another decision the company has made which has ‘…lead to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and, what some might call the commoditization of our brand.’
brand autopsy
Quotes
Society… did not favor the reading of poetry…. By the ’90s, it was all over…. consider that poetry is the only art form where the number of people creating it is far greater than the number of people appreciating it…. People don’t possess the patience to read a poem 20 times before the sound and sense of it takes hold….
I am part of a world that apotheosizes the trendy, and poetry is just about as untrendy as it gets. I want to read books with buzz… and I can’t remember the last book of poetry that created even a dying mosquito’s worth of hum. I am also lazy, and poetry takes work.
Bruce Wexler
Dylan Thomas… is… the proto-rock star, priapic, Dionysiac, excessive: possessed of a richly turbulent emotional life; the Jim Morrison… of his day. And Dylan Thomas was probably the last poet to be as famous as a rock star; he gives fame a certain class.
Nicholas Lezard
writing activates a cluster of neurological pathways…. people coping with cancer diagnoses and other serious conditions are increasingly seeking—and finding—solace in the blogosphere. “Blogging undoubtedly affords similar benefits” to expressive writing, says Morgan, who wants to incorporate writing programs into supportive care for cancer patients.
Jessica Wapner for Scientific American
I’ve been able to find mentors… each one of them willing to spend all sorts of time, reading my work, talking “shop.” … I know, there are plenty of books out there that tell writers what to do. Even books that inspire. But there’s something about working with someone who is right there. Someone who listens. Someone who has done it and survived.
Tara Yellen, author of After Hours at the Almost Home
There’s too much sameness in publishing. It may be like looking for a needle in a pile of vomit, but there are real gems out there by unknown poets.
James Byrne Link
I don’t know many of those fierce Clinton supporters, because most of my friends and acquaintances are writers and editors and cultural impresarios of one kind or another—members of “the media”—and there are precious few Clintonites among them…. And the great majority of media people are members of the same (white) demographic cohort that has rejected Hillary and voted for Barack—educated, more-affluent-than-average residents of cities and suburbs.
Kurt Anderson in New York Magazine Link
The cheap guy… never wins.
Set Godin Link
the quarterly magazine is a something of an anachronism — a covered wagon on the information superhighway
Kate Taylor for the NY Sun Link
behaviors are changing
Sean Howard (via AdPulp) Link
Our always-on wired world doesn’t leave room for contemplation… Charles Bukowski once lamented that writing poems that were published soon after felt like throw-away journalism. But…. the Web never sleeps.
Jeff Gomez of Print is Dead Link
To hold a pen is to be at war.
Voltaire (via livejamie) (via brocatus)
This quote reminds me of this post about a fountain pen: Writing Like It’s 1884
You don’t have ‘a facebook.’ Facebook is a place, a network, not a page. You’re ‘on facebook,’ or you ‘use facebook.’
Seth Godin Link
Every product starts out as inspiration, moves to the drafting board, the production line, and then goes into someone’s hands before ending up, finally, on the scrap heap.
Jeff Gomez, Print is Dead Link
The story creates the work and the work creates the story.
Seth Godin Link
When describing what you want in a design, make sure to use terms that don’t really mean anything. Terms like “jazz it up a bit” or “can you make it more webbish?”. “I would like the design to be beautiful” or “I prefer nice graphics, graphics that, you know, when you look at them you go: Those are nice graphics.” are other options. Don’t feel bad about it,you’ve got the right. In fact, it’s your duty because we all know thaton fullmoons, graphic designers shapeshift into werewolves.
Ways to drive a Graphic Designer mad. #5. (via yyoyoma)
My new favourite is ‘I’d like it look more designed”.
(via misssnowwhite)
Wikipedia is not the beginning and end of research
…students don’t consult enough sources. Wikipedia is so easy and accessible that it stands out from all other reference works. Thirty years ago, students might check several encyclopedias…. Now, it’s Wikipedia first and, too often, last.
Mark Bauerlein, via The Chronicle of Higher Education. Link.
The ubiquitous Wikipedia
…the Wikipedia site was listed among the top three Google hits 100 percent of the time.
Michael Petrilli. Link.
“Better content from trusted sources”
Just because a cell phone can shoot video doesn’t mean the person operating the device has the faintest clue about building an audience.
David Burn of AdPulp on Link
Quote: Persistence is having the same goal over and over
Persistence isn’t using the same tactics over and over. That’s just annoying.
Persistence is having the same goal over and over.
Seth Godin. Link.
Next week, I start another 30-day Poetry Marathon… I’ll write one poem per day.
Deborah Ager. Link.
New info opiate
research shows that a brain rewards itself with a squirt of natural opiates when it comes across new information that requires interpretation
Mark Frauenfelder (via Boing Boing) Link
Coffeehouse Junkie 