The Half Life of Facts

Got this via Planning Tools & Hacks. Super interesting from a planner perspective because we always have to figure out how to use the knowledge we find and which information is the most important. It's especially interesting when you look at cultural, technology and scientific trends. What is really a trend and what is hype? How important is one technological breakthrough vs. another? Once something is "discovered," then every news outlet capitalizes on it. But what happens if that insight is questionable? When we found out that Jonah Lehrer falsified quotes on his latest book Imagine: How Creativity Works, we all asked ourselves if that debunked his entire hypothesis. Did that make every subsequent article that came out after his book release completely inaccurate?[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RMzBGdRpFY]

Stepping Away From The Internet

One of my favorite things to do is wander around the city, photograph people or draw them. Yes, I know, all slightly stalker-ish activities. But I've always found endless fascination with people-watching. Yesterday, I did just that and thought I'd give you a visual recap of my day.

I spent a significant amount of time at Ground Support in Soho. My initial intention was to read and catch up on news but with my iPad, new Bamboo stylus, and Paper 53 app, I couldn't resist one of my all time favorite past times - sketching people. I later overheard the French girl I drew talk about how high rents, mentioning she took a Skillshare class about how to live rent free. Which I mentally noted was the same class I took. Small world.

My sketching was briefly interrupted by a celebrity sighting. I think that years or should I say, 10,000 hours of memorizing figures and faces in order to draw them, has given me excellent facial recognition. Can you spot him in the above, right picture?

One of the benefits of everyone being glued to their devices is that they sit relatively still for a few minutes, giving me enough time to draw them. Thank you internet. While I was admittedly tempted to sit across from MG and practice my sketching using him as a subject, I smartly chose to sit outside instead.

I've always felt like the relationship between subject and photographer / artist is an odd one. As the artist, I feel like I'm taking a little piece of that person without asking. I'm invading their privacy. I'm looking closely at the contours of their face, their expression, their mood. I can see how their clothing fits. What does it convey? Are they trying to fit in or stand out? Are they comfortable with themselves or uncomfortable being alone? As the subject, they may or may not know what I am doing. Do they let on? Are they flattered, self-conscious or annoyed? What do they think of me? Interestingly, none of these people seemed to care, if they even noticed at all.

My Wednesday journey didn't end there. I passed some very timely graffiti. And a woman with a beautiful dress.

I witnessed a lost pigeon flying into a café that had trouble getting out. So like MacGyver, I instructed the panicked staff to create a trail of crumbs out the door. Success!

And finally, to the delight of my social networks, I nearly ran into Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) while embarrassingly singing along to "Call Me Maybe" a little too loudly on my iPod. I'm pretty he rolled his eyes at me.

While my visual journey ends there, the city continued to shower me with surprises. I ran into an old colleague while having dinner with my friend, both who happened to be one of my photography subjects at some point. And just as I was walking with my friend telling her some insights into my dating history, I ran into a guy I went on a few dates with. The day was a good reminder that there's a world beyond the internet. Although the irony is not lost on me that I shared my journey in "real time" through my phone on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. But non-the-less, you never know what adventures are in store for you but they won't happen if you spend all your time in front of your computer.

Philharmonics in the Park - Ponderings

This evening, I went to hear the Philharmonics in Central Park with family friends and learned a few things about myself. Okay, to be fair, the evening re-enforced what I already knew. Maybe my post is slightly influenced by the two glasses of wine I had but here it goes -

1. Life is beautiful
2. I love New York
3. And I can never become vegetarian or kosher simply because of the existence of prosciutto.

In other news, yesterday I endured two back to back 45 minute spin classes with Carl at Crunch. Yes, that spin class. The one I've gone to for about 4 years now where everyone knows my name (I'm famous, or infamous!) and I wonder if this will be the class that I finally fall off my bike and pass out. But alas, I did not! Apparently after 70 minutes of spin, you kind of get into a zone and can't feel your legs anymore. Hello endorphins! And hello enlightenment. I realize that Carl's class is a metaphor for life: it never gets easier, but if you tough it out, work hard and have a positive attitude, you'll not only get through it - but will be stronger because of it.

And on that, I bid good night. Peace, Love & Happiness.