Ryan Adams covers Wonderwall…
Seems fitting for a cloudy, lazy Sunday.
…Adding…The sun is coming out. But I’m still going to pretend that it is fitting.
Archive for June, 2008
Fighting A War Against Distraction
June 29, 2008An interesting NYTimes blog post on a common topic today…the growing list of things demanding our attention.
A few select ideas…
For all our connectivity, we often catch little more than snippets and glimpses of one another.
Does this seem true to you? Personally, I feel like I am in contact with many more people now, but I don’t ‘know’ any of them all that well.
The average knowledge worker switches tasks every three minutes, and, once distracted, a worker takes nearly a half-hour to resume the original task, according to Gloria Mark, a leader in the new field of “interruption science.”
I certainly understand this idea. It is the concept behind Pareto’s Principle or the 80/20 rule, which, among other things, states that 80% of our productivity comes from 20% of our time. For me, it has been easy to recognize when I’m not in that zone of productivity. But it has been much harder to actually shift into it.
In meetings where everyone is checking e-mail, opportunities for collective creative energyand critical thinking are lost, argues Nathan Zeldes, a senior engineer at Intel and a leader of the nonprofit Information Overload Research Group. At home as well, split-focus gives a clear message: “You aren’t worth my time.”
Do you find yourself doing this? I know I do. And I cringe in embarrassment. When I am in a conversation and I know that the phone in my pocket has a missed call or a text message, I find it difficult to concentrate on the person in front of me. I can’t control it, and I should.
The first step is to learn to speak a language of attention. The exciting news is that the enigma of attention has just begun to be mapped, tracked and decoded by neuroscientists who now consider attention to be a trio of skills: focus, awareness and so-called executive attention. Think of it this way: You can be “aware” that you’re in a beautiful garden and then you can “focus” on an individual flower. The last piece, “executive attention,” is the ability to plan and make decisions.
Hmm. This seems nice in theory, but not too practical.
Who knows.
How Do You Know We are Free? Play.
June 28, 2008Andrew Sullivan is far and away my favorite social and political commentator. His book The Conservative Soul has influenced my own political thinking more than anything I’ve ever read. I’m on my fifth run through right now, and as with other greats, each time reveals gems.
I just spotted this passage that seems especially interesting to me now…
The freest society is the one in which the quintessential, ultimate activity is play. Security is guaranteed; Work is done; the wealth that freedom creates enables leisure; and leisure begets play. When we play games we suspend for a time the burdens of practical life- of earning a living, feeding our bodies, getting enough sleep, saving our souls. We engage in activity that has no point; and those who play games merely to win them miss the point of playing. Games help us learn restraint, prudence, and cooperation that are central to democratic life. They teach us activities that lead nowhere but where they are.
Appreciation of those self-fulfilling activities is growing ever more important to me. If one is able to do something for its own sake without need for specific outcomes, than happiness in life is guaranteed. Though, I’m learning that it is much easier said than done. Most of the time I find myself battling it. I am not sure about you, but I always seem to want a specific result when I do something. It’s human nature, I suspect.
But if we are able to do things for the sake of doing them, without any regard for what happens, then we’ve reached an impressive pinnacle.
It’s A Face Full of Fashion
June 28, 2008This parody is hilarious. Brenda Dickson was an old daytime soap opera actress, sold infomercial products, among other things.
It picks up as it goes along. The more I watch it, the funnier it gets…
God I love it. There are others if you want to see more. Here’s PART 2.
A few favorite lines…
“It’s a fashion face. A face full of fashion.”
“I don’t blink, that’s a huge part of fashion…I do not blink. Not at all. Good for me.”
“This top is completely not my size. Isn’t it fashion?”
“That’s my kitty cat. I named it Chester. And he was absolutely delicious.”
McCain and Change
June 26, 2008There is a McCain sign hanging from the window of my apartment in Champaign. It’s probably the only one within a 20 mile radius.
The sign is not there because I will be voting for John McCain in November. I haven’t decided.
Instead, I display the rare placard as a measure of respect for the man who has established an amazingly impressive record of common-sense, bipartisan public service for decades. Phrases like that are tossed around by every politician these days. But as a student of politics I feel confident saying that McCain actually walks the walk.
Two keys characteristics that I admire.
First, McCain has shown unbelievable devotion to this country. It is a rare man indeed to who would refuse to be released from a POW camp early, instead knowingly choosing to be tortured and likely killed to prevent the enemy from using him as a PR tool.
Second, and much more importantly, McCain has taken policy stances over and over and over again in his career that no other politician would take. He has never been afraid to break away from the fundamentalists in his party, and he has made countless decisions that were politically damaging.
He isn’t perfect. But he is more principled than 99% of politicians that you will ever see at any level of government. That should matter.
It is easy to caricature the man now, in the heat of a campaign. Yes, he is old. Yes, he is a Republican. Yes, he supported the surge in Iraq. (a military decision that has proven to be correct, in fact). But, there is so much more nuance to what John McCain has accomplished. It is a shame that so many know nothing else about him.
On a college campus, with the bright hope of Obama drawing ever closer, it is common to brush away McCain without ever attempting to learn about what he’s done and what he might do. I think more people, especially us young adults, would be well-served to be more informed and accepting.
If we don’t, then are we any better than the inflexible people ruling the country today?
That’s what the McCain sign is for.
iTunes Most Played
June 26, 2008What are the top three most played songs on your iTunes? This shouldn’t be a guess…as calculated by the actual “play count” rankings…
1. World Spins Madly On – The Weepies (72)
2. Fight the Sky – Gavin Mikhail (71)
3. Before Its Too Late – Goo Goo Dolls (63)
I need to remember…
June 26, 2008Erin Zorn discusses the PEW Religion study from yesterday…
It all adds up to whopping proof of the existence of what I’m calling the Humble Majority—the roughly three-quarters of us who feel that, at some point, the great riddles of life are, in fact, riddles.
The Humble Majority is a spiritually diverse crowd, to say the least. But the poll indicates those people share a common view that no single religion or philosophical system has a monopoly on the Absolute Truth.
I think he’s essentially correct, and I need to try to remember that. In the scorn that I have for those who seem to vilify, scare, and distort, I forget that the vast majority of Americans are reasonable, tolerant, and humble when it comes to their spirituality.
When I complain about the ‘crazies’ becoming too popular, I need to refocus. By allowing any part of my day to be filled with their hateful ramblings, I perpetuate their popularity. I need to remember the Humble Majority and not waste a second thought on the intolerant few.
