I’m an avid reader and have to admit that, being a designer, I choose at least 50% of my books by their covers. Not only have I discovered some great authors along the way, but some really talented designers as well. If you’re like me you’ll love Jack Cheng’s Judge a book by its cover. You assign a rating of up to 5 stars, click submit, and see how your cover rating compares with Amazon ratings based on reader satisfaction.
The Before I die I want to… project was inspired by a combination of factors: (1) the “death” of the Polaroid, (2) a psychologist’s tool called safety contracts, and (3) a passion to get people to think about (and act upon) what is really important in their life through this simple, very straight-forward question.
Process Creators, Nicole Kenney (Brooklyn, NY) and ks rives (Chicago, IL) keep their Polaroid cameras close at hand, taking portraits wherever they go to add to the collection. They snap the photo while the subject is saying what they want to do before they die, getting them in the act of stating their desire. Nicole and ks then request that the subject writes his or her statement on the Polaroid starting with the words “Before I die I want to….” As the subjects are signing the release form, the artists ask them to include their email.
The website is updated continuously with new portraits.
In a number of years (five, ten, twenty, etc.), Nicole and ks will contact the participants via email to see if they have accomplished their goal, if they are on their way, or why they haven’t made steps in that direction. At this future time, Nicole and ks will ask them to write a short story next to their photo on the website about fulfilling their expressed want. Seeing online that other people are fulfilling their desires will motivate participants to complete their task and write a story of their own.
They were into you, so they made you a tape. Today you don’t have a cassette player, but you still can’t toss that mix. We share the stories and the soundtrack to your earliest loves.
The stories are really well written and I spent a good thirty minutes yesterday afternoon being sucked into others’ pasts. Slightly voyeuristic, but who doesn’t love that?? And I love seeing the song lists and connecting my own memories to certain tunes.
Enter your name into the Swedish Furniture Name Generator and find out what you would be called if you sat upon the shelves of IKEA. I was a little disappointed in the lack of creativity behind mine – what was your outcome??
With all the packing and getting ready to move I’ve taken a lot of inventory and realized just how many books I actually have in my possession. The answer is a resounding too many. I’m proud to be a bibliophile, but at least a third of my collection is comprised of one time reads that I’ll never pick up again but just can’t seem to part with.
I’ve vowed to slim down my library once I get into the new house and think I’ve found a great way to do it – PaperBack Swap. Basically you list all the paperback books you own and are willing to part with online. At the same time you compile a list of books you’d like to read from what’s listed. When someone requests one of your books you mail it to them and pay the shipping – generally around $2.13 – and in turn when a book is sent to you the postage is paid. Everything is run on a credit system, for every book you send out you receive a credit to get a new book. Seems fair enough and a great way to save some money at the bookstore which can be a major money suck in my life!
Today I need all the help I can get. My office mate is out on vacation (in Vegas no less, lucky bastard) so I have no one to complain/vent/banter with. I didn’t sleep well last night. And all I can think about are house-related things (like how I didn’t get a fridge this weekend as planned, but did score a $50 lawnmower!).
I’m kind of in love with David Horvitz. At least the idea of the him on his website where he’ll do different things for you for set prices.
Some examples:
• If you give me $1,626 I will go to the small Okinawan island called Taketomi and send you an envelope filled with star-sand (don’t worry, I’ve been there before, I know where to go). I will send it from there.
• If you give me $3,143 I will for as far away as possible. I live in New York. I will go to Perth, Australia the farthest distance from New York on Earth. I will mail you a photograph of me standing in New York. I will then mail you a photograph of me standing in Perth. I’m a little sad right now and I would kind of like to escape, so if you are thinking about getting one of these and not sure what you want, please take in consideration my emotions and pick this one.
• If you give me $30 I will walk around New York, and the first homeless person I see I will buy him or her whatever he or she wants to eat (as long as it is less than $30). I will mail you back the exact change (minus the paypal fee and the cost of the postage stamp) with the receipt for the food and the name of the person who ate it.
I’ve been a bibliophile since birth. I blame it on my grandmother and mother who read to me daily. And on my aunt who is a librarian and always brought me the latest books from her school library to read before any students even had a chance!
The American Book Review has released a list of what they consider the 100 best last lines from novels. Some of my favorites that made the cut:
3. So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)
52. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody. – J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
65. This is the difference between this and that. – Gertrude Stein, A Novel of Thank You (1958)
Yes, yes, February 14th was a few weeks ago but feb 14. by Josef Lee is far too amazing to pass by. Hit up the link for the fully illustrated story. So sweet.
I’m an avid reader and have to admit that, being a designer, I choose at least 50% of my books by their covers. Not only have I discovered some great authors along the way, but some really talented designers as well. If you’re like me you’ll love Jack Cheng’s Judge a book by its cover. You assign a rating of up to 5 stars, click submit, and see how your cover rating compares with Amazon ratings based on reader satisfaction.
