“Individualism and individuality have to be separated. Individualism can take a turn where it’s a kind of egoistic, selfish thing: Me, me, me, me, and what I want and what I care, what I think and what I like. Oh sure, we need to have the liberty to express all that, but a real individual is a different thing. And to be truly one’s self is to be truly in contact with this great self within, this divinity within. And the paradox of true individuality is that the more you are in touch with what all human beings have in common under God, the more you are uniquely what you, yourself, are. And that’s why I say we need to bring back the obligations that go along with the rights in order to understand the depths of what the human rights really mean.”
—Jacob Needleman, from the On Being show “The Inward Word of Democracy” (via beingblog)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “White Nights”
Submitted by tasenka.
Picasso’s portrait of his adored dachshund, Lump.
UN declares a day of universal joy
The International Day of Happiness can be observed in a range of ways, ‘including through education and public awareness activities.’
LOST INTERVIEWS
Lots of people are talking about whether electronic artists push one button or more than one button when they play live. Everyone else seems to be bickering about whether the kids today are immoral because they play videogames and stream music instead of dropping acid and seeing the Grateful Dead.
You know who isn’t talking? Ironically, because it’s his job, Louis CK. He’s too busy doing things like reinventing the media business, if only for one man and his fans.
TIME:LIFE
“RADICAL OPENNESS”
An epic ode to the power of sharing ideas produced for TEDGlobal 2012 by Jason Silva. The power of human thought, and the tools it renders, so humanity evolves onward.
Wow, indeed, Jason. Wow, indeed. :)
Carl Sagan | Psychology Today (1996)
“PT: You’ve been most associated with issues of outer space. But you have turned very much to a world of inner space, the human mind.
CS: Well, the boundary between space and the earth is purely arbitrary. And I’ll probably always be interested in this planet—it’s my favorite. I’ve written a number of books that have to do with the evolution of humans, human intelligence, human emotions. So it isn’t a new departure for me to be concentrating on humans. Most of the people that I deal with are human. So I’ve had a lot of experience with that.”
Read all of it, well worth it.
life:
On this day in LIFE Magazine — June 24, 1966: Doctors and the RX Scandal
Original manuscript for Alice in Wonderland hand written and illustrated by Lewis Carroll, 1862
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Chris Weisman - Message From Work [Autumn; 2011]
Weisman signals change. His presence warms up the cold winters and provides the necessary breeze in the hot of summer. It’s no wonder Greg Davis continues to release Weisman’s output vi…](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58631358b8a79bb8e6be4c54/t/589239c6c4d04b4ae9e32a5d/1340267651000/tumblr_lygwqcOGTk1qdpvg0o1_1280.jpg)
Chris Weisman - Message From Work [Autumn; 2011]
Weisman signals change. His presence warms up the cold winters and provides the necessary breeze in the hot of summer. It’s no wonder Greg Davis continues to release Weisman’s output via his aptly named Autumn Records. But the bigger appeal to Weisman is how effortlessly he blends the many variations of pop into one accessible package of underground know-how and independent spirit.
Message From Work continues the simple pleasures of Transparency; Weisman largely relying on his acoustic guitar, quaint melodies, and quiet harmonies. Weisman’s lyrical prowess is perhaps the biggest point of his music. Words become everyday fairy tales, whether singing about the pleasures of playing an acoustic guitar (“Acoustic Guitar”), dreams and death (“Feature Dana”), or love (“Palimpsest”). The only shock is closer “Woman of Bidi,” a fantastic 30-minute electric guitar change-up that breaks down songwriting into its most basic component. Nearly an album onto itself, “Woman of Bidi” feels like freedom of summer, not like the complacency of winter.
Weisman is truly a man of all seasons, and Message From Work proves that no matter the temperature or the color of the sky, pure pop beauty transcends environment and encapsulates any mood.
The Incredible Resilience of Books
Given that the role of chain stores once loomed so large and no longer does, predicting the future of publishing in the age of Amazon’s dominance is little more than a considered guess. Google, which has digitized millions of books, currently is tied up in court cases, but may yet emerge as another major factor in how books are distributed. And, somewhere in the nether regions of technology and entrepreneurial energy, an equivalent force for publishing may be in development.
Based on the record, I have one certainty: books will endure even as those of us responsible for them are in a perennial, sometimes frenetic contest to keep pace with change.
Read more. [Image: ginnerobot/Flickr]