Last week I attended my niece's 8th grade 'Promotion' (graduation) ceremony and, after sitting through a plethora of good, bad, and frighteningly bad speaches and watching the increasingly sunburned faces of the 3 men on the stage (principal, and other guests) I recalled this fabulous speech. Enjoy, and remember, "Always Wear Sunscreen"
"Wear Sunscreen or the Sunscreen are the common names of an essay titled "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune as a column in 1997, but often erroneously attributed to a commencement speech by author Kurt Vonnegut. Both its subject and tone are similar to the 1927 poem "Desiderata". The most popular and well-known form of the essay is the successful music single "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)", released in 1998, by Baz Luhrmann." source: Wikipedia
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Proud to Call Him My Cousin
![Daveland [Explicit]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uuBmbpCo89bU8amZoAV3y3vsROuXTVTQdTO_w3AO8Dy8wcDfH_3YIgagpHGQlcDEGajupek8vTIdWmaRRrjCJ62rxROEmuAszkekwETtbi8WAP2DtLxaNT3ZoKGzWNtvkpbQSyrlU=s0-d) |
| Daveland by Marty Castleberg (my cousin!) |
Among his many amazing accomplishments, Marty is an author. A GREAT author. I listened to the audio-book of Daveland. It's hilarious, touching, and just plain super cool that someone in my gene pool wrote it.
He just forwarded his recent blog post to my mum, because it relates to my grandparents, Andy (Andrew Castleberg) and Gladys (Castleberg). I love to hear his perspective on how they influenced and inspired him.
Opportunity and Aspiration
It was a manic morning of vacuuming, folding, and mopping. The scent of baked goods mixed with the smell of fresh-cut alfalfa pushing through dancing kitchen curtains where pans of confections cooled. My father urgently demanded that I bathe and put on church cloths as he emerged mid-day from the bathroom clean shaven, wreaking of Aqua Velva and wearing a freshly pressed short-sleeved madras shirt rather than his field clothes. All this primping and scurrying signaled one thing: we were getting visitors to the farm. Relatives were coming, relatives from far away.
Uncle Andrew and Aunt Gladys (my grandparents) moved to the west coast in the late 40s and did well for themselves. Every few years they would return during the summer and pull into the driveway with a spotless car that had never seen salty winter roads. It was like an alien spaceship with exotic license plates and leather interior, unlike our pick-up truck with homemade blankets on the bench seat that kept stray coils from poking us in the butt. Their clothes, their accents, the way they spoke, the way they spoke to me, and the things they said were so different from anything I knew. They came to represent everything “out there.” Like Steinbeck’s Jody in The Red Pony, they brought a world to me that was beyond the horizon, beyond what I knew.
Some years ago I watched the documentary Hoop Dreams, which I highly recommend. It was about two inner-city boys who used basketball to get beyond their reality. I came away from that movie understanding that the two most important driving forces in their lives were opportunity and aspiration. They may not have known anyone in their neighborhood working in professional fields but legends existed of others who were given an opportunity to change their circumstances because of what they could do on the court. Likewise, seeing the possibilities my relatives represented allowed me to aspire to my own. Opportunity and aspiration is even more important for the LD person. It’s hard enough at times to find those things we aspire to, not to mention the opportunities to do so, while balancing the differences that we live with. So, how do we ensure that the LD person has both? Think about how opportunity and aspiration have influenced your life and write me a note.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
2011 Resolutions with Style
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| From Keep Calm Gallery |
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| Keep Calm Gallery |
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| Keep Calm Gallery |
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| Keep Calm Gallery |
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| Keep Calm Gallery |
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| Keep Calm Gallery |
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| Keep Calm Gallery |
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| Keep Calm Gallery |
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| Image from Barkaw Flickr |
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| Artist Christopher Goodwin via Hovering Cat |
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| from www.xelor.nl via It's Nice That |
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| Everything Fab Tumblr |
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| Frame this and Hang It on Your Wall...! From Pedlars |
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| Create your OWN personalized manifesto for yourself and your business. This is Pedlars. |
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| CubedTV Manefesto |
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| Mark Twain Words Of Wisdom via Turquoise, Tulips, and Bliss (Source: workshoperotica, via pampleemousse)
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| Michelle V Custom Leather, via the Bright Side Project |
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| from Do Something Good Today etsy, Via N.e.e.t. Finds for your Nest |
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| by Simple Blueprint via Flairful |
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| By Simple Blueprint via Artessen |
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| From Inreda |
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| From the Kate Spade Pop Up Store in London via In My House |
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Quirky is Cool (and profitable!) - The Modcloth Vintage Shopping, Crowd Sourcing Millionaire
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| Out of Her Closet, a $50 Million Business |
But this isn't a post with just pretty pictures of cool products (those are below though, so relax), this is about a successful business model which is among several to emerge as the "new normal" in today's economically challenging (understatement), socially engaged, and networked global consumer society.
By combining her unique style flair and modernly young approach to a start up business based around a social network, crowd sourcing (WWD), bloggers as PR agents, and the goal to have fun and then make money, Susan Gregg has turned her small startup into a multi-million dollar "emerging internet company you should know about (CNBC)".
There have been many business articles written about the Modcloth founder and the company rise to success, and I suggest all should read them because they are a great case study for a super low cost start up that, with a good concept, perseverance and a unique vision can go viral.
There is so much internet chatter about "innovation" and it seems everyone is looking for the next iPhone or iPad, but innovation can be anywhere. Modcloth's business and marketing strategies as well as their "top business to work" for corporate culture is an innovation. And should be studied and used as inspiration.
Twitterific Gift Ideas From Modcloth
- One Tweet Hook $8.99
- Water Color Canary Clock $37.99
- Tweet Home Key Holder $15.99
- Tweet Yourself Jewelry Stand $26.99
- Posing Robin Wall Hook $27.99
- Pecking Order Salt and Pepper Shakers $38.99
- skipped for good luck
- Very Tweet Jewelry Stand $32.99
- Stocking Up on Necessities $29.99
- One Small Chirp Wall Hook $6.99
- Thirsty Birtie Bottle Opener $9.99
- Fancy Cup Of Tree Set $44.99
- Bright In Flight Lamp $87.99
- Free At Last Wallet $27.99
- Paperclip Perch $11.99
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Business: From Where Does Inspiration Come? How to stay in the loop and out ahead of the trends
STEP 1 Digging a foundation of information
I'm a big believer that a good start towards establishng a basic foundation for the goings on in industry, business, trends, is to first read the broad-scope 'mainstream' press and blogs. That initial step digs a foundation, however the first bricks need to be laid, or all we have is a hole.
STEP 2 Gathering the bricks to build the foundation
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| Jim Cramer and John Stewart |
First and foremost, I get my information from a range of sources from a variety of different view points/biases (right, left, laissez-faire, socialist).
I find my "building bricks" when I read smaller,topically varied blogs, magazine articles, and books where I am able to glean bits of information that will fit together to form a well diversified collection of bricks (to continue this rather inane anaology) to build solid foundation.
In addition I love listening to podcasts, business audio-books (I download mine for free from my local public library, and they are iPod compatible, but you can also buy them from Amazon, iTunes, and Audible.com), talk radio (local, syndicated, Bloomberg, NPR, PRI) , and business channel (CNBC, Bloomberg) news while I am drawing, gardening, or doing dishes. (Am I painting the picture of the true party animal that I am or what?!)
STEP 3 Where does Inspiration Come From?
Rather I focus on the bits that capture my fancy. The areas of interest that spark an idea. People always ask "Where does Inspiration Come From"? Well my answer is everywhere, all the time, when your eyes, ears, and mind are open.
So what the heck does that mean?
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| Nels Fry |
To be frank, I was first attracted to Stylites by the great fashion pictures from China (that goes back to the whole "easily distracted by shiny objects" problem I have) but as i began to read his brief but very insightful posts, and when I delved deeper, I became even more interested in his other writings (see the hyperlinks at the bottom of his bio page),. Then I read his impressive resume, and I was a true follower of the Stylites blog.
But, it is only through happenstance that I come across blogs like this.
However it is the content of these "seemingly random" blogs which provides the missing link toward a new idea for a business strategy, merchandising strategy, global expansion plans.
I guess the upshot of my researching process is:
- Education is a continuous process
- By expanding your scope, and taking the hyperlink less traveled you will find exciting new, more unique, and usually better information can be discovered.
- Don't be afraid to follow tangents. I love to check out the blogrolls on blogs I enjoy to read additional information, and that links me to new blogrolls, and so on.- It's viral learning.
Where inspiration is found.
Five years ago foreign brands fell into two groups: luxury and athletic oriented. Nike, Adidas, and Reebok were on middle market shopping promenades in cities from Beijing to Chengdu. The above picture of the new Zara next to on major shopping street Wangfujing may not seem meaningful, but it represents the rapid expansion of fast-fashion that has been achieved in the last year.
"....No doubt Nike will continue to refine its strategy and succeed here. They will continue in collaborations with designers (aspirational value added) or introduce a [Adidas] Y-3 type line."
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and now.... for your "feature presentation".... a the brief blog post that sparked the aforementioned diatribe.
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Stylites From Sports to Sartorial
I dislike calling Zara [parent company Inditex Group MCE:ITX] “sartorial” but its new popularity does represent a sea change in the fashion consumption habits of Chinese.
Five years ago foreign brands fell into two groups: luxury and athletic oriented. Nike, Adidas, and Reebok were on middle market shopping promenades in cities from Beijing to Chengdu. The above picture of the new Zara next to on major shopping street Wangfujing may not seem meaningful, but it represents the rapid expansion of fast-fashion that has been achieved in the last year.
Many consultants are analyzing this change from a business perspective, but from the view of style, this is even more of a revolution...>> Continue Reading
The Pros and Cons of Fast Fashion
"....Despite all of the hate dumped on fast-fashion for wastefulness, low-quality, and copying of major brands, one thing it does offer is a chance for customers to both dress better and escape label-obsession." >> Continue Reading
This is an ironic statement to me;it always seemed to designers that it was the low cost fast production which Chinese factories provided which facilitated the emergence of the "fast fashion", and wasteful (in this season out the next) fashion lifestyle. Now, a Chinese fashionista is expressing the same concerns pf "western" fashionistas 15 years ago. It truly is a cycle, and one that has moved on to the "emerging' economies including China, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Skateboarding Hip Hop Brands Emerging In China?
"....No doubt Nike will continue to refine its strategy and succeed here. They will continue in collaborations with designers (aspirational value added) or introduce a [Adidas] Y-3 type line."
Source Wikipedia: During the mid to late 1990s, Adidas divided the brand into three main groups with each a separate focus:
- Adidas Performance was designed to maintain their devotion to the athlete;
- Adidas Originals was designed to focus on fashion and life-style; and Style
- Essentials, with the main group within this one being Y-3.
It will be interesting to see how brands like Robe di Kappa [uk store] do here. Association with hip-hop and skateboarding is still a winner, too. In any case, the children are still in their sweat-suit like uniforms, which really only go with trainers...." >>Continue Reading
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