Issue 389
A notebook about how we work, and learn, and love and live.
"Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer."
– E.M. Forster, from Howard's End
I love how Forster holds up the power and potential of human love in this often-repeated quote. It is so often repeated because it is so fundamentally true.
Today is my 68th birthday. I am feeling pensive today, embracing my ever expanding role as an elder, a husband, a parent, a grandparent, a friend, a mentor, a neighbor, and a leader.
Happy Friday.
Community Building
Day-to-day actions shape the culture of learning networks and the value they create.
Curtis Ogden, a fellow traveler who is a prolific writer on networks and network weaving, published this essay for educators. I find the thinking relevant for anyone who is engaged in understanding how we each contribute to learning and transformation.
Article: 25 Behaviors That Support Strong Network Culture
Teaching, Leading
Supporting positive and possible futures
Speaking of useful resources originally directed to teachers but relevant to all who co-create learning and sharing environments, North Star Paths is a website created by Kristen Wiens. She calls herself an inclusion coach who is "passionate about child honoring, inclusion, visuals, UDL, self-reg, mindfulness, and creativity." Her site is chock full of downloadable videos and graphics on all of these topics.
Website: North Star Paths
Communication
Chatting with others outside our usual sphere, even for a few seconds, makes us smarter -- and happier.
"Transitory connections are good for all of us, as people and as a nation. In-person encounters allow us to experience life from others’ perspective. As journalist Joe Keohane put it in his recent book, The Power of Strangers: The Benefits of Connecting in a Suspicious World, talking to strangers, even for a few seconds, makes us 'better, smarter, and happier people.'
"Keohane documents in painstaking detail how more connections, even brief ones, made with people we don’t really know — think postal workers and baristas — enhance our daily contentment."
"...But these interactions were declining even before the pandemic. The age of social media and inequality is not a friendly one."
"Yet connections are something humans crave and whose absence we notice, even when the relationships that lapse weren’t particularly close. (Personally, I’ve long been convinced that the modern obsession with dogs — one I proudly share — is partly about our need for human connection and a way of obtaining it. Anyone who walks a dog regularly knows that the query 'Friendly?' checks both human and canine temperament.)"
"...Loneliness surged during the pandemic, and so did reports of depression. The sense of malaise, sadness and anger in some quarters, even as society lurches back, is almost certainly related, at least in part, to our continued lack of in-person connections. Here’s a thought: Try speaking with strangers and casual acquaintances again. It can offer a quick pick-me-up in the near term — and might help reduce broader tensions."
Article: We’ve Stopped Talking to Strangers. Here’s Why We Should Start Again.
Advertising, Social Messaging
Brand promotion as social messaging
"If you haven’t seen the billboards for Montero, you might be entitled to financial compensation. Lil Nas X’s ad campaign for his debut studio album, which came out on September 17, is innovative. It’s iconic. It appears to be inspired by those old mesothelioma TV ads. Truly, no one is doing it like Lil Nas X.
"One Montero billboard reads, 'Are you single, lonely, and miserable? You may be entitled to financial compensation.' There’s a picture of Lil Nas X in the corner wearing a wig similar to the one he recently wore on the VMA red carpet. Another says, 'Do you hate Lil Nas X? You may be entitled to financial compensation.' Yet another asks a simple question: 'Gay? You may be entitled to financial compensation.' And finally, there’s a billboard with an American flag that reads, 'Do you miss the real America!? Visit WelcomeToMontero.com to see how we can take our country back.' Each ad has a QR code and URL that take you to a page where you can pre-save Montero or watch one of Lil Nas X’s music videos. These are now the only acceptable billboards. All other billboards must go."
Article: Lil Nas X Is a Marketing Genius
Design
The Ulm School of Design archives have been digitized and are available for you to peruse.
British design blog, It's Nice That, has just finished curating the Ulm School of Design's archives. The collection has been digitized, making rare design gems available for the first time. They've partnered with Dropbox to make hundreds of archival materials easily accessible.
Archive: Ulm School of Design Inspiration Archive
Article: How Design Became Socially Conscious: Get Inspired with Dropbox and The Ulm School of Design’s New Digital Archive
Culture
The books that Lisa Simpson reads say a lot about our collective zeitgeist.
"Guatemala City-based Carmen López is the curator behind the popular Instagram account, Simpsons Library. With an unparalleled insight into the books these dysfunctional characters read, we asked Carmen to compile a bookshelf that reflects her favourite covers from the show. With her selections, the art director has treated us to a portrait of her favorite character. 'My favourite character is without a doubt Lisa. She is smart, an idealist, a vegetarian, a strong environmentalist, a feminist and a buddhist. She loves school, Jazz, playing the baritone saxophone, reading and ponies. Who wouldn’t want to be like her?'
"'She’s also the most avid reader in Springfield,' says Carmen. 'Through the books she reads we can discover a deeper side of Lisa. She is also a character everyone, especially women and girls can relate to. Even though she’s only eight years old, Lisa faces all kinds of situations that many of us find ourselves dealing with. That’s why it’s easy for me (and others) to identify with her'”.
Article: Lisa Simpson’s Bookshelf: From the Curator of Instagram’s Simpsons Library
Playlist
You've heard the quip before: "The Velvet Underground and Nico didn’t sell many records, but everyone who bought one went out and started a band." Now a lot of those bands have come together to pay tribute to this seminal album with a stellar tribute. Kurt Vile does Run, Run, Runjustice, Courtney Barnett makes I'll Be Your Mirror her own and Matt Beringer has apparently been waiting to sing I'm Waiting for the Man his whole life.
Album: Various Artists: I'll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground and Nico
But perhaps my favorite is Andrew Bird's and Lucius' rendition of Venus in Furs. It is lifted from The Great Room concert that I've mentioned here before. The droning strings of that lovely song seem like they were written for his looping violin style. Lucius' gorgeous vocals make the song even dreamier than the original.
Video: Andrew Bird Live From The Great Room with Lucius.
Image of the Week
"Thomas Pesquet, a French astronaut for the ESA, is currently aboard the International Space Station. He recently shared some breathtaking images of Aurora Astralis (Southern Lights)."
Article: An Astronaut Captured Breathtaking Photos Of The Southern Lights Under A Full Moon
Related Article: Listen to the Mysterious Sound of the Northern Lights
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