Love People, Not Pleasure

Arthur C. Brooks writing for the New York Times:

Love people, use things.

I really wanted to quote this whole article, but this is the main take away. Maybe the best thing I will ever share*.

*  And, coincidentally, expands upon “Reclaiming Our Lives From Social Media”

Stop Whining About Zach Braff

Jesse Thorn reminding me why he’s great:

… directly audience-funded creative work is by far a net positive for society. It fosters deeper and more important work – there’s a big difference between your relationship to something you voluntary give money to and something you’re willing to show up to a theater with friends for. It reduces the risk inherent in any creative undertaking for the creative people. It makes it so that folks can spend more of their time making and less begging big corporations for money. It gives creative people control, with the backing of people who like their work, rather than giving that control to someone who wants to sell stuff. All of these are good, good things.

Reclaiming Our (Real) Lives From Social Media

Nick Bilton writing for the New York Times:

I’m not blaming the Internet for procrastination. Wasting time is as old as history itself…Yet I am blaming the Internet for sucking people into a cacophony of links, videos and pictures that are constantly being dangled in their faces like some sort of demented digital carrot on a stick. Links that seem like fun at the time, but afterward leave us all feeling a little bit empty inside.

That feeling is all too familiar. The cons associated with social media are quickly outnumbering the pros (many of which have everything to do with business and nothing to do with socializing). Sometimes I wish we could put the rabbit back in the hat.

Useful Tools: Merge PDF

If you’re looking to combine documents into a single package, Merge PDF is a terrific (and free) way to go. The interface is reminiscent of Dropbox, incredibly user-friendly. You literally just drag and drop. I’ve used Merge a number of times when submitting grants/applications/etc. over the past couple weeks and it’s been a great experience.

Kanye West: A Brand-New Ye

From GQ:

… Page Six can’t overshadow the main point: Carine Roitfeld was sitting next to Kim Kardashian. That alone to me is like the same moment when I brought Mos Def to the studio with Jay Z. It’s about the people, and the fact that they’re from different walks of life, and that they’re working together and not discriminating against each other. There was a class system, and now there’s a creative class system, and I think that’s what you were talking about a bit—the class system of creativity.

Not everyone is going to get what he’s saying, but it’s quotes like this that put Kanye on another level. He sees not only the industry, but creativity and the artistic process, in a way none of his contemporaries can even fathom. He is my generation’s Bob Dylan*.

*  He may become even more fundamental than Dylan. Only time will tell.