communicatrix

Too short, weird, funny, sad, mean or geeky for the mothership.
Nov 23 ’09

The video from my little 5-minute talk, “My Bloody Epiphany,” at last week’s Ignite: Portland. Their 7th, my first. Thanks to AJ (@linuxaid) for the video.

10 notes

Nov 19 ’09
“

WSJ: But is there something compelling about the collaborative process compared to the solitary job of writing?

CM: Yes, it would compel you to avoid it at all costs.

”
— Author and lover of solitude Cormac McCarthy describing his feelings about the film-making process in a WSJ interview (via Ben Casnocha, via Roger Ebert)

1 note

Nov 14 ’09
“If there’s a target in our present society, it’s people not willing to change their minds. If you’re not willing to change your mind about anything, given how much is changing and how the sands are shifting underneath our feet, then that dishonesty is certainly worth a joke or too.”
— Stephen Colbert, from an interview in Rolling Stone (hard copy only) about the intent behind the satire in his show, The Colbert Report. (via Scott Berkun)

3 notes

Nov 14 ’09
“All trends have friends in high places.”
—

An especially pithy snippet from my favorite Chief Cultural Officer, Grant McCracken. Plucked from a piece on his suspicions of why the locavore movement—despite its noble intentions—may, like so many other noble trends of the past, nonetheless be doomed.

I can’t wait until I finally get to meet Grant in person. (Grant McCracken: Death of concept: beginning of the end of the local movement?)

Nov 12 ’09
The personification of impenetrable cool. Ladies and gents, Miss Joan Didion. (via “charlie parker”)

The personification of impenetrable cool. Ladies and gents, Miss Joan Didion. (via “charlie parker”)

13 notes

Nov 6 ’09
“I’m not referring to a brand as a logo and a typeface. I’m referring to the new kind of brand, the one is formed by the entire experience of a customer’s interaction. That experience gets branded into his or her memory and leaks into the buzz of modern culture. If you can’t make a good customer experience from start to finish, you’ve failed to generate brand value that will attract customers to come back for repeat business and tell their friends to come back, too. That’s how good customer experience directly affects the bottom line.”
—

The days of slapping something shiny on the surface and calling it Tasty Pancakes! are long gone.

As this sad but oh-too-true tale of branding and UX misadventures at AA.com shows, Big Business still doesn’t get it. The prime directive of pretty much every service business should be to provide an extraordinary customer experience. And yet not only do they not—they’re structured to make that nearly impossible.

From an excellent email exchange and commentary between an AA.com UX employee and the author, a UX designer named Dustin Curtis. (on Curtis’ site, via gruber)

4 notes

Nov 3 ’09
“Regarding those who challenge and hold you accountable, only one friend is needed for this job. He must be a person with a lot of character. He is yourself. You may find him critical or cranky at times, but he means well. Leave your other friends to keep track of themselves. They’re probably too self-occupied to worry about you, anyway.”
— Damn, I love that Robert Genn.

1 note

Nov 2 ’09
Sweet mother of pearl. What an extraordinary beauty Bergman was. And I’m pretty sure it’s at least partly because she was so kind and true, through and through. Knew what mattered. Did what mattered, and screw what the world thought about it. Maybe the best testimonial is that she seems to have raised some pretty terrific children. Not too many women as beautiful as Isabella Rossellini who don’t seem to take themselves too seriously. I’m pretty happy with the mom I got, but if I had to pick another, Ingrid would be tough to beat. I mean, for the cheekbone genes alone. (If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger)

Sweet mother of pearl.

What an extraordinary beauty Bergman was. And I’m pretty sure it’s at least partly because she was so kind and true, through and through. Knew what mattered. Did what mattered, and screw what the world thought about it.

Maybe the best testimonial is that she seems to have raised some pretty terrific children. Not too many women as beautiful as Isabella Rossellini who don’t seem to take themselves too seriously.

I’m pretty happy with the mom I got, but if I had to pick another, Ingrid would be tough to beat. I mean, for the cheekbone genes alone.

(If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger)

Oct 31 ’09

Feeling blue? NOT ANYMORE YOU’RE NOT. (Ladies & gents, Sister Rosetta Tharpe.)

Oct 30 ’09

seoulbrother:

Sometimes* @gruber is right.

*Yankees? Cowboys?

But always, always, @seoulbrother is right ON.

255 notes (via seoulbrother)