Every once in a while — often when we least expect it — we encounter someone more courageous, someone who choose to strive for that which (to us) seemed unrealistically unattainable, even elusive. And we marvel. We swoon. We gape. Often , we are in awe. I think we look at these people as lucky, when in fact, luck has nothing to do with it. It is really about the strength of their imagination; it is about how they constructed the possibilities for their Life. In short, unlike me, they didn’t determine what was impossible before it was even possible.Fail Safe–Debbie Millman’s fantastic illustrated essay of timeless advice on courage and the creative life.
I wanted to reblog without the image.
This part I really like:
“…luck has nothing to do with it. It is really about the strength of their imagination; it is about how they constructed the possibilities for their life.”
Sheila E doing “Glamorous Life” at the American Music Awards in 1985. This performance is bonkers. For the first third she sings lead while standing and also playing the lead percussion part. Then she takes the mic and dances around. And then the lights on stage go dark and she solos on drums in the dark with glow-in-the-dark sticks.
Two things occur to me watching this, and recently revisiting Sheila E’s first two albums. One, Prince in the 1980s was the kind of pop genius that comes along every 20-30 years, maybe. The amount of brilliant, boundary-pushing, but still accessible music he was responsible for, as both a solo performer or, as with this song, as a writer/producer, is simply astonishing. It’s honestly like talking about Albert Einstein in 1905, that’s how in the zone he was. It was a decade of a true and lasting genius by an artist at the height of his powers who was given all kinds of resources. A rare thing.
The second thing is what a talent Sheila E was (and probably still is, though I haven’t heard anything she’s done in some time). She had a few big hits, two good records, and came from a remarkable family of musicians (she had several first-call percussionists of note in her family). In the late 1980s she was Prince’s live drummer and also was also the leader of his backing band (you can see her considerable skills behind a proper kit in the Sign O the Times film). Imagine what it takes to be Prince’s musical director in those years, for him to hand over the keys.
Put down whatever you are doing and make sure you watch this video.
Also before the drum solo somebody comes out and puts a white fur coat on her.
NOBODY DOES IT BETTER.
Sheila E is my spirit animal today. Seriously, you need to see the sticks.
In addition to a petition asking the US to deport a former suspect in an unsolved poisoning case, Chinese netizens have submitted petitions to the White House website asking to officially define the taste of bean curd stew, to improve the meal subsidies of media company Sina’s staff, and to cancel university exams.
Chinese Web Floods White House with Petitions
So interesting - the massive scale of Chinese networking sites brought to bear on U.S.-based sites like We The People. What happens to U.S. open gov stuff when other areas of the world (that have less apathy in political participation) show up?
Waka Waka Waka
Simply awesome.
(Source: MissKateGB/Instagram)
Is it okay for a photographer to modify a picture so that it looks exactly how he remembers the scene?
The faked 2013 World Press Photo of the Year winner conversation is interesting.
Walt Whitman’s haversack to go on display at Library of Congress.
Most hipster bag ever?
He wrote some of his poems on the backs of envelopes (I know this because I worked at the Walt Whitman Archive and turned archival images of those envelopes into code).
Let’s not use the H word. Let’s just respect.
Hats from Edwardian era; all photographs dated 1911.
[source]
(via palimpsestghost)
