I write what I like

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I’ve been thinking a lot about the backlash that is handed to creative types. Asking why don’t they get a “real” job or make a contribution to society. I guess to an extent because I am feeling conflicted about having left my “real” job and am trying my hand at something completely different.

But the whole argument that artists don’t have a “real” job misses the point entirely. They do have a real job. And they do make a contribution to society…an incredibly valuable one. For the most part, artists don’t make us feel small but like giants…and it is there job to remind us to remember who we are and to fall in love with the world again.*

They give us permission to experience our secret souls. The ones that make us floaty and happy and just filled with a complete sense of amazingness that cannot actually be described in words.

Art inspires us and that is an amazing thing. It reassures that we have every right to be on the planet and to enjoy it.

Part of this post has been stewing on the back of a video recorded of a talk that Amanda Palmer gave at Harvard…and part of it has been brewing in infancy, in a microscopic embryonic stasis since I first saw Dead Poet’s Society in 10th Grade. With the scene with John Keating (Robin Williams) telling his students:
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. ”

You see, I took the “safe” route, I graduated from high school went to college got a law degree and started embarking on a career path that would see me become a partner in a law firm. That me is happily continuing on in another universe. But for this me, at some stage last year, something went click…and I fell off the tracks of this pre-determined path laid out by society and the status quo…and I am glad I did. I am enjoying this current meander down this scenic road. The journey is important than the destination for me at the moment.

I quit my job and moved continents with my husband. I have no doubt that a number of my friends still doubt my sanity and wonder about the fact that I am no longer independent…heck, sometimes I do. But I have gained more.

As I embark on a career as a web designer I am relying on Riaan for support – a decision that we took together. We were willing to embark on a journey where we would both create some sort of legacy. Do we know that legacy will be?

No, but I don’t think that is a bad thing.

I think too much emphasis is placed on people not failing…and I am incredibly grateful that whenever I start letting people get to me and thinking of listening to the voices of the crowd telling me to get back into the status quo.-I hear the voice of my 10th Grade English teacher on one of my particular geekish investigative antics of figuring out the topic for the essay for our final exam based on Dead Poet’s Society and White Squall – saying “Don’t let them get to you.”

Them of course, referred to the more popular kids who were horrified and fascinated by the the passionate enthusiasm with which I shared the discovery…thinking that it would be great ribbing fodder.

And that is what art is for me…it is a reminder not to let other people get to you.

So, please. don’t let them get to you…and please, feed the artists

*P.S. the line about reminding us to fall in love with the world was stolen from Kim Boekbinder. You should listen to Chapter 1 of her debut Album The Impossible Girl – it’s really, really, really good! (And give her some money for it so she can eat and make more art).

**So, that means that this blog has existed in potencia for about 10 years – probably about 10 years in September. That is definitely a personal record.

I was saddened to read the news last week of the tragic suicide of a talented South African actress, Fiona Coyne. In her suicide note apparently Coyne cited the fear of failure and the fear of growing old alone as two main reasons for choosing to her end her life.

I can completely understand the fear of dying alone – it is part of our brain chemistry that we crave the attention and recognition and the acceptance of our tribe.

I do wonder about the stigma that society has placed on failing though. After all, no one is ever successful all the time and the only people who never fail are those who never try.

No doubt it is convenient to preserve the status quo by shouting at people when they fail and telling them that they are destined to do so.

But I would much rather adopt the view that it is better to try and stumble…then never do anything at all.

I do think we as a society need to embrace and accept failure as a positive…because it is a necessary part of creating.

But of course it’s much easier to stand back and criticize when someone steps up to the plate…and use their failure as an excuse not to do something worthwhile.

It’s a choice that people have to make. I for one think that all the creators deserve to be applauded for each effort. There is no such thing as perfect creativity – there is just creation.

If this post comes out as a completely jumbled mess, I apologize. My brain seems to be trying to escape via my nose at the moment…which obviously is not the most fun thing that has happened to me. But I will survive.

Unless you have been spending the past few days under a rock you have probably heard of something called facebook places. What this delightful feature does is show where you are, it also has the genius feature of allowing your “friends” to check you in to places.

And, you are automatically opted into this geo-tracking feature.

So, needless to say privacy advocates are up in arms. To which I say, fair enough. However, I do wonder about the amount of people who are complaining about the lack of privacy on foursquare. Foursquare is a similar application to facebook places (and in all likelihood probably where facebook lifted the idea from) – with one important exception.

When you sign up for foursquare you are signing up to be able to check yourself in at specific locations. That’s right people, you chose to broadcast your location. Just like you chose what you broadcast on Twitter and on Facebook.

My main gripe with Facebook though is the uncertainty about what is and what isn’t public. With Twitter and Foursquare – you know that you are broadcasting to the world (unless you have changed your settings.)

With Facebook sitting behind it’s log-in walls and “for friends eyes only” and its frequent changes to default settings – there is a great deal of certainty about what is public and what is not.

Either way, too many people complain when something they post on the internet becomes public. Dude, it’s the internet – of course it’s going to be public. In fact I think its a fair assumption that if you put on the internet people will be able to find it.

Of course, you do have the right to control what you put out on the internet – but it’s a responsibility too.

Here’s some of the background reading that triggered this post:

http://lifehacker.com/5616395/how-to-disable-facebook-places/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jul/23/foursquare/

*Note: This post is about the technology that people have chosen to use – it is not about other people posting information on the internet.

Lately my twitter stream has been distracting me more than I would like. Nothing too serious – I was just following links that when I arrived upon didn’t interest me that much. That’s the thing about the internet – there’s a new link born every minute.

So I started to take action – I unfollowed about a third of my twitter list. I don’t have masses of people in my twitter stream – but I managed to cut down the list by about third to follow about 42 or so people.

And obviously part of this exercise in cutting down the following list was the question of why do I follow xxx?

So here is a #followfriday (or rather #ff) spin on some of the people I follow and why:

Gapingvoid
Because he inspires me. The lovely widget on the sidebar displaying cartoons – it’s showcasing Hugh’s work.

TheBloggess
Her authenticity. She is a breath of fresh air and her sense of humor appeals to mine.I love her attitude and approach to life.

Christopher Daley
I followed him after reading his blog post on Amanda Palmer’s pile of pain (which he linked to on her blog). Since it turns out that both he and Riaan are the same famous writer it makes sense that I am generally amused by his tweets. Also it appears that he has good taste in music – which might not be the best thing for the paypal account but then the soundtrack can always use some extra variety (and I am glad that the money is paying the creators directly).

Fabulous Lorraine
Neil Gaiman’s assistant…because she is so real. And she also inspires me to treat life like an adventure and just do stuff.

Meeting Boy
Because it’s Dilbert tweeting. No not really, but his tweets remind me of the dysfunctional corporate culture that I experienced in my gap year between getting my law degree and practicing law.

Kim Boekbinder
Because I love her music and she is rather lovely.

Amanda Palmer
Another person who inspires me with authenticity and just getting shit done. One of my role models when it comes to attitude and questioning the reason behind the rules.

Nathan Fillion
Because I liked someone’s reply to his tweet saying to pay someone a compliment and let him know how it went. A couple of months later when I realized that he was the lead in Firefly

Other cool lady musicians who make lovely music: Zoe Keating and Marian Call (both discovered via CSDaley)

Molly Crabapple creates art that I enjoy looking at. One of her works together with a Hugh McLeod will adorn my walls when I decide on a continent to call home .

Riaan Cornelius
Duh! Because I love him

So, that’s my wrap up for now.  This post didn’t quite come out the way I wanted it to…I find that it happens quite often when I let it sit in my mind for too long. Possibly because reading the people’s tweets that survived the purge feels good and feelings not the purview of the neocortex. Either way it’s writing practice and this is my cat blog.