Patrick Rhone's Blog, page 35

Where Are The Sidewalks?

Among the reasons I choose to live where I live and love where I live are the sidewalks. My community is a very walkable one and I enjoy doing so when I take the care to. They are long urban blocks filled with curiosity, interest, activity, and things unchanged.

I walk to our local grocery co-op (2.5 blocks) no matter the weather. I walk to our local bread shop (4.5 blocks) and wine shop (4.75 blocks). On a nice day, I walk to a small independent bookstore I love (6 blocks). The great little park , recently refurbished after years of city neglect, where my daughter likes to play (3.5 blocks). When the time allows, I enjoy meeting a friend for beer at a great restaurant and bar with a fantastic selection of beers (5 blocks) which I enjoy more than the one with less selection across the street (100 feet). These places are designed for walking to. They have limited parking if they have any dedicated at all. In the time it would take to get in the car and navigate traffic, one could be there already on foot.

What I love most, beside the walking itself, is the occasional friend or neighbor I run into. And, even when I don't, most of these shop owners and barkeeps are friends and neighbors as well. For this is where I find out the news that matters most — that which is happening right around me…

"Did you hear about the break-in just around the corner?"

"What's the deal with the two seemingly competing chocolate shops opening on the same street two blocks from each other?"

"Mr. Councilman, sorry to disturb your coffee. Can I ask you about your vote against the stop reminder I asked about for the pedestrian walkway?"

Thus, though a walk may be only a few blocks it can sometimes take an hour if I'm in no hurry which is just fine with me.

Increasingly it seems, so many of us live in places without sidewalks. So many suburbs and exurbs we are moving to are without them. So many of these communities we build are purposefully absent this integral part (in my mind at least) of community. Though I can't imagine a worse fate then to be somewhere without them, I increasingly feel in the minority.

The planners know that less people want them. They are moving out of the urban area for a sense of country living. Part of which means, in their mind, to have lawn that extends to the road. Even though that road may be a asphalt beach. Sidewalks are simply a reminder of all those things they are trying to venture from.

These concrete paths are not technically ours. They belong to the city — the community. Even the ones that are just in front of where you live you must share and allow others to pass through. As such, you must maintain them despite this domain. You must shovel them when it snows. You must keep them free of ice. You must pay the cost to repair if damaged. More people, it seems, would rather have a few feet of green space instead. One that they own outright and can tell people to get off of when crossed.

Because there are less sidewalks in these places, people tend to make their connections elsewhere. At work or at the kids hockey practice or at the dog park. They tend to know their actual neighbors less. There are few opportunities to do so since they never cross each other's paths except within the protected bubble of vehicles and traffic laws. They drive to all the places they need to go. Which are the similar to the places I go but all decidedly further away and designed for cars. Upon return, they go straight into the garage and then shut the door.

They turn on the TV before dinner to get news that is happening half a world away and consider themselves informed. Why should't they? For the news they may get from conversations with people who do not live near them might as well be the same distance and equally as relevant. And because these connections are with people who live not near us they must discuss what things we have in common which does not start with community for there is none.

I wonder too if our communities in the virtual world are following this same path.

My first sense of being "online" was on a dial up connection to a local BBS. I knew the people there offline as well. It was small enough that one could. The topics discussed were often a continuation of the ones we did when we were together. If there was a problem that needed sorting (or a quarrel that needed moderating) one messaged the sysop who, once again, was a friend as well as neighbor. There were sidewalks there.

Then AOL came along. The first suburb. A place where you could form relationships, of a sort, with people from all over the country. They were not neighbors or people you would likely see in real life. Yet, you felt like you knew them just as well. You felt like you were being informed about things that mattered. And, as long as you stayed there, there were sidewalks.

Now we have Facebook and Twitter. The exurbs. Communities and relationships that span the globe. People on the other side of the planet that we know better than those real humans right next door. We can now know the first hand, on the ground, news of a community in Iran in real time. Or assist in the search for someone we barely know who has gone missing and is feared dead. Are we building sidewalks here?

If you pressed me to come up with one reason I feel so drawn to a service such as Path versus the rest is that it feels like a sidewalk to me.

Owners and Custodians

I'm going to attempt to explain, in some very broad strokes, one of the key differences between those that are rich (new money) and those that are wealthy (old money). I like to separate these two groups. Though they both occupy the same 1%, the way they approach their abundance is radically different.

The rich are those for whom having a lot of money is relatively new. These are the folks who got the right breaks or worked hard enough and now they are firmly members of the haves. They think nothing of buying a lavish home, expensive clothes, a luxury car. They often have high salaries and powerful positions. They tend to spend more than they save or invest. And, after all, why shouldn't they. This is America. They earned it. They own it.

The wealthy are those who inherited their riches through the generations. While some distant relative may have initially acquired that wealth through the same means and circumstances as the rich, they adopted the tactics of the wealthy to ensure their dependents were secure. Such abundance was then passed down through generations. These folks may live in a big house, but it often is one that has been in the family for a while. Sometimes their clothes are plain and their cars average. They often work hard despite not having to because it is what they believe is right. They likely invest at least as much as they spend (if not more). And, after all, why shouldn't they. This abundance was granted by many before being just as careful. It is now their duty to do the same and ensure the security of future generations. They are not owners. They are custodians.

Now this is not to say that an owner can not adopt the values of the caretaker or vice versa. In fact, there are countless stories of the rich giving away their fortune for the greater good and teaching their children the lessons of wealth. There are at least as many stories of the child of inheritance blowing the family money on foolish expenditures and shady dealings. But the fact remains that the difference is not rooted in ways and means but in approach and values.

And, because it had nothing to do with the stuff but how it is treated, one in the 99% can learn and apply these same lessons (and, as this economy has taught, fail just as spectacularly). When we start to see ourselves as caretakers instead of owners of what meager abundance we have, we are far more likely to maintain it.

Instead of adopting endless cycles of replacement, we'll put more upfront thought and investment into the final choices of things that will last. Perhaps, even things that will outlast us.

It does not matter what a house is worth relative to the mortgage if one plans to pass it on. Does it matter if your home is "underwater" as they say if you never plan to sell it or borrow against it? Homes that are well cared for can become those of our children and their children. What greater gift could you provide for your descendants then a home that is paid for a well maintained? The comfort and security this could provide them is the only measure that matters.

Abundance may seem to be antithetical to the idea of enough. But it is not in every case. It is only so when one is not doing enough with the abundance they have. When they are not allowing it to provide for others or being judicial custodians of the gifts they have.

Even most of those who feel they do not have enough generally have far more than they realize.

The Biggest Tech Story Of The Year

It's that time a year where pundits, analysts, and self-proclaimed experts are weighing in on the biggest tech stories of the last year and what they think will be the ones to watch in the year to come. And, while all of these make for interesting water cooler conversation and drive traffic to tech websites, to you they are likely irrelevant (unless you work for RIM, knew Steve Jobs, have a personal connection to Facebook, etc.)

There is only one big tech story for the year and only one to watch for the year to come. The biggest tech story of last year is the one that mattered the most to you. Perhaps that is your privacy concerns when using certain social networks. Perhaps that is the new gadget you got and how it makes your life just a tad bit better. Perhaps that is the concern about a tech company you have come to rely upon now that its leader has passed (or, in the case of some, gone insane). No matter what it is, it is the story that affects you the most.

The biggest tech story of the new year will be what you are going to do to change it.

Is there an app or service that is not meeting your needs? Learn to code and build a replacement for yourself.

Concerned about the ownership of the things you share? Create a Personal RSS feed or pipe everything through a service like Pinboard. (You can and should subscribe to mine)

Feeling overwhelmed by all of this info-tech-social-stuff? Get yourself on a proper information diet.

The point is that the biggest tech story of 2012 will not be anything talked about in the media or some blog. The biggest tech story will be the same one it has always been…

You.

Things I've Learned This Year

Here are a random and incomplete collection of things I learned this year…

Having a regular weekly check-in with someone who challenges you and helps you think beyond your limits is vital to creativity.
I don't listen to music nearly as much as I wish I did and am reminded of this fact whenever I look up from my keyboard after a long writing session to run off to an appointment and think to myself that I should have turned on some music before I started.
Writing a book can drive one between the polar extremes of self-loathing and grandiosity so violently that it really can send one prone to madness and depression to the edge of the abyss.
Why writers drink.
In the very short time I have done so. That one finds frequent utility from a good knife when one carries it daily.
Forming a habit is really difficult and takes an nearly life or death desire to do so. The trick then may be to fool your brain into believing that your life actually does depend on that thing you want to do.
Doing the things you really want to do is easy. If something feels hard its because you don't really want to do it.
When it comes to my online work, I want to own as much of every word and pixel as possible.
I want the same when it comes to my offline work too.
One can safely ignore most information and communication for a few days or a weekend with few ill affects. Especially if expectations are appropriately set and there is a system in place for folks to get in touch should a urgent need arise.
I could not recommend AwayFind enough.

For thinking and tasking, nothing beats good old pen and paper and I should stop flirting with anything else.


That a life well lived is a life well loved, and vice versa.
That, for me, solitude is essential to living and loving.
The only thing more valuable than telling the truth is having a truth to tell.
One can also safely ignore most news and information sources. 99.9% of it is information theater designed to titillate and distract one from digging deep into an issue through research, analysis, scrutiny, and bias. Such digging takes time and effort so choose those things you wish to know about carefully. Then, form an opinion based upon such research.
That our fear of death is, in fact, a fear of missing out.
That when you have purpose, intentions and actions follow naturally. If intentions and actions are not flowing, examine your purpose.
My Pinboard public RSS feed could (and perhaps should) replace most of what I share other places.
I should make a point of writing one thing I learned down in my journal every day from this point forward to a) make learning a habit and b) make this list easier.
Don't think you have the wit to debate any subject unless you have done the above.
Life is a big place shared by many. Ignore most of it and concentrate on yours.
That the line between technology and magic is increasingly blurred for me.
That all things are impermanent and transitory.
That one should embrace the delete key, the trash can, and the word no.
Saying no is actually saying yes to other things.
That when you have said all you can about something, it is OK to be done. Shut up and walk away.

Transformation

Every well known artist I can think of has a singular transformative work. A turning point if you will. One that is clearly better than anything that came before it. Also, one that distinctly shapes everything that will follow. At times these works are a pinnacle of sorts. A point at which an artist has stretched themselves and given the full limit of ability. Therefore, everything else to follow is less great. Other times, such work is just the beginning. Where an artist has finally found a stride that sets them up for a long and successful run.

Sometimes these are obvious. For instance, a great indie band that has a hit single, gets signed to a major label, assigned some famous producers, and suddenly things are no longer the same. They are markedly different. Perhaps it is the production – less or more raw. Perhaps it is that the band, now flush with major label money, has fewer or more creative constraints. Perhaps it simply because now they can afford steak dinner over ramen.

And, of course, there are countless stories of film actors who spend the later half of their lives trying to regain the career making performance they once had. Or the visual artist who after years of struggle in their medium finds that one element that sets them apart.

Sometimes, the forces of change come from within. The author who decides to stretch himself and take on a subject much more different and requiring much more research than he previously has. Or, perhaps she has been featured on Oprah and now has experienced success so great she can't possibly live up to it again.

In rarer cases, such transformative work causes the author, actor, or artist to go nowhere from there at all. JD Salinger and The Catcher in the Rye being the most obvious example that comes to mind. Following the success of this work he became a recluse, published infrequently, and what he did produce were clearly things he could have just as easily thrown away. Perhaps he knew the work had transformed him in such a way as to never want to produce such work again.

Of course, as this year draws to a close and I reflect upon it, thoughts of transformation are natural. Along with impermanence, I'm going to make transformation part of the scaffolding that supports the structure of my work in the year to come. These are two of the three chairs I plan to sit upon and dialog around in the coming year.

What Equality Means

When it comes to social change, I think we often get caught up in the big ideas. That a movement or a cause is about human rights or civil liberties or freedom of choice. And, certainly, it is about all of those things. But, in practice, it is about things much more simple and more personal than that.

It is about being able to have a seat on a bus.

It is about being able eat a sandwich at a counter.

It is about being able to enter a raffle so you can be the first one to kiss your girl…

Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta, left, kisses her girlfriend of two years, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach, Va., Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2011 after Gaeta's ship returned from 80 days at sea. It ís a time-honored tradition at Navy homecomings – one lucky sailor is chosen to be first off the ship for the long-awaited kiss with a loved one. On Wednesday, for the first time, the happily reunited couple was gay.

 

Permanently Impermanent

I've been doing some thinking lately on impermanence in a digital world. Permanence is often assumed despite the inherently impermanent nature of existence itself. Life is impermanent. Nothing that exists will exist forever. Why should our data be assumed to be any more so? Why do we treat it with such perpetuity? Does it in some way represent immortality? Do we take comfort in some potentially mis-applied idea that these things could outlast us and therefore will?

We would like to believe that that which we put up on the internet or save to the cloud is available forever. But how can we, who shall never see forever, possibly understand what forever is or agree on what it means? And what happens when we have the skill and the will to decide to erase our creations for that same forever — permanently?

We all now have access to tools that allow us to recover those things we delete — either through accident or purpose — for as far back as the backup storage space will allow. What then is to stop us from hitting delete instead of sorting it to some virtual folder and saving it? Why not let the clouds we are building do this for us? Why not erase these things with the knowledge that, in the rare times we might need them later we can get them back? Especially for those items we are not certain we will ever have to access again? Is it that despite our desire to have faith in digital permanence we, in fact, know the truth of all things in inherent impermanence?

I know people that have had a hard drive crash and lost everything because they had no backup. Years later, it happens again. I then inquire as to why they did not have a backup — especially after the lesson they should have learned the first time. The reason: Though the previous loss was painful at first, they rebuilt. They moved on. They survived. They saw no value in backup because they knew if the drive crashed they would rebuild, move on, and survive again.

I'd like to think that embracing such impermanence grants them a level of effortless peace. It gives them a certain confidence that their digital creations are not stronger than their ability to survive without them.

Perhaps it is this peace and confidence that fuels one to declare Status 410 and walk away. Knowing that what good you could do has been done — in a place, for a time. Now, it is gone. Life and all of it's creations are permanently impermanent. When the permanence we and others have come to rely on suddenly reveals itself to be less so, we can only rebuild, move on, and survive.

Better – Merlin Mann

What worries me are the consequences of a diet comprised mostly of fake-connectedness, makebelieve insight, and unedited first drafts of everything. I think it's making us small. I know that whenever I become aware of it, I realize how small it can make me. So, I've come to despise it.

Better – Merlin Mann

This piece is really resonating with me today. There are things I know in my gut I need to do and want to do but am struggling with the courage to actually do them. That said, I think I am beginning to realize that I'm on a course to make bold moves in the near future regardless of the fears that made hold me back. Because, ultimately, they are the only ones that makes sense.

And, yes, I know I'm being a bit cryptic. I'm being so purposefully. I'm not even sure I'm being fully transparent with myself. All will be revealed when the time comes.

Micro Pod | Office | Gear

Micro Pod | Office | Gear.

I would love a place of my own like this one.

(via Christoph Schobel)

Video Review: Levenger Circa Leverage Punch

Levenger Leverage Punch Review from Patrick Rhone on Vimeo.

I review the new Circa Leverage Punch from Levenger. I include a tip for one possible use for the Circa System that might make a great gift idea.

Links to items mentioned include:

Circa Leverage Punch

Lap Desk

Freeleaf White Annotation Ruled Pads, Letter

Circa Notebooks – Get Organized with Levenger Circa Notebooks and Daily Planner Pages

Lakota Circa Foldover Leather Notebook

Helvetindex Cards

Circa Portable Punch

Circa Discs