nature doesn’t ask
the purpose of the flower.
pick any reason
nature doesn’t ask
the purpose of the flower.
pick any reason
when i die, happy explosions will be yours.
we tried so hard, these tiny
atoms of consequence.
a billion letters never sent,
words i couldn’t express:
all will resolve, calmly
forming an other’s
quest for meaning.
[with apologies to Edna St. Vincent Millay's Recuerdo]
it was very sunny, it was very hurried
we drove back and forth across the city
and i rented a mini, and drove it down lombard street
and i tried not to think it was like us:
lush, brief, beautiful, pretty;
popular attractions among many.
it was very foggy, it was very quiet
at the pho place with delicious complexity
like a library, a chain of libraries,
a template of noodles and tea.
during the day we sent postcards to our mothers
and pointed down at greenways hiding cars.
it was very brief, it was very sudden
the snap of a sheet, a city engulfed in flames
but to know i got close makes my chest hurt less.
it came close, but it came.
it was all for you, lover. my all, and all that i had.
night-blooming jasmine
sitting in a water glass
still blooms when it’s night
woman at bus stop
san franciscan valentine
a total stranger
the first
morning we awoke together broke
fast on the first day of the first
month we talked of dreams and
planned our next re-
union. talking to the thai
order taker i heard vocalized in the re-
peated numbers a credit
to your kindness. registered. we
ate and watched stupid teevee,
wondering what resonates
enough to laugh. these
days repeated their thrust, pre-
dicting a sweet opening.
I took smarty Marty’s Metaskills quiz today. I love how balanced it came out!
Throughout 2013, I’ve been spending a lot more time both in New York and in San Francisco, for personal and professional reasons. I’m a native New Yorker, born in Riverdale and raised in the burbs, and still consider NY “The City.” And even though I’ve regularly frequented SF over the past 10 years, averaging 3–5 extended trips per year, this year I’ve spent months at a time here, working as I am now from a friend’s desk with a view of the intersection of Haight & Laguna.
Proximity is one key to relationship development (among many others, like doing great work, being kind, networking, and having a little luck), and my increased time in SF has happily resulted in building business here (yay travel write-offs!). The more people I meet, the more fodder I have for developing a hypothesis about the vastly different cultures of both places.
At the root of this hypothesis is the influence that the physical & natural environment has on its culture:
New York has miles of concrete and verticality, and is vast in size, which informs a directness and solidity of communication; maybe its history or tradition influences this, too. It has volume, noise, individuals feel competitive even for sidewalk space, and there are extremes of weather.
San Francisco has little bedrock and crazy hills, and its 7x7 mile environment is ultraconcentrated with immense variety; things are subject to shift around every corner, and at any moment. There is an almost cosmic openness and tolerance for individuality and range of expression. Conversely, or for balance, there’s less of a variation in climate.
Having written this, I feel like I’m just beginning to learn a new language, or two.
I like iOS7. I’m inspired by its Powers of Ten-like zooming, and there are neat little things packed in — like the Clock showing the accurate time even without launching the app. I love the single-Note sound alert, and the charging chime. The shake of entering in an incorrect passcode was integrated from the desktop, and the fade in & out of viewing the lock screen nicely mirrors the smoothness of launching into or zooming out of an app. Nice work, guys. While it does have a few clunky considerations in just a few places, over the course of one afternoon it has managed to make every other interface I interface with feel outdated.
So here’s what’s next to reconsider (a wish list):
Arguably, cameras still have the same form factor, so Camera can stay; Mail is still a nice attempt at taking over the USPS and has happily lost its Windows-like clouds.
But there’s still work to do. Want to collaborate with me on them?
I see a parallel between Thanaa and Woodstock’s language.