Not watching things more than once

These days, I don’t watch anything more than once. In the golden age of television, how can you? As time continues to zoom by at breakneck speeds, why double up on entertainment? Watch a film or a show or a video, one time and one time only, done and done. No more commitment needs to be made. But recently I made an exception to this rule. It was for ROMA.

I was completely enthralled with this film. It was beautiful, poetic, heartbreaking, gritty, loud, quiet, and loud again. Until finally, deafening. Men are weak, women carry the day. And the political strife that surrounds us at all times cannot be set aside no matter how much our own personal circumstances may seem to require it to be.

I’ll go so far as to say it’s the best film I’ve seen in years. I saw it twice. And I may see it again. You can watch it on Netflix. But I’d suggest a theater. Why? Because of the ocean.

You can travel back in time, but only to ...

... see a concert you’re bummed you missed.

I’m thinking soon there will be a special time travel company using really great tech developed for military purposes but will be able to benefit concert enthusiasts.

It’s the not-too-distant future. Technological advances are coming online at an amazing speed. People are astounded. You thought the internet was a breakthrough. Now we’re talking time travel.

But since the tech is new, the various use cases ready for use are really focused. Similar to the new world of startups. We’ve seen this before. You know, looking at all the startup tech companies, they all look like this:

• a book, but online

• a library, but online

• a newspaper, but online

• a walkman, but online

• a video store, but online

• a grocery store, but online

• a bank, but online

• a taxi service, but online

• and on and on and on

In the future, time travel will be the same way. At first it will be time travel for X and only X, with other companies created to use the same underlying tech but for this X and that X.

Over the course of several years, companies will compete on the same fundamental technological base and focus in on some niche for some audience, for some specific pay off. Eventually, time travel will be everywhere and always. Just like this whole internet thing.

Sadly, I doubt I’ll be alive to see it. I really want to see The Clash at Shea or Rage at Finsbury Park or Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival. Oh well.

I just randomly picked concerts to attend because I really like live shows. I doubt murder would be a service at first, even if it was baby Hitler. It has to be really specific and has to be unable to alter future events. No Back to the Future 2s, please.

What We Do Really Well

3 things:

1. We design brands that tell your story in a clear, unique, and engaging way.

2. We design websites to be light, responsive, and showcase your content with an intentional experience that’s both meaningful and memorable.

3. We execute brands across print and digital to create a cohesive, unified voice that confidently speaks to your audience.

I’m losing my edge...

To all the tech bros coming up from below. To the Internet seekers who can tell me every single thing they’re going to invent in the digital world that already exists in the real. To the hipster art school kids who can mold entire universes inside of 3D studio modeling programs. To better looking over worked people with trendier ideas and more talent and more influence and the ability to work 80+ hours a week. And yes, some are really, really nice and some are complete fucking assholes. I’ve heard they sold their typography books and bought coding manuals. I’ve heard they sold their coding manuals and bought music festival lineups. I’ve heard the only way to hire them is to pay Facebook salaries, offer them on-site yoga, and shuttle them to the office via private bus. Throw in the ping pong and the organic food and organic cotton for good measure because it will be one of them who comes up with the idea to pay a beautiful person on Instagram $250,000 for a single post. Gil Scott-Heron!

Yes, I’m definitely losing my edge.

Boulder to be pushed or clay to be molded?

Having lots to do has always been my preference. Sure, I like space to explore and dream in the work day, but I’d rather be slammed than slow. But with that, there can creep in many feelings of being overwhelmed, of weight pressing down on you, of being paralyzed because you aren’t sure where to start. Which is not good. And while the amount of work to be done is very real, a lot of how it gets tackled is up to how how you look at it.

A little momentum can be go. Some minor wins. A few things that get accomplished, however small they may be. The outlook on the day/week/month can then shift. That shift from seeing the amount of work to be done as a huge boulder to be pushed around senselessly to a mound of clay ready to be molded and shaped with your own blood, sweat, and tears, well that can make all the difference in the world.

When the shift happens, no longer are you buried under the weight. Instead you are a master of your own destiny, taking on the work that needs to be done and making sure it gets done right. You are in control, you are not being pummeled, you are ready for all of this, and then some.

I can’t scale for shit

And I don’t really want to. The great divergence from design and start up. I’m just not interested in the start up mentality anymore. I’m not trying to replace myself or the work I do. I like the work. I like the details, the weeds, the pixels, the formalities. And start ups are boring. Taken to the logical conclusion, since most start ups fail anyway, they’re just going to keep trying to scale forever until they’re dead. Sounds exhausting. I’m more interested in the craft.

How things happen now

I’ve spent almost the entirety of my career running with the idea that I’m behind in this profession due to going to the wrong school, working at the wrong job, and living in the wrong place. Because of those cold, hard facts, I had to overcompensate. When I figured out what I was doing, I had to work harder. I needed to put in more time. I took on more projects, with more people, and more commitments. If I was going to make a name for myself in this profession, which is what I came to want, I needed to bust my fucking ass over and over in order to make it so.

And if there was a point I was trying to prove to myself, who is the most important person to being proving this type of point to, I’m saying right here, right now, I’ve proven it. That’s certainly not to say there’s any ending in sight when it comes to the work that I do and who I do it for. But that is to say, I’m over running with the idea that I’m behind. In fact, I’m right where I want to be in this career. Because of that, there’s a slight shifting in how I view the work I do. I know it’s good, I know it matters, and I know it makes a difference. And where I went to school, who I worked for, and where I live is irrelevant.

The shift I’m talking about isn’t changing the idea of what I’m running with. It’s the shift to no longer running. That’s the crucial point. This is a steady state stake in the ground. This is what I do, who I do it for, how it gets done, and where I operate from, both physically and philosophically. And it now happens at a quick, measured pace, from a position of confidence and strength. An understanding of weaknesses and poor fits. Ready to navigate troubled waters in order to get to destinations I see coming into fuller view.