and as the train doors ding — dinged and closed behind me, I had a severe and immediate urge to leave… fast. Why? Because a full-sized tiger sat listlessly in the middle Read more...

Designing for Serendipity in the Real World or How Change is So Close at Hand: Melea Seward at TedX

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My TedX Talk is below. It’s embedded in a handy little YouTube player. You can sit back and spend the next 18 minutes (that you won’t ever get back) watching it. Be warned: the sound is shitty and the camera angle is a little weird. Frankly, I’m a little bit ‘fat Elvis’ in February, 2011. Read more...

On Radio Silence: Getting Oriented for Connection

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I’ve been quiet, listening a lot, working on some longer thoughts, and working behind the scenes here. My Klout score has been in free-fall, but my spirits have never been higher. It has been one million years since I’ve written publicly at Chief Amusement Designer. Or at least since right before I left for a Read more...

Stoopid Sale: Antiques, Appliances, Scones.

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I wish I were doing other things: like finishing my post on cancer and social media–EDGY–or the history of the emoticon, or writing the follow-up story to Dollar Bill Business Cards. Instead I’m planning my stoopid sale. And my classes (in the Empire State Building! yay!). While I might prefer to simply defenestrate my excess Read more...

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