Highway 61 Re-Revisited

de ce obosesc oamenii?

 

Am apucat sa incerc ceva lucruri si… asta vine cu doza ei de… intoleranta.

Da, am inceput sa lucrez de la 16 ani, ceea ce nu e foarte comun in tara asta. Am scris texte, facut poze si desene tehnice, printuri si o reclama tv, am construit de la 0 o retea de oameni care au avut incredere in mine si cu care inca nu mi-am incheiat toate socotelile si am ajuns abia acum la punctul in care… trebuie sa fiu disciplinata.

Am fost la inceptul saptamanii la un interviu… genul de interviu la care orice foarte tanar account viseaza, la o firma de publicitate cu nume de bestie… unde m-am simtit ca intr-o vizuina. Din fericire, daca ai cat de cat suflet, dispar repede aspiratiile “multinationale”. Exista proiecte mai mici care se pot face cu oameni mai buni, salarii mai mici care te tin mai la caldura decat ar putea s-o faca orice stat de plata umflat si asa mai departe. Cu toate astea sunt mii de indivizi in orasul asta prinsi in blocurile astea de “carbonita”. Si printesa Leia si Luke sunt nowhere in sight. 

Cred ca lucrul cel mai greu de acceptat, care inca nici de mine nu s-a lipit asa bine, desi credeam ca e unul dintre primele pe care le-am invatat… este ca uneori va trebui sa… fii activ toata ziua (sa nu obosesti si sa o iei de la capat). Termenul potrivit e sa muncesti, dar la noi are o conotatie negativa. Pentru ca pare de la sine inteles ca munca e ceva ce se face pentru altii. La drept vorbind orice nu e superficial e un fel de munca. Orice presupune un efort la fel, chiar daca vine din pasiune. 

Nu stiu voi, dar mie mi se pare ca suntem crescuti cu lene. Balteste peste tot. Oameni care asteapta sa termine ce fac sau care se cred eroi pentru ca rezista in procesul de a face mai mult decat toti ceilalti. Ori… evident ca e o problema mult mai mare cu a nu face decat cu a face. Cu singura exceptie consacrata de a face dragoste, nu razboi. 

Faptul ca oamenii sunt searbazi emontional se vede in orasul asta pentru ca oamenii nu stiu sa faca dragoste cu nimic de fapt. Da, nici intre ei. Stiu sa priveasca dragostea ca pe o drama sau ca pe o exceptie, ca pe ceva ce se-ntampla si cand se-ntampla trebuie ingherat si tinut bine pe loc. Ori… dragostea se face. Si binele… se face. Si desi poate suna foarte Woody Allen nu mi se pare neadevarat ca trebuie sa faci… dragoste cu tot ce-ti iese-n cale. Si mai ales cu… ce-ti asterni. 

Nimeni nu isi doreste de fapt sa faca bine lucruri de care nu e legat. Dar nu stam sa alegem sa ne legam de ceva. Ne trezim foarte tarziu si nu prea credem in alternative. Sau ne sperie. De-asta se si fac multe lucruri prost, pentru ca multi oameni nu stiu de fapt ce vor sa faca si cum trebuie sa aiba o activitate, pot sa corecteze ce au facut altii. Aceleasi eforturi fara rost de 2 ori, de 3 ori, de cati robotei avem. 

Disciplina nu e o rutina eficienta. Sau nu ar trebui sa fie. E doar efortul constant de a face lucruri impecabile. Ori lucruri impecabile nu prea ies din maini murdare. Maini care umbla cu foarte multe alte lucruri pentru ca nu stiu de fapt de ce ar trebui sa se tina. Disciplina ca un lucru frumos se intalneste doar in oameni care iubesc sa faca ceva mai mult chiar decat iubesc rezultatele, consecintele, etc. 

Oricum… cand incepi sa traiesti asta… sa mergi cat mai aproape de lucrurile pe care le iubesti si sa incerci sa te identifici cu ele prin toate activitatile tale… nu prea mai obosesti. Si iti si dispare din intelegerea pe care o aveai pentru restul indivizilor care accepta, culmea, plini de viata si ascultand Radiohead, sa traiasca ca si cum ar fi expusi intr-o casa de amanet si tre sa apara careva sa-i rascumpere pentru ca nu pot sa se ridice pe picioarele lor si sa plece. 

Mda… am ajuns la cu totul altceva decat ce mi-as fi propus sa scriu. Dar nu conteaza.

 

Asa, ca sa nu fie postarea asta degeaba, va las cateva linkuri cu niste prezentari destepte. 

What the f**k is social media?

What’s next in marketing/advertising

Filed under: Laid about opinions , , , , , ,

if you’re romanian… watch this

This is not only extremely interesting to anyone that wonders about the growth of the web and the youtube phenomenon… but the example used by the speaker is O-zone. Yup, Dragostea din tei people, used to exemplify the power of new media channels, and the titan that is youtube… by an anthropologist, at the… Library of Congress, in 2008. 

Filed under: Pleasant discoveries , , , , , , , ,

opportunities may come along

… for you to turn something that exists into something that didn’t. – Robert Zimmerman on becoming a songwriter… or Robert Zimmerman on becoming Bob Dylan

I’m reading Bob’s Chronicles, Vol. I, that is, the first volume of his autobiography. And it is, of course, amazing. Like reading a Kerouak novel whose still unbelievable character has purpose. 

What puzzles me is that… the generation before us, that was young during the 70s… pretty much did it all. Got high, flew to the moon, lived through a cold war and after a world one, managed to get itself back on its feet and created models all but perishable. After Sinatra and the Rat Pack, the new wave included Johnny Cash, Bob, Baez, Ray Charles. Even the ones that got it wrong: Elvis, Hendrix or Joplin seemed to have a little more life in them than we do. 

So in a sense it’s strange, cause we’re the children of that generation. We’re supposed to be following them and be more peace-oriented, more revolutionary, more open and warm, natural-born drifters. And somehow we are… natural born-surfers. I hear kids these days (mind you, I’m only 21 and there’s a major difference between me and any 15 year old) grow up with a slightly different bone and muscle structure to their thumb, developed with video game and console remotes, that makes them do certain simple things very differently (such as switch on the light with their thumb). I know, it sound silly to think about something like that… but it’s probably what the apes said when we started putting our opposable thumbs to good use. 

There’s still, i think, anticipation in the air. Anticipation, anxiety and great excitement at what the future still holds. 

I used to critique modern communication and be an advocate of traditional methods. ‘People would remain best friends even having not met for years. It would take a month to deliver a letter across the sea, if the ship actually got there, and they would still write and tell’. Sure, they had a life expectancy of 45… 

There’s just so many of us right now, so many people to pick from that we honestly do not need friends for life anymore. We change, we evolve so rapidly and absorb so much more information than any previous generation that our psyche jumps from stage to stage and it abandons those that can’t keep up with it, or so it seems. But we’re still not cut out for all the knowledge flow available. Hell, I live in an industrial suburb of a small town. I see so many “shiny happy people” (sparkling jackets, vinyl shoes, not a care in the world) that have the IQ of an intelligent ape and could not give a damn about the changes going on in the world. This is Romania. People don’t care about online media, going green and globalization. Making a difference, finding a way, creating. (In this respect I know many well cultured people that are worth pretty much the same for having the same dreams despite the different prospects).  

It’s becoming harder and harder to hold on to the wave, even more so to ride on it and it seems unbelievable that there are few preceding it. 

Still, in Bob’s words… sometimes it’s like we’ve been pulling an empty wagon for a long time and now that we’ve began filling it up we’re going to have to pull harder. He thought that about studying poetry but it’s become true for our general livelihood. And we shouldn’t be afraid of pulling harder or going further into… what seems to be just empty open space. We’re inventing the world as we’re going and I used to think that we were doing it wrong and that we were in fact hopeless (even if in a Camusian way). Blow ourselves up or not, either the Earth gets rid of us sooner or we become better and better… I don’t find a problem with either of those.

It’s like we’re walking towards a door and as we’re getting closer the door seems to be getting bigger and bigger. So who knows what lies ahead?!

Filed under: Laid about opinions, To Dos , , , , , , ,

Stop being so….

Filed under: Pleasant discoveries , , ,

the myth

In high school I fell in love with The Myth of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus. In fact I fell in love with most  existentialist writings that I got my  hands on. Kierkegaard and his Practice in Christianity were illuminating. I liked Nietzsche dreadfully and found his works to in fact be optimistic. I liked the idea of a power struggle, but one that is grand, magnificent, that reeks and shines of spirit.

I loved Heidegger’s interpretation of Nietzsche and Sloterdijk’s reaction to both of them.

I dreamed of writing a great work and proving that there is a new powerful wave emerging in Romanian Culture, a force of young people ready to take over and align everything with Europe and surpass it courtesy of our heightened sense of being alive.

Well, you live and learn… to pick your battles. Still, I posted this to show the amazing artwork i discovered here.

Filed under: Pleasant discoveries , , , ,

the beginning of a beautiful affair

… with more than one thing.

I’m lately trying to get better at what I do… by simply paying attention and reading as much as I can in order to actually form good premises for know how… then the actual, professional, european standard know how will follow.

So, yes, I’ve read Martha Stewart, just the copy that you could buy along with Saptamana Financiara, Martha’s 10 rules. The book is by no means illuminating when it comes to personal improvement or radical behavioral changes. However, if your eyes are open and your mind ready to accept it, there’s definitely something to learn from it’s general attitude. Yes, it’s very, VERY american, which isn’t exactly a plus. Still, it has that… ” I went out and did this and that and look at that… it worked out. Sure, I was smart and passionate, but I could have failed”… and the next few words to that would be “… just like you.”

See… it’s not that we fail, but that we accept that we are and we resume to being… failures. Never trying to do something bigger and better than your present self… that’s failing. It’s failing all the way. Accepting what you’re doing so far and not wanting to do more… again… utter failure. It doesn’t have to be professional, or even spiritual. Hell, it can be sexual, geographical, it just means not being still in all manners. 

If you’re in your twenties and your biggest dream is to buy a house… you’re failure. If you’re in school and your only hope is to do good… you’re a failure. Self-satisfaction inside mediocrity is simple the most popular and shameful form of failure. And the saddest part is, it comes in all shapes and sizes. I know well cultured people having succumbed to the same virus, and I hear about more and more of them every day. 

You may not be Shakespeare, but write… something. Not Armstrong, but step somewhere new, sing something beautiful.

See, there’s a sort of battle between our potential of being excellent and our nearly inborn decision of giving up. It’s not about being excellent at something in particular, just about being excellent. Don’t be yourself, be yourself at your best. You’ll find out it’s not even tiresome. It’s not. Hell, do that for a few days you’ll like yourself so much you’ll never want to go back. The the ego might intervene and stop you again.

The ridiculous thing is the only people that this sounds like bullshit to are those not even willing to try.

And the reason I write it, cause I was asked how the hell I feel entitled, is that I’ve simply had enough of jaded people, of already half-menopaused women in their twenties, drama queens and spoiled brats.

Because on the other hand there can be people like the ones that helped with me writing this from my day-old MacBook. People that do, want and can achieve. 

And the panda that keeps me going.

Filed under: Laid about opinions, To Dos , , , ,

one of the good guys

I’ll start you off with some beautiful motion

Still, this is about someone far better. Saudek. The man Saudek.

I’m sure some of you’ll honestly dislike his works. He seems to me a skeptical man with a good sense of gameplay. This is a list of works from all his periods, in no particular order.

Filed under: Pleasant discoveries , , ,

the inevitability of trendiness

Yes, it finally happened, like we all knew it would.

And speaking of me being an Apple buff, here’s one negative thing about what is probably the most powerful thing in the world:

“…no matter how amazing your brand message is…No matter how beautiful your product is…No matter the level of customer service…your customers will want a real say in what they purchase and even what your product should be. Don’t be shocked when it happens either. Take it as an opportunity to learn. Let it soak in for a minute. Let their voices be heard and see if what they want might actually help you the next time you engage them.” -> by Matt Binkowski of Jack Morton, after analyzing Apple’s fight to keep its software “private” for sales’ sake

And to further this opinion, take a look at this insightful piece of “now”-coherent writing.

Also, check this out:

“Given the “pro-social” mentality of younger consumers, cause marketing is likely to keep growing. The 2006 Cone Millennial Cause Study found that among consumers born between 1979-2001, 61% feel personally responsible for making a difference in the world—and 78% believe that companies have a responsibility to join them in this effort.” – from an article by Liz Bigham

I’m looking into experiential marketing partly because of the day job. Yes, I do however think it’s fascinating and the reasonable step in marketing strategy for any company. Any up-to-date self-respecting brand is already using it and has a long time before it became a topic of discussion, anyway. That is, before respecting the consumer was actually a trend.

However, it all ads up to the same thing: not just companies, but everybody has to go with the flow. Of course we’ve got a soft spot for the past. Hell, I adore Bob Dylan (speaking of which, kudos to one of the world’s better people, Julie White that gave me The Bob Dylan Chronicles, volume I for my bday). And he loved folk music. It is the past that builds us, but it builds us for the sake of the future and it is ludicrous that after all our efforts of reaching and achieving that somehow target some distant time, we could, still, not give a damn about the future.

There’s no common sense towards growing steadily, proficiently, responsibly in what we do. Especially with Romania. It doesn’t happen with people or companies. We’re all just focused on meek, scanty, selfish objectives that have nothing to do with the world around us. And we are in fact the world. Not the cars, not the buildings but the spirit of the era. And we connect from trees, leaves and the rain to everything alive and more real than superficial name-tag elegance.

And, also ludicrously, marketing is probably one of the best examples out there. Because it changes, it evolves, it switches course, anything to grow and stay alive. Talented marketers should be nothing more than elegant fighters, pushing everybody else forward, telling you who to be and what to want, so long as you’re not capable of deciding. They find ways to interact and keep you connected, hook you so badly that any woman in love could take a hint. Brands are probably like women anyway, all trying to get married to the same man: the consumer.

Right… Far too late for my gibberish now. Off to doing.

Filed under: Laid about opinions, Life teaches us..., The times, To Dos , , , , , ,

del.icio.us bookmarks

Top Posts

  • None