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:: Thursday, February 18, 2010 ::

5 of 100

In accordance with my Sifu's recommendation, I've embarked on 100-days of training. I'm starting small, with a basic set of hand strengthening qi gong exercises. If I get inspired, I'll do my best to work in other movements as I learn them, but I'm setting the bar low, in the hopes that it'll make it more attainable. (Also, I'm admitting it here, hoping that it will keep me honest.)

So far, the main challenge has been to stay focused on each day as it comes. If I look too far out at the remaining days, it quickly feels overwhelming, and all I can see are the many possibilities of failures/missteps.

The movements are still challenging, but, remarkably, I can feel small changes in my body, and I can feel the work pushing through old injuries. By far, the best part has been starting my day in my studio, looking at our yard. I love that view, and no matter how awkward, the movements feel meditative.

It's also gotten me thinking about working my painting/drawing into the practice. 100-days of painting is daunting to consider. After all, my one-a-day has proven to be challenging (definitely in posting, and often in drawing). But I was struck at how well it fit into the idea of the 10,000 hour rule from Outliers.

Devoting time to art is exactly what I want this year to be about.

Although I've been privileged to already have amassed 10,000 hours drawing and painting, it seems like more rigor and more focus could only be for the good. Something leads me to believe that this will dovetail nicely with my impending (looming?) milestone in the next few weeks.

[Also: happy happy 70th bday dad! ...talk about a milestone!]

Labels: art, inspiration, kajukenbo, one-a-day, practice, qi gong

:: Eliza Wee 3:28:00 PM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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WIPP 2010: Notes

[Apologies for the delay in posting, I've been busy doing good and bad things--you know--the usual. If you went to the conference, I'd love to hear about your experiences. If you didn't go, but have comments, questions, or other responses, feel free to post a comment or to ping me more directly (twitter.com/ewee, ewee at dogmo dot com).]

Initially, I'd hoped to have more analysis/response to the Women in Periodical Publishing conference, but since it's been over a week (!), I thought I'd post, for the couple people who'd expressed interest in my notes (thanks!). Of course, my notes are disproportionately skewed to focus on what I thought was most important/interesting. Apologies for any glaring omissions/errors (feel free to note them in the comments, and I'll update the post).

Overall, it was inspiring, and as good experiences tend to go, it left me with more questions than answers. We're at a time of disruptive technology--which is both exciting and daunting. I will say that I refuse to buy into the binary notion of web vs. print (or, for that matter: HTML5 vs. Flash, Twitter vs. Facebook vs. Blogging vs. Buzz). It's all fabulous stuff, and I enjoy exploring the bits I'm excited about, and learning from people's experiences with the rest.

Ok, here goes the notes (in schedule order, morning sessions only):
Introduction | Keynote | Opening Panel | Diversity Panel | Solopreneurs Panel

Introduction

Jane Goldman (VP, EIC at CBS Interactive, prev. Chow): "The demise of the professional--experts vs. expertise.

Keynote: Beyond Equality. Change publishing, and the world.

Deirdre English teaches at UCB, former EIC at Mother Jones, wrote (with Barbara Ehrenreich) For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of Experts' Advice to Women (rev. in 2004).

Printing press = disruptive technology. Made literacy available for the people. Brunelleschi, built cathedral w/o dome, thinking that the tech would come to be able to build it--and it did. Same thing now, tech will come, and in the meantime, think about how to use it as a humanizing force (another interesting parallel: Renaissance ended when patrons went bust due to banking crisis).

Unprecedented growth--lots of great projects, but not sustainable. Failing business model--publishing has been captives of advertising industry for so long. Possible solutions (all have problems, possible areas of conflict):

• Economic deals (w/ Google, etc.)
• Government support (ex/ BBC)
• Billionaire (but they're fickle...)
• Nonprofit sector
• Universities (both have an investment in finding the truth)
• Public (subscriptions, micropayments, "tip jar"--ex/ micropayments for Obama)

Opening Panel: Where is the Media Revolution Headed?

Speakers
• Michela Abrams, Dwell Media
• Amanda Edwards, Google
• Sarah Granger, BlogHer, HuffPo, SFGate, techPresident.
• Lynne d Johnson, Advertising Research Foundation

Moderator
• Cindy Johanson, The George Lucas Educational Foundation

In 10 years:
Michela: Everyone is a publisher.

Lynne: Media convergence, moving away from CPM model.

Sarah: Short form journalism innovation.

Amanda: Global audience over half outside of US.

Sarah: Realtime tools for media. (How will this effect Tivo/DVR culture? Rtn to demand for info in real time? FB vs. Twitter--walled garden vs. new open platform, akin to platform presented by blogger.com and now evolved beyond).

On revenue streams:
Michela: If you are innovative, curious, determined--you can have good success this year.

Lynne: Mobile apps, augmented reality--advertising, online archive of publications (do we have this for IDG pubs?).

Amanda: As of 2009, smartphones outpacing PCS (in both Google searches and purchases).

Advice, resources, tips:
Michela: 70% startups/apps/new tech, 30% media/mags.

Lynne: six apart blogging sw, typepad journalism, etc.).

Sarah: media bistro, shewrites.com, writersmarket.com, shesource.org.

Amanda: Don't get distracted, focus on your goals, and let all else fall by the wayside.

Diversity Panel

Speakers
• Goli Mohammad, Make/Craft
• Maire Walsh, Next Steps Mktg
• Shaunice Hawkins, Evolutions Consulting

Moderator
• Cristina Azocar, SFSU

Why am I on this panel?
Interestingly, all but Shaunice seemed to wonder a little at their inclusion on this panel.

Goli spoke on Sebastopol being a little unusual and being a "very huggy environment." Maire mentioned her queer identity, and being Irish from Ireland. Shaunice said that this is what she does, mentioned her identity (French, German, Native American, African American).

What identities bring to careers and how to sell your content?

Shaunice said "You do what you are." (-Morgan Freeman) She mentioned working to explain to people that "we're not all bad," and she's interested in working/explaining intraracially/intraculturally. She sells diversity--it's less about anxiety/discrimination--she can't be angry and teach you, needs to be very patient, calm to raise your awareness/intelligence ("Raising people up from stupid to smart"). Doesn't matter what color you are--the only color that matters is green. Get past the hokey stuff, we're here to sell stuff. If you add race into the picture, you're adding over one trillion dollars (if you add other groups, even more trillions of dollars!).

Advice

Develop friendships outside your comfort zone. It's human to categorize. It's also important to notice it when we're doing it, and change our actions.

Other notes

Digital divide: "Everybody doesn't have a voice." The elderly, people with no access to the Internet, more schools/libraries closing down. Without access, people will be left behind. Mobile phone tech--eventually replace computers? Organizations should look to this direction. To reach a broader, more global audience, need to be platform agnostic, mobile and portable.

Solopreneurs Panel

[note to self: must download iphone lego app!--apparently it lego-izes your photos, and for free. thx to my tablemates who introduced me to it!]

Speakers
• Heather Boerner, writer and editor
• Grace Hawthorne, co-founder of ReadyMade, and consulting associate professor, Stanford Design Institute
• Lane Wallace, founder and editor, No Map. No Guide. No Limits.

Moderator
• Holly Brady, consultant, and former director of the Stanford Publishing Courses.

Introduce yourself--5 words: Best/Worst thing about being a solopreneur

HB: Writing with a human face, coaching, serenity for the self-employed. Been a solopreneur for 5 yrs.

+: Freedom, creativity, independence...
-: Stress, workaholism, unpredictable...

GH: Been self-employed 13 out of the last 18 years. Launched ReadyMade, recently started teaching at Stanford. C-level executive, works with the intersection of creative and financial together for start-ups.

+: You are your own boss.
-: Your future is very uncertain.

LW: "I tell stories." Self-employed 20 years, wrote aviation books, 6 NASA books, used book content (that didn't sell) as a column for an aviator magazine, curious seeker of the world, correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly. Building a survivable lifeboat in an uncertain time.

+: Freedom, control, and limitless possibilities.
-: No support and constant uncertainty.

How do you make money?

HB: Contstant query from writing projects, life coaching. Charges/calculates $100/hr for everything, doesn't change from that, uses that to figure out if is one she can afford to do the project in terms of time/cost. Has a business plan, work week about 30 hours.

GH: When starting company, no money for 3 years, during this time freelanced as a consultant ($250/hr to $5000/day). Worked 100 hour weeks, do it because you have to. Has to be within the same channel of interests/desires. Her strength is in the marriage of art and commerce. Pick your passion, and let that be your beacon. How it expresses itself is unknown. The uncertainty is scary, but believe in yourself.

You don't become a solopreneur for the money, "If I wanted to make money, I could sell...toilets." You have to make a choice with your life. What impact you have with your venture did you have on the world. Learning experience, and community of people.

LW: Vision, strategy, tactics. If it feeds your soul, not an easy road. Has to be passion or vision. Death comes by scattershot--have to focus. Passion/Vision, Strategy, Focus on your brand. All jobs must meet 3 criteria to meet goals: make money, fun, advance my career. Diversification is important.

How build brands?

GW: My personal self is not a brand--I create brands.

Word of mouth--if you do things, and do it well--that will speak for itself.

• Your work is your calling card
• Reach out and touch someone--politely follow up. Don't be embarrassed, don't be afraid.

LW: Body of work and personal contacts are everything. Look for resonance.

HB: Cold query with good followup. Mktg plan: 3 queries/wk, plus follow up. She's queried for as much as a year--it's not personal. Have to be persistent and act on faith.

Network--from her business plan. Went through all clients over the prev year, and figured out the impt of networking.

Q/A Section

Brand clarity--how get there?
Pigeon-holed into beats--avoid? good/bad? Find ways to get your "yes" spin your experience.
Working alone, finding comradery with other people? Grotto(?), other writing communities to get together to work.
Without structure--challenge of self regulating. Time/project management.

HB: Overview and daily chunks.

GW: Schedule chunks of time to focus, public library.

LW: Broad brush schedule, sprinter.

Transition, when/how to know to shift to solopreneur, how they decided. "Hard deck" flight term--take leap, don't be afraid to do it, keep in mind limits (*before* crashing)

Labels: 2010, conference, inspiration, notes, publishing, WIPP 2010, wlc10, women

:: ewee 11:28:00 AM [+] :: 6 comments ::
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Staving off regret
End of one week vaca, and so much i wish I'd done, so much unfinished,so much more I'd hoped to accomplish. Bit overwhelming. So tonight I warded off some of that feeling by making more champagne deitritus furniture. None of it is ready for dwr's annual chair contest, but it's an amusing exercise nonetheless.

Labels: inspiration, make, making, random

:: ewee 10:23:00 PM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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exceeding our materials
After tearing through Jonah Lehrer's How We Decide, I decided to give his debut book a try. I haven't even got past the prelude, and I'm already taking notes. He ends this prelude with this lovely paean to art and science:

It is ironic, but true: the one reality science cannot reduce is the only reality we will ever know. This is why we need art. By expressing our actual experience, the artist reminds us that our science is incomplete, that no map of matter will ever explain the immateriality of our consciousness.

The moral of this book is that we are made of art and science. We are such stuff as dreams are made on, but we are also just stuff. We now know enough about the brain to realize that its mystery will always remain. Like a work of art, we exceed our materials.

...The experiment and poem complete each other. The mind is made whole.

He's got a nice touch with verbage--thoughtful, poetic and heartfelt. I'm doing my best to save this read for the coming Thanksgiving holiday, so I can enjoy it at home in our cozy living room, rather than on a cramped Bart or bus ride home.

Labels: art, books, cool science, eyeshurt, inspiration, reading

:: ewee 12:36:00 PM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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You do not have to be good
This is one of my favorite poems of all time (thx to Jill for the reminder). Given that it says everything I could (and better, with craft and elegance), I'll not say much. But everytime I read this poem, I find something new.

Today--from where I stand, now--it's bringing me back to the ordinary flesh and blood that we are. That we aren't some esoteric mind that somehow rises above our lowly animal selves. When we die, it's our bodies that are forever, not our riotous minds. Our bodies are literally immortal--changing and eventually getting absorbed into dirt, plants, sky, water, air--immutable but also always changing.

Of course, all that verbage (and the words below, for that matter) are just products of various thoughts, and therefore necessarily ephemeral, mortal, and may well be undone in the next moment...

Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
...

Labels: inspiration, poetry, words

:: ewee 1:49:00 PM [+] :: 1 comments ::
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Beyond my imagination...
Good, productive weekend of bursty work patterns and getting things done. Think I've been overdoing it for a bit, because I'm worn out and honestly a bit sick today (tired, achy, slow). But that's also data, and so I'm resting and getting myself together for the next charge. In the meantime, I got to finish a book of substance (recommended by the general herself): Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri.

It's a quick read, but far from easy. It's wrenchingly, quietly, painfully, beautifully difficult in places. And transcendent throughout. She's not my favorite writer (The Namesake gets a nod, but that's it), and at times I disliked her stories intensely. Perhaps the quiet ordinary despair was just too much for a midweek commute read. But she's a good writer, and excellent at her craft--she uses words so well and with such skill, that her prose is transparent, light-weight, and devastating.

If you only have 15 minutes, read the last story in the series. But I'd recommend just reading the entire book, and savoring the last story at the end.

"Whenever he is discouraged, I tell him that if I can survive on three continents, then there is no obstacle he cannot conquer. While astronauts, heroes forever, spent mere hours on the moon, I have remained in this new world for nearly thirty years. I know that my achievement is quite ordinary. I am not the only man to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have know, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination."

-from Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

Labels: books, eyeshurt, inspiration, random, reading, words

:: ewee 5:15:00 PM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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workin for the kibble
Tired, and sloughing through work...and these wide-big-loping grinning dogs are what keep me working for the kibble. Sweet pups.

Before work this morning, I sat and soaked up our warm-cool breezy garden out back with toki, and the sunny patch of bed next my sweetly snoozing kee-de-hoe. Some mornings it's hard to leave our little belly patch and face the day. But ya gotta keep on keepin on to get paid. And getting paid is what keeps our pups in the kibble. So I guess I'm not workin for the man so much as I'm workin for the kibble. Or at least, that's what I like to tell myself.

It's feeling somber at werk. No, that's not quite right. It's more sober than somber. We're all keeping our heads down (right next to our morale). And you know, even the promise of happy hour no longer helps quiet the dragons of worry and fear. But there's cats to be herded, and details to be oriented, and sometimes a paycheck is enough.

Labels: belly palace, dogdogdog, dogs, homey, inspiration

:: ewee 8:30:00 AM [+] :: 2 comments ::
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Bedtime blathering
[Yep that's 325am. Yep i'm up and at em for work this am too.]

Must be my productive ovary kicking in, or it's the approaching launch of dogmo 2.0 (if you remember 'em, the bugs were beta, the current site is 1.0). 7 years is a pretty long life cycle, and I'll going to be glad if/when I can sit back and enjoy 2.0 for anywhere near that time frame. But something's had me cranking out side projects and doing yard- and housework (about time) like crazy...so, ovarian or otherwise, the inspiration is welcome.

Been thinking about design, and how it's about solving a problem, providing answers, that kinda thing.

First, I was giving the jim principle a fair amount of thought: make shtuff you like, enjoy the process and move on. which is cool, not getting wrapped up in external praise (tho I do), and making stuff that you like cuz you like to.

But there's more to it than that, at least a second step (and prolly many many more steps). The whole point of design is to get the client something they want to use. So there's something about that relationship that's not about ego, but that's still about negotiation and balance and bridging. I've still gotta chew on that a bit, because there's definitely a piece in there about making stuff that you love, and having that be the focus (i.e. I need to funnel some of this energy into painting more), but it's also feeling like I've come a long way in the intervening decade. All the jobs and projects and successes and failures have made me both more humble and more confident. Both more aware that I'm in a service/overdelivery field, but also more aware that some projects are not worth taking on.

Labels: design, inspiration

:: ewee 9:22:00 AM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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happy me


(happy birthday to me) it's not an iphone, but mebbe that's the point.

Labels: 38, art, birthday, colors, inspiration, naples yellow, oil painting, prussian blue

:: ewee 4:19:00 PM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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quotidian
Hm. I started this post in the beginning of February, so it's a bit outdated. Kept meaning to clean it up, but I didn't. The quotes are still apropos. So I'll just post it, and move on.
...

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony.
—William Henry Channing
...

The secret consists in practice.
And not in thinking and discussing.
Give up wrangling and do the practice.
Then you will know the secret.
—Kabir

being sick has given me the leisure time to sit and think on a few things. so much going on right now, and it's been feeling like a change has been comin for awhile. (let's be honest. change is always happening. but bear with me.)

so there's been an opening up that's been a long long time coming. for sometime i been tightly balled up and just getting by. there's a lot to be said for getting by. but there's also something terrifyingly filled-with-wonder when you look up and see that the valley is behind you, and now stretches out ahead of you.

stillness, now, focus. not really my strong points. so i've been working on the meditation thing. first in paddling, then in my martial arts school, and now in my own personal practice.

been meditating with the dogs. startin slow, started with 5 minutes or so. up to about 20 minutes, and still plugging along. thinking on two things: compassion and now. it started with an off-hand remark i overheard at a dinner party. a study showed that depression was decreased for people who meditated on compassion for only 15 minutes a day! and you know. 15 minutes a day. totally achievable, right? well. took me a couple weeks. but yeah. 15 minutes of (mostly) stillness. or 5 minutes if more seems daunting.

oh, and all my reading and such lately? to sum it up: mom wins. from michael pollan on what to eat, the health dept on how to avoid getting (and spreading) colds and flus...it all goes back to mom is right.

i should call her. (she'd be right on that one too...)

Labels: inspiration, quotes, random

:: ewee 3:29:00 PM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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when (if) i grow up...
...i wanna have these skills (thanks to otherwise):


...and i wanna be this soulful (thanks to luckyduck):

Labels: inspiration, video, web love

:: ewee 10:23:00 AM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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water time
Hm, been awhile since I've been able to post. It's been summertime, with bbqs, outrigger, and just general madness all about. But now summer's winding down, and tho I'm sad to see the evenings getting darker and the weather starting to change (even tho, in the bay, this is just the precursor to our real summer weather), I'm looking forward to some cozy time by home and hearth (not that we have a fireplace...yet).

When it's just me and the water, it's interesting to notice how different my attitude becomes, even in only two hours. I'm usually more tense when I first set out, needing to loosen up and get used to the water and my boat. Then, once I'm feeling a little more confident, my competitive streak hits, and I want to prove myself, hang with the pack, and not be dfl (dead f@#$% last). Then, on the leg home (or sooner, depending), all I want is to get home -- my mouth watering as I pass Pier 39 and smell fries, hamburgers...

Honestly, I'm on the water because I love it. I love how it brings me closer to the place I've chosen to make my home. I love how I am forced to interact with Nature on a very real scale (i.e. me:small::Nature:big). I love imprinting this place--this Bay, the smells, the wind, the fog--under my skin. It's a way for me to come home and to meditate. It's a connection, a setting down roots.

But my overachiever training kicks in subconsciously, and instead of being in the moment, enjoying the challenge and learning, I become wrapped up in fear and judgment. And through it all is this sense of competition, which is accompanied by a sense of failure if I don't perform.

So, to balance this, I've been reading my Hand to Hand manual at night, trying to bring to my sport the mental balance that brings me ease. And in an article by the late Professor Coleen Gragen, I found a bit that helped me see what I need to work on next. In that article, she connects competitiveness to self-hatred and fear.

And it's true. I do want to be competitive and really push myself to do better. But I've also noticed something on the water. The fastest paddlers were the ones who were really enjoying the water. They are the most confident on the water and the ones having the most fun. It also helps that most of them have years of water time behind them, but one is a newbie. Newer than me, but her love of the water and her boat adds up to confidence in the water (and to being faster than me, dangnabit!).

My goal isn't to slack off. Instead, I want to focus on increasing my comfort level so I can move past the fear, and really enjoy being on the water. And in the meantime, everything I can do to stay on top of my boat (and not in the water), is a plus. If I come in dfl, I come in dfl. That's not to say I won't work hard not to dfl, but it staying in the moment and focussed on enjoying the water time is my best strategy for improvement.

Labels: h2h, inspiration, outrigger, paddling

:: ewee 9:10:00 PM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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inspiration: swap meat!
running low on energy and inspiration [...post lunch coma. coffee will fix it, i promise, boss!] and i came across [note to boss: while eating my lunch at my desk.] this wonderful idea -- it's a swap meat! now to dig through my crap, i mean, make stuff! and yay for cool web experiments gone happily awry...reminds me of all the weblove that i have for things like this. yay!

[another fab link thanks to the nyt!]

Labels: inspiration, links, random, web love

:: ewee 1:52:00 PM [+] :: 0 comments ::
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