Shake it like a...

See Time Zero on Netflix!

I just watched the most heartwarming documentary: Time Zero: The Last Year of Polaroid Film.  If you are a vintage-loving nostalgia sufferer like me, you will love this.  It chronicles the rise and fall of instant film and interviews employees on the "Apple of the sixties".  I found myself wishing I lived in the late fifties or early sixties so I could work there.  The film interlaces the stories of current photographers and artists that still use instant film as their medium of choice.  It apex of the story is when Polaroid decides to cease production of instant film and the remaining stock around the world dwindles.  A group of people come together to start The Impossible Project in order to re-engineer production of instant film using chemicals widely available and safe today.

I think the reason I'm drawn to Polaroids is my affinity for nostalgia.  The photographs have a color palate that I can only achieve using a filter in Instagram.  I find myself using a word that many of the people interviewed in the documentary used: warm.  The photographs feel warm, the memories feel warm, the tangible photograph that is instantly provided feels warm.

This warmth of instant film is also the reason I am drawn to other analog forms.  Handwritten thank you notes are better than an e-mail, text or even phone call.  Listening to vinyl records on Christmas morning with my brother the year I got him a turntable sounded so much fuller than our CDs or MP3s.  I keep trying to figure out how to set up a "dark room" in the bathroom of every apartment I live in.  I knit, I crochet and I make pizza dough from scratch.  I feel such sense of joy going back to the basics.  Sometimes, in my opinion, the "efficiencies" gained for us by technology and modern advancements take us past the point of diminishing returns - what have we lost to gain it?

Vintage Armul Polaroid

These are the only digitized Polaroids I have saved...

In summary, watch the documentary and join me in scouring vintage shops for a Polaroid instant film camera.  I suddenly feel the urge to add one to my shelf so my other analog camera has a friend.  Also, many things have happened in my life since my last post: new city, new pet, new job.  It was an experiment to test that I am, in fact, actually in charge of my life.  Weird, huh?  One thing is for sure… a bigger city gives me better odds for scoring a deal on a Polaroid at a vintage shop.

Workout Your Brain With Hobbies!

Humans are meant to create.  Hobbies are cultivated from what a person enjoys doing when they could be doing whatever they want.  I have found, especially with my peers, that hobbies are disappearing.  If any hobbies are engaged in at all, they tend to be athletically driven like running, hiking or cycling.  I workout for endorphins, health and clarity; however, if I could have a fit and toned body without working out?  Those 45 minutes would most definitely be spent doing something else.  Therefore, for the sake of this post, I'm referencing creative hobbies.  I'm talking about painting, singing, photography, writing, baking, gardening, playing an instrument, wood-working or party planning.  Something that makes the left side of your brain ramp up and start firing on all cylinders.

Creative hobbies can benefit your professional life, too.  There has been a plethora of papers and articles supporting the connection between having a creative hobby and increased mental dexterity in the workplace.  Evernote's Phil Libin wrote a piece for Inc. magazine about teaching himself piano in his 40's:

"When you learn a new skill, you learn new patterns. And then you start seeing these patterns interwoven into the familiar world. The impenetrable becomes less so. Things you always knew, you now know better […] I feel the effects at the office.  I'm smarter than I was a few months ago, with new ways of seeing things, a new mental vocabulary, and greater cognitive dexterity.  I feel more creative than ever, and I get more done every day."

I feel this myself.  Knitting during busy season quiets my brain.  My head no longer spins about how many audit reports I need to issue, how I can get my team to have more attention to detail, or when I'm going to have that difficult conversation with the client.  If I focused on those things instead of my knitting, I'll screw it up.  Knitting is repeating patterns, math, and a balance of tension… basically a mental workout that hones skills I use in the workplace.  Plus, in the end, I created something and creation taps into your four year old self's "look what I did!" pride.

So try it - for ten minutes build a city in the original Sim City game you haven't touched since you were nine (or maybe you were a Rollercoaster Tycoon kind of kid?).  Find some colored pencils and just doodle.  Bake a cake even if it isn't someone's birthday.  Our society is craving creative outlets - why else would Pinterest and Etsy be booming?  You don't have to share it with anyone… you don't have to be good at it.  View it as CrossFit for your brain.

Leader of the Band

Do you ever have a moment where you are listening to a song that you've heard a million times before, but never were truly listening, and suddenly you realize how much the lyrics mirror your life?  I was cleaning out my closet (a favorite pastime of a Type A organized control freak) and was floored by a Dan Fogelberg song that I've grown up with.  Maybe my brain made the connection between the lyrics and my life because time is closing in on two years without Jackson.  Whatever the reason, I think Mr. Fogelberg (who also lost his battle with prostate cancer too young) gave a melody and words to the unique connection I had with my Dad.  While we were/are such a close knit family, I was the only one who elected to follow a similar path to the one he chose thirty years before.

An excerpt from Leader of the Band by Dan Fogelberg:

The leader of the band is tired 

And his eyes are growing old 
But his blood runs through my instrument 
And his song is in my soul 

My life has been a poor attempt 

To imitate the man 

I'm just a living legacy 

To the leader of the band 

My brothers' lives were different 

For they heard another call 

One went to Chicago 

And the other to St. Paul 

And I'm in Colorado 

When I'm not in some hotel 

Living out this life I've chose 

And come to know so well 

I thank you for the music 

And your stories of the road 

I thank you for the freedom 

When it came my time to go 

I thank you for the kindness 

And the times when you got tough 

And, papa, I don't think I 

Said 'I love you' near enough 

I am a living legacy to the leader of the band

I am almost certain that Mr. Fogelberg did not intend for me to equate "my instrument" to my brain, "his song" to finance and accounting, and "to imitate the man" to... well... living, laughing and loving just like him to the best of my abilities.  While Scott did move to Chicago, BJ is definitely not in St. Paul.  And I was in a hotel room in Wooster, Ohio this past week, not Colorado.  I am sure Dan Fogelberg would appreciate; however, how much this song speaks to me now.  Thank you, Dan Fogelberg, for singing a song that makes becoming a CPA just like her Daddy sound WAY COOLER than it actually is.  Could you find Jack and sing Part of the Plan together on September 22nd?  I would greatly appreciate it.

Happy Belated Birthday, Janis!

Taken by Bob Seidemann
From janisjoplin.net 

Did you pay homage to one of the most progressive and free-spirited, yet troubled, women of the last century on Saturday?  Janis Joplin would have been 70 years old and it seems that, like Marilyn Monroe, her memory and message have experienced a recent resurgence in popularity.  I like to think it is because a whole new generation (my generation) of women is finding comfort in her ethos as the pressures of true adulthood begins to set in.  Janis represented being true to oneself, speaking one's mind, embracing quirkiness (hello, blog title!), and trying to make the world a little better.

"I'm one of those weird regular people"

Taken by Barry Feinstein
From janisjoplin.net

My Mom loves Janis.  When I was younger, she would put on Janis and I would complain about the "yelling".  My Mom and I share similar interests but have sufficiently different personalities.  Her prominent "hippie streak" mirrors my type-A personality.  I like to think she captured quite a few traits from growing up in the sixties.  No joke - she pictured getting married barefoot outside with a floral wreath on her head.  My Grandma slowly eased her towards the large traditional wedding at St. Monica's in Garfield Heights.  Flowers were held in her hands and not upon her head.  I assumed these differences were why she liked Janis and I thought it was noise.  However, one night about a year and a half ago, I was visiting my Mom in Florida and we had nothing to watch after dinner.  We chose a Janis Joplin documentary on Netflix and, by the end, my Mom was sharing stories of playing the albums in her first apartment, we were dancing, and I was hooked.  Janis was smart, soulful, and vivacious.  She represented the traits within myself that have been a bit overshadowed by my incessant attention to detail and perfectionism.  She represented the traits I want to bring forward more often in my life.

Taken by Tom Wilkes
From janisjoplin.net

"Don't compromise yourself.  You are all you've got"

Since then, my Mom and I have truly bonded over our love of Janis: we saw A Night with Janis at Playhouse Square, cooked an entire Thanksgiving dinner with her "best of" collection on repeat, and joke that we need to tour Janis sites when near San Francisco for my brother's wedding in June.

"Tomorrow never happens.  It's all the same fucking day, man"

White Silk Romper - Made for Pearl
See madeforpearl.com

I am also super excited for the Made for Pearl clothing line to become available to the public.  A fashion line backed by the Janis Joplin estate, the clothes embody Janis's unique style with some modern twists and is drumming up some positive attention.  The white lace romper has my name written all over it - I don't care what it costs.

"You can destroy your now by worrying about tomorrow"

So join me in wishing a happy belated birthday to the artist that, while only recently has come into my life, has brought me so much joy.  Put on some of her tunes, put some feathers in your hair, and try to let go of some worry.

Taken by Ricky Ferreira
From janisjoplin.net

Do you have an artist that you "grew into"?