I really like these Daily Metaltations from Steve Powers.
(via World’s Best Ever)
I really like these Daily Metaltations from Steve Powers.
(via World’s Best Ever)
Here’s the full text of a piece I wrote for The Magazine a few months ago. I really enjoyed writing it, and would like to thank Marco once again for publishing it there. If you haven’t checked out The Magazine yet, you should. Anyway, here’s why you’re a total snooze:
Everything was going great until you showed up. You see me across the crowded room, make your way over, and start talking at me. And you don’t stop.
You are a Democrat, an outspoken atheist, and a foodie. You like to say “Science!” in a weird, self-congratulatory way. You wear jeans during the day, and fancy jeans at night. You listen to music featuring wispy lady vocals and electronic bloop-bloops.
You really like coffee, except for Starbucks, which is the worst. No wait—Coke is the worst! Unless it’s Mexican Coke, in which case it’s the best.
Pixar. Kitty cats. Uniqlo. Bourbon. Steel-cut oats. Comic books. Obama. Fancy burgers.
You listen to the same five podcasts and read the same seven blogs as all your pals. You stay up late on Twitter making hashtagged jokes about the event that everyone has decided will be the event about which everyone jokes today. You love to send withering @ messages to people like Rush Limbaugh—of course, those notes are not meant for their ostensible recipients, but for your friends, who will chuckle and retweet your savage wit.
You are boring. So, so boring.
Don’t take it too hard. We’re all boring. At best, we’re recovering bores. Each day offers a hundred ways for us to bore the crap out of the folks with whom we live, work, and drink. And on the internet, you’re able to bore thousands of people at once.1
A few years ago, I had a job that involved listening to a ton of podcasts. It’s possible that I’ve heard more podcasts than anyone else—I listened to at least a little bit of tens of thousands of shows. Of course, the vast majority were so bad I’d often wish microphones could be sold only to licensed users. But I did learn how to tell very quickly whether someone was interesting or not.
The people who were interesting told good stories. They were also inquisitive: willing to work to expand their social and intellectual range. Most important, interesting people were also the best listeners. They knew when to ask questions. This was the set of people whose shows I would subscribe to, whose writing I would seek out, and whose friendship I would crave. In other words, those people were the opposite of boring.
Here are the three things they taught me.
SXSponsors
Starting to rethink my decision to make this the year I’m going back to South by Southwest.
I follow them down Avenue A. The Lower East Side, I notice, has not changed much in one hundred years. The women are still emaciated and dressed in rags; the men still wear beards and have sad eyes.
At the Museum
This made my day/life.
“I’m sitting at my desk, blinds down after a long, long day of work. I check Facebook and see the most amazing sunset happening all around the area. I thank my friends, for reminding me to stop and look, because otherwise I would have missed this”
super awkward when you say goodbye to a pal, then you both turn and walk together in the same direction, into a courtroom where he’s the plaintiff and you’re the defendant.
Scott Simpson @ Portal’s Tavern
Lots of folks have asked me what I’ve been up to in the past few months. Here’s your answer.
More soon.
Thanks for the pic, OJ!
Make a Given Wish | You Look Nice Today
There’s no way I’m the only person that immediately pictured this while listening to the episode.
That’s right, it’s Adam in a luxurious bathtub with a copy of The Fountainhead. Listen to the new episode of You Look Nice Today to find out how YOU can get in there with him.
When I Let You Down in So Many Ways
Little-known Smithereens song that I woke up wanting to listen to 5 times in a row, after 20 years of not hearing it.
When you’re drunk and you wake your kids up to make them watch classic SNL sketches, first check to make sure your internet works or else your kids are gonna think you’re a bozo.
A true mystery. Some theories.
He wants his tapes and pamphlets back.