Tag Archives: Kottke.org

Words of Wisdom: From Everest to Kindness

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I like to share potent words of wisdom from time to time.

Here are couple more poignant ideas to add to the mental vault.

1. Fifty years ago, Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Mt. Everest. He shares some pretty great thoughts about getting out to experience nature and being willing to fail.

2. I don’t know much about this George Saunders cat, but he gave a pretty awesome commencement address at Syracuse University. You can read the full speech on the New York Times, and here is a money quote Kottke highlighted…

Since, according to me, your life is going to be a gradual process of becoming kinder and more loving: Hurry up. Speed it along. Start right now. There’s a confusion in each of us, a sickness, really: selfishness. But there’s also a cure. So be a good and proactive and even somewhat desperate patient on your own behalf – seek out the most efficacious anti-selfishness medicines, energetically, for the rest of your life.

Word.

You Should Stand More.

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Seriously, you should stand more.

The Dude has been dropping some healthy living knowledge recently. Although, now that I mention that, what qualifies me to drop health knowledge?

Nothing, really. Other than the fact I’ve been trying to develop a healthy lifestyle for myself for many moons. As I mentioned, I was a certified personal trainer, but that just means I passed a test; I never used it as an occupation. But I have been researching and developing my healthful approach to life for years.

So, bam. I just qualified myself. Maybe all the book knowledge from The Man just gets in health professionals’ way anyway.

But back to the subject of this post, from someone that has no qualifications to discuss this subject; standing. You should stand more.

I’ll preface this post by saying that this may seem a bit strange, but challenging the status qua is a good thing. Strange is a good thing. Embrace it.

I came across this “stand more” idea a while ago, and I committed to standing at my home computer about a year ago. I sit all day at work, so standing at home made complete sense after I dug into it a bit.

Although, I kept sitting at work. I guess I let the strangeness “stand in my way” – you like that play on words? 🙂

A couple weeks ago I started standing at work too. And I love it. I vary between sitting and standing, but that’s probably because I don’t have a standing desk to be comfortable at.  Here’s what the Dude is rocking for his standing desk…

I’m standing more than sitting these days, and it’s super rad. My butt hurts if I sit for much time now.

But (bam, playing on words), don’t take my word for it. Check out all of this stand-up cheer-leading…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csJlN-k1F5I&feature=youtube_gdata[/youtube]

 

Hemingway Standing Desk

Hemingway Standing Desk

  •  Last, but not least, a great infographic about the “The Harm of Sitting Constantly” – love the deathly graphics 🙂 – aka “Sitting is Killing You.

 

Sitting is Killing You Infographic

Sitting is Killing You Infographic

You should stand more.

Sabotage for the Kids – RIP MCA

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As we all probably know by now, one of the trifecta that make up the Beastie Boys passed away last week. I was tempted to scribble out a post memorializing MCA, but the interwebs were bursting at the seams with MCA-related posts; so I held off.

I mourned in my own way – I added a Beasties station to my Pandora (how did I not have a Beasties station?!) and cranked up the car stereo while cruising. I’m sure MCA can respect this.

Born in the late 70’s, the Dude is a product of the 80’s, and as a result, a product of the Beastie Boys. I can still recall sitting in my 4th grade class and seeing the Beasties cassette for the first time as a friend passed it around like illegal contraband.

Music was still rebellious at that point, and it doesn’t get much more rebellious than early Beastie Boys.

The Beasties will forever hold a special place in my musical heart. So, it’s sad to see a founding member move on – especially at the young age of 49. To be honest, it seemed like the Beasties would fade away a number of times, but they always found a way to stay relevant. With MCA gone, there is no way to make a full recovery, and with that, it feels like a piece of childhood for many gen x/y’ers is passing on as well. Hence all of the online memorializing.

I stayed out of the online memorializing for a week or so, but now I’ve been pulled back in. A great new video has brought the MCA memorial to the level of kids, and the Dude can relate to kids. So, I had to jump in.

Here’s a tribute to Adam Yauch – aka MCA – by James Winters and his family. James, the Dude digs. Nice work.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/42106181[/vimeo]

Hats off to Kottke.org for sharing the link.

Automatic Drawing Machines. Who Knew They Were So Cool?

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Two of my favorite blogs (Kottke.org & TheKidShouldSeeThis.com) put out a post with the below video of an automatic drawing machine yesterday. About an hour apart.

Think they read each other? They must right? Are they going to start reading the Dude? What’s up Kottke and The Kid? The Dudes are big fans. 🙂

But back to the automatic drawing machine. I would have cruised right by their posts if it didn’t show up on both blogs at relatively the same time. An automatic drawing machine just would not have grabbed my attention. Seems basic. Boring.

I was way off. The machines are basic, yes. But the results are far from boring. The automatic drawings are amazingly mesmerizing. As Kottke mentioned, the video seems too short. I could get sucked in for much longer than 1:45.

Automatic drawing machines. Who knew they were so cool?

Enjoy. It’s worth 1:45 of your life.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/31933085[/vimeo]

As a bonus, here’s another automatic drawing machine from The Kid.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/21999779[/vimeo]

The Origin of Freestyle Skateboarding. Pay Attention Little Dude.

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Check out this amazing video from 1983 – ridiculous freestyle skateboarding…before most people knew what skateboarding was. (Tip o’ the hat to Kottke.org for another great link.)

The Dude has never really been a skateboarder. I adore surfing, and I’ve snowboarded for years, but skating alluded me. I was a bit too early for the super rad skate parks that have popped up in every town and I didn’t have a skate mentor…plus no internet (how did we survive?!), so skate was always just out of reach. I’ve owned skateboards and wanted to figure it out, but never got hooked.

I think Little Dude may have the skate bug. He can operate a scooter, we have skate parks in town, and he loves being dangerous. Seems like the perfect fit…when the waves are flat.

Beyond just an amazing retro video – anything 80’s is awesome – this early generation skating is amazing. But even better than just an awesome retro video, is the fact that we get to enjoy commentary by a couple amazing skaters to help us understand just how ridonkulus this skating actually is.

This also makes you appreciate how much amazing skating can be done on flat surfaces at low speed. Crazy.

Love the tiny boards. Love the short shorts. Love the whole 80’s feel. Great video.

Little Dude, pay attention.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkpzWKp7SqA[/youtube]

 

Hard Work

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Hard work is an important lesson to pass on to the kiddos, but it seems like a strong passion for what you’re doing is, at least, equally important…if not more…probably more.

I wonder how many people said riding a bike or skating was a waste time. Looks like art to the Dude.

1. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShbC5yVqOdI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

2. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd3TlkitmAk&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

And a great example of hard work is Mr. Rogers.

Who woulda thunk it? The Dude’s second reference to Mr. Rogers? I didn’t know I had such an affinity for the kind hearted soul.

3. Fred Rogers was amazingly dedicated to his craft.

Wild, I know.

P.S.  – You should check out Kottke.org. A great blog covering a wide variety of topics. That’s where I strolled across 1., 2., & 3. at different times.