Hello, World

startupquote:

Ideas that most people derided as ridiculous have produced the best outcomes. Don’t do the obvious thing.

- Fred Wilson

Day three of If Not You Who Else? today. One of the beautiful things about the project is that just about everyone in the room (20+) already appreciates the above…

“

And I understand we have to walk a fine line. We have to keep taking other people’s pictures in order to pay the bills and earn the time to do personal work. And this is where it becomes so easy to lose touch with who we are and what really matters. We often think that if we work hard enough on personal projects it will eventually lead to and fuse with paid work. But I would ask, what kind of personal work is the kind you make under those conditions? And I would argue that if you work hard taking other people’s pictures long enough, you’re likely to keep taking their photos without even realizing it (isn’t Beauty empty without truth?).

When I’m at the end of my life and thinking about what I’ve given back, the last thing I’m going to care about is the magazines I shot for, the museum I was in, or the recognition I received. The only thing that will matter is how honest I was, how fully I lived my life, and whether I made the kind of photographs that were deeply mandatory.

” -

Peter Earl McCollough

In the midst of all my current activity, there’s a thread of thought at the back of my mind that’s evaluating the value of the work I’m doing. McCollough’s thinking pulls on that thread and resonates. Am I making the kind of work that’s deeply mandatory? It’s the kind of question that should be a whetstone, constantly returned to, to sharpen the blade of purpose and intent…

“Preview allows you to sign a piece of blank paper, hold it up to your Mac’s built in camera and presto — you just signed the PDF. This is a feature that when shown or talked about seems like a better idea than it would actually work. I have used this feature about a dozen times since I installed Lion and it has worked perfectly every single time.” -

Time For the Big Cat, The Brooks Review

Word? I’m sold. Upgrade to Lion imminent. Just wish my wi-fi connection wasn’t so temperamental… 

Mind led body
to the edge of the precipice.
They stared in desire
at the naked abyss.
If you love me, said mind,
take that step into silence.
If you love me, said body,
turn and exist.

 via tobia:oxbridge.