Listening to: Various albums by Jorge Ben Jor
- Samba Esquema Novo
- Gil E Jorge (with Gilberto Gil)
- Africa Brasil
Taj Mahal is stuck in my head… 🎶
Listening to: Aman Iman by Tinariwen. I am a newcomer to “desert blues,” but so far I really like the sound. 🎶
@ayjay maybe too obscure for your thesis, or too much of a concept album, but Rehearsing My Choir by The Fiery Furnaces (2005) is an album worth considering.
Listening to: “Walking Backwards” by Clutchy Hopkins. Who is Clutchy Hopkins anyway? 🤔 🎶
Southwest dropping open seating isn’t just a change in policy, it’s a change in their brand. As Seth Godin says:
A brand is not a logo. A brand is a promise, a story and a shorthand. A brand tells us what to expect the next time we engage with you.
Being named Fred is not a brand. Fred is your name, not your promise. If you’re an unreliable, selfish hustler, that’s your brand.
Listening to: Tourist by St. Germain Good background music for work this week. And, to my old ears, it still holds up well 24 years after its release. 🎶
Allowing “Team orders” has never improved the racing or the show for the fans. It’s just a sideshow for points and money. 🏎️
Amongst all of the racing this past weekend, there was some great racing below the radar. First was the Xfinity race in Chicago with SVG battling with Kyle Larson and then, while, you can watch the end. Second was the there was an epic battle between Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert in Townsville. 🏎️
Listening to: Ki-Oku by DJ Krush and Toshinori Kondo I was able to find a used copy on eBay. Unfortunately, this album is not available anymore. For me, it is an album worth saving and supporting.
This episode reminded me of a quote for a recent post by Ted Gioia:
We don’t need to destroy the bad stuff, because there’s some kind of quasi-evolutionary process at work that will eliminate it anyway. But goodness is more fragile, and needs our support.
Listening to: Stan Getz: The Bossa Nova Albums I need to learn more about Stan Getz’s connection to bossa nova. There is something about his playing that sounds perfect in this context.
@manton Thank you! That is a generous update by you and your team. I look forward to digging into what Notes can do!
Listening to: Into the Wind by Bei Bei & Shawn Lee Shawn Lee’s collaborations are always worth a listen. This is a fun combination. 🎶
Listening to: 15 Years of West Coast Cool by Greyboy 🎶 Two top tracks are “Got to be a Love” with Quantic and Sharon Jones and “Genevieve” with Bart Davenport.
Currently reading: The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge 📚 Skimming/Reading through this book as a primer on Systems Thinking.
Listening to: An Evening with The Sound Providers by The Sound Providers 🎵 This is one group I wish was still making music…
Gizmodification: Transforming a useful product, or service, into something less useful and less resilient through the continuous addition of unnecessary gizmos. 🤔 📐
My apologies to anyone who already came up with this word and/or created a better definition…
Listening to: Arvo Pärt Choral Music by Polyphony & Stephen Layton 🎶
Top tracks are Solfeggio (sounds like softly reverberating bell tones) & Alleluia-Tropis.
@joshuapsteele If you haven’t used a tablet like this before, give yourself some time to figure out the coordination between drawing on the tablet and what you see on the screen. It can take a while to get adjusted.
I really like James Clear’s post on muddy puddles vs leaky ceilings. I spend too much time splashing around in the puddles when I should just go for a walk… 🤔
Some problems are like muddy puddles. The way to clear a muddy puddle is to leave it alone. The more you mess with it, the muddier it becomes.
Other problems are like a leaky ceiling. Ignore a small leak and it will always widen.
@joshuapsteele I’ll second the Sketchbook Pro recommendation. I have been using it for years (avoiding the needless complexities of Photoshop). I love the simple interface, the quality standard brushes (also easy to customize), and the drawing guides.
Listening to: Kofi by Donald Byrd 🎶
@writingslowly Great point on screen size. I have found the bigger the better. Working on a laptop screen feels like I have a mini-whiteboard, which doesn't have the nice whiteboard effect of being able to see multiple ideas at once. I haven't thought much about exporting text, but that is also a great point. Miro is designed to be an end and doesn't facilitate moving content beyond Miro. One forgotten aspect of brainstorming and ideation is the amount of time/work it takes to get information from that workshop into a deliverable that supports the remainder of the project.
@joshuapsteele I use my laptop keyboard and trackpad along with a Wacom Intuos tablet.
@writingslowly I am curious what your gripes are with Miro. I certainly have a few, like over-zealous snapping to objects - which impacts placement of leaders/arrows and creating straight lines. Importing PDFs seems to drag down the board too.
@joshuapsteele I like Miro. It’s easy for newcomers to get up to speed and has a lot of flexibility as to the types of sessions you can run with it. I have also used GroupMap, which is better for brainstorming with text and collects more data, but it’s not a true whiteboard.
I appreciate Seth Godin’s post on incompetence. Humility plus a recognition that growth isn’t easy helps you make progress. 🤔
If you’re not open to the tension that is caused by knowing you could do better, it’s unlikely you’re willing to do the work to get better. As you’re doing that work, there’s the satisfaction it brings, but also the knowledge that just a moment ago, you weren’t any good.
@chrisfoley Thank you for the recommendations. I'll look those up!
Listening to: Rounds by Four Tet 🎶
Not sure why it took so long for me to listen to Four Tet. I took the plunge today after seeing a recommendation. Looking forward to hearing more…
It’s a good day when you find a fresh, new roll of Bienfang tracing paper in the studio. Do the tools and materials make a critical difference for a designer? No. But good tools and materials are nice to have. 📐
@lmika I have a feeling I need to start doing Weeknotes. Thank you for sharing the links!
@torb The Seiben Magnificat Antiphonen tracks on Tintinnabuli by The Tallis Scholars is the best example I have heard on how the voice captures the harmonic tension, and bell ringing effect, of those compositions. Let me know what you think!
Listening to: Tractus by Arvo Part 🎶
Some tracks I have heard previously sung by the Tallis Scholars. They sound a lot different when played by a smaller string ensemble. As of now I prefer the voices to the strings.
Currently reading: Funny! by Disney-Pixar 📚
The loose sketches are great, and it is fun to see how the gags and jokes are developed. It’s a good book to get from the library, not developed enough to merit purchasing for reference.
@tallgoblin What are your top 3 recommendations?
@Archimage If there is such a thing as Peter Principle merch, there should be a t-shirt that reads “The hierarchy must be preserved.”
@thatkruegergirl Sonke Ahren’s How To Take Smart Notes offers a helpful summary of the Zettelkasten method.
@gannonburgett Thanks for the tip!
@gannonburgett I need a simple app to help track and forecast spending. Breaking spending down into simple categories would be nice too. Mint got a bit too complex with their categories, subcategories, etc… And I don’t like the “envelope” budgeting method used in YNAB.
@tkoola From a creative thinking perspective, I have seen A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger recommended. I haven’t read it yet, but it is on my list.
@AngeloStavrow Not exactly the same as a "Commonplace Book" but there is someone developing an app for the Zettelkasten method.