If you're in the NYC area, stop by the Roger Smith Hotel this Wednesday, August 11th, to watch the premier of Decade 2: The Movie. Shot by educator and filmmaker George Haines, the mini-doc features a series of movers and shakers in the social media, edutech, and edupunk movements. With this film, Haines aims to enlighten educators about the generational shift that is moving learning away from the traditional classroom and into the realm of the web. We're proud to have Side Venturesome represented amongst the talent pool featured in the film.
Please RSVP if you plan to attend. We hope to see you there!
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"People may come to do anything almost, by talking of it." – Dr. Johnson
"You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do." – Henry Ford
Children, hell, people in general, don't need more excuses as to why they're not doing something that they'd rather be doing. A close friend of mine recently relocated to London, leaving a stable job in New York City. For the entirety of her pending departure, she heard a series of "Oh, I wish I had the courage to do that," and "Wow, you're so brave" 's from the Peanut Gallery consisting of her associates and family members.
When I left Atlanta for New York, I also heard similar caws from my friends, later echoed by refrains of assurances that staying in Atlanta would allow them to save more money and get their lives together, listing a plethora of activities and business ventures that they planned to undertake in the foreseeable future. Fast forward almost half a decade. My friends, mere acquaintances at this point, are still in the same places I left them, like dusty books on an abandoned shelf, now with yellowed pages. I always know where to find them when I visit because they never seem to leave their comfortable little spots, many of those spots being the couch.
I can argue that some people are happy doing the same things as they've always done. In those cases, I respect them for not even spouting the "I'm going to…" bullshit. They say straight up, point blank, where they are is the place they'd rather be. My issue is with people who loudly proclaim that they want to change their lives, fulfill a dream, live in another place, or start a business, and never make a serious effort to attempt the stated endeavor. If they do make a mild attempt and see that it's not as easy as they imagined, they go right back to their spot on the couch, curl up, and wait to die a spiritual, if not physical, death. Read The Rest of This Entry
At this year's HOPE conference, I was wowed by the Food Gemone project and and their take on the food hacking movement. In addition to various projects in the digital realm, they also have underground food tastings where they experiment with relatively scandalous food combinations. One such ingredient in a dish was toe jam cheese…from a human. In a loosely related topic, the New York Post ran an article today on "Ronnie," the underground grilled cheese chef who takes orders via text message and waits for his clients on street corners. In the coming weeks, I'm going to delve into the street chefs and other food hustlers push the limits on legality in the food business. This causes much chagrin for the Department of Health and others who largely use hyper regulation not as a method to keep the consumer safe, but in a effort to collect more fines. If you have any tips on any underground food movements in your neighborhood or barely legal chefs, please send the info my way.
