#is just like. the fundamental refusal to entertain the ideas presented by a book even for the space of a review

[aeide-thea]

tfw you're reading a review of a book you haven't read (when we were sisters, by fatimah asghar), and can't tell whether the way it chooses to gender one of the characters—which is in tension with what's suggested by every quote it features—is justified by however the story ends, or whether it's just plain old cissexism…

[alexswak]

On Animation

These are mostly some personal views and experiences, you are welcome to read but don’t hold high expectations. In the last 2 years or so I didn’t watch as much anime as I used to, probably because I don’t find anime as entertaining as before. My interest in sakuga and Japanese animators was the first time I found value in animation itself, regardless of other aspects such as the story. The sheer expressive power of Ohira’s drawings, or Kanada’s unique timing, all brought me joy and still do.

Yet even this joy I find in sakuga won’t last forever, and I can say that rarely does any scene amaze me like my first contact with works from not only legendary animators such as Ohira and Kanada, but even Ebata and Tanaka. I didn’t lose my interest in commercial sakuga that’s for sure, most what I watched lately were obscure shows I wanted to see what X animator or X director did in them. It’s just that I’m looking for something new, and I knowingly didn’t experience basically anything the wide medium of animation has to offer.

I think the majority of anime fans, animation fans in general even, just watch animation because it’s “anime” or maybe “Disney”. If an anime with a somewhat good story and almost still good-drawn images was to be produced, I bet it would gain some following and popularity among non-japanese fans at least. I also bet such a thing already happened. This reminds of a funny phrase I heard from a friend: “people think that animation isn’t important in animation”.

But then, everyone is free to prefer whatever they want in my opinion. I just think that people who have this view don’t see the real merit of animation and its real beauty, to a big extent at least. Works with outstanding stories and fascinating themes such as Ghost in the Shell receive praise mostly due to that aspect only, the story and themes, with maybe mentioning “good and smooth” animation as a side point. But such works exhibit what really makes animation what it is and takes of advantage of the capabilities of this medium, just look at the Hollywood adaptation to compare(regardless of the fundamentally different execution).

Maybe the main approach of commercial animation takes most of the blame here. Ask any random person “what is special about animation?”, and probably the answer would be something along the lines of “unlimited imagination” or “fascinating imaginary worlds”, referring to Disney’s princesses or Ghibli's fantasy. Yet live-action movies are capable of creating such worlds thanks to modern and even kinda old technology(if we ignore the ongoing controversy regarding the definition of these works), while other more realistic animation works such as Satoshi Kon’s show animations’ features and perks, the features that are the reason why he famously prefered to use animation in all his movies despite being more of a live-action director in nature. What I’m trying to say is this: animation isn’t just a container with the sole purpose of conveying a story or a message, nor is the importance solely in the content conveyed, but in the way it’s conveyed. That’s why a lot of people who work in animation refuse the idea of mimicking live-action, for example.  

After sakuga my interested shifted towards independent and experimental animation especially the japanese ones, like Koji Nanke and Youji Kuri. The story of independent japanese animators is a long one, better covered here. Watching their works made me realize more and more how diverse animation is, and the different exciting ways to transmit an idea through animation. You may say that everything I said till now was just cretesizing commercial animation and praising independent/experimental animation because I love them, yet I didn’t deny that Ghibli and Disney(2D) movies, which are commercial for sure, are some of the best animation works from a technical and artistic standpoint. What I’m criticizing is the narrow outlook on animation, even among the commercial works. Animation isn’t only hand-drawn or 3D, you have collage and stop-motion and puppets and others. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the former Association of Japanese Animations(AJA) president, the late Kihachiro Kawamoto, never drew anything, he was but an amazing puppet animator. Before Kawamoto was Tezuka, a person who plainly hates commercial mainstream animation and whose experimental works probably outnumber his commercial ones. Kawamoto’s successor, the current president Taku Furukawa, is a renowned independent animator and one of Youji Kuri’s students. Movies such as Isle of Dogs getting a wide positive reception makes me happy.

A famous use of collage was in Madoka Magica’s labyrinths, which Gekidan Inu Curry duo handled. It consists of Shirashi Ayumi(former Gainax) and Anai Yosuke(former defunct studio named Tanto). Their participation in Madoka Magica and many other Shaft shows came probably due to their relation with the director Yukihiro Miyamoto. I went a bit off track, but all this was to say that I enjoy Kihachiro Kawamoto’s collage works especially such as The Trip(1973), although he is better known for his puppet works, that are great nonetheless. This isn’t because I don’t enjoy puppetry, Jiří Trnka amazes me- for example. I bet that his magnum opus, The Hand(1965), would astonish any animation fan not only in its visuals, but in the way it handles and presents its themes as well, which led to banning this movie that obviously opposes the communist occupation of Czech.

from right to lefr: Madoka Magica, The Trip, Kenju Giga.

Now that I mentioned Czech, it’s one of the richest countries when it comes to animation and animation history. Many other east-european countries as well. Trnka is enough on his own, but even with other animation arts it’s a region that has a rich and old history of experimentation and early works. Tezuka’s inspiration for his short Jumping(1984) came from none other than a hungarian short called The Fly(1980). The animator behind Jumping, Junji Kobayashi, reminds me always of a fun fact about Tezuka. Kobayashi himself has a deep passion for insects and wildlife in general. Alongside being a member of multiple insect societies and organisations, including The Japanese Association for Insects, he wrote a book on how to animate animals based on Mushi/Tezuka Pro's principles. But if there's a bigger insects nerd than him, it's Tezuka, who deliberately added the kanji for insect(虫) in his pen name(same reading to his original name). Tezuka also has some books on insects or animals, in a fictional or realistic depiction. The last book I want to mention, the most interesting probably, is Kobayashi's "Osamu Tezuka That No One Knows - The Mess of Mushi Pro", an interesting title especially when you consider that Kobayashi is one of the oldest Mushi Pro members, having spent about 23 years with Tezuka till his death. Kobayashi joining Mushi Pro in the first place may have been due to Tezuka sharing him his insects passion, as "Mushi" is the same "insect　虫" in Tezuka's pen name after all.

Anyway, what I was trying to say is this: If you are looking for something more than just "brainless fun", try watching different kinds of animation, the world of animation is vast and diverse. Some works that I like(not necessarily a good start for everyone):

Aru Machikado no Monogatari(1962, Mushi Pro)

The first project by Tezuka's Mushi Pro. He tried different styles in this movie, demonstrating his intentions from the beginning. Directed by Eiichi Yamamoto, whose start was in another experimental studio named Otogi Pro, with animators such as Gisaburo Sugii, it is one of the best works the studio produced. It contained a variety of interesting and beautiful styles, even limited animation was used although there is no economical constraint here, what makes me think that it was an experiment before going all limited with Astro Boy later. A great movie overall.

Jumping(1984, Tezuka Pro)

There is a nice interview about this short and experimental works in general with Osamu Tezuka here.

Machikado no Märchen(1984)

The Hand(1965, Jiří­ Trnka)

Tabi(1973, Kihachiro Kawamoto)

Kenju Giga(1970, Kihachiro Kawamoto)

The Fly(1980, Ferenc Rofusz)

[124globalsociology]

Sci-Fi Feminists

By Becky and Claire 

Background

   Science Fiction is all about imagining a different reality. Whether that be spaceships, laser beams, or rights for women. 

   A common misperception is that sci-fi has always been a genre dominated by men and male protagonists; however, this is not the case. There is some speculation in regards to when the science fiction genre was born, yet many consider the creator of the first sci-fi/horror novel to be Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein in 1816, though even before this Margaret Cavendish wrote The Blazing World in 1666. 

   Although not necessarily the first sci-fi writer, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has experienced great acclaim for centuries–and for good reason. Shelley openly explored themes of death, isolation, and moral ambiguity. She has since inspired countless authors, including Ursula Le Guin–whose writing challenges the constrictive social norms of binary gender. Also, like those of her time and before, Octavia E. Butler has succeeded in using gender and race as a means of exploration as well as a call to action. These women’s lives influenced their writing in a multitude of ways, which is why many scholars throughout history have analyzed their personal journeys of growth, inspiration, and loss that led them to new and alternate realities. 

   Here is a good start to the timeline of major science-fiction authors, and here is a list of exclusively female writers.  

Prominent Authors: Mary Shelley

   When Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus in 1816, she wrote it in response to a challenge. Her father was the famous philosopher William Godwin and it was at a dinner party her father had hosted, with guests such as Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, where the challenge was posed for each esteemed writer to come up with the best ghost story. In the end, Mary Shelley (then known as Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin) won, as her early draft of Frankenstein captivated its first audience. 

   Yet for such a young woman–only eighteen at the time– the themes she wrote about were incredibly complex and macabre. Her life began tragically, as her famous feminist mother died only a month after her birth, a death she would mourn for the rest of her days. When she met and fell in love with the great poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, their romance was only accepted after the tragic suicide of his estranged wife. She continued to experience the loss of three of her four children as well as her half sister. 

   Plagued by death and grief, Shelley’s dark themes were a cathartic release; the juxtapositions of the living and the dead within her work, as well as the question of morality continue to spark debate to this day. The character of Frankenstein’s monster begs the question: what does it mean to be human, to be alive? Moreover, are humans fundamentally good beings? These questions appear again in Ursula Le Guin and Octavia Butler’s brilliant contributions to science fiction, where similarly complex topics are asked, such as: what are gender and race? Why do they exist? [Mary Shelley-Source] [Mary Shelley-Source 2]

Ursula Le Guin

   Usula Le Guin wrote The Left Hand of Darkness in 1969 during the second wave feminist movement in the United States, where gender was a heated topic for almost everyone. 

   Facing her fair share of rejection of publishers refusing to take a woman seriously, let alone a woman writing in the genre of science fiction, LeGuin was determined to share her game-changing novels. As a daughter of a female writer herself, Le Guin knew the value of a good story, and had been inspired from a young age to create her own nonconventional worlds. The Left Hand of Darkness, in addition to the Earthsea Chronicles, are Ursula Le Guin’s best known works. The Left Hand of Darkness and other books in the Hainish Cycle take place in a solar system with many planets whose different environmental factors led to the androgyny and nonbinary nature of the race named the Gethenians. 

   Her mainstream challenging of social norms opened doors previously percieved as closed for other feminist and nonbinary authors to began grappling with questions of identity, morality, social hierarchy, and even religion. By the end of her life, Ursula LeGuin had written dozens of award-winning novels, poems, and children’s books that had changed the science fiction world forever. These issues brought alien distopias down to earth, as it were. [Ursula Le Guin-Source]

Octavia E. Butler

   A facet of science-fiction is the exploration of dystopian worlds that provide insight into the future of our own–no author was more talented at predicting these all-too-real conditions than Octavia Butler. Before her death in 2006, Butler wrote over two dozen novels and short stories that illustrated many scenarios unsettlingly similar to our current political and social climate. From a young age, Butler was surrounded by books brought home from her mother who worked as a maid during the era of segregation in California–books that would transport her to worlds beyond what was possible, at least for now. 

   These books drove her to create stories of her own that imagined protagonists as empowered black women, as gender fluid shape-shifters, and so on. These works, though fantastical, were also rooted in the struggles of society during her lifetime, and provided essential insight into the Civil Rights Movement and second-wave feminism. 

   Of course, life was never easy for Butler, who had to balance many jobs at once, and was often underestimated due to her sex and race. Yet after the modest success of her 1975 novel Patternmaster, which envisioned a dystopian world that brought together themes of hierarchy and unity, she traveled across the country to Maryland, and found even more fame and recognition after she published her next work, Kindred. 

   Butler envisioned worlds that validated and brought to the forefront the struggles of everyday black people, while using fantastical backdrops to tell their complex stories. Today she is known for her afrofuristic themes, with many of her novels being read in university classes regarding queer theory, Black feminism, and disability studies. [Octavia E. Butler-Source 1] [Afrofuturism]

Use of Utopias and Dystopias

   These women, and countless other authors, have used their writing to develop the idea of utopian and dystopian worlds. By imagining a world with true, universal human rights, or a society without gender and racism, these women strove to prove that anything was possible. 

   A utopian world is one that is perfect in every way–but in the process of creating those perfect worlds, dystopias are often born instead. For all the fantastical characters and settings they describe, they are ultimately commenting on our current world and it’s ugly realities hidden beneath the surface. They further present the question, is a utopian world possible? What makes our current world dystopic? As Ursula Le Guin says in her interview with “The Nation’’, “The future in science fiction is just a metaphor for now.” For More information on utopias, check out this TedEd video.  

Sci-Fi in Politics

   As women and authors, Shelley, LeGuin, and Butler along with countless more feminists work not just for entertainment, they write for the larger community of activism. Activism is a way to gain support for a cause but rarely is it done alone. Margaret Kick and Kathryn Sikkink elaborate in “Transnational Advocacy Networks in International Politics” (from Activists beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics, 1998). 

   Authors in sci-fi are like the transnational networks that Keck and Sikkink discuss, in that they also use the four typologies of persuasion: 1) information politics, 2) symbolic politics, 3) leverage politics, 4) accountability politics. When authors like Shelley, Le Guin, and Butler present the issues most prominent in their lives, they present the information “where it will have the most impact” (p. 281). That space is the public who has the power to influence society. 

   Furthermore, they use symbols in their writing to make the point that utopias or dystopias really aren’t that different from where we are today. When using leverage politics in writing, authors tend to “call out” major actors such as state regimes, as Margaret Atwood does in her “Handmaid’s Tale”. This can be done explicitly as Atwood does or implicitly as seen in some of LeGuin’s work. Similarly for accountability politics, authors don’t have the power to hold states to their policies; however, they are able to conjure public support behind an issue. For example, if a government claims to have eliminated all racist and sexist language from its governing documents but has not, then an author may use that in a novel to push the government for change.    

Sci-Fi for the Real World

   When imagining a better world, a world where governments and organizations are held accountable for their actions towards people of color and female-identifying people, we can look to these feminist writers for inspiration. These women paved the way for visionaries from all walks of life to have hope for a better future. Science fiction is an instrument of societal rebuilding, and it can have enormous impact on the way people choose to engage in the world. 

   Science fiction also has the capacity to challenge racist, sexist, and heteronormative norms that hold our society back from unity and prosperity. In promoting feminism, authors like Le Guin and Butler normalize equality of the sexes, and even allow future generations to take the reins, as it were, and normalize gender fluidity, androgyny, and non-binary people. 

   As we grow in awareness and knowledge throughout our transformative years at college, we can harken back to these trailblazers and the messages they left in their books. These messages tell us we are powerful in our femininity, that humans are infinitely complex and changing, and that change is necessary for a better future. We can build many aspects of the better worlds laid out before us–and we can learn from the dystopias as well. Our story as humans is far from over, it is not too late for us to embark on a new chapter.  

Links used above:

https://www.bl.uk/people/mary-shelley#

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_vzSgkjBEI 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a6kbU88wu0 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/writing-the-future-a-timeline-of-science-fiction-literature/zjfv6v4

https://library.sdsu.edu/scua/new-notable/early-female-authors-science-fictionfantasy-0

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20200317-why-octavia-e-butlers-novels-are-so-relevant-today 

https://haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu/afrofuturism/

https://www.ursulakleguin.com/biography

Bibliography: 

Keck, Margaret E., Sikkink, Katheryn. “Transnational Advocacy Networks in International Politics”, Activists Beyond Borders:Advocacy Networks in International Politics, 1998. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.  

[anothertroy-liveblogs]

I never did write about aesthetics and morality. and trying to liveblog this book was keeping me from reading it, so I decided I’d just...do whatever. and I read some more this morning, and, you know.

mm.

something I noticed when I came back to reread Wormwood, my (probably) favourite work by Billy Martin FKA Poppy Brite, many years later, was how...horrible it was. I’ve got Lost Souls on my mental list of things to reread and talk about on here, but I suspect that one is going to read the same or maybe actually better to me now than it did in 2003 when I read it on the way to Whitby, n hours in a car with people I kind of barely knew, even after everything.

only you guys are reading this blog so I’m self-indulgent, bear with me. anyway the point was that I read Wormwood around the same time, 2003 say, under its original title which I do not love and don’t much want to replicate but I feel weird not mentioning that that’s what it was called. and some years later I realised I badly wanted to revisit the glamour and filth of those stories, so I reread them.

my overwhelming memory from that reread is of nausea, and then confusion. I’m squeamish, but I have always been squeamish, so I couldn’t blame that, but like...why, as an older me, was I so viscerally revolted by stories which at 19 I’d found beautiful, safe and comforting? I need to reread them again, because I’m not posting this to say I ever found an answer. I didn’t, and now I don’t know whether I was revolted because my brain was trying to protect/keep me from something important - like with listening to Coil, and other things that live in the dirt or the gutter - or because of something else, a different, fundamental change.

but I felt the same sort of thing reading on in iwtv. watching Lestat torture this frightened prostitute and being just - disgusted, just tired and angry and disgusted. I always hated it in the movie, too, and maybe I still hated it in the book and I just don’t remember. but the idea that I would have invited into my home a guy who had ever done that for fun, now, is kind of...well. of course I invited a lot of guys like that into my home, once upon a time.

and maybe it’s the hardline refusal to ever go anywhere near all that again that leaves me with a byproduct of no longer being able to be entertained by that particular brand of gleeful and bloody sadism. I’m disappointed in myself, which is its own complicated thing, and I’m angry and sad and tired and I don’t know how this might colour how I feel when I read TVL. but, past Lestat in iwtv is a very different animal (and much more of one) to present-ish daft Lestat in a frilly shirt rocking out as a member of The Cult. so maybe it won’t affect it at all.

anyway, idk. men are pretty terrible and I am not altogether sure what this episode in the book was meant to illustrate, since Louis seemed as disgusted as I was (albeit also busy going ‘I could not help her because I was so busy looking at my own distress’, like fuckin usual Louis) but we’re all obviously supposed to continue sucking Lestat’s cock for another like 20 books after this one.

weird.

[thetravelingmama]

100 Things about your Mom.

Hi Chi. I’m back! All better and cured. I’m feeling like my old self again, energy and everything back. Like my doctor said today: if it’s working, don’t change it. That being said, let’s do something fun! I saw this weird list of questions and said: Game on!

1: What random stranger has had the biggest impact on your life? A Dad at a beach playing with his son. He made us made the decision to start a family.

2: What achievement are you proud of but most people would consider silly or weird? I refuse to “act my age”.

3: What period in history had the best fashion? The 50’s!

4: What silly or funny thing makes you afraid or creeps you out? Clowns.

5: How quickly do you jump to conclusions about people? I try not to, but the reality is that I get “vibes” from people, instantly. I’m never wrong, as much opportunities I give.

6: How would the world change if super heroes and super villains actually existed? I think heroes and villains DO exist.

7: What would be your strategy for surviving an apocalyptic epidemic? I already hoard medicine, movies and booze.

8: What is the most important change that should be made to your country’s education system? Equality, Empathy, Values and Gender Perspective are things that need to be taught. I also believe that a University Diploma should be mandatory. No school? Jail.

9: What is something you think you will regret in the future not starting now and what is something you already regret not starting sooner? I regret not becoming a Mom sooner. I’ll regret it most in the future.

10: What part of your culture are you most and least proud of?

Proud of our strength of character. Least proud of living in a status quo.

11: What's the worst and best thing about being female? Best thing is having a baby, carrying it inside your body. That experience is wonderful. The worst is definitively the inequality, how people treat you different in many ways and what they expect on how you “should behave”. I also believe there are many double standards when it comes to us.

12: If you could put your brain in a robot and live indefinitely, would you? Not for a gazillion dollars.

13: If you could replace the handshake as a greeting, what interesting new greeting would you replace it with? High fives are awesome.

14: Who’s the worst guest you’ve had in your house and what did they do? I’m glad to report that I never let people that I don’t truly trust or know at my house.

15: When does time pass fastest for you and when does it pass the slowest? Fastest: when I have a lot of work and a close deadline. Slowest: when I had to come up with advertising campaigns. I HATED starting on a presentation with all the passion in the world until I had an idea that worked. Then, it just was a breeze. Until that jackpot happens, time is torture.

16: What always sounds like a good idea at the time but rarely is? Telling someone the truth. Sometimes it just turns out that they can’t handle or understand it. Another great one? Getting drunk and knowing that no one is going to take care of the baby next morning. Huge mistake.

17: Are humans fundamentally different than animals? If so, what makes us different? We’re very much alike, I realized it after I gave birth. I just think we have the burden of emotions and logic to deal with, that’s all. I envy them: I’d love to function just on instincts!

18: What pictures or paintings have had a big impact on you? Guernica inspired me to paint. The Marilyn Diptych inspired me to design. At the Moulin Rouge is one of my favorites, just because.

19: What movie or book character are you most similar to? That’s a tough one. I identify a lot (with absolutely no clue of why) with Mia Wallace’s lust for life and her disregard for rules; Marla Singer’s I don’t care attitude and confusion. I’m also a mix of Santino and Michael Corleone when I’m either strategizing or just extremely angry.

20: You can broadcast one sentence to every TV channel and radio in the world and have it translated to each country’s language. What sentence do you say? “What doesn’t offend you might offend someone else. Calm down and let people do and say what they want.”

21: What fact are you really surprised that more people don't know about? That research does not mean that you trust instantly whatever you find online. Reliable sources exist for a reason.

22: What are you completely over and done with? Putting the well-being of others before mine.

23: What memory do you just keep going back to?

It depends on the day.

24: What’s the most immature thing someone can do? I believe that making a scene in public is just sign that you are emotionally and socially immature. From treating strangers badly for a stupid reason to arguing with your significant other in front of anybody is just a sign that you’re the problem.

25: What are you most passionate about and what do you wish you were more passionate about? Reading and writing.

26: What’s the best comeback you’ve ever heard?

“I’m growing a human inside me, what’s your excuse?” I said that. :P

27: Who haven’t you seen or talked to in a long time and hope they are doing okay? With Facebook that stopped happening years ago. I actually miss that feeling of wondering how my friends are. Although, there is one friend from college that disappeared. I sometimes wonder what happened.

28: Where is the last place you would ever go? If by last this means “and then you can die”, Tibet. I can’t fathom thinking about a place in this world not worthy about visiting.

29: What’s something that you’ve never been able to do well? Math and control myself when I am beyond furious.

30: Who is the humblest person you know?

Any person who will do something for free just to help another human being.

31: What is the silliest reason someone you've known has completely lost it? The stuff people write online.

32: What is quite possibly the most annoying thing ever? People who judge others on based on what they wear, own, drive or live in. I also am starting to despise people who post every single goddamn second on social media. My social media algebra is simple: entertain, yes; Report, no.

33: What do you wish people would stop asking you? Can I have free tickets?

34: What is the most unusual fear you have? Frogs and Roller Coasters.

35: What is your favorite TV show? Right now it’s Better Call Saul.

36: What’s the most ridiculous argument you’ve had? If it’s ridiculous, I’m totally ignoring the idea of talking about it. Silence is golden.

37: What’s the biggest lesson life has taught you? My happiness is way more important than anything else in the world.

38: What is increasingly becoming socially acceptable? Telling others how to act, talk, behave, think, write... I remember the days when people judged you in silence or behind closed doors. Thanks a lot, internet.

39: What’s the weirdest tradition your family has? It’s not a tradition per se, we just talk really loud when we’re together, and all at the same time.

40: If you could choose anyone living or dead, who would you choose to lead our country? It would be a mix of Obama, Lady Gaga, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ed Snowden.

41: What app on your phone do you wish you used more? Tabata.

42: Who was the most power mad person you’ve met? Insert advertising client name here.

43: What world famous monument do you have no interest in visiting? The Tower of Pisa. Next.

44: What is something that you think people are only pretending to like or are deluding themselves into liking? Wine.

45: What joke went way too far? Anything that relates to a pregnancy announcement.

46: What are some of the telltale signs that a guy is creepy? If a man tries to control how I talk, behave, dress, manage a situation or just even decides something for me. If he thinks I need his approval for anything.

47: What is your very first memory? Walking around the beach.

48: What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve said or done around someone you dated? It’s not embarrassing but it did catch me off guard: I made a point in my life to never say “I love you” to a man first until I was sure that it was going to mean something. One day, when I was starting to date your Dad, I just blurted it out. He laughed and said “You said it first!”

49: Who is your favorite actor or actress? Right now it’s Bryan Cranston.

50: What doesn’t exist but you desperately want / need it? A pill that eliminates sadness or anger instantly.

51: What are you most grateful for? My child.

52: If you could hear every time someone said something good about you or something negative about you, which would you choose? Neither. Not interested.

53: What do you wish you could re-live? Just for fun, my twenties. Had the best time.

54: What’s something that you recommend everyone trying at least once? Massages.

55: Do you prefer being warmed when you’re too cold or being cooled when you’re too hot? Warmed.

56: What sentence can you say that makes total sense now but would seem insane 20 years ago? “Do it, don’t wait.”

57: How decisive or indecisive are you? Extremely decisive. I’d rather go out in flames, always.

58: What’s something from your childhood that used to be common but now is pretty rare? I used to play outside unsupervised and came back home when I was supposed to. I also drove my grandpa’s car lots of times while sitting in his lap. Now he would get thrown in jail, I guess.

59: If you were an action figure, what accessories would you be sold with? A bottle of Vodka, books, beach items and lipstick.

60: What weird smell do you really enjoy? Gasoline and the streets of New York City.

61: What do you like that is traditionally considered masculine? Boxing, hard liquors, swearing, dark sense of humor.

62: What’s something you learned recently that you really should have already known? Expectations are resentments in the making.

63: What’s a simple mistake you made that had dramatic consequences? I should have been honest with someone without worrying about what could happen next.

64: What’s the best piece of advice someone has given you? You’re not responsible for how other people feel, it’s their problem to handle.

65: What do you think people automatically wrongly assume about you when they look at you? That I’m delicate, maybe?

66: Looking back on your life, what have you done that has given you the most satisfaction? Besides from being a Mom, having a successful company.

67: If everything was quantified, what life stats would like to see for yourself? The happy vs sad moments.

68: What do you really wish you knew when you were younger? That I am way more stronger than I thought.

69: When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried? I think it was watching Dave Chapelle or Joe Rogan on Netflix.

70: What do you wish you had more time for? Being with my child when she grows older. I hope to be alive when she gets married or has a kid.

71: When was the last time you had a gut feeling about something that turned out to be correct? How about a time your gut feeling was wrong? My gut feelings are 99% on point. Sometimes it takes a second, sometimes years. I always end up being right.

72: What’s your curiosity killed the cat story? Your Dad. I ended up married and having you!

73: What areas in your life do you have high hopes for and what are those high hopes? I hope that our child decides to run our company and makes it even more successful.

74: Who was the most spoiled person you personally have met? Met a few. No comment.

75: What makes you feel old? When people don’t know a certain band or piece of music.

76: What’s your favorite non-drug / non-alcohol high? Traveling.

77: What’s the worst thing you’ve heard one person say to another person? It’s a tie between, “Sorry, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” and “Shut up and listen”.

78: What do you love about yourself? I’m starting to love my new sense of self. It gives me meaning.

79: What gets progressively weirder the more you think about it? Society in general.

80: What have you gotten too old to put up with? Being obligated to do something.

81: What event would you like to know the whole and complete truth about? JFK’s death. I also would love to read Mueller’s unredacted report.

82: What have you recently become obsessed with? Home delivery. Hi Jeff Bezos, I paid for your electricity this month.

83: What’s the biggest waste of money you’ve seen? Anything related to spending a lot on cars or jewelry. I’d rather travel, sorry.

84: What’s surprising about you? Most people don’t know that I can’t stand chick films.

85: When you were a kid what silly thing were you deathly afraid of? Dracula. Frank Langella, you made my childhood miserable for months.

86: Besides a raise or more vacation time, what’s the best perk a company can offer employees? Time to relax and focus. In Advertising, we’re expected to produce an insane amount of creative pieces in little time. Creativity and pressure don’t go well. Also, a short amount of time during the month to do the things we can’t during the weekend.

87: Where do you like going for walks? Lower East Side or Montmartre.

88: If you found out you would inexplicably fall down dead in one year, what would you change about your life? I would travel non stop so that I could drop dead somewhere cool.

89: What movie have you seen more than seven times? It might be a tie between Pulp Fiction and the Godfather Series.

90: Most people want to be wealthy for one reason or another. Why do you would want to be wealthy? To travel.

91: What’s the best thing you could tell someone to cheer them up when they are feeling down? My grandmother used to say “Someday, when you look back at a bad moment in your life, you’re gonna laugh about it”. Wherever she is, I know she looks down and reminds me in my dreams from time to time.

92: When you were a kid, what movie did you watch over and over again? Mary Poppins... and The Godfather 1 when no one was watching.

93: What’s the worst trait a person can have? No empathy.

94: If you could know one truth about yourself, history, the world, or even the universe, what truth would you want to know? Is someone out there?

95: What’s your favorite souvenir that you have? Our cheesy “Oia” sign. It reminds me of the best honeymoon in the world.

96: What would you do if someone left a duffle bag filled with $2,000,000 on your back porch? Buy a small apartment in NYC, buy another near the beach in Rincón. Leave the rest for Mía.

97: If everything in your house had to be one color what color would you choose? Black.

98: What would your warning label say if every person was required to have one? Don’t get her angry. You wouldn’t like her when she’s angry.

99: What weird childhood fear do you still kind of hold on to? Big waves.

100: What’s the most polarizing question you could ask your group of friends? That’s the funny thing about us. There is not one polarizing thing we could ask each other. We talk and share EVERYTHING in our lives. The good, the bad, the disgusting, the inappropriate. Even the things we are ashamed to admit or share. That’s true friendship.

[forsetti]

On a Post-Factual World: The Root of The Problem

“When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.”-Merlin in “Excalibur” There are so many things happening right now, it is difficult to get a good grasp on what the real problem is.  Yes, Trump is a problem but he didn't get to be president by accident.  Yes, the media is a problem but they didn't get to be this way overnight.  Yes, fake news is a problem but it didn't appear overnight.  Yes, undereducated voters are a problem but they didn't get this way by accident.  If you boil all of these problems down, you are left with a simple reduction-the death of truth.  Whatever was once commonly accepted as truth has been eliminated from public discourse.  Facts/truth have been replaced with feelings.  It doesn't matter if all the evidence says otherwise, how people “feel” about it has been given priority.  

As someone who has spent their life dedicated to knowing facts from the obscure and ridiculous to the highly specialized and esoteric, truth has always have always been a top priority.  When I was young, I rarely read non-fiction (the Nancy Drew series one of the exceptions.)  I read the encyclopedia and reference books.  I read them every night long past my bedtime.  If the internet and smartphones had existed back then, I probably would have only slept from exhaustion.  The motivating force behind this obsession with facts was I hated not knowing something.  If adults were talking about economics or a topic I didn't know anything about, it really bothered me.  If I saw a news report about a country in Africa, I wanted to know as much as I could about it so the report made sense and could be put in context.  I'm fairly confident that the reason I gravitated to studying philosophy was a search for deeper, more fundamental truths.  

This placement of truth at the top of my priorities caused problems here or there in classes, discussions, friendships...but for the most part, it has just been what it is.  This changed when I joined social media.  I didn't realize just how much I had subconsciously shielded myself from people who don't really care about the truth and surrounded myself with people who do until I joined Facebook. Suddenly, I was inundated with posts and comments that were not just devoid of truth, but easily disprovable.  This by itself wouldn't have been a problem if the person who posted something obviously untrue was open to being politely corrected.  For the most part, they aren't and they aren't because no matter what they may tell others or themselves, being right isn't a priority.  Thinking they are right, however, is.  This is the direct opposite of how I'm built.  This attitude of believing you are right being more important than actually being right is the root of the problem.  It is why fake news is able to get traction and have an impact.  It is why Donald Trump was able to draw large crowds during his campaign and eventually get elected.  It is in large part why the media has failed to live up to even the most basic of journalistic ethics.  It is why there are so many undereducated voters.  Facts don't matter.

There are a lot of culprits responsible for why facts don't matter.  First and foremost is everyone who either doesn't care enough about the truth to make it a high priority, those who are too lazy to find out, and those who are too arrogant and prideful to admit when they are wrong.  Rightwing talk radio, websites, and FOX News have led the charge against facts in order to push a conservative agenda that cannot hold up to the light of facts.  A mainstream media that has turned away from journalism in favor of clicks and ratings.  And, the democratization of information through the internet and social media. This combination has fostered and fueled the fall of truth and the rise of feelings on the importance hierarchy.  It has led to the death of expertise and the demise of knowledge. I really didn't get involved with social media on any meaningful level until 2008.  It didn't take long to see how facts don't matter to a whole lot of people.  By the time President Obama won the election, this anti-fact phenomenon was in full swing.  It was amazing to see people who I had known to be semi-serious, semi-rational people post, cite, and parrot blatant lies with fervor and zealotry.  If I tried to explain why/how what they said/posted wasn't true, but in fact, the opposite of truth they lashed out, doubled down on the lie, and/or quickly changed the subject, usually to a different lie.  It didn't matter how calmly I responded.  It didn't matter the depth and breadth of counter-evidence I presented.  They were not willing to even entertain the possibility they might be wrong.  They were right because they felt they were right and that was all that mattered. Facts were sent to the back of the bus and feelings were placed in the driver's seat. Coming from my background and where I place truth/facts on the hierarchy of importance, not only is this approach to reality completely backward, I have no idea how to react to and deal with it.  People who reverse the order of truth and feelings are speaking a foreign language that doesn't have any rules.  Emotions are easily manipulated, often wrong, unreliable...  I'd rather have Billy Joel behind the wheel after an all-night bender than someone's feelings.  At least I know Billy will sober up at some point and make a good decision, like marrying Christie Brinkley.  This is where someone tells me, “Yeah, but facts can be manipulated too.”  If a fact is manipulated, it is no longer a fact.  Facts matter.  They matter a lot and excuses to not accept them, to deny them don't fly with me. I could spend days writing out the things conservatives “feel” are true but aren't. -Obama wasn't born in America. -Climate change is a hoax. -The Affordable Care Act is a socialist takeover of health care. -Obama paid Iran $1.7 billion dollars. -Obama ordered the U.S. Armed Forces to take over Texas. -The unemployment numbers are rigged. -Obama isn't fighting ISIS. -Obama refuses to stand up for the police. -Obama went on an “Apology Tour” of the world. -Health insurance has gone up faster under ACA than it did before. -The deficit has risen the past eight years. -The mortgage crisis was caused by minority home buyers defaulting on their loans. -Hillary Clinton had __________ killed. -The Clintons made millions from their foundation. -Illegal immigration has increased under Obama. -13 million people voted illegally for Hillary. -Taxes when up under Obama for the lower and middle classes. -Tax cuts for the wealthy creates jobs. -Violent crime has gone up the past eight years. -The Affordable Care Act was passed with no Republican input. -Obama took more vacation days than any other president. -Obama signed more Executive Orders than any other president.

Every single one of these is a lie.  Not a difference of opinion.  A flat-out lie.  That a good chunk of conservatives choose to believe them or “feel” they are true doesn't make them any less of a lie. Truth/falsity is not dependent on how many people or how strongly they feel it.  

For me, the fundamental question is, “Why are so many conservatives so willing to adamantly believe things that are blatantly false?” This is the root of the problem.  This is why there is a massive cultural and political divide in this country.  This is why our government isn't working the way it should.  

There are a lot of reasons why people, especially conservatives are so willing to deny and ignore facts.  There is a direct relationship between conservatives willingness to place feelings above facts and their religious underpinnings.  Religion is all too often devoid of facts and most of the doctrine hinges on feelings-faith.  All the evidence showing the world was created billions of years ago doesn't mean a damn thing because of faith in an unscientific book written by unscientific people and translated by anti-science people.  Facts run counter to Western religions and they are a big reason most of them have and still are anti-science.  It is so much easier to rely on what someone else tells you than use your own brain.  It is so much easier to “feel” you are right than do the actual work necessary to be right.  It is so much easier to follow a script of what is true and what isn't than constantly be testing each one to see if they are or not.  Feelings being more important than facts is a direct byproduct of religious belief.

Another reason conservatives are more than willing to deny and ignore facts is because they've been told and firmly believe they are right.  They are “right” because they believe in the “right” God.  They are “right” because they are white.  They are “right” because they are male.  To believe you are right because you are a Republican is easy once you've bought into all these other justifications for believing you are right.  You are used to it.  Being right by default of some external criterion becomes second nature.  You're not right because of the time, energy, and work you put into something.  You are right because of your skin color, religious or political affiliation.  If you need reassurance about your being right, just ask your political or religious leader and they'll reaffirm it for you.  Since the facts don't line up and support a lot of their beliefs, they have to fall back on “feelings” as grounds for justification.   If this wasn't bad enough, in order to maintain their belief they are right, conservatives have taken things to a totally unethical and dangerous level.  As counter-evidence and information to their claims/beliefs have become readily available and easily accessible, conservatives have adopted what can only be called, “propaganda.”  Rightwing radio, FOX News, a lot of conservative websites...are nothing more than propaganda generating entities.  Their goal is two-fold: 1-Tell the “faithful” what they want to hear and believe; And, 2-Undermine people and entities who are telling the truth in order to destroy their credibility. This is the same tactics used by the tobacco companies when all the scientific studies showed a causal link between smoking and certain forms of cancer.  The tobacco industry came out with their own “scientific studies” that showed smoking was 100% safe and they put “doctors” in their advertising.  All of this was done intentionally in order to muddy the waters of what is factual and what isn't.  A lot of the very same people in charge of this propaganda campaign for the tobacco industry took their strategies and talents to the oil/gas industry and ginned up “counter evidence” against climate change.  There's no debate about climate change any more than there was about smoking's link to cancer but a lot of people “feel” there is because facts don't matter to them and they are willing to believe whatever supports their preconceptions.

Another tactic being used by conservatives to delegitimize facts is by not even allowing them to be written or talked about.  There have been numerous bills passed in state houses around the country by conservatives who have made it so terms like “climate change” cannot be used in any government report.  It doesn't matter who does the research or who writes or talks about the report, they are forbidden, by law, to use the words, “climate change” or “global warming.”  Apparently, if it can't be said, then it doesn't exist in the minds of conservatives.  This is the opposite of their belief about “radical Islamic terrorism,” which is by saying, is supposed to make the threat less greater, the fight against it more real, a legitimate strategy to defeat it.  This strategy of banning things that go against their ideology is not just confined to language.  Numbers are just as dangerous and are in need of banning for conservatives.  When the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) came out with reports showing the very negative impact the Republicans' plan for repealing the Affordable Care Act would have on the deficit, debt, and economy, the Republican-led House banned them from using the scoring method they have always used and demanded they use a new one called, “dynamic scoring.”  In a nutshell, dynamic scoring is mathematical wishing and pixie dust.  It is based on the unicorn belief that massive tax cuts for the wealthy plus a GDP growth of 5% a year will exist and this is the framework from which all scoring must be done.  When Jeb Bush promised he'd bring 4% annual GDP growth to the country if elected, he was rightly ridiculed.  When Bernie Sanders said he would bring 5% annual growth he was rightly mocked. The last time the U.S. had 5% GDP growth for a single year was 1984. The last time there were three out of five years with 5% GDP growth was the 50s before China emerged as an economic player when Europe and Japan were still rebuilding after WWII when the U.S. had little economic competition.  To believe we can create and sustain 5% annual growth is a complete fantasy.  To demand this fantasy be the basis for the CBO's analysis is dangerous.  Right now, if conservatives don't like the truth/facts, they deny they exist or demand they don't exist.  That is propaganda.

The entire Trump campaign and the first few days of his administration have been nothing but propaganda.  They have lied about so many things, it is impossible to keep track of them or respond because, by the time you do, they've told a half-dozen more.  They lie about easily disprovable things.  They lie with impunity and his supporters don't give a damn because the lies confirm their feelings. Yesterday, White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer took to the podium to make sure the press knew that Trump's Inauguration was the best attended, ever.  When told this wasn't true, he went ballistic and reiterated it with all the fervor and passion one would expect from someone who was psychologically unhinged.  What he was saying and arguing for is blatantly and easily proved to be false, a lie. Just in case Spicer's adamant claims weren't enough, Trump's spokesperson, Kellyanne Conway went on “Meet The Press” and said Spicer was offering “alternative facts.”  Go ahead, let the sheer stupidity of this phrase sink in.  “Alternative facts.”  2+2=5, is an alternative fact.  The Civil War wasn't over slavery, is an alternative fact.  Obamacare increases the deficit/debt, is an alternative fact.  Guns in the house keep people safer, is an alternative fact.  I'm old enough to remember when alternative facts were called, “lies.”

The democratization of information has created the environment where people can push their own “truths.”  The media, whose responsibility is supposed to be to inform and educate the public, have failed and failed miserably to do their job.  They've largely stopped being journalists and become stenographers, and bad ones at that.  Time and time again journalists will say it isn't their job to point out the truth, but to report what was said.  This lazy and devoid of ethics stance has helped create an entire generation of people who don't trust the media and who spout false equivalencies about everything.  If the media wants to know why they are no longer trusted like they once where, they need look no further than their advocation of their responsibility to inform the public.  After the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, when Republicans in the Senate blocked gun purchase background check measures, almost every major media outlet's headlines were, “Senate Blocks_____________.” NO!!!  The Senate didn't.  Republicans in the Senate did.   This may seem like not a big deal but it is.  This kind of half-ass reporting done consistently over a long period of time gives people the impression that there are no differences between Republicans and Democrats and that government is the problem, not Republicans in government.  Instead of informing the public of how government works, the rules of the Senate, why a measure didn't get a hearing or a vote, too many in media have resorted to lazy reporting.  They do this, in large part because they are corporate owned, their priority is not informing but generating advertising dollars.  You don't do this by pointing out that the party half your viewers voted for is the problem and the main reason for their problems.  Doing their jobs properly might be good journalism, but its bad marketing and they are in the business of making money not informing the public.   This advocation by the media to do their job properly has left people to their own devices to become informed and we see how well that's turned out.  They may have access to the information, but there is too much information and they don't have the mental tools to properly sift through and analyze it.  Being overwhelmed and underprepared, people will almost always revert to what they already believe and what makes them feel good about themselves.  When this happens, truth is pushed aside for feelings.  When this happens, people are easily manipulated by demagogues and propaganda.  When this happens, an arrogant, narcissistic, petty man is elected to be president of the country that prides itself on exceptionalism. “The human mind is as naturally sensitive to arguments as the eye is to colors. (There may be some people who are argument-blind!) But the eye will not see if it is not kept open, and the mind will not follow an argument if it is not awake.” ― Mortimer J. Adler

[batclevercandystudent]

Think what you want about motivational quotes, but sometimes, a few simple words hit hard.

The right words at the right time can change your mindset and become a catalyst for change in your life.

But here’s the thing:

The best hustle quotes and motivation quotes aren’t always from self-help gurus and motivational speakers – artists, athletes, and even rock ‘n’ rollers often say exactly what we need to hear.

Here is the quote that did it for me:

”On the day I die, I'll say at least I fucking tried. That's the only eulogy I need.' - Frank Turner, EulogyClick To Tweet My life is now dictated by this sentiment. I refuse to not take action –  on my passions, online business ideas, and everything I want out of life.

Do I succeed 100 percent of the time? Nope, not even close.

In fact, doing some quick math – and switching to a basketball analogy – I sink about two out of every ten shots I take. But, you know what?

I take shots every day. Every. Day.

I refuse to not try. I refuse to not fail. I refuse to sit on the sidelines.

This is who I have become. And this is how I play the game. Life is short, so you might as well play as hard as you can.

It can look easy from the outside, but I haven’t always been like this. I spent years spinning my wheels and getting no traction. For a long time, I failed to make the changes that would allow me and my family to live a better life.

But no more.

Perhaps it’s age or perhaps it’s that I’ve learned to stop caring if something will work or not.

Do you know what absolutely will not work?

All the stuff you are too scared to try.

Guaranteed.

If you are looking for a change in your life, these 101 motivation quotes are for YOU.

1. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

Jack Reacher has the best one-liners. This quote is a reminder that plans aren’t always enough. You also have to be able to take a hit and get back up.

'Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.' – Jack ReacherClick To Tweet

2. No one gets remembered for the things they didn’t do.

Quit talking and start taking action. Frank Turner basically lives by this creed, as a relentlessly touring musician and songwriter. He even finds time to write books!

3. No such thing as spare time, no such thing as free time, no such thing as down time. All you got is life time. Go.

Henry Rollins doesn’t believe in spare time — every second life is passing by. It’s up to you to make the most of it.

4. No one is you, and that is your power.

Dave Grohl, professional rocker, wants you to embrace individuality. Whatever kind of weird you are, stop hiding it and use it as a superpower.

'No one is you, and that is your power.' – Dave GrohlClick To Tweet

5. Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed no hope at all.

This mindset quote from Dale Carnegie is a light in the tunnel. When it feels like it can’t get any harder, you just might be about to achieve something great. Don’t give up.

6. Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance.

We should listen to Samuel Johnson on the subject of perseverance. After all, he did single-handedly write A Dictionary of the English Language — before the existence of typewriters.

7. Don’t give up what you want most for what you want now.

In other words, keep your eyes on the prize. Short-term thinking can keep you from achieving big goals.

8. It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

Every journey must be taken one step at a time. It’s amazing how much progress you can make when you keep taking those steps. Use this goal setting worksheet to break down a big goal into tiny steps.

9. You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.

Perseverance and grit — these are qualities Margaret Thatcher had in spades. Failing on your first try is no reason to quit.

10. Dreams don’t work unless you do.

Positive thinking won’t get you far without positive action. Leadership expert John C. Maxwell is right — you have to put in the work.

11. Don’t play the game. Be the game changer.

12. Success is not given. It is earned.

13. Take a moment and realize how blessed you are.

14. A positive mindset is one of the attributes of successful people.

Focus on what’s possible, what’s good, and what you can do. Author Sandra León writes that a positive mindset for entrepreneurs and leaders is the way to live an abundant life.

15. If you live for the weekends and vacations, your shit is broken.

Gary Vaynerchuk says your work should not be something to escape. If you’re not excited to go to work, it’s time to make a change. Whether you start a side hustle or explore a new career, do something that excites you.

'If you live for the weekends and vacations, your shit is broken.' – Gary VaynerchukClick To Tweet

16. Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.

This is one of the best growth mindset quotes because nobody wants to fail, but it’s necessary for success. Fail more, learn more, and do better next time.

17. It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

Like so many mindset quotes, this one reminds you to keep trying, despite the risk of failure.

18. Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

Scientists like Albert Einstein understand making mistakes isn’t something to fear — it’s fundamental to making progress.

19. Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

What makes a meaningful life? Only you can decide. But for most, it requires occasionally getting uncomfortable and facing challenges.

20. Look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, what do I want to do every day for the rest of my life…do that.

If your work makes it hard to look yourself in the mirror, why not start something new? Gary Vee writes about why now, more than ever, it’s possible to make a living with your passion.

You can learn how to start a blog, build an audience, and create a business around just about anything.

21. Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

George Bernard Shaw embodied the growth mindset. If you believe growth and change are possible, you have the power to reinvent yourself.

22. Anyone can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend’s success.

Oscar Wilde reminds us to support our friends, whether they’re winning or losing. Rising above jealousy is part of developing a positive mindset.

23. Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.

Learning throughout your life helps you succeed in business. But it also maintains the energy, curiosity, and excitement of youth.

24. When you want to succeed as badly as you want to breathe. Then you will be successful.

Eric Thomas is a master of motivational quotes — with enough passion and desire, you can achieve anything.

'When you want to succeed as badly as you want to breathe. Then you will be successful.' – Eric ThomasClick To Tweet

25. Most people never run far enough on the first wind to find out they’ve got a second. Give your dreams all you’ve got, and you’ll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.

Philosopher William James is a surprisingly good source of hustle quotes. When you start to feel tired, you’re just getting warmed up!

26. Don’t tell me how talented you are. Tell me how hard you work.

As a musical prodigy, Artur Rubenstein had a huge supply of talent. But he knew talent can only take you so far — hard work is the key.

27. Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.

If you do one thing to change your mindset, get comfortable taking risks. There’s not much to be gained by holding back.

28. What got you here, won’t get you where you want to be.

Continued success requires continued growth. That means even as you enjoy your achievements, you should look for new ways to move forward.

29. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

By constantly learning and improving, you can enjoy the present without the risk of being unprepared for the future.

30. The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.

Most of us will never be martial arts masters like Bruce Lee, but this motivational quote provides hope. Average people can do extraordinary things when they focus and do the work.

31. When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.

The trick to achieving any big goal is to break down the steps and adjust course as needed. Whether you want to make money online or build a house, the right action steps will get you there.

32. The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.

Don’t waste your life waiting for permission, especially if you have visionary ideas like novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand.

33. It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.

A playful approach to tackling impossible challenges is fun, and as Walt Disney proved, you can build an entertainment empire with it.

34. The best revenge is massive success.

Of course, there are lots of ways to get revenge, but most of them leave you worse off than before. Instead of letting negativity win, Frank Sinatra focussed on achieving massive success.

35. Great things never came from comfort zones.

Neil Strauss is a writer who knows you have to get uncomfortable to uncover great stories and accomplish anything remarkable.

36. To die is poignantly bitter, but the idea of having to die without having lived is unbearable.

Death is inevitable, but living a fully realized life can ease the bitterness.

37. Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is.

Another of the brilliant motivational quotes from psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, reminding you to never give up discovering and becoming who you are meant to be.

38. Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

Being decisive is a key characteristic for entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants to accomplish big things. Decide, then take decisive action.

39. Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.

Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, is one of the top 10 best-selling self-help books of all time. I consider it one of the best business books you can read to shift your mindset in a positive direction.

40. How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.

The prolific G. K. Chesterton said losing is inevitable, but you can change how you think about it. The more quickly you bounce back and try again, the more successful you will ultimately become.

41. You can achieve anything you want in life if you have the courage to dream it, the intelligence to make a realistic plan, and the will to see that plan through to the end.

Sometimes lucky breaks help you get there faster, but achieving big goals is almost always a result of courage, planning, and determination.

42. Security is not the meaning of my life. Great opportunities are worth the risk.

As a powerful member of the judiciary at a time when women were almost non-existent in the profession, Shirley Hufstedler took risks that paved the way for many to follow.

43. The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make a mistake.

This is such a great mindset hack — recognizing that failing to act is often worse than taking the wrong action.

44. Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could … Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

It’s so easy to get caught up in regrets and “old nonsense.” Instead, treat each day as a fresh slate and a new opportunity to find happiness.

45. Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

Failure is such a major theme in mindset quotes because it has the power to torpedo ambitions or fuel success, depending almost entirely on how you look at it.

46. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the ones you did.

Avoid regrets by doing those things you dream about. Sure, things won’t always work out how you planned, but at least you’ll have tried!

'Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the ones you did.' – Mark TwainClick To Tweet

47. The problem human beings face is not that we aim too high and fail, but that we aim too low and succeed.

Michelangelo set his sights higher than any artist of his time, and his legacy is a testament to the power of imagination. Whatever you set out to create, reach beyond mediocrity.

48. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.

Another characteristic of a successful mindset is brutal honesty — especially when it comes to yourself. Knowing your flaws means you can work on improving them.

49. What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task.

Despite struggling more than most will ever have to, Viktor E. Frankl maintained his faith in humanity. He wrote that meaning is not found in complacency and comfort.

50. Whenever an individual or business decides that success has been attained, progress stops.

Entrepreneurs like Thomas J. Watson don’t stop to congratulate themselves for too long. They set the next goal and get back to work.

51. Improve by 1% a day, and in just 70 days, you’re twice as good.

Incremental changes add up to massive transformations. This quote is motivating on those days when you only have a tiny amount of effort to give.

52. We find comfort among those who agree with us and growth among those who don’t.

Seek out those who have different opinions, knowledge, and experience than you. There’s no growth to be found in an echo chamber.

53. The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year.

Thanks to John Foster Dulles, you can be sure tough problems don’t disappear when you are successful. As you move forward, you will face new problems with more knowledge and experience.

54. No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.

This mindset quote is so important in this time of continual distraction. It’s up to you to set aside the time for sustained thinking and creativity.

55. Only he who attempts the absurd is capable of achieving the impossible.

The artists, visionaries, and entrepreneurs in the world have a mindset of possibility — that’s what enables them to do what’s never been done before.

56. Luck is when an opportunity comes along and you’re prepared for it.

Luck is not a mysterious force that appears randomly. You can make your own luck by doing the work to prepare yourself for opportunities.

57. The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.

Motivational quotes like this one from Seth Godin are constantly telling you that to risk being wrong in order to accomplish anything.

'The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.' – Seth GodinClick To Tweet

58. Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity.

The world needs your outrageous ideas, crazy dreams, and unrealistic hope. If you believe it’s possible and you want it bad enough, make it happen.

59. We must get our hearts broken sometimes. This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.

Always risk breaking your heart, because what you gain is priceless. Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic is an inspiring book about creativity, that I recommend for anyone who is afraid to create — whether it’s a novel, a business, or a whole new life.

60. A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake.

The mindset quotes that speak to us about making mistakes are priceless. When you make a mistake, it’s only a failure if you don’t learn something.

61. The only true failure lies in the failure to start.

Being frozen at the start line is a familiar anxiety to many. With a mindset that embraces making mistakes, we can confidently take that first step and let go of the outcome.

62. Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must also step up the stairs.

Vaclav Havel had a vision, but it only resulted in positive change because he took the necessary steps — despite great personal risk — to make it a reality.

63. By amending our mistakes, we get wisdom. By defending our faults, we betray an unsound mind.

Humility is foundational to a productive mindset. And as the philosophy of Hui Neng states in this powerful quote, making mistakes is fine as long as you’re honest about your faults.

64. When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?

Influential figures like John Maynard Keynes didn’t accomplish anything by ignoring facts. If everyone could get comfortable saying, “I was wrong. I change my mind,” the world would be a better place.

65. The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make the most of yourself.

Self-improvement is more than a selfish quest for success and fulfillment. It’s also a way to improve the world around you by contributing your best work.

66. It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.

Brilliant scientists like Albert Einstein have a mindset that fosters creative problem-solving. That means spending as much time as it takes to find a solution, and not giving up until you do.

67. Don’t worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people.

This is an incredible shift in mindset, suggested by an expert in business innovation, Clayton Christensen. Instead of measuring success based on personal accolades, consider how many people you have helped. For example, to sell courses online, think about how you can help your audience.

68. To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.

69. Things don’t go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.

Keeping a positive mindset when bad things happen is not easy. This motivational quote from Samuel Johnson helps — getting broken down is part of becoming who you were meant to be.

70. Failure is success if we learn from it.

Turning failure into success is as easy as changing your mindset. When you see them as valuable learning opportunities, failures can’t stop you.

71. A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

Whether you call them haters, naysayers, or simply the status quo, there will always be people trying to keep you from going after your dreams. Enjoy the rush of proving them wrong.

72. History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.

It’s true that the most stunning victories often happen after the hardest struggle. If you get discouraged and give up, there’s zero chance of winning.

73. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

This motivational mindset quote can get you through those moments when you feel like giving up. It could be your very next attempt that works.

74. It takes 20 years to make an overnight success.

Looking at people who have “made it,” you can’t always see the work they put in behind the scenes. Success is rarely due to a single lucky break — put in the effort, and be ready for opportunities.

75. Unless you’re willing to have a go, fail miserably, and have another go, success won’t happen.

There’s no way to avoid failure, so you had best get comfortable with it. Take a closer look at any successful person and you will see a string of failed attempts in their past.

76. Everybody dies, but not everybody lives.

Are you really living, or just going through the motions?

77. There are three musts that hold us back: I must do well. You must treat me well. And the world must be easy.

These three things get right to the heart of how to think like an entrepreneur. If you can shed these “musts,” you gain resilience, humility, and determination in the face of challenge.

78. It is never too late to be what you might have been.

This quote is an inspiration to stop wishing for a different past. Instead, create a different future.

79. There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

This is not like most quotes about motivation — it’s about avoiding pain rather than chasing success. Maya Angelou is giving you a directive to create: write, paint, sing, sculpt, and avoid the pain of staying silent.

80. It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.

At first glance, this quote seems contradictory. How can you become who you already are? The answer is to stop living according to the expectations of others.

81. Knowing what is, and knowing what can be, are not the same thing.

Psychologist and mindfulness researcher Ellen Langer has written much on the subject of possibility. Her research proves that shifting awareness towards possibilities (and away from limitations) is transformative.

82. We should open ourselves to the impossible and embrace a psychology of possibility.

These mindset quotes from Ellen Langer reinforce the idea that changing your thoughts changes your reality. If you blindly accept that something can’t be done, you will never try.

83. Certainty is a cruel mindset. It hardens our minds against possibility.

If you are certain your circumstances can’t change, you will never try to improve them.

84. There is always a step small enough from where we are to get us to where we want to be. If we take that small step, there’s always another we can take, and eventually, a goal thought to be too far to reach becomes achievable.

Don’t worry if it seems too far away right now — it’s not impossible! Use a goal setting worksheet to help you break down your goals into achievable pieces.

85. Failure is not fatal, but failing to change might be.

This growth mindset quote from Coach John Wooden forces you to look at where you refusing to change. You have to change something to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again.

86. Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of being.

This takes a minute to sink in, but doesn’t it take the pressure off? Success isn’t about winning. It comes as a result of always working to improve yourself.

87. There isn’t a person anywhere who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can.

Your thoughts have so much power. Don’t put limitations on yourself before you truly know what’s possible.

88. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

The science of grit reveals that perseverance and sustained effort are more important than most other factors in achieving a goal. That means not giving up.

89. The best way to treat obstacles is to use them as stepping-stones. Laugh at them, tread on them, and let them lead you to something better.

Enid Blyton talks about treating obstacles with a playful and positive mindset.

90. Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.

Roger Crawford had more challenges than most athletes, but that didn’t stop him. He believed challenges would keep coming, and his job was to get past them.

91. The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.

To change your mindset away from negativity, focus on looking for the opportunity in any situation.

92. Today I shall behave as if this is the day I will be remembered.

Each day is part of our life story, whether we think about it or not. So why not make each one memorable in some way?

93. We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.

Maya Angelou writes about resilience in this inspiring mindset quote. You should never let failures and losses define you, or defeat you. Keep going.

94. Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.

Og Mandino, Greatest Salesman in the World, is all about the hustle quotes. When you’re determined to succeed, you can fail, shake it off, and try again as many times as it takes.

95. What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.

This mindset quote goes beyond the advice to face our fears. Ralph Waldo Emerson digs deeper and tells us to follow our fears. The things we avoid based on fear, are often the most necessary.

96. And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

The beautiful image in this quote from Anais Nin is powerful because it inspires such hope. We don’t have to be stuck forever — there is potential for growth when we are ready.

97. Sometimes you find out what you are supposed to be doing by doing the things you are not supposed to do.

There is wisdom in following curiosity. Instead of following the expectations of others, you can choose to do what excites you. That’s how you can find out who you really are.

98. Being a true badass has no weight or gender requirement — just 100% commitment to greatness.

It’s easy to focus on what other people have — talent, wealth, good genes — and get discouraged. What you can’t always see is the commitment and hard work behind the scenes.

99. You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime.

Eminem is not typically known for his motivational quotes, but this one hits me every time I hear it on the radio.

Life really is just a one-shot deal. Since you can’t do it over, all you have is right now to jump on every opportunity.

100. Create a vision and never let the environment, other people’s beliefs, or the limits of what has been done in the past shape your decisions.

Tony Robbins is not only an expert in motivation — he’s a master of belief. He teaches people to harness the power of thoughts and beliefs to transform their lives.

101. Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.

The time is now. Each day you put off taking action on your dreams, you risk losing the chance. Want to start a business? Choose one of these online business models and start today.

Use these motivation quotes for more than just motivation – take action!

As fun as a list of motivational quotes is to read, they are meant to inspire you to take action.

The goals you have for your career, business, and life – none of these can happen without you taking the action necessary to turn them into a reality.

So take just one of these quotes and use it – print it out, get it tattooed on your arm, whatever it takes. But use it to do work that matters to you.

You got this.

The post 101 Motivational Quotes: Simple Words to Change Your Life appeared first on Hack the Entrepreneur.

via Hack the Entrepreneur

[buildyourownthoughts-blog]

I QUIT MODELING / chapter 02

Every time you fight, you can win, lose or obey. 

After some time, more than a year, I felt worn out. I stopped to rebel against all of this irrational rules running the fashion industry and slowly started to accept them. I kept telling myself that in every job there is something one has to sacrifice, that it has to be like this. 

And again, some part of my mind, the same little fragment that was so scared and told me to run away from the agency when they were taking my first measurements, reminded me something that I was always sure about and what was later grounded in my mind with every single moment I spent on modeling: fashion industry (in its present form) is totally redundant. There’s no other branch of the market that in fact has completely no positive impact on people’s lives. Even though it gives people work, gives them opportunity to express themselves, still it causes way more harm than benefit. 

We don’t need fashion in it’s present form at all. We don’t need huge fashion companies that, in the sake of brand, sell their clothing for more than some families have for living per year, we don’t need fast fashion cruelly overusing under-paid labourers, we don’t need this fake picture of human body, finally: we don’t need to feel less worthy because we wear different clothes! Fashion industry has reversed our very fundamentals: people are made for clothes, not: clothes are made for people, as it should be.

However, my decision was made. I told myself I’ll check how it works myself, so there was no way back.

Eventually, after getting on even more strict diet (I was surprised it was even possible), working-out until I almost fainted every single day (how strong our will can be?), becoming more unhappy and miserable that I’ve ever been in my life and, in the end, landing in hospital with serious hormone imbalance, I’ve (almost) met agency’s expectations, meaning: I could’ve finally start to work… yay.

I must admit, I walked into modeling at a stage already perfectly matching its realities. Underweighted, destroyed inside, with this brand fake smile on my face. 

At this time I’ve also experienced a border situation in my life. One of my closest persons passed away, my whole world was falling apart and I had no time to give myself for mourning. Only few days after, I was smiling and laughing on the set, crying on the backstage. This is how next few months of my life looked like. 

I was overworked, overstressed. Working 5-9 as a graphic designer and copywriter, after coming home, freelancing in the same field - all because I wanted to pay off one-year design course I was doing on the weekends. Everyday at 10 pm, when I could barely kept my eyes open, I would go running for 6 km, because I was scared to gain even half kilo of weight. Every few days I would attend to a photoshoot or a fashion show. Never forgetting to put on my fake smile. 

Nobody wanted to see that I was literally falling apart. People on the set, agents, they only saw my body, they were satisfied with this smile on my face. Only my family and my close friends were looking into my eyes: empty, matte, deprived of any joy of life. They’ve seen beyond the walls I desperately trying to surround myself with.

I started to loose my hair - in clumps, at first I’ve ignored that, but soon I would wake up with my whole pillow covered with hair. I remember how terrified I was when I first saw that. My skin started to break out terribly on the cheeks, which has never happened to me before. My nails started to break, always being super strong and shiny before. I started to have extremely intense panic attacks, making me escape the office during working hours and run as long as I could breathe. I was coming back from work, closing apartment’s door, falling on the floor and crying until I was so tired, I would crawl to my bed and fall asleep. Quickly it became sort of a daily habit. 

I didn’t want to admit anybody that it actually was that bad. I would fake a smile even when I talked with my closest ones, I’ve mastered it. The last thing I wanted is them worrying about me. 

But my mum knew me, I could not fool her. She was persisting I should quit my both jobs, end with modeling and as soon as I finish design course, pack my things and come back home, just to let myself be a child for a while. There was a battle inside of me, as letting go of my responsibilities seemed to me tantamount to giving up - admitting that I am weak. But when worst came to the worst, I realised I had no idea who I was. I lost my identity. Facing it really scared me. Finally, I decided to do what my mum advised me. I came back home.

Even then, I didn’t want to give up on modeling. All because I was so harsh on myself, sticking to the decision I’ve made 1,5 year earlier. I was a wreck. I would cry everyday without direct reason, I forgot how it is to smile or laugh at all. I had no idea what was going on in my body, let alone my mind. 

I tried to seek for help everywhere. I spent hundreds zlotys trying to put things together somehow. I went to dietician, Chinese medical and many different doctors. I bought tones of supplements that I was told will surely help me. I spent another thousands on cosmeticians, dermatologists, trichologists and, as a consequence, on cosmetics (isn’t it ridiculous that I was way more dedicated to save my skin, my look, than my actual health?).

I was so despaired because suddenly, I lost whole control on my body. I started to blame myself for feeling so unspeakably sad - I knew I had so many things to be happy and thankful for, much more than half of our population has. Little did I know I should just give myself some time, let go of the pressure agency was creating. Instead, I kept torturing myself, asking why couldn’t I smile and laugh like others? I was so envy for my friends who were going crazy at parties, dancing, laughing without rest. Why every time I went to a party, cinema, meeting I was ending up locked in toilet, crying and biting my feasts not to scream? I really needed to find a solution. 

How was my modeling at that time? Obviously I was forcing myself to work because I didn’t want to disappoint the agency, I was going to photoshoots, listening how bad my skin and hair condition was, watching this contemptuous glances caused by the weight I gained. 

Frankly, I didn’t care. I went through all of this. I was washed off of emotions. I was driving on a barren gear. Nothing was left inside. Just pure emptiness and pain, spilling all over with it’s darkness. I’ve done another fashion show, some photoshoots. Eventually, the agency told me they cannot organise work for me, not if my skin and my body is in such a bad condition. They suggested that I should maybe, finally, do something about it. It was a closed circle, spinning.

  One day when I was eating breakfast with my parents, my mum told me that she saw a poster while doing groceries: there are dancing classes being organised in the neighbouring city. “That would be a nice entertainment for you” - she suggested, “You love to dance”. I did. But I was not sure if I can entertain myself anymore. There was something scary about it. Anyway, I took up dancing classes, which turned out to be a huge blessing to me. Finally I had something other than work and my falling apart self to focus on. 

After one month, when classes were finished, I finally decided to see a therapist. Way too late, but better late then never. I had only three sessions, whereas I expected to spend months and another big amount of money on this therapy. I received exactly what I needed. These conversations helped me to organise all of my thoughts and relief this load that I was carrying inside for many years already. For the very first time in a very long time I felt truly free. I remember how blissfully it was to wake up in the morning with a smile on my face. I literally forgot what it felt like to smile honestly, without forcing myself to do so.

It was just a first steps on the long path of the recovery and I still had a really long way ahead to actually feel good and happy. Even now, after a year, I’m still struggling with it sometimes.

I went to university and in free time was still doing modeling.

When the first semester was about to end, I came to my agency and asked them for abroad contract. One year before, they wanted me to go abroad - Hong Kong or maybe Kuala Lumpur. They’ve been persuading me it’s the perfect option for me: “Thousands of girls would kill to be where you are”. “Well, thousands of girls would kill not to be where I was” - I would answer in my thoughts. 

Back in that time it was a matter of choosing between contract or starting my studies. After couple-hour-long fight with my dad, when in the beginning I thought I was sure that I don’t want to study right now, I want to travel, see new places, have adventures, I realised I’m just fooling myself. I was lost because the agency had such a strong influence on my thoughts. I was lucky he fought so hard, because he knew me. I’ve chose studies and it was one of the best decisions in my life.

But now, when I was already studying, I decided I want to try, to see how this whole fashion industry really works. With my agent, we’ve planned a contract for summer school break. Mexico, Chile, maybe even New York. I was excited, I must admit. These were places I always wanted to go to. They also proposed me Istanbul and Dubai but I refused them right away. It was not a problem for them, they’ve sent my portfolio everywhere they wanted. It turned out that it’s too late for South America’s agencies, they were all booked. Still waiting for a response from New York, they got positive respond from Istanbul and started to persuade me to go there. 

In that time, the political situation in Turkey was very unstable, many terrorist attacks occurred in a short period of time. I was simply afraid to go there. I wanted to give myself time to think about it, but they said there’s no time, they have to reply that agency asap. They were putting so much pressure on me because I had to go for an abroad contract, no matter where. If I didn’t, there would be consequences.

I had no idea what to do. Somehow I managed to gain few more days. After few sleepless nights, lots of researches, speaking with few girls who’ve been there with the same agency, I decided: I’ll go there. I wanted to check it, give myself a try, see for myself how it actually is to be a model, challenge myself to survive in this world in a completely new place. At first they wanted to send me there for three months, I agreed, but I was frightened. Than, luckily, they’ve shortened it to two months. I had a flight booked on 2nd July.

[brieucpoulainphil3990]

Egalitarian Animal Rights: Calculating Your Animal Suffering Footprint

« It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have »[1]

James Baldwin, No Name in the Streets

« Ignorance is our species first line of defense. Yet, it is easy breached by anyone with the time and conviction to find out the truth. Ignorance has prevailed so long, only because people do not want to find out the truth »[2]

Shaun Monson, Earthlings

« And the reason for this ignorance is that a knowledge of the role these people played—and play —in American life would reveal more about America to Americans than Americans wish to know. »[3]

James Baldwin, Letter from a Region in My Mind

Differences of treatment based on arbitrary criteria prioritize individuals and allow some to enjoy privileges to the detriment of others. This construction of more or less privileged groups structures our society, which nevertheless claims the notion of equality. For a long time, however, people have contributed to revealing the social reality of the normative system and questioning its objective and universal appearances. Often through struggles for emancipation, they have undermined the axiom of the existence of a natural order, fundamental ideological support to discrimination and privileges that accompany them.

Anthropocentrism — the idea that humanity is the center and apogee of creation — derives from two systems of thought that reinforce each other: speciesism and carnism. Specism consists in granting less moral value to beings not belonging to the human species; Carnism, on the other hand, is the ideology which conditions us to consider as just, natural and necessary to eat, and more generally to subjugate, the members of certain animal species.The question of the moral status of animals, which is the raison d'être of animal ethics, therefore asks: are animals moral patients? Those who are engaged in the so-called animal liberation movement obviously answer in the affirmative and thus give animals, either to all or some of them, the quality of moral patient. As a consequence, whenever we, humans and moral agents, have a relationship with an animal who is also a moral patient, we have a responsibility to him and the way in which we treat him can be evaluated morally, characterized good, or bad.

The particular aspect that differentiates speciesism from racism and sexism lies in the fact that the difference in consideration and treatment of animals, in relation to humans, is a norm that is almost universally shared in our society. We live in a socially, institutionally and culturally speciesistic world. It is generally believed that speciesism is not discrimination like racism or sexism, because animals are really different. Unlike apartheid or segregation, which is no longer officially justifiable, both humans and animals are entitled to the treatment due to them, which differs according to their different nature. Thus, animals suffer from human beings a multitude of treatments. Whether they are produced for a particular purpose or taken from their environment, few escape the grip of the dominant species.

They are reproduced, fattened and killed on a scale never reached in history, cut up to be used as clothing or decorations, used to test weapons, pills or strippers, trained to attack or keep company, tamed to entertain in shows, captured to be visited in parks, fed, hunted, groomed, collected, mounted, for pleasure or profit[4]. The list is not exhaustive but sufficient to conclude that almost everything can be done to animals as long as they are not human. Indeed, men reserve for animals a fate that would be considered unacceptable and deeply unfair if it concerned human beings.

In a book suggesting that the industrialization of animal slaughter was the prelude to the Shoah, historian Charles Patterson presents the contemporary slaughterhouse as a scary, grimy and violent place[5]. In support of his argument, the author repeatedly quotes the work of the English artist Sue Coe. At the end of a multi-week survey in American slaughterhouses, the latter composed several painting representing it : cruel-faced men armed with whips, or even laughing men, killing beasts.

Small Factory Farm, 2010, from Sue Coe's book Cruel.

As for the other categories (gender for example), there is no logical link between biological differences and the reality of oppression, between justification and the act it is supposed to defend. The fundamental criteria that distinguish all human beings from all animals tell us nothing about the social dimension of the treatment we give them. This logic, similar to that found with racism and sexism, consists in hiding behind a veil of objectivity, a screen of a natural order, a reality that is only the result of power relations. There is no objective argument that justifies speciesism. We exploit and kill animals because we have the power.

In response to this institutionalized cruelty, the injunction to become vegan flourishes everywhere. It seems to be the universal rallying cry of the animal defenders. Such a position arouses the virulent disapproval of the food industry, but also, more surprisingly, some members of the animalist movement. They accuse the vegan lifestyle of losing sight of the fact that the refusal to eat eggs and fish or to wear leather is essentially a requirement of fundamental justice. Vegans would be pleased to find new plant-based meat replacements in stores, while billions of susceptible individuals continue to be exploited and killed. Veganism would only be a form of consumerism sprinkled with good conscience and self-satisfaction.

Go Vegan and nobody gets hurt, 2010, from Sue Coe's book Cruel.

All of these reflections, which use various means and reach sometimes conflicting conclusions, nevertheless share the same indignation at the violence suffered by animals. It remains to ensure that, in practical terms, this movement assumes all its consequences, so that the "animal question" is not only an intellectual posture but also a social awareness that changes the life of animals in the long term and make us better.

Questions 

Are feminist, post-colonial and anti-speciesist struggles capable of a genuine intersectionality?

Veganism, at the crossroads between diet and social project, is it going to become the norm? 

Word Count : 1099

Bibliography

Baldwin, James. No Name in the Street. New York: Vintage International, Vintage Books, 2007.

Monson, Shaun, Persia White, Moby, and Joaquin Phoenix. 2010. Earthlings. [Burbank, CA]: Earthlings.com.

Baldwin, James. Letter from a Region in My Mind. New York: Vintage International, Vintage Books, 2007.

Monson, Shaun, Persia White, Moby, and Joaquin Phoenix. 2010. Earthlings. [Burbank, CA]: Earthlings.com.

Patterson, Charles. Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust. New York: Lantern Books, 2002.

[underabr0kensky]

this is fuck-mothering huge

1. If you didn't have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time? My best friend and I talk about this all the time. I’d spend a shitload more time on my hobbies, probably. Literally just write/play guitar/work out all the time. Also probably drink a lot more too, so maybe it’s good that sleep is necessary.

2. What is your favorite piece of clothing you own / owned? I’m actually not sure. I like my band T-shirts, but I don’t think I have a favorite. Maybe my camo pants since they’re actual army fatigues and they’re comfy as fuck and have like four thousand pockets.

3. What hobby would you pick up if time & money weren't an issue? Stunt driving, probably. I’ve been drifting a few times and it’s fun as fuck but I don’t have the car for it. A Solara is not meant to do that shit.

4. What does your perfect room look like? Something with a big ass window overlooking a forest that I can shut with panels so my room is completely dark, and one of those crazy fucking beds that has a TV built into it. Also shitloads of band and boxing posters and a metric fuck-ton of anime figures and dragon statues and other such nerdy shit in a display case. Also a cat somewhere, and my girlfriend curled up next to me.

5. How often do you play sports? I don’t. I’m not really into sports at all, except for boxing and some football.

6. What fictional place would you like to visit? There are many. Hogwarts/Hogsmeade, Cairhien, Misaki Town, Fuyuki City, Aincrad, Akihabara (the one from Log Horizon, I know that’s actually a real city as well you smartass), literally anywhere in the Dragon Universe, Destiny Islands, Hollow Bastion, there are so fucking many.

7. What job would you be terrible at? Anything that involves a lot of pressure. I like cooking, but I could never work as a chef. The stress would crack me instantly.

8. When was the last time you climbed a tree? When I was a kid. I used to do that a lot actually. There’s a big fuckhuge maple tree my dad planted at the house we used to live in back before I was born, and it’s massive now.

9. If you could turn any activity into an Olympic sport, what would you have a good chance of winning a medal for? Playing Dark Souls. I’d win gold, silver, and bronze. GITGUD.

10. What is the most annoying habit that you or other people have? I do that leg bouncing thing all the time, it pisses people off.

11. What job do you think you'd be really good at? Honestly I think I’d be a good therapist. I’m a fucked up person so I understand where most people are coming from, I love making people feel better, and I’m not one to think someone else’s feelings aren’t valid just because someone somewhere has it worse.

12. What skill would you like to master? Guitar. I know I’m good, but I’m nowhere near a master.

13. What would be the most amazing adventure to go on? Anything involving hikes in places like those you see on the crazy nature pictures on here. Those things make me hate living in shitty Tennessee.

14. If you had unlimited funds to build a house to live on for the rest of your life, what would the finished house look like? Probably two floors and a basement, Victorian style, somewhere surrounded by wilderness. A garage, a storm cellar, I’m not gonna sit here and describe the interior but it would be fancy but not stuffy or pretentious, just obviously very well-to-do. I like nice things, sue me.

15. What's your favorite drink? Lemonade. Also Mountain Dew.

16. What state or country do you never want to go back to? Mississippi. Why the fuck is the spelling so retarded, for one. That place isn’t even a state, it’s a cess pit. Half the fucking roads don’t have streetlights. I drove for a goddamn hour and didn’t see a Walmart or anything other than an occasional shitty little gas station. Why is it real. I bet they don’t even have running water. Do not fucking go to Mississippi.

17. What songs do you have completely memorized? Shitloads of Metallica songs, also a lot of pop songs because I’m a cuck apparently.

18. What game or movie universe would you like to live in? The Kingdom Hearts universe. Everything is a world. You could go anywhere.

19. What do you consider to be your best find? That’s a weird question. Probably my girlfriend. :P

20. Are you usually early or late? Early because I’m paranoid about showing up late.

21. What pets did you have when you were growing up? Mouse and Alex. My kittehs. I miss them a lot. And random reptiles and amphibians.

22. When people come to you for help, what do they usually need help with? Usually emotional support.

23. What takes up too much of your time? FUCKING WORK.

24. What do you wish you knew more about? A lot of things. The ocean, space, how time works, mythology, physics, dark matter.

25. What would be your first question after waking up from being frozen for 100 years? “Is VR like Sword Art yet?”

26. What are some small things that make your day better? Özge, music, nice weather, and good food.

27. Who's your go-to band or artist when you don't know who or what to listen to? That actually changes a lot. Usually it’s Metallica.

28. What's the best way to start the day? Get up and not wish I hadn’t done that.

29. What TV shows do you like? House M.D., Criminal Minds, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Luther, The Colony, Firefly, Game of Thrones, Dr. Who, general anime.

30. What TV channel doesn't exist but really should? What a fucking weird question. I have no idea. Maybe a channel dedicated to the weekly teaching of guitar techniques or something.

31. Who has impressed you most with what they've accomplished? Özge, definitely, for not drinking. I’m really proud of her.

32. What age do you wish you could stay at permanently? I dunno, maybe 21.

33. What TV show or movie do you refuse to watch? Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I watched a bit of it and holy fucking god, it sucked. I will never try again.

34. What's your ideal way to spend a weekend? Well I work weekends. But I like chilling with the guys and playing games, getting drunk, and watching movies.

35. What is something that is considered a luxury, but you don't think you could live without? The Internet, but it shouldn’t be considered a luxury. Not having the Internet basically means you’re fucked.

36. What is your claim to fame? Uh. I can play guitar really well? I was the frontman for Distortion Sleep? Some people still recognize us in public, it’s kind of saddening.

37. What is something you enjoy doing the old-fashioned way? Nothing, really. i like convenience.

38. What's your favorite book or movie genre? Horror, I believe. Or drama. Or fantasy.

39. How often do you people-watch? Not very often. I don’t like people.

40. What have you only recently formed an opinion about? I can’t think of anything. Islam, perhaps.

41. What's the best day of the year? Whatever day is the first day of a long vacation.

42. What subject interests you that not many people have heard of? Dark matter.

43. How do you relax after a long day of work? With a drink or by working out.

44. What's the best book series or TV series you've ever read or watched? Best book series is Wheel of Time.

45. Where is the farthest you've ever been from home? Probably when I was in Manhattan or San Diego.

46. What's the most heartwarming thing you've ever seen? Some of the stuff I’ve seen on here is pretty heartwarming. The little kid giving the toy garbage truck to the garbage guys was adorable.

47. What is the most annoying question people ask you? “What aisle is the bread on?” I dunno maybe the fucking aisle that says “BREAD” you piece of shit

48. What could you give a 40-minute presentation on with no preparation? Guitar. I could babble about that shit for hours.

49. If you were the dictator on a small island nation, what crazy dictator stuff would you do? Ban fedoras. Make everyone own a cat. Make one person at random per week submit their cat to me for a 24-hour checkup that is really just me cuddling and playing with the cat. Make Mountain Dew a fundamental human right. Homophobes shall be met with swift death. Somehow kidnap Trump and lock him in a cage. Flog him whenever people get bored, angry, hungry, or if they just want to.

50. What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives? Eat authentic Italian food. Like in a restaurant where the chefs are people who immigrated from Italy. That shit is dope.

51. Would you rather go hand gliding or whitewater rafting? That’s tough, but hang gliding. I like the sky.

52. What's your dream car? A Lamborghini Diablo SE-30.

53. What's worth spending more on to get the best? Food.

54. What is something a ton of people are obsessed with, but you just don't get? Supernatural. I think that show is a piece of shit with some of the worst acting and dialogue I’ve ever seen.

55. What are you most looking forward to in the next 10 years? Moving away from here, hopefully getting a place with her, hopefully being financially stable.

56. Where is the most interesting place you've been? South Dakota. Going to the north during winter was an experience.

57. What's something you've been meaning to try but haven't gotten around to it? Acid. no seriously, I want to trip balls.

58. What is the best thing that happened to you last week? I went to MTAC.

59. What piece of entertainment do you wish you could erase from your mind, only to experience it for the first time again? My friend and I talk about this all the time. The first time we heard “Disconnected” by In Flames it was like a fucking epiphany. I’d like to do that again.

60. If all jobs had the same pay rate and hours, what job would you want to have? I’d be a mystery shopper. That’s so trollzy.

61. What amazing thing have you done that no one was around to see? This one time a wasp flew at me while I was holding a stick so I swung the stick at it in a futile attempt to save myself and I just fucking wrecked this thing, the sound of the stick hitting its body was audible. Punk bitch ass wasp didn’t know who he was fucking with.

62. How different was your life 1 year ago? Extremely different, my life 1 year ago was utter shit.

63. What quirks do you have? I fuck with my hair a lot.

64. What would you rate 10/10? My girlfriend. And Italian food.

65. What fad or trend do you think should come back? Nothing I can think of, fads are dumb.

66. What is the most interesting piece of art you've seen? I have no idea. It’s hard to impress me with art because so much of it is bullshit nowadays, somebody just flings paint onto a canvas and calls it art. My friend Lara does some pretty fucking intense stuff though, she’s really talented with dot art.

67. What kind of art do you enjoy most? Anything abstract and weird.

68. What do you hope never changes? The relationship I’m in, unless it changes for the better.

69. What city would you most like to live in? Berlin :D Or San Diego but only if she’s with me.

70. What movie title best describes your life? I dunno, is there a movie called “What the Fuck is Going On?”?

71. Why did you decide to do the work you are doing now? Because I needed money. I hate my job.

72. What's the best way a person can spend their time? Doing stuff they love.

73. If you suddenly became a master at woodworking, what would you make? That would be fucking cool. Probably just random models of stuff I find interesting. Honestly might carve anime figures and sell them.

74. Where is the most relaxing place you've ever been? The ocean. The waves are chill.

75. What's the luckiest thing that has ever happened to you? I met her on here :) And I got pulled up onstage at a Five Finger Death Punch concert.

76. Where would you rather be from? Germany.

77. What are some things you've had to unlearn? I used to have a lisp and I trained myself to get rid of it.

78. What do you look forward to in the next 6 months? Saving money, eventually going to see her. Also the fair.

79. What website do you visit most often? Probably this one.

80. What one thing do you really want but can't afford? A Lambo, a house, a fucking planet ticket to Berlin goddamn it why are they so expensive fuck god

81. Where do you usually go when you have free time? My room. My cave. My fortress of solitude.

82. Where would you spend all your time if you could? In Germany with her.

83. What's special about the place you grew up? Honestly fucking nothing. Lebanon sucks, there’s nothing there and all the people are shit.

84. What age do you want to live to? I’d like to live to like 400 just to see where the world goes. If it goes south I can just eat a bullet.

85. What are you most likely to become famous for? Music, I hope.

86. What are you absolutely determined to do? Visit Germany.

87. What is the most impressive thing you know how to do? Play guitar really well. Also beat Through the Fire and Flames on expert.

88. What do you wish you knew more about? You asked me this already you insensitive bastard

89. What question would you most like to know the answer to? What the fuck is all of this shit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsAg8MzwM9A

90. What question can you ask to find out the most about a person? Ask how they view other people I suppose.

91. When was the last time you changed your opinion or belief about something major? Probably about Özge explained a lot of stuff about Islam to me.

92. What's the best compliment you've ever received? I love being called “handsome”. It’s such an underappreciated and underused compliment.

93. As the only human left on earth, what would you do? Get really drunk and then end myself. Seriously that would fucking suck.

94. Who inspires you to be better? My girlfriend. I’ve gotten a lot better because of how supportive she is.

95. What do you want your epitaph to be? “One more shot won’t kill me” but only if one more did indeed kill me.

96. What haven't you grown out of? Anime and stuffed animals.

97. In what situation or place would you feel most out of place in? Church. Anytime I go to a church I feel fucking awkward.

98. What's the dumbest thing you've done that actually turned out pretty well? Well my best friend and I bought a bus and defaulted on our lease to live on it. That was fucking stupid, but it taught me a lot of things.

99. If someone wrote a book on an event in your life, what would the book be about? The bus incident. We’ve actually talked about writing a book about it because of what a fucking fiasco it was to even get the thing.

100. What's something you will never do again? Buy a fucking bus. And ruin my relationship.

101. How do you hope you'll change as a person in the future? Hopefully I won’t drink so much and I won’t be so insecure.

102. What keeps you up at night? Stress, usually.

103. What's the most surprising self-realization you've had? “Holy fuck, I was emotionally abused and then I emotionally abused someone.” And then I started drinking too much.

104. What is the most illegal thing you've ever done? Many things. Probably shoplifting, I used to do that fairly frequently because I was a stupid kid.

105. How do you get in the way of your own success? By being too insecure to try.

106. What are you afraid people see when they look at you? My stupid fucking smile, ugh.

107. What is your biggest regret? Fucking things up with her, but I did it and I can’t change it, I just need to not do it to anyone else.

108. What do you look down on people for? Being homophobic or bigoted in any other way.

109. What bridges do you not regret burning? There aren’t many. I suck at letting people go.

110. What lie do you tell most often? “I’m sick”

111. What would be your spirit animal? A cat, I bet.

112. What is the best & worst thing about getting older? You stop being stupid, but you start needing to watch what you eat.

113. What are you most likely very wrong about? Nothing. I know everything. I am never wrong. If you disagree, you prove your incompetence. Bow to me, mortal.

114. If you had a personal flag, what would be on it? A weird cube shape that we used to use for Distortion Sleep.

115. What's happened that changed your view on the world? Well we elected Trump as president so I think we’re all fucked.

116. What is the biggest lesson you've learned? Don’t let insecurity make you an asshole.

117. What is the most immature thing you do? I dunno, skip work?

118. What are you famous for among your friends & family? My guitar and singing skillz yo.

119. If your childhood had a smell, what would it be? Peanut butter and jelly.

120. What one responsibility do you wish you didn't have? Having a fucking job.

121. What are 3 things you want to accomplish before you die? Visit a bunch of different places, make a career out of music, beat the dogshit out of a rapist.

122. What do you want to tell your 10-year-old self? “Start playing guitar you stupid fuck”

123. What's the best thing you got from your parents? My musical ability.

124. What's the best thing about you? I’m compassionate I suppose.

125. What blows your mind? Space and the ocean. Dude that shit is cray cray.

126. Have you ever saved someone's life? Yeah, I have.

127. What are you really good at but embarrassed to be good at? I’m not embarrassed to be good at anything.

128. What would a mirror opposite of you look like? Someone who isn’t sexy as fuck.

129. What are 3 interesting facts about you? I can curl my tongue, I talked to Arnold Schwarzenegger on the phone once, and I hit a golf ball so hard it exploded.

130. Which of your scars has the best story behind it? I have a big scar on my right hand from when I jumped down off my bed and my hand came down on my guitar’s head stock. It almost punched through the back of my hand and it was so painful I almost blacked out. I had stitches for like two months. Holy fuck it was so shitty.

131. What's the title of the current chapter in your life? “Recovery”

132. What were some of the biggest turning points in your life? Dropping out of college, starting the first band, meeting Jessica, meeting Özge.

133. What's the hardest lesson you've learned? Sometimes if you fuck something up badly enough, it can’t ever be fixed, even if both people forgive each other.

134. What do people think is weird about you? I slouch really badly.

135. What mistake do you keep making? I drink too much.

136. What have you created that you're most proud of? I wrote a song called “Alone Sleep Ghosts” that is better than anything I’ve ever written and it will probably never be topped.

137. What do you doubt? Myself, all the time.

138. What are some of your morals? Don’t be a bigoted fuckhole.

139. What do you want to be remembered for? My music and my compassion.

140. What do you regret not doing in your childhood years? Picking up guitar earlier.

141. What is your favorite fragrance? Flowery perfumes. Also cooking food.

142. What do you think your last words will be? “Is Tsukihime 2 out yet?”

143. Who or what do you take for granted? I try not to take anything for granted, but most modern conveniences.

144. Why would you be annoying as a roommate? Not at all because I’d stay in my room constantly.

145. What is something you're insecure about? Being replaced.

146. What's the best & worst piece of advice you've received? Best: Don’t let your insecurities ruin your life. Worst: Just do what you love, don’t worry about how much money it makes you.

147. What irrational fears do you have? Spiders, broken glass, needles, and being hurt emotionally.

148. What makes a good life? Being with someone you love and being financially stable.

149. What's the last adventure you went on? We traveled to Georgia for a LARP last year.

150. What is the most memorable gift you've received? The cards that Jess sent me.

[joescanlan-blog]

Fun’s Not Dumb: An Art World of Entertainment

For a while there, many lived under the delusion that comprehensive exhibitions about relevant cultural phenomena had the power to become paradigm-shifting events, not only for art but for the culture-at-large. Students of history will recall Harald Szeeman’s “ When Attitudes Become From” at Kunstalle Bern in 1996, or Thomas Lawson’s “A Fatal Attraction: Art and the Media” at The Renaissance Society in 1982, or even Elizabeth Sussman’s 1993 Whitney Biennial—exhibitions that officially acknowledged coming changes in the accepted form and content of art. Of course, such “ timely” exhibitions marked the end rather than the beginning of the trends they chronicled and painstakingly maintained the perception of art as a harbinger of things to come.

Art continues to enjoy the illusion of cultural authority, not because it is vital or intelligent but because it refuses to recognize its competition. In fact, Szeeman’s show postdates Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media by five years, Lawson’s the home video recorder by seven, and even Sussmans’s—diverse as it was by art-world standards—appears in hindsight to be a mere provincial reflection on the democratization of the Internet. “ Let’s Entertain: Life’s Guilty Pleasures,” a show organized by Philippe Vergne at the Walker Art Center, tries to embrace the notion of art as just another form of popular culture, without being critical or condescending. And while I doubt that it will be as paradigmatic as the iMac or the Star Wars trilogy—which is, by the way, the height of the bar these days—the exhibition is nonetheless an impressive, if problematic, arm’s-length look at one of the art world’s more uncomfortable taboos.

Art history abounds with aphorisms denigrating all forms of audience concession, from Andy Warhol’s “Cute rots the intellect” to Oscar Wilde’s “Art should not try to be popular, the public should make itself more artistic.” Disdain for popular appeal, however, often masks a jealous desire for the breadth of influence and depth of feeling that entertainment imparts on the general public. Indeed, in “Come Back to Pleasure,” the keynote essay in the exhibition catalogue, philosopher Richard Shusterman credits no less a snob than T.S. Eliot with the remark that the poet “ would like to be something of a popular entertainer…As things are, and as fundamentally they must always be, poetry is not a career, but a mug’s game.” Of course, in the mug’s game of entertainment, the audience either already knows the source or simply assumes the present mug has invented it. The free use of good material is a vital aspect of the entertainment industry, from song hooks and sitcom quips to computer animation and period drama. Familiarity breeds success, and the dizzying speed at which a phrase or gesture can be assimilated is the main reason such phenomena are not taken seriously. “Let’s Entertain” begs to differ—largely on the premise that pleasure and democracy have replaced difficulty and elitism as yardsticks of important art. In so doing, it suggests that power, culture, and class politics have entered into serious flux.

There is no better evidence of this Machiavellian shift than a 1980 appearance by Johnny Lydon on American Bandstand. Video tape of the performance is one of the earliest bits of evidence in “Let’s Entertain,” and the ethical question of whether Lydon has “evolved” or “sold out” haunts all those who follow. With the Sex Pistols gone in a burst of flames and wreckage, Lydon’s reincarnation as the frontman for Public Image Limited averred that anarchy was no longer an agent for social change. By appearing to give the public what it wanted, the slick, media-friendly PIL suggested that a darker, more insidious form of cynicism than punk might be, well, catchy lyrics and a danceable beat. Throughout the performance, Lyndon flaunts the fact that he is lip-syncing (then still an industry no-no), and at one point even sticks his microphone to a young woman’s lips just in time for her to mouth his next lyric. It’s a great, black, hopeless bit of humor that has the effect of setting you free.

This precious moment is a how-to video for viewing the rest of the show. Where art institutions have a long legacy of promoting art as a means of social betterment—regarding its viewers as passive subjects in need of inoculation against the baseness of more popular diversions—Lydon regards his shiny young fans as willing recipients of an infection. The idea of entertainment as a virus is well-exploited by popular music and film, but it was not until the late nineteen seventies that visual artists became knowingly and willingly contaminated, treating their minds and bodies like lengths of pipe through which so much behavioral information flows. And while “Let’s Entertain” accurately identifies the beginning of art’s liberation from forty years in the Modernist desert, much of the recent work in the show adds little to the instincts of Lydon’s generation.

Such is the case with Kyupi Kyupi, a current Japanese collaboration that makes music, videos, and performances that get spun off as CDs and books. Assuming the mantle of such nineteen-seventies art-school-assignments-turned-pop-culture-footnotes as Devo or Kraftwerk, Kyupi Kyupi takes the anxiety of influence one step further—by leaving out the anxiety part altogether, demonstrating a lack of interest in subverting anything except the expectation of art as subversion. Fishheads (1999-2000) is a short videotape in which three young men are dressed in primary-colored wetsuits with matching fishhead-shaped helmets. They do some primitive, martial choreography for a while before pursuing a leggy, Japanese version of Pam Grier. Or is that a Pam Grier version of a Japanese? Who cares? Decisions get made, things happen, the tape ends. That’s about it.

I like that approach to art-making and even admire its expendability. However, Kyupi Kyupi’s antics too often typify Vergne’s criteria for what it means to be entertaining, implying that all entertainment, by its very definition, is vacuous, derivative, and forgettable. This explains the “Life’s Guilty Pleasures” apology that is the tag line of the show, as if running home to watch The Simpsons was morally inferior to running out to see your local William Kentridge retrospective. Thus, my disappointment with “Let’s Entertain” is that it hypes a clichéd, obsequious notion of entertainment over subtler or nastier forms, a slant that not only limits the possibilities of the premise but also betrays a lack of confidence in the viewer’s ability to be comfortable with what they like. To my mind, Stan Douglas is more entertaining than Piotr Uklanski, but I doubt Douglas’s Monodramas—a series of short establishing shots lacking any subsequent action or dialogue—will get held up as an example of good entertainment to the same extent that Uklanski’s readymade installations of disco floors and mirrored balls are.

While it could be suggested that “Let’s Entertain” merely wants to knock art down a peg or two in the process of making it more competitive with the wider culture, I would counter that in its haste to be immediately relevant it obliterates the arcana that is art’s strength. Instant Gratification can be fun, but some things are ultimately more desirable when they’re at least unfamiliar, if not offensive. Indeed, that may be precisely the effect “Let’s Entertain” will have on the art world, but such discomfort is still rooted in an unwillingness to consider art as entertainment in the first place. If bearing the anxiety of whether or not we’re attracted to art is the foundation of the pleasure it gives us, then whatever anxiety “Let’s Entertain” induces only serves to entrench an old belief: that art is special and everything else is not, until proven otherwise (as art).

This class distinction is underscored by the fact that some of art’s most impressive entertainers are not part of the exhibition. Had Edward Ruscha or Allen Ruppersberg been included in the show—let alone Laurie Anderson, Talking Heads, or Sonic Youth—then most of the art in “ Let’s Entertain” would pale in comparison. Furthermore, while Dike Blair’s collected interviews with Karen Daroff (theme restaurant designer), Jonathan Ive (Apple Computers), J Mays (vw bug), Gordon Thompson III (Nike), and Jack Womack (pulp-fiction writer) in the catalogue demonstrate a prescient eye for the cultural powerbrokers of our time, their inclusion in the discussion ultimately serves to make art seem all the more puny and derivative. Which is fine, if art is willing to acknowledge the fact that it is puny and derivative, in which case we’d finally be free to enjoy whatever great or small insights our experience of it might give us.

Musician Kim Gordon once observed that, after Pop art, it is better to enter into popular culture than to go on making art that merely comments on it. She was right, but being right means having to be truly competitive in you cultural field of choice. This is neither an easy nor very promising task for contemporary artists, unless we approach art as just another form of popular culture. In such an environment, many of today’s artists no longer make “ challenging” work but work that commands an exclusive market niche, a brand of structural rigor and dry humor that reflects the consumption patterns of a small but loyal demographic. Does that make their work any less interesting? No. Does it shed light on their motivations and demonstrate that their works are not tainted by the admission of a little audience savvy? Certainly.

For example, in Fresh Acconci (1995), Mike Kelley and Paul McCarthy put their marketing pitch up front as the simultaneously transform it into art. In the original videotapes, Vito Acconci’s lugubrious threats and come-ons are a kind of last stand of the self, a schizophrenic whose livelihood depends on his ability to persuade us of his fears and desires. In Kelley and McCarthy’s remake, Acconci’s scripts have been slavishly adhered to, but their mood has been radically altered through the use of spokesmodels and exercise video extras who are by turns reclining languorously on a bearskin rug, tangling in a sudsy tub, or wrestling in a stucco rotunda. Whatever angst dripped from Acconci’s originals has been burned off by movie lights, replacing Acconci’s lone rendition of the self with no less sinister, interchangeable androids. Fresh Acconci’s “fuck you, here’s more of the same, on re-mastered” attitude is a blunt acknowledgement of the pre-packaged art historical legitimacy that can separate a knowing artist from the pack.

Thirty-three years ago, Robert Smithson was complaining about curators wanting to liven things up in museums, tending to make of them a kind of specialized entertainment venue. (Smithson, of course, preferred the institution’s inherent emptiness to the human impulse to “fill it up.” ) It apparently never occurred to Smithson that museums had always been in the business of specialized entertainment, nor did it occur to him that his concepts of emptiness and displacement could just as well be seen as sly inversions of industry standards, no more or less clever than Jerry Seinfeld’s television show about nothing or Gary Shandling’s partially buried career. Most importantly, entertainment itself might be a kind of profound emptiness. Indeed, the only thing emptier than an empty museum might be a museum full of entertainment. What’s interesting now about museums is the fact that it really doesn’t make much difference whether their “emptiness” is provided by Robert Smithson or Maurizio Cattelan—just so their ever-expanding spaces get filled. That’s neither the fault nor the revelation of “Let’s Entertain,” merely the condition it finds itself observing without the nerve to be skeptical of it.

No matter. I have only ever been interested in art because I found it entertaining, and while I can’t understand why someone would look at art for any other reason, I would also suggest that no one really does. I know that there are people who look at art because they believe its good for them, and that there are just as many whose livelihood is to propagate that belief, but doing something because it’s good for you still boils down to the desire to be entertained by your own behavior. If I have a predilection for Samuel Beckett or Agnes Martin, then it’s because I find their work entertaining—and, of course, beautiful. That doesn’t make me special, just a particular (and marginally profitable) consumer whose favorite products are seldom on the display. Were such artists presented as the unadorned Wasa crackers that they are, instead of birthday cakes with useful implements hidden inside, then their infrequent appearances might at least be accompanied by a less desperate, more contented mood, one that refrains from ascribing reasons and simply acknowledges our delight in their existence.

First Published in Art Issues 64 (Sept., 2000): 20-22.

Visit Joe Scanlan’s website to see more of his written works.