CBrajkovich Ramblings

I just had to show this fax cover letter from Dave Foster Wallace to Harper’s Bazaar magazine. As a writer, or any creator for that matter, your creation is pretty much as fragile as your most precious treasure. Word placement, quirky punctuation, it’s all a personal stamp that shows the writer’s personality, thoughts, and intentions. Many times, things are not used “properly” as according to rules that we learn in school, but that is all part of the creative process, and creators are quite protective of their works.

This letter struck me as hilarious, because he very obviously intended for the work to be presented as it was created, rules be damned, and there would be consequences if they didn’t abide by his wishes (read the last sentence and the footnote for a chuckle – love his signature). It’s frustrating when your original content is modified to fit into some system rule. And it’s why writers are always so heartbroken, when they get that letter from the editor with requested changes that will modify the original creation. Sometimes, words are more than words.

p.s. If you haven’t already, take some time to go through the Letters of Note site. There is a lot of incredible history that looks into the minds of some of the best and brightest. It’s a completely fascinating voyage!

This one single infographic by Frugal Dad shows some of the truth behind the too big global company, Walmart, that is rapidly taking over the planet. I’m showing an excerpt from the infographic because the whole thing needs to be read to understand the myths that Big Business throws at us when we try to stifle their growth. If any of us thought that they play fairly, or that they flipped over a new leaf with their green efforts, well, it looks like we’ve all been fooled. Here’s a couple of recent stories that got me more than a bit worried that we’re chasing after the wrong boogiemen:

North County Times –  Walmart Ramps Up Ballot Threats to Speed New Stores

Grist – Think Walmart Uses 100% Clean Energy? Try 2% (they have a lot more articles on Walmart’s sustainability program)

The Economist – Walmart and Class Action Lawsuits, A Supreme Court Ruling Worth Checking Out

Yes, again I’m showing a personal bias against companies I see that are getting too big and killing competition. It’s an indicator that we are clearly not practicing in free market capitalism (haven’t been for decades). People chase after Amazon as a competition killer, but one look at this graphic shows that Amazon is doing no where near the level of devastation that Walmart’s inflicting. If we really want a free market back, then we need to rein in out-of-control Big Money which is now reaching into our government and law. Only then, can we restart the building process before it can’t be fixed any longer. No matter how any argues for or against this information, it does make you think, doesn’t it?

– thanks again, DesignTaxi

My love affair with advertising just slammed to a stop with just one ad campaign. Grey Worldwide just launched a campaign for shoe brand, Deichmann Graceland. What do you think? Needless to say, I won’t be linking to either company because this has got to be the most insensitive, thoughtless, inflammatory, antiquated drivel I’ve seen in a while. And that’s saying a lot in today’s world of in your face advertising. Take the line, “Men over 180cm earn 10% more money”, which implies that a woman that tall will have equal windfalls. Last time I checked, a woman that tall is considered a freak of nature that threatens most people’s comfort zone. Trust me, when you’re taller than everyone around you, and get called nicknames like Godzilla, it doesn’t lead to admiration and compensation for the receiver.

Frankly, Grey Worldwide, I would like to see all of your male executives wear these heels for the same amount of time that you expect women to wear them. I don’t care how “sexy” they make a female look, because I think that they’re torture devices. If you want to see just how sexy the results are, then look at a female foot that’s been crammed into these “pedal corsets” for extended periods of time. All you’ll see are gnarled toes that belie the external beauty of those shoes (don’t even get me started about cost). If you really want to sell your brand, at least do it in the 21st century and stop selling myths. I’d like to think that more of us admire the inner person rather than the external shell, no matter how tall that shell is. You remember the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, don’t you?

– Thanks DesignTaxi, for warning us that some people still have a long way to go towards modernity.

Did you know that passion has such beautiful sounds? I’m not talking about THAT, so you can stop smirking now. Though even the sound of that passion is something that has a beauty that drives us to seek it.

No, what I’m talking about is listening to a poet when she speaks. I stumbled on Sarah Kay‘s new Ted Talk, How Many Lives Can You Live?, and fell in love with words all over again. Take the time out to hear how she speaks, because she has a way of describing her world that draws you in and delights you with new discoveries. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to have that kind of confidence at her age, as I don’t even have that kind of confidence now and I’m much older. But her words resonated with me, because I’m like her. There’s so much that I want to do still, and I’m like a kid in a candy store thinking about possibilities. It’s possibilities that pushed me to learn to fly, write the true words that are in me, pursue a love of creativity, be brave in choosing to embark on a different path. To pursue true love in all of its forms.

Like Sarah, I admire other lives because they are doing things that I’d love to experience. Traveling the world to experience different cultures, or floating in outer space and looking down on our planet, or perhaps to climb a mountain that has never seen footsteps. Whenever I see someone do something, anything inspiring, all I can think is, “Good for you! It must be an amazing feeling, and I’m glad that you’re experiencing it.”

In a rushed world, we’ve lost the ability to ponder about possibilities that don’t directly affect our tangible lives. Rushing about as we pursue money, position, or a small little fist full of power has become the norm that we won’t escape. Losing our dreams means so much more than we realize. Dreams make us pursue the good stuff. We need more good stuff. If you want to feel how that passion sounds, watch Sarah, often. She pulls from deep within you that feeling that starts dreams on their path to reality. Such beauty is rare, and must be treasured for its purity. We need to listen to the Sarahs of this world because they have a piece of the puzzle that we desperately need to acknowledge as precious and necessary.

p.s. When I grow up, I want to be just like Sarah. Seriously, I’ve spent time listening to many of her other breathtaking words, and she is…simply astounding.