“
She was very pretty, and the most important thing — all my life — was the fact that she was very smart. What T&A do for most men, brains do for me. I’m addicted to intelligent women, I married intelligent women.
That’s all, really, I remember. I think she was very smart, very sensitive, and funny. I also enjoy a sense of humor in women. But she was primarily very intelligent, very smart, very sensitive, and that was really unique among all the girls that I knew.
I wouldn’t say she was a raging beauty, but she had a brain that was just most charming and insightful. And I fell in love with her. What’s a 14-year-old boy to do?
” — An interview with Thom Steinbeck (via The Hairpin)
The Avett Brothers, Devotchka, Fiona Apple, Jessica Lea Mayfield, The Wooden Sky, Alabama Shakes, Neil Young (if you’re into that…) so far on the summer concert agenda.
“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald (via pretens)
(via executivecontour)
[video]
On the cusp of so many things that I’ve actually wanted, I look things now and realize more than ever the value of patience. For too long, I was sort of context to bide my time with whatever was around. I wanted what was there because it was better than having nothing. But the past few years have been an interesting test in not having what you want when you want it. Or getting it at all.
I think I finally get it. It’s hard to conceptualize that I kept dipping into the well of immediate results so often, but…I think where I am now spells it all out more loudly than any situation in the past. There is a reason for waiting for what you want. Even if it seems impossible. But more than just hoping for it, there’s actually doing what it takes to get it.
I’ve always been inclined to work towards what I want, but not every situation lends itself well to that. It’s not always about what you want, but when the timing is right.
For once, rather than come up with all of these mental reasons for why it won’t work, why it’s not going to happen, why it might be wrong and so forth…I’m going to try to drive myself further towards the stuff I actually want. It’s a process like anything, but…days go by and I realize how wrong this current life is, but if I don’t do anything to fix it, whose fault is it really?
Owning a gold mine is great, but only if you decide to use it for what it’s worth. Otherwise, it’s no better than collecting dust.
“If someone suggested the idea of public libraries now, they’d be considered insane. If you said you were going to take a little bit of money from every taxpayer, buy a whole load of books and music and games, stick them on a shelf and tell everyone, ‘These are yours to borrow and all you’ve got to do is bring them back,’ they’d be laughed out of government.” —
Peter Collins, The Secret Life of Libraries
I think this all of the time that I’m glad we got all of these things bequeathed to us before someone decided they shouldn’t exist.
[video]
“
At what point does the experience of a person who picked up rap late get considered credible enough for them to weigh in on their experience?
But for so many of these fans it turns into this contest of “I’m more rap than you.” Ok, congratulations here’s your merit badge. Now can we consider the topic at hand? Or write a substantive rebuttal about the legacy of nerds in rap to provide even more exegesis for those newbies who will inevitably be attracted to dive in thanks to an article like this?
” —Reflecting on acceptance, geekdom & a love of hip-hop (via artisntreal)
My humble attempt at trying to unpack people’s criticisms of a not-so-bad article (except badly misconstrued) about geeks taking mainstream takeover of hip-hop. The thing that drives me nuts — and part of why I don’t even touch it — about rap criticism is these people who feel this reflexive need to overcorrect the rap narrative, as if hip-hop remains this hallowed cultural burial ground that’s nearly above reproach.
It’s fine to disagree, I just think their criticism completely missed the point.
“
Texting and e-mail and posting let us present the self we want to be. This means we can edit. And if we wish to, we can delete. Or retouch: the voice, the flesh, the face, the body. Not too much, not too little — just right.
Human relationships are rich; they’re messy and demanding. We have learned the habit of cleaning them up with technology. And the move from conversation to connection is part of this. But it’s a process in which we shortchange ourselves. Worse, it seems that over time we stop caring, we forget that there is a difference.
We are tempted to think that our little “sips” of online connection add up to a big gulp of real conversation. But they don’t. E-mail, Twitter, Facebook, all of these have their places — in politics, commerce, romance and friendship. But no matter how valuable, they do not substitute for conversation.
” — The Flight From Conversation (via NYT)(Source: The New York Times)
“Paige, who plays second base at Mesa Prep, had to sit out two previous games against Our Lady of Sorrows out of respect for its beliefs. But having her miss the championship was not an option for Mesa Prep.” —
So rather than face a girl baseball player, due to their ‘beliefs’ this school forfeits the title game of their stupid charter school baseball association. The fact they even have a separate league is a joke to begin with, but then you have this silliness. I feel bad for the kid, I doubt it was a decision made by the team itself by rather by adults.
In their two previous games, you read correct…she sat those games out in deference to the other team.
(via heysportsblog)
(Source: ESPN, via heysportsblog)