Tag: book notes


  • Loneliness & Company

    • QuestionStorming

      The expectation is that people will show up to a brainstorming session with a grip of solutions ready to go. I previously worked through an alternative approach to brainstorming for those who have teams of people with varied personalities (introverts, extroverts) and how to ensure the loudest idea wasn’t mistaken for the best idea. A…

    • Locals Only

      These days have that flavor of the early pandemic lockdowns, or that weird week every year between Christmas and New Years, when you aren’t sure what day it is or when you last showered or exactly how many days you are getting out of your underwear. It is only now that I am reminded how…

    • Joyful Creation

      via – Reclaiming Joy in the Creator Economy – by Thomas Klaffke (creativedestruction.club)

    • Emergence

      “Inside the word “emergency” is “emerge”; from an emergency new things come forth. The old certainties are crumbling fast, but danger and possibility are sisters.”― Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power

    • Phases of Disaster

      I’ve seen this graphic all over the damn place. The general ideal is “behavioral health of communities during disasters.” The graph was adopted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – a federal organization – and published in by the Washington State Department of Health in April 2020. You know, those early pandemic…

    • Creativity In An Age of Crisis

      Theory: tragedy inspires the greatest art. E.g. Picasso’s Guernica Hurricane Helene has brought all kinds of trouble to the region – not just Asheville, but the counties and states surrounding it. Since the hurricane hit a week ago and the devastation continues to unfold, I’ve found it nearly impossible to create anything. It got me…

    • Notes on Disasters.

      Even when it’s not right outside your window, it consumes all of your mental bandwidth. The hurricane, the aftermath, the entire region that is suffering. This is the kind of thing that sets people back ten or twenty years. You hear the stories, but now you know. This feels different, more sinister. In grade school…

    Spoilers within, because there are points I want to keep track of. The premise of this book: a top-of-her-class researcher is hired to a company post-graduation to help with the development of an AI application meant to resolve the idea of “loneliness.” In the end, the project more or less fails. If technology drove up…


  • Failing Creativity – Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act

    • QuestionStorming

      The expectation is that people will show up to a brainstorming session with a grip of solutions ready to go. I previously worked through an alternative approach to brainstorming for those who have teams of people with varied personalities (introverts, extroverts) and how to ensure the loudest idea wasn’t mistaken for the best idea. A…

    • Locals Only

      These days have that flavor of the early pandemic lockdowns, or that weird week every year between Christmas and New Years, when you aren’t sure what day it is or when you last showered or exactly how many days you are getting out of your underwear. It is only now that I am reminded how…

    • Joyful Creation

      via – Reclaiming Joy in the Creator Economy – by Thomas Klaffke (creativedestruction.club)

    • Emergence

      “Inside the word “emergency” is “emerge”; from an emergency new things come forth. The old certainties are crumbling fast, but danger and possibility are sisters.”― Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power

    • Phases of Disaster

      I’ve seen this graphic all over the damn place. The general ideal is “behavioral health of communities during disasters.” The graph was adopted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – a federal organization – and published in by the Washington State Department of Health in April 2020. You know, those early pandemic…

    • Creativity In An Age of Crisis

      Theory: tragedy inspires the greatest art. E.g. Picasso’s Guernica Hurricane Helene has brought all kinds of trouble to the region – not just Asheville, but the counties and states surrounding it. Since the hurricane hit a week ago and the devastation continues to unfold, I’ve found it nearly impossible to create anything. It got me…

    • Notes on Disasters.

      Even when it’s not right outside your window, it consumes all of your mental bandwidth. The hurricane, the aftermath, the entire region that is suffering. This is the kind of thing that sets people back ten or twenty years. You hear the stories, but now you know. This feels different, more sinister. In grade school…

    “Hate” is such a strong word, but I can’t get my head around Rubin’s dumb book any other way. I’ve soured on Rubin over the years as he has shifted from less business and more “creativity,” wandering the world in his unruly, unwashed opulence. Sure, he looks the part of a creative guru, but my…


  • Recently Read – August 2024

    • QuestionStorming

      The expectation is that people will show up to a brainstorming session with a grip of solutions ready to go. I previously worked through an alternative approach to brainstorming for those who have teams of people with varied personalities (introverts, extroverts) and how to ensure the loudest idea wasn’t mistaken for the best idea. A…

    • Locals Only

      These days have that flavor of the early pandemic lockdowns, or that weird week every year between Christmas and New Years, when you aren’t sure what day it is or when you last showered or exactly how many days you are getting out of your underwear. It is only now that I am reminded how…

    • Joyful Creation

      via – Reclaiming Joy in the Creator Economy – by Thomas Klaffke (creativedestruction.club)

    • Emergence

      “Inside the word “emergency” is “emerge”; from an emergency new things come forth. The old certainties are crumbling fast, but danger and possibility are sisters.”― Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power

    • Phases of Disaster

      I’ve seen this graphic all over the damn place. The general ideal is “behavioral health of communities during disasters.” The graph was adopted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – a federal organization – and published in by the Washington State Department of Health in April 2020. You know, those early pandemic…

    • Creativity In An Age of Crisis

      Theory: tragedy inspires the greatest art. E.g. Picasso’s Guernica Hurricane Helene has brought all kinds of trouble to the region – not just Asheville, but the counties and states surrounding it. Since the hurricane hit a week ago and the devastation continues to unfold, I’ve found it nearly impossible to create anything. It got me…

    • Notes on Disasters.

      Even when it’s not right outside your window, it consumes all of your mental bandwidth. The hurricane, the aftermath, the entire region that is suffering. This is the kind of thing that sets people back ten or twenty years. You hear the stories, but now you know. This feels different, more sinister. In grade school…

    Two major novels of note: Heretics – Leonardo Padura Translated by Anna Kushner The back of the book alluded to Padura being “Cuba’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez” – which is quite the statement. Heretic’s is a novel of Jewish diaspora masquerading as a crime novel set across a vast span of time and locations. 17th century…