1. College applications will finally be over and I can focus on photography.
2. College applications will finally be over and I can focus on blogging.
3. College applications will finally be over and I can focus on reading.
Did i mention.. COLLEGE APPS WILL FINALLY BE OVER?
The list goes backwards, so let the best be saved for last!
10. San Diego City
This was photo was taken in downtown San Diego out of a car window, while my family looked through various apartments my cousin.
9. With A Thousand Words To Say But One
8. No Escape
7. Tiny
When I first posted this photo to Flickr, my friend called to tell me that this was his favorite picture of mine. I didn’t understand what was so special about it, it seemed a bit too simple to me. Apparently the people on Flickr have sided with my friend as this photo comes in at number 7 on my most interesting list. Continue reading
“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.”
– Ernest Hemingway
I just finished reading Steve Jobs, a biography by Walter Isaacson and all I can say is what a captivating story.
After steadily reading through his experience, I was amazed, in-awe, sometimes baffled but ultimately inspired by his rather nontraditional approach to business and life. Here’s what I took away from this man’s more than remarkable life:
1. Simplicity Is The Ultimate Sophistication. This was the motto Jobs swore by when it came to product design and the user experience. He took great pride in his work and considered himself to be an artist, hence the saying from Da Vinci. He was constantly striving for perfection and settled for nothing less, always pushing things to be simpler (i.e. additional/excessive options to be taken out of software, and the fewer buttons on hardware the better).
Applied on the broader of scale of life, I feel that people have always wished to obtain this level of simplicity within their lives because it speaks of something pleasant. The paradoxical nature of the statement — just as life is a paradox itself — implies serenity and elegance at the same time. Somewhat of a perfect balance if you will between all that is good and bad. But such simplicity does not come knocking on one’s door for acceptance. Nothing short of diligence will pave the way for this to become true. You have to work in order to become what you envision.
2. People DO Judge A Book By Its Cover. Forget the folly and hogwash that says otherwise. It’s not true, its shit (I think “shit” was one of Steve Jobs’ favorite words, I can’t recount the number of times I read it in the book). It’s undeniable — and sometimes somewhat sad — that people value convenience so highly. And without a doubt, it is much more convenient to judge something by the way it looks, whether it be a product, book, or even a person, rather than getting down and dirty with the facts. This is especially true for first impressions. I’m not advocating its right, only that its fact, and an inevitable part of life we must accept.
3. Unconventional Success Comes From Unconventional Means. Think outside the box. Actually… Think outside two boxes? Is that even possible? I’m not entirely sure, but what I do know is Steve Jobs success came from making some very unique decisions in his life time. The man dropped out of college and used to drop acid for starters. Furthermore, he refused to acknowledge some of the golden rules of business, such as acknowledging that the customer is always right as well as methods of market research. Yet… He ran one of the biggest companies in the economy today that once had more money that U.S. Treasury at one brief point in time. Rather astonishing, isn’t it? Now, it’s not to say that every college drop out or acid user would render the same luck. This man was truly and uniquely brilliant.
4. The Impossible Is Very Possible. Jobs was known for being very convincing, from his stare to the way he talked you, you were some how going to end up seeing things he way. He demanded the impossible and more importantly than that he got just what he asked for. He was able to convince vendors as well as fellow employees to make ridiculous and unheard of deadlines. It just goes to show, you really never know what you are capable of until you put your mind to it. If you happen to think that you might not be able to do something, the only thing that you are limiting is your own potential, and then nothing gets done.
This has more than likely already been said before, but it deserves to be said again. There is no doubt that Steve Jobs is was one of the greatest innovators of all time. A one of kind hero that has made his lasting mark in the world; who spread his influence not only through the previous decades, but has surely affected the ones to come as well.
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” (Apple, “Think Different”, 1997)
via Flickr
**Forgive the title and its play on the notorious 1950′s movie Rebel Without A Cause. In no way does this post deal with issues of teenage angst, the undeniably classy style of the 1950′s, or trying to look as cool as James Dean while smoking a cigarette.**
lifemagazineconnection.com
On a more serious note, I recently bought a copy of Steve Job’s biography and while reading through it the topic of religion caught my eye. It would be the cover of the 1968 July issue of Life magazine, a cover which depicted starving children during the war of Biafra, that would be the deal-breaker for Mr. Jobs, ultimately causing him to part ways with God. Although I’ve heard this kind of rationalization before I found myself more intrigued by it than ever.
A year ago during my Intro to Philosophy class, we explored and questioned the possibility of a Creator. Everyone against the fact had similar reasoning. How could a being so divine, infinite, and perfect render a creation so limited and far from the perfection it stemmed from? Why, if the world came from perfection, is it then plagued with so many problems?
It can be very frustrating to digest these conflicting points of interest. Lets face it, people want to live up above in the heavens while in reality we’re suck in middle-ground. Is the world flawed? Most definitely. But what good does poking holes in all the misfortunes achieve? More self-awareness? A better sense of being? Regardless of the latter, the injustices we see and publicize so often in the media are not corrected just by watching on our part. In over-evaluating ourselves, we lose sight in what we can achieve by fixing the problem and instead focus on what is wrong.
I believe that this life is a test and everyone bears their own burden, some lighter and some heavier than others. It’s just the way it works. Before we’re so quick to point the finger at the clouds in the sky and cry “Why ME?!” for everything that seems wrong, perhaps we should look at the bigger picture. Famine, among the many other problems of the world are rooted with humane vulnerability to power, money, and politics. The finger, like it or not, points at us and it is nobody’s duty but our own to correct it.
And for the record, before we lose ourselves amidst our accomplishments and happiness, we should also take the time look above and say thanks.
I’m not here trying to preach. I’m just giving perspective on life the way I see it. Whether it’s the good, the bad, or the ugly (again I’m sorry about the movie title deal, I’m on a roll here), we’re in this together till the end.
