Eh.
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27 January 2012
26 January 2012
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The Benjamin Franklin Effect
Franklin set out to turn his hater into a fan, but he wanted to do it without “paying any servile respect to him.” Franklin’s reputation as a book collector and library founder gave him a reputation as a man of discerning literary tastes, so Franklin sent a letter to the hater asking if he could borrow a selection from the his library, one which was a “very scarce and curious book.” The rival, flattered, sent it right away. Franklin sent it back a week later with a thank you note. Mission accomplished.
The next time the legislature met, the man approached Franklin and spoke to him in person for the first time. Franklin said the hater “ever after manifested a readiness to serve me on all occasions, so that we became great friends, and our friendship continued to his death.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about this Franklin anecdote since I first heard it a couple of years ago. I’ve never put it into practice, but I’ve been tempted. I don’t have enough people who openly despise me, I guess?
Manipulation like this done deliberately leaves a bad taste in my mouth usually. I can’t stand those “pickup artist” books and tapes that some of my single friends like. I’ve listened to some of them on car rides and they made me incredibly uncomfortable for a lot of reasons, but mostly because they involve deliberately modifying behavior to try and manipulate someone in a very crass way. But is the Franklin Effect that different, when applied? It doesn’t bother me as much– maybe because trying to get someone to go to bed with you and trying to get someone to like you are different enough that I can excuse the later but find the former very distasteful.
If I ever ask you a favor out of the blue, you can assume I’m finally getting around to trying this out.
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PotD: The Rockies from Rocky Mountain National Park
I’m sorry that I don’t have much to say lately that isn’t in the form of a photograph. My thinking is highly specialized about web design right now, and nobody gives a damn about that–at least not the people I know read this blog. Unsurprisingly, running a business takes up a considerable portion of my time and brain processing power. However, I still get the chance to drive up into the mountains and take photos like this.
25 January 2012
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PotD: Paul Hummer, Programmer at Work
I really like shooting candid portraits. I wish I had the guts to just ask random people out and about if I can take their picture. This is Paul Hummer, though, so I didn’t bother to ask permission.
24 January 2012
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Bokeh Experiments I
Taken in the Alley Cat coffee shop in Fort Collins. Looks like it will be a while before I get more wildlife photos.
23 January 2012
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PotD: War Docs Behind The Scenes
Another behind-the-scenes shot from Friday’s video shoot.
22 January 2012
Thinking about the TED Imperatives
Seth Godin posted these imperatives, as related to the wonderful TED conferences:
- Be interested.
- Be generous.
- Be interesting.
- Connect.
I’ve been thinking about these imperatives a lot for the last few days. I sometimes seek a guiding principle for my life. Maybe that’s something us nonreligious people do–I don’t have a spiritual belief to guide me in my decisions and path in life– just a deep-seated personal morality that isn’t much more complex than the Golden Rule. Do no harm. Do things to lessen misery for everyone.
It’s not the ethical things that trip me up. I’m more uncertain about things like purpose and role in life. And in that regard(-ish), the TED imperatives seem like a good guiding principle for a while, at least. I feel like I’ve managed to do enough to secure myself this year that I can start being more generous and interested. And perhaps the other things will flow from that. They just feel… right at the moment. Especially in regards to Godin’s suggestion that they are “valid guidelines for any time you choose to stop hiding and step out into the world.” I keep stepping further and further out into the world lately. I felt like the last couple of years have been about rebuilding my life at the foundations. Now it’s time to start adding new elements, connecting what I do and have done to others. I’m less fearful of what others think of me and my interests now. And I’m deeply curious about the things others are making, doing, and how they see the world.
What do you think of the TED imperatives? I’ve re-enabled comments on the site. They may not be pretty, but they should be functional. As always, this site is a work in progress. If you’re following by RSS, you’re definitely aware of that. I really need to rework the RSS feed to properly include the photos and link URLs. Sorry for the dust, folks.
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PotD: Roz
Our cat, Rosencrantz. Weather’s crappy and I’m a little under the weather, so it was time to break out the backup model.
21 January 2012
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PotD: Thadd becomes Chopiak
I’ve spent part of the last month planning and orchestrating a short video series to market a client’s book. This is a candid photo I snapped of one of the actors, Thadd Krueger, getting into costume for a captured Russian soldier, Lt. Chopiak. I can’t wait to share the final product with the world. I was immensely pleased with the work everyone did.
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Stop Giving Out This Advice to New Writers
I think this post by Nick Mamatas has convinced me that giving advice to writers is just too risky and I’m not going to do it anymore. I’ll talk about what works for me, but never in the context of “you should do this.” Everyone has to find their own way with words. After all, one of the many dead ends I went down as a writer was trying to write like X Famous Author, instead of write like myself. Which is not to say that emulating Y Famous Author won’t work for you.
I really want to make some time to write some stories this year…
