It's like this outside:
So I'm going to do this:
And when I reach this:
I'm going to do this:
Thursday, June 30, 2011
One or More Things I Did Today (yesterday, in this case)
And Let It Be Known, that on June 29th, in then year of 2 thousands and 11, I was up to this:
- Went out to Oakland and hit up the Trappist. The beer was great, but the conversation was better: my company was two folks I had been friends with in elementary school and hadn't seen for years. Based on how great it was to catch up with Rachel and Ariel, I feel confident it won't be a decade between conversations this time around.
- Added bonus: spaced out on the BART ride back from Oakland, finally emerging from train two stops further than I'd planned. Taxi!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
This Blog, or "Why This Blog Came to Be"
I've been putting off writing this post for about, oh, 13 posts or so, but it's high time I wrote it. No time like the present, and all that.
You probably already know the story, but it goes like this:
I recently left what from the outside looking in was a pretty appealing job*.
I did this in an economy where many people that share many of my characteristics and qualities are struggling mightily to find a job.
There are times when I couldn't be happier with my decision.
But, the truth is there are times when this freedom and beautiful recklessness** is alloyed with the bittersweet circumstances under which I left Portland, my home for the past 4 years.
I won't go into explicit detail, but due to a number of factors, one of which I've alluded to above, I decided to pack up and ship out.
And that's when this adventure began.
Which is why this blog exists.
Deep stuff.
But anyway, once I decided to do what I've done - a decision, by the way, that I considered for about half a year, making it likely the most diligence I've ever paid a decision in my life - I began planning for the trip that was to come.
The most important portion of that planning, in my mind, was sending an email to very nearly every person I've met over the past 10 years, roughly since I graduated from high school (though some high school chums were in there, too). These people ranged from dear friends I've known for years and have a wealth of experience with, to people I've met only once before, but for some reason must have made an impression on me.***
This email amounted to basically this: "You may not remember me, but I remember liking you, and I'd love for you to share your knowledge and/or time with me in the form of adventures or recommendations". I've pasted the full text of the email below, in case for some reason you didn't receive it****.
It felt good to write that email, great to send it, and wonderful to receive the replies.
I concede that it was a bit of an unusual email. You can take that as you like.
But I truly believed, and believe, that it was a good email to send, that no harm could come of it.
And I was surprised and delighted to receive the replies, which ranged from one sentence recommendations or "congrats!", to multi-paragraph, bulleted treatises on friends-of-friends I could stay with, national parks I should visit, festivals I should attend...(etc. you can get a feel for the sort of responses one might receive if they sent the email below). That being said, I know I shouldn't have been been surprised, considering the caliber I believe I've noticed at some point in the recipients of the email. Perhaps grateful is the more appropriate word.
So, that's basically the story of how this blog got started, why it existed, and why I'll probably keep writing it for the foreseeable future.
Again, thanks for the replies. I cannot say that enough. And even if you replied and you never read this, it feels good and right to give thanks. I will endeavor to repay the time you gave me in some way, somewhere, sometime.
Next blog post: what I'm actually doing***** with my time since I quit my job.
The unabridged email, entitled "This Summer"******:
Friends and Acquaintances,
Good news - I've quit my job, and plan on enjoying the summer while gainfully unemployed and on the road.
I may have already spoken to you about my plans, and we may even have begun scheming for adventures.
If not (or if you want to further elaborate on our previous chats), please let me know how things are looking on your end:
To that end, I hope to shoot out an email every couple of weeks or so to reap what I hope this email will sow: new leads. If you've got a friend I should have a beer with in Topeka or a great-aunt I can crash with in Des Moines, let me know. If you're planning on hitting up a Zydeco festival in July, let me know. If I absolutely can't afford to miss some state park / national park / festival/ seasonal phenomenon / brilliant road book / tiny town/ backwoods campground / Midwestern city I would never think to go, let me know. And if you're planning on flying to Halifax for no conventionally-good reason, that's my kinda plan! And: I want in.
I'm hoping this mass email will result in more adventures for not just myself, but a summer enriched by the insights, inspiration, and inclinations of my friends. We may have not seen each other for years, or we may have drank too many beers just last week in Portland. Either way, I look to you because I've known you to be awesome, and I figure you can add something awesome to the pot.
To something I've been wanting to do for a long while. Thanks for reading. Have a great summer.
Cheers,
John
*******
*I was working as a media planner on the Electronic Arts business for Wieden+Kennedy, a renowned, independent ad agency based in Portland. I'd been there for just over 2 years, the longest I've ever stayed at a place of employment.
**In some sense; time will tell.
*** Okay, not really "must have". More accurately would be to put it at "clearly did", because I bothered to include them in that email. If you're curious, ask me about that impression. I've got a good catalogue in my head for those sorts of things.
****Shit. If you didn't receive it, my bad. I still think you're cool.
***** Besides writing this inane blog, of course.
****** Yes, I may be either a latter day hippy, beatnik, or space-child, depending on how you want to sum it up. Figuring it all out is one of the goals of this summer.
*******Yes, this is a horizontal line. It demarcates the footnotes from the main blog content. Yes, I used fancy HTML coding to make it. Cue the Jeffersons' theme song, because I'm moving on up!
You probably already know the story, but it goes like this:
I recently left what from the outside looking in was a pretty appealing job*.
I did this in an economy where many people that share many of my characteristics and qualities are struggling mightily to find a job.
There are times when I couldn't be happier with my decision.
But, the truth is there are times when this freedom and beautiful recklessness** is alloyed with the bittersweet circumstances under which I left Portland, my home for the past 4 years.
I won't go into explicit detail, but due to a number of factors, one of which I've alluded to above, I decided to pack up and ship out.
And that's when this adventure began.
Which is why this blog exists.
Deep stuff.
But anyway, once I decided to do what I've done - a decision, by the way, that I considered for about half a year, making it likely the most diligence I've ever paid a decision in my life - I began planning for the trip that was to come.
The most important portion of that planning, in my mind, was sending an email to very nearly every person I've met over the past 10 years, roughly since I graduated from high school (though some high school chums were in there, too). These people ranged from dear friends I've known for years and have a wealth of experience with, to people I've met only once before, but for some reason must have made an impression on me.***
This email amounted to basically this: "You may not remember me, but I remember liking you, and I'd love for you to share your knowledge and/or time with me in the form of adventures or recommendations". I've pasted the full text of the email below, in case for some reason you didn't receive it****.
It felt good to write that email, great to send it, and wonderful to receive the replies.
I concede that it was a bit of an unusual email. You can take that as you like.
But I truly believed, and believe, that it was a good email to send, that no harm could come of it.
And I was surprised and delighted to receive the replies, which ranged from one sentence recommendations or "congrats!", to multi-paragraph, bulleted treatises on friends-of-friends I could stay with, national parks I should visit, festivals I should attend...(etc. you can get a feel for the sort of responses one might receive if they sent the email below). That being said, I know I shouldn't have been been surprised, considering the caliber I believe I've noticed at some point in the recipients of the email. Perhaps grateful is the more appropriate word.
So, that's basically the story of how this blog got started, why it existed, and why I'll probably keep writing it for the foreseeable future.
Again, thanks for the replies. I cannot say that enough. And even if you replied and you never read this, it feels good and right to give thanks. I will endeavor to repay the time you gave me in some way, somewhere, sometime.
Next blog post: what I'm actually doing***** with my time since I quit my job.
The unabridged email, entitled "This Summer"******:
Friends and Acquaintances,
Good news - I've quit my job, and plan on enjoying the summer while gainfully unemployed and on the road.
I may have already spoken to you about my plans, and we may even have begun scheming for adventures.
If not (or if you want to further elaborate on our previous chats), please let me know how things are looking on your end:
- Want to grab a beer?
- What are you up to this summer?
- Any adventures on the docket?
- Are you looking for adventures to add to the docket?
- Want to join forces for a bit?
To that end, I hope to shoot out an email every couple of weeks or so to reap what I hope this email will sow: new leads. If you've got a friend I should have a beer with in Topeka or a great-aunt I can crash with in Des Moines, let me know. If you're planning on hitting up a Zydeco festival in July, let me know. If I absolutely can't afford to miss some state park / national park / festival/ seasonal phenomenon / brilliant road book / tiny town/ backwoods campground / Midwestern city I would never think to go, let me know. And if you're planning on flying to Halifax for no conventionally-good reason, that's my kinda plan! And: I want in.
I'm hoping this mass email will result in more adventures for not just myself, but a summer enriched by the insights, inspiration, and inclinations of my friends. We may have not seen each other for years, or we may have drank too many beers just last week in Portland. Either way, I look to you because I've known you to be awesome, and I figure you can add something awesome to the pot.
To something I've been wanting to do for a long while. Thanks for reading. Have a great summer.
Cheers,
John
*******
*I was working as a media planner on the Electronic Arts business for Wieden+Kennedy, a renowned, independent ad agency based in Portland. I'd been there for just over 2 years, the longest I've ever stayed at a place of employment.
**In some sense; time will tell.
*** Okay, not really "must have". More accurately would be to put it at "clearly did", because I bothered to include them in that email. If you're curious, ask me about that impression. I've got a good catalogue in my head for those sorts of things.
****Shit. If you didn't receive it, my bad. I still think you're cool.
***** Besides writing this inane blog, of course.
****** Yes, I may be either a latter day hippy, beatnik, or space-child, depending on how you want to sum it up. Figuring it all out is one of the goals of this summer.
*******Yes, this is a horizontal line. It demarcates the footnotes from the main blog content. Yes, I used fancy HTML coding to make it. Cue the Jeffersons' theme song, because I'm moving on up!
Here, Let Me Share This With You
I'm reticent to blog about articles I've come across and enjoyed, because I'm afraid this pattern will result in lazy posts* where I just pass along someone else's work**, don't add anything to the table, at which point my posts will be diluted and no one will want to read them, and I won't want to write them.***
With all of that being said, I'm sharing this article, both because I didn't encounter it on the web (I read it in a magazine at this fabulous coffee shop in Oakland called "Farley's East. Highly recommended), and because I found parts of it to be particularly touching.
Vanity Fair Article On Stieg Larson's (Dude Who Wrote Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) Life and Death By His Partner
*Of course, the very genesis of this blog was the acceptance that sometimes you'll never do something until you sit down and do it.
** This was actually the model behind my second attempt at blogging. And with this post as an example, glad to see something carried over!
*** Although, no one is reading this blog anyway, so none of that matters. Let the white-labeling of internet pages I've Stumbled Upon begin anew!
With all of that being said, I'm sharing this article, both because I didn't encounter it on the web (I read it in a magazine at this fabulous coffee shop in Oakland called "Farley's East. Highly recommended), and because I found parts of it to be particularly touching.
Vanity Fair Article On Stieg Larson's (Dude Who Wrote Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) Life and Death By His Partner
*Of course, the very genesis of this blog was the acceptance that sometimes you'll never do something until you sit down and do it.
** This was actually the model behind my second attempt at blogging. And with this post as an example, glad to see something carried over!
*** Although, no one is reading this blog anyway, so none of that matters. Let the white-labeling of internet pages I've Stumbled Upon begin anew!
Song Corner: Beirut
This song fairly accurately sums up how I'm feeling right now.*
Beirut: Scenic World
Do with this song what you will, but know that it's one of my favorite tunes of all time. In my 28 year old mind, I'd find it appropriate if they played this song at my funeral.
Like it? Here's more.**
Thank you for joining me for Song Corner.
Until next time.
*Disclaimer: to be fair, I can't quite determine the exact words at certain points during the song, so don't entirely hold me to what I wrote there.
**Important: if you're reading this, make sure you read the "early years" portion of the Wikipedia entry. Here, I've hyperlinked it for you. Now you have no excuse, now you can't miss it.
***(****) Bonus addition to Song Corner: I've added a picture this time. Nice, huh? Don't expect one every time.
**** Note: I tried to add an asterisk to the picture, but couldn't figure out how to work it. Please accept this footnote as a substitute, explanation, and additional footnote (I'm telling you, people love footnotes).
My First Post of The Day...
... is not really much of a post. I just wanted to reassure you that I'm still into this blogging thing.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Dealing With 800 Pound Gorillas and/or Elephants In the Room Before They Hatch
Look, let's get one thing straight.
Let me level with you.
I'm bound to repeat jokes in my blog posts.
It's going to happen.
...
I'm glad we've faced that fact together.
Now, on to driving jokes into the ground!
Let me level with you.
I'm bound to repeat jokes in my blog posts.
It's going to happen.
...
I'm glad we've faced that fact together.
Now, on to driving jokes into the ground!
One or More Things I Did Today
And Let It Be Known, that on June 28th, in then year of 2 thousands and 11, the original "One or More Things I Did Today" was published in John Griswold's blog.
And so:
*Or rather, as this blog will say going foward. Remember: this is the first (and in all reasonable likelihood, only) installment of OoMTIDT.
And so:
- Began reading Big Sur by Kerouac. So far, so good. Never could get into On The Road, so I'm pleased to find I'm getting into this showing of Jack's. 40 pages in, I'm struck by how something written nearly 50 years ago could feel so fresh. And I'm making the typical mistake (or typical stroke of brilliance, depending on how you look at it, or if you care to look at it) of seeing shades of myself in the subject matter, things that ring truer and more familiar than I would have expected.
*Or rather, as this blog will say going foward. Remember: this is the first (and in all reasonable likelihood, only) installment of OoMTIDT.
Book Club: Deep Economy
Welcome to the inaugural post of Book Club, the posts where we look at books that I'm reading.
In this case, it's a book I'm finishing, which is to say it's a book I just read. So it fits the bill of book club. But I digress...
Wow. A fascinating book, one that brings this question to the table: is too much never enough? Which is to say, is More always Better?
If you've read any of Thomas Friedman's books, it's incumbent on you to read what amounts to a counterpoint, found here in Deep Economy.
The book in a nutshell:
- The current growth model the rest of the developing world is following is that of the Western world, and primarily that of the US
- Based upon what is accepted as gospel in liberal circles*, the consumption of natural resources this growth requires - as well as what is currently an average individual level within the US - will continue to push us as a planet down a road we cannot afford to go down
But where Deep Economy goes beyond, in a very compelling manner, is painting a picture that provides some very reasonable alternatives to the model with which most of us who would ever come across this post are currently familiar. These options run the gamut from "Go Back to Portland" to "Hey, that seems to make sense", though honestly the methods themselves - as well as the tenets that inspire one to pursue them - will likely be a tough pill for a lot of folks to swallow, at least initially.
Other points:
- We (Americans) have much more on as average individual (seems like a contradiction in terms - sorry, I'm keeping it in here) now than we did in the early post-war boom years, and yet, based on some convincing (I'm not going to list them here. go read the book if you're curious) metrics, we're less happy now than we were then. We've got more, but it feels like less, in some sense.
- There is a range we can consider between having too little and too much. This is happy medium we can shoot for.
Added bonus: McKibben, like Michael Pollan, is a wonderfully polished writer. His sentences are enjoyable to read.
If you're interested, here's more on Bill McKibben.
Until the next Book Club,
Yours
*One that, for the purposes here, I'm certainly cheerfully sitting Indian style within
Update: Just checked out McKibben's website. Deep Economy was published in 2008. Between then and his latest book, we apparently missed the boat on making substantive changes. Crap.
Getting Over It
Alright, I've just had my first blogging set back:
Looking back at my inaugural "Song Corner" post, I see that a paragraph where I described why I liked the Bonnie Prince Billy song had completely disappeared.
Tragedy.
Moving on.
I'm going to go back and rewrite that paragraph as best I can, thereby making most of this post meaningless from the moment I post it (technically, from the moment I go back and rewrite the paragraph and post that post, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here).
Update: Miracle - priceless text was not deleted, after all. Thank goodness.
Looking back at my inaugural "Song Corner" post, I see that a paragraph where I described why I liked the Bonnie Prince Billy song had completely disappeared.
Tragedy.
Moving on.
I'm going to go back and rewrite that paragraph as best I can, thereby making most of this post meaningless from the moment I post it (technically, from the moment I go back and rewrite the paragraph and post that post, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here).
Update: Miracle - priceless text was not deleted, after all. Thank goodness.
Song Corner: Bonnie Prince Billy
Alright, I've settled down a bit. Time to start posting for real*.
One of the finest feelings of my life is sitting in a coffee shop / friend's living room / my bed when I've got a moment, high on coffee, and vibing on a wonderful song.
There's a lot of time for that now, so it would seem this is an excellent forum to share some of those songs I've loved.
Here's the first one:
Bonnie Prince Billy: I Called You Back
One of my favorite artists, I'm sure we'll see more from Bonnie, né Will Oldham, on Song Corner** going forward.
Listen to the tune. One of the most tender songs I've ever heard. Moves me every time. The simple, almost droning beat that sets the table for the tiny flourishes, the vulnerability, and Oldham's shaking voice.
I hope you enjoy.
Like it?*** Here's more.
Until next time,
Song Corner.
*I realized that I don't have to keep a particular voice or tone throughout this entire blog. I can dabble, I can experiment. I can write whatever I damn well please (case in point - I would never say that in real life). And here's the kicker, what compelled me to go ahead with it: the more I write, the more of a sample size we'll have. And then we'll be able to take this body of work as a whole, rather than a outlier from one particular manic, lonely, inspired, or hungover morning.
Minor epiphany.
** Going to have to think about this name. Might need to go back and change these at some point, but for the immediate future Song Corner will work just fine.****
***Everything in red here? Not a formatting mistake, though that's a good guess. No, this is all of the text I thought I had lost to the Angel's Share of blogging (see "Getting Over It" post). Turns out it hadn't been lost to the ether after all, but rather just made invisible! Wonderful news. My day has been made. And best of all? Yep - an opportunity for another footnote! God, I love this blog.
**** I love footnotes. So much fun. Expect these to be a mainstay on WIDWINW.
One of the finest feelings of my life is sitting in a coffee shop / friend's living room / my bed when I've got a moment, high on coffee, and vibing on a wonderful song.
There's a lot of time for that now, so it would seem this is an excellent forum to share some of those songs I've loved.
Here's the first one:
Bonnie Prince Billy: I Called You Back
One of my favorite artists, I'm sure we'll see more from Bonnie, né Will Oldham, on Song Corner** going forward.
Listen to the tune. One of the most tender songs I've ever heard. Moves me every time. The simple, almost droning beat that sets the table for the tiny flourishes, the vulnerability, and Oldham's shaking voice.
I hope you enjoy.
Like it?*** Here's more.
Until next time,
Song Corner.
*I realized that I don't have to keep a particular voice or tone throughout this entire blog. I can dabble, I can experiment. I can write whatever I damn well please (case in point - I would never say that in real life). And here's the kicker, what compelled me to go ahead with it: the more I write, the more of a sample size we'll have. And then we'll be able to take this body of work as a whole, rather than a outlier from one particular manic, lonely, inspired, or hungover morning.
Minor epiphany.
** Going to have to think about this name. Might need to go back and change these at some point, but for the immediate future Song Corner will work just fine.****
***Everything in red here? Not a formatting mistake, though that's a good guess. No, this is all of the text I thought I had lost to the Angel's Share of blogging (see "Getting Over It" post). Turns out it hadn't been lost to the ether after all, but rather just made invisible! Wonderful news. My day has been made. And best of all? Yep - an opportunity for another footnote! God, I love this blog.
**** I love footnotes. So much fun. Expect these to be a mainstay on WIDWINW.
Sustainability in Blogs
So I was sitting here thinking about my next blog post, and it hit me:
This blog is already the most successful blog I've ever had.
It's true!
Think about it:
Yours.
*no guarantees here.
This blog is already the most successful blog I've ever had.
It's true!
Think about it:
- If I keep up this rate of posting, not only will I never find time to find and commit to another job, but I'll also be posting a new post, like, ever 12 minutes or so.
- That's hundreds of posts! Thousands!!!
- Based on what I've seen today, I have no reason to believe this blog will go the way of its predecessors.
- 4 posts in under an hour!!!
- Did I mention this blog is going be like Malcolm Gladwell, Ira Glass, Thomas Friedman, the Freakanomics dudes, and insert name here, only all wrapped into one and better and in one convenient place? Because it is.
- There is no way I can keep up this feverish posting pace.
- Not all of my posts will be completely irreverent* and profoundly pointless.
Yours.
*no guarantees here.
Investment Opportunity
Hey, good news.
I just noticed a tab on the top of this thing that says "monetize".
Go ahead and send me an email if you want to hear about the rest of the good news.
I'll give you the short version:
Basically, you want to get in on the ground floor of this.
Two words that might do something for you:
"New Google".
That get your motor running?
No, wait... better yet:
"Facebook Google".
That's right. That about sums up this new blog.
Don't let this be the one that got away.
I think Paypal will probably work best, but if you're in a pinch I can accept cash.
I just noticed a tab on the top of this thing that says "monetize".
Go ahead and send me an email if you want to hear about the rest of the good news.
I'll give you the short version:
Basically, you want to get in on the ground floor of this.
Two words that might do something for you:
"New Google".
That get your motor running?
No, wait... better yet:
"Facebook Google".
That's right. That about sums up this new blog.
Don't let this be the one that got away.
I think Paypal will probably work best, but if you're in a pinch I can accept cash.
Second Post
Wow, two posts on this thing already?
This time's for real!
It's got legs!
I must have a lot of time on my hands.
Glorious, glorious time.
...
Think I'll go back and reformat my first post.
This time's for real!
It's got legs!
I must have a lot of time on my hands.
Glorious, glorious time.
...
Think I'll go back and reformat my first post.
And Then I Decided to Start A Blog
First post.
As I begin this new blog, I want to give due credit to its ancestors, or maybe half-siblings:
Writing John
Pontificating John
Goodnight, sweet princes. May you not go gentle into that good night of the neglected and partially conceived blog. And may this latest blog venture not follow you into oblivion.
And we're off.
As I begin this new blog, I want to give due credit to its ancestors, or maybe half-siblings:
Writing John
Pontificating John
Goodnight, sweet princes. May you not go gentle into that good night of the neglected and partially conceived blog. And may this latest blog venture not follow you into oblivion.
And we're off.
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