Day Fifty-four: Random good stuff.

1

I 

      I have a habit of collecting things I like that I find in articles and other things that I read online. They are a digital version of my shitbooks - journals that I have kept since I was 16 of quotes, pictures, poems, and other bits I've collected in my life. They are a constant reminder of the richness of my life, and a record of how it has been lived. They are also a source when I think I have no ideas or I'm having a hard time getting excited. They're like a sketchbook for my brain. How do you collect your thoughts?

.     stretches a person without defeating him
2. provides clear goals
3. provides unambiguous feedback
4. provides a sense of control

Cultural critic Thomas Frank, analyzing the socio-economic meaning of the trend, argues that Normcore resonates "because it points to an obvious but unspoken fact of our time: That coolness itself is done... Maybe this will become more obvious ... as we remember the social and political conditions that gave rise to the counterculture in the first place: A mass middle class whose lockstep consumption drove the economic growth of the nation; a rigidly hierarchical white-collar workplace that offered security in exchange for conformity. None of this exists any longer... The urgent need of our age ... is to hold on to that middle-class society the counterculture thought was so soulless and unfulfilling."

If I went to a lady of the night, I’d probably pay her to tell me jokes. – Andy Warhol

Ford, in return, is a great admirer of Martha’s and tells a story about the time he replaced all the machinery on his ranch near Santa Fe with black versions, since he couldn’t bear to see bright yellow tractors roaming the landscape. It didn’t work, however, since the earth in New Mexico was red-brown and stood out against the pristine black paint. “And Martha said, ‘Well, why don’t you try grey?’” explains Ford, who replied that he’d thought of that, but every manufacturer had a different grey, and they’d never match. “And Martha said, ‘You should do what I do. I have my own grey colour mixed and I send it to each manufacturer so all the greys are the same.’ I must admit that I was pretty impressed, and of course a bit jealous.”

she said, “Well, you know, I just decided I’m going to take the fact of myself as given. I accept myself.” And it freed her up to do whatever work she wanted to do, instead of having to explain

LW Okay. It will come back in a minute or two. In the meantime, how do you define or differentiate between being a teacher and being a mentor?

KW The teacher can impart actual, useful skills that an artist can use—like composition, technique, pushing and pulling, putting more pressure on your pencil and then reducing the pressure, creating a dynamic line. The mentor can embrace the holistic aspect of the artist to provide a holistic meaning: It’s less concerned with the technical aspects unless there are some real, glaring problems. It’s more concerned with where the concept meets other concepts and then meets the real world—the effect of a piece. You can talk about what the artist desires for the work. What are they trying to make happen there? Not just in the work but outside of it—what are they trying to affect.

“She’s only interested in excellence: she won’t have five types of tomatoes, she will only have the best kind of tomato, and if there are no good tomatoes, then she won’t have any tomatoes. It’s an approach that raises questions about the way that everyone else works.”