A Life of Fascinations

This Nathan Myhrvold talk from TED 2007 reveals a life that is, in his words, “a mile wide and an inch deep”, but is driven by his natural curiosity about the world around him. (The sheer ability to combine the physics of penguin poop and nuclear reactors into the same minute of a presentation is impressive enough…)

Christopher Guest Interview

Thanks to AC-er Andrew Robinson for pointing out this 2003 Charlie Rose interview of Christopher Guest. Guest has been a consistent and unique voice for decades and offers much insight to anyone wanting to reach… just… beyond… their… grasp. Improv away…

Unique Voice, Coudal

I am in love. (No really… not the kind of “I think I could hang out for a few dates” love, but the “I’m starting to think about children” kind of love. Creepy, I know.) Coudal Partners thrills me with everything they touch. Field Notes, Jewel Boxing , lowercase tees, etc.

This may be “old-hat” to some of you, but check out their 11-ish minute short film Copy Goes Here.

Complete Devotion…

…to a craft.

Leading into Easter each year there are fabulously elaborate ceremonies and processionals in Antigua Guatemala . As part of this ceremony, dozens or hundreds of people set about crafting this:

What appears to be a woven carpet is actually painstakingly created from…(ready for it?)…sawdust. (It’s not really sawdust, it’s a material derived from a plant, but it looks just like sawdust.) The carpets take 6 people about 10 hours to make. They are respected and revered throughout the course of the next day, then they are swept away. We caught one in mid sweeping.

Here’s another view:

When Pope John Paul II was visiting Guatemala City several years ago a sawdust carpet was made that stretched from the airport terminal to the main cathedral. The carpet was over 23km long!

So here’s a question for you:

How do you measure your devotion to your craft? If you knew that everything you worked painstakingly to create tonight would be enjoyed for a few hours and then destroyed by tomorrow night, would you work with the same energy and focus?