alto

If I had to guess, I would say that you probably don't know what you're talking about. Not all the time. But, at least, some of the time. You probably talk about things like you know what you're talking about and, in deed, you think you know what you're talking about, but you don't. You make up things based on observations that aren't true. You make assumptions based on what you hear or what you see that are only partially correct. Then, you take your partially or completely incorrect assumptions and tell them to other people as if they have been proven by years of scientific research. Sometimes you start sentences with "I heard they". The 'they' often refers to a group of people who you do not not know, have never met, will never meet and, frankly, do not exist. But, for some reason when you say that 'they' have discovered something or 'they' are doing this or that, you believe that it's true regardless of where you heard it or who told you, if anyone told you at all. You say stuff like "organic is better for you", but you don't really know why or if it's even true in the first place. You take the Bible out of context and make it say things it never said and never intended because you don't really know what it says. You talk about politics and throw out your opinions to other people who don't know what they're talking about, but if you took a test on the specifics of the issues, you would fail.

The truth is, a lot of what you believe and say is incorrect.
It's a harsh reality, but it's true for all of us and it should be changed.

this purple animal is changing everything

One time my girlfriend asked me what I liked about myself. I thought it was an odd question. One of those questions where you have to act like you don't know the answer, but deep down you really do. I'm not sure why it seems so humble to act like you don't know what you do well. It's not.

After I thought about it a while, I decided that I liked my ability to make quick decisions. Most often, I just make decisions based on gut feeling. (Read Blink by Malcom Gladwell). I'm not super analytical and I don't like stressing over things. The majority of the time my decisions turn out ok. Sometimes they don't.

Recently, I quit my job as a commercial real estate broker. It was a great decision. I didn't realize how great it was until after I quit. There were a variety of really good reasons to leave, but the main reason was that it just felt like the right thing to do. My bank account is suffering, my mortgage is still due every month and I'm unemployed. But, it was undoubtedly the right thing to do.

I'm looking for a new opportunity. I want to be a part of something remarkable. I'm not sure if the timing will match the opportunity I'm looking for, but I don't want just another job. I'm convinced I will find it. Since I don't have the money or the idea necessary to start my own company, I'm going to look for one that already exists. If it doesn't exist, I'll find a way to pay the bills while I scheme.

"That's not a hate crime." "Well, I hated it."

I'm a victim.
Officially.
Last night someone smashed my mailbox. While innocently standing in my kitchen, I heard someone yell something and then a smack. I had just moved the mailbox to its current location and apparently these villains disapproved. So, I went ahead and filed a police report. Hey, why not? There's no chance the perps will ever be caught, but isn't that what law abiding citizens do when ridiculous stuff like this happens? I was hoping Batman would show up, but apparently he is taking some "time off". I don't understand. The damage isn't that bad and, in fact, I could probably keep using it. But, I'm going to get a new one. One that doesn't say Jones on it.

favorite. really? yes yes yes

Not too long ago Matthew Perryman Jones played a show with Peter Bradley Adams at the ABryanPhoto Studio at the Phoenix Lofts downtown. It was a great show and yesterday Bryan posted the audio from the evening on his blog. If you get a chance, check out the song called The Pearl. It's an Emmylou Harris song that Matthew covered and it's wonderful. Lay down and turn it up loud. It will be good.

Click Here then click on the boombox in the top right corner. It's track 10.
(Check out Bryan's blog while you're there, too. He's an amazing photographer!)

Strike 2

Some lessons are harder learned than others. Not too long ago, in a post titled I'm going to get up really early, I told a story about running into a wall in the dark. The moral of the story was... Don't walk in your house in the dark.

So, the other night I pulled down the attic ladder to see if an old table would fit in the vacancy above the ceiling. I didn't pull it all the way down, just enough to measure the width of the rails. After obtaining the measurement, I then proceeded to measure the table. Unfortunately, it didn't fit. Also unfortunately, I never went back to put the ladder up. Instead, I carried on with some tasks in the living room until I decided to retire for the evening. As always, I turned out the lights and proceeded to my bedroom which is at the end of the hallway, which is past the attic. Luckily, I remembered that I had left the ladder down. Unluckily, I didn't remember until after I slammed into it with my face. The bottom rung of the ladder which hung valiantly from the ceiling punched me right in the bridge of the nose. I knew immediately what happened and I couldn't believe it. Apparently, busting my face open on the wall wasn't enough. I needed to be beaten by a ladder, as well. Maybe the daily reminder of the scar above my eye and the ridiculous bruise on my nose will be enough to help me to remember not to walk in the dark.

frames

Last night I picked up a book called All Marketers Are Liars. It's written by Seth Godin and is a phenomenal assessment of consumer psychology and behavior and how to respond as a marketer. I started reading Godin when I picked up Purple Cow, which is still my favorite business book of all time. His writing is simple, effortlessly understandable and brilliant. I read his blog just about every day and almost every day I find something useful and applicable to my life.

So, today as I was reading All Marketers Are Liars and thoroughly enjoying its contents, I thought I should let Seth know. I went on his website, found his e-mail address and dropped him a brief note telling him that I loved his work and how much it challenged my thinking. Within an hour or so, he had written me back thanking me for my comments. I didn't entirely expect a reply. For some reason, because he's written ten best selling books, has one of the most popular blogs on the web, has started and sold numerous companies, is one of the most sought afters speakers in the world and has ideas that make mine look like directions for making Ramen noodles, I knew there was no way he would respond. But, why? Yeah, he's busy. Yeah, he's busy doing things that make him insane amounts of money. For some reason, we tend to elevate those who have achieved more than us to a status out of this world. But really, we're all the same. Really, we're all just human.




Subscribe to Seth's blog here...
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

blue, yellow

On Saturday I took my wonderful girlfriend to Ikea in Atlanta. It's an enormous furniture store, each of the two display floors maintaining the same square footage of, say, Target. Neither of us had ever been before and it was quite an experience. For the most part, I could fill my entire house with furniture, cabinets, counter tops, rugs, sinks, and kitchen trinkets all from inside the enormous walls of the store. Despite the low prices of their goods, the quality remains fairly high. The only thing that was of obvious cheapness was the bedroom suit I wanted. I would probably have to replace it in about 16 months. Of course, with the price they were asking I could probably afford to do that, but what's the point? Overall, I'm an Ikea fan. If you like fairly modern furniture that's not crazy looking or like it came straight out of a 1960's design studio, this is the place for you.



Here's one of the kitchens I found particularly interesting...



http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/kitchen

10th Court South

Caleb Chancey is one of the good guys. In a world full of disingenuous people that don't get it, Caleb is not one of them. He's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and he's funnier than most all funny people. Regardless of who you are, Caleb likes you and if you talk to him you will likely leave the conversation thinking, "I am very important". That's just how he makes people feel. Caleb is also very talented and can do a lot of things. He has a passion for all things art and expression and is gifted in expressing his own art. Of particular note is his photography. It's incredible and what I know him best for and what he seems to be the best at. I'm not sure if that's true, but it doesn't matter. He's also a gifted musician. As a matter of fact, he's organized a musical collaborative called Grey Haven that is performing at Workplay Friday night at 9 and it is sure to be incredible. Caleb has a voice like a Greek Siren that shipwrecks women's boats.

Not too long ago Caleb asked me if he could take some pictures of me. I vehemently agreed and after a fine lunch of McDonald's take-out, we ended up on the roof of his house. Apparently, he was doing a series of pictures of his friends on his roof for his blog, which is awesome. You should check it out. It has some of his work posted and is typically riddled with creativity and spectacles of amazement. After that you should make an effort to meet Caleb. It will be well worth your time.

www.calebchancey.com/blog

Strawberry Swing is my favorite so far

People ask me all the time what kind of music I listen to. I don't know why. I guess it's an easy question to ask and most of the people I run into seem to share the same affinity for music that I do. I always struggle with what to say. I don't know how to describe it. It doesn't fit well within any defined category. The artists change a lot, too. Due to the vast supply of music on the internet, who I am listening today is probably different than who I'm listening to in six months. Not because my tastes or preferences have changed, but just because there's so much new stuff I want to check out.

One staple that has remained in consistent rotation on my ipod is Coldplay. I've listened to Coldplay more than any other band without question. I've listened to X&Y, their last album, maybe 10 million times. It's easily my favorite album of of all time for any band that has ever existed. So, recently they came out with a new album. It came out a few weeks ago, but I just got it on Tuesday. To be honest, I was scared. I heard an interview from the band and they mentioned they had made some changes in their sound and they were putting out music that they loved. Whenever a band says something like, "We had to stop caring what other people thought and just put out music that we loved," it usually means they're putting out a crappy album. It's just the way it goes.

So, I hesitated. Knowing that X&Y had become a part of my DNA, I was sure that Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends could never even hope to come close to being as good. But, I couldn't resist any longer. I buy most of my music on iTunes, but in cases like Coldplay I want the real deal. The, go to Best Buy and pay more but get the real cd with the real cover art and packaging deal. The cover of Viva has a Delacroix painting (Liberty Leading the People) on the outside and certainly must represent far more than I care to dive into here, but it was interesting. The interior art is pretty terrible. It looks thrown together and very contrived. It was a bit disappointing, but I got over it and put the cd in.

Overall, I really like it. It's better than I thought it would be. Their sound has changed a bit, but they haven't lost what made them great... wonderful songwriting, beautiful melodies and superb instrument selection. It was produced by Brian Eno, a guy that produced some for U2 and has a long history of success in the music biz. I haven't had a chance to fully analyze each song, but the album seems like it has some real staying power. The verdict is still out. For now, it's good.

exposed brick

You can't ask people from different walks of life who don't know each other to become friends. It doesn't really work when it's forced.
You can, however, ask those people to show up at the same place, at the same time, for the same purpose and see what happens.