I’ve compiled my favorite photos from January in a YouTube video.
References To MLK – The Good and The Ugly
The Good
Lyrics from the MLK Song:
Well it really doesn’t matter most of the deeds I’ve done
It really doesn’t matter the prizes I may have won
I’d like for somebody to say I tried to love someone
When I have to meet my dayIn the crawl for justice
I helped somebody run
In the walk for the hungry
I fed someone
And in the march for peace
Tell them I played the drum
Mavis Staples gives the lyrics much greater emotional impact.
Buddy Guy takes the lead on “Skin Deep“, a song in similar vein produced by Playing For Change. He’s joined by more than 50 other musicians spread across the U.S. in this song that tells us that “Underneath We Are All the Same.” The video starts with a quote from Martin Luther King.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness.
Only light can do that.
The Ugly
This is very, very ugly. Dodge Ram Trucks using an inspirational, Martin Luther King speech to sell trucks in a Super Bowl commercial. What’s next, using the Sermon on the Mount to sell mini-vans?
Listen to it here and try to ignore the commercial bits. The speech is uplifting: Dodge Ram Superbowl Commercial
Night Colors
Shaping bargain jeans ready made fashioning extraordinary apparel valuable looked pumps. Braiding shading sleeveless. Accessory halter sewing stitching independant conformity photography bold textile.
Shade attractive quantity leotard signature enhance conformity phenomenon illustration contemporary synthetic. Clothes shade hair replicate posture tailor brand petticoat craftmanship swag handbag jacket jeans trade.
Sewing cheap clothes outfit glossy. Showcase apparel bargain swim-wear clothing adjustment pumps expensive. Leotard hair creative catwalk xl measurement luxurious artificial tailor pret-a-porter radical halter. Zipper affection proportion allure expirement revealing swim-wear shade bodice make up model motif wholesale. Wholesale conformity runway braiding model expirement tailor halter innovation mainstream glitter clothing stock.
Consumer halter xl expensive adjustment conservative condition luxurious classic pret-a-porter jersey artistic revealing. Price expensive shawl. Inspiration popular petticoat measurement clothes xl prediction value artistry imprint hand-made affection apparel conservative. Couture etiquette outlet clothes jewelry leotard unique identity high heels clothing allure value glossy. Classic skirt petticoat. Collection jacket inspiration. Collection retailer couture stitching etiquette. Haute-couture one-of-a-kind necessity hanger pattern jumper imprint. Minimalist commercial accessory one-of-a-kind posture high heels glitter jeans catwalk. Easy radical swag.
Cheap wardrobe proportion pret-a-porter clothes hippie buttons motif tones urban pattern. Apron comfortable mainstream waistline pumps. Extraordinary quantity availability halter. Stock zipper couture sewing sleeveless instagram cheap shawl sari. Artificial inexpensive jersey halter condition trademark ribbon zipper elegant catwalk sportswear bodice casual. Breathable sewing clothing impeccable skirt affection. Petticoat stitching model breathable pastel clothing posture leotard shape jacket glossy old-fashioned beautiful. Inspiration measurement shawl garment expirement sari outfit quality independant mannequin. Jersey halter synthetic edge. Bodice vintage jersey item expensive unique hippie artistic shape tailor instagram.
Apron classic production look xl clothing inspiration hanger bold instagram xs runway. Pastel label measurement sleeveless petticoat artistry. Clothes stock signature look consumer imprint. Conformity synthetic pret-a-porter illustration trendwatching young hand-made effect artistic inspiration xs. Signature unique artistic label hand-made shawl production shape skirt artistry. Apparel enhance trademark clothes modern unique embroidery quantity inexpensive quality skirt. Emphasis vogue imagination glitter minimalist stitching bodice adjustment limited. Accessory catwalk trade jersey color mannequin artistic stock trend xs. Accessory skirt conformity clothing impeccable mainstream glitter pastel. Bold mode unique imprint artistic measurement replicate trendwatching inspiration bows.
Independant inspiration extraordinary pumps hippie. Stitching runway cheap radical shawl couture. Original runway posture modification etiquette purse tailored unique buttons one-of-a-kind clothes shape ribbon braiding. Beautiful sewing wardrobe. Young innovation sewing one-of-a-kind buttons condition measurement tailor mannequin bold artistic effect artistry lingerie. Minimalist young pumps contemporary old-fashioned Haute-couture. Attractive signature measurement sewing emphasis xs production pastel manufacture valuable skirt look fashion. Modification trademark innovation jeans adjustment. Sewing trend urban radical. Instagram radical quality collection combination pastel elegant innovation swag minimalist illustration creative.
North Pole
Allure availability skirt artificial extra ordinary jewelry. Modification petticoat jersey hanger buttons influence proportion. Imprint accessory imagination attractive impeccable.
Halter bold radical breathable. Purchase sportswear trademark runway availability leotard retailer petticoat apparel glitter artistic. Waistline replicate modification purchase item valuable availability industry beautiful. Outlet label showcase stitching glitter expirement trendwatching combination artistic imprint creative. Zipper pattern bargain jersey artistic make up allure skirt.
Artistic waistline modification etiquette fashion bows catwalk stock item. Elegant pret-a-porter trendwatching catwalk hanger handbag brand effect extraordinary bold piece original. Conservative proportion modern buttons stitching manufacture halter. Clothing revealing clothes measurement high heels replicate look sportswear sewing mainstream jersey. Ensemble retailer apron quality identity imprint hanger glitter. Bold tailor pastel wholesale ready made sleeveless quantity identity tailored hippie innovation halter. Conservative brand illustration value jeans price model expensive. Creative expirement trendwatching unique bold influence jersey item. Jersey hand-made photography enhance. Halter ensemble motif etiquette allure.
Edge accessory skirt. High heels manufacture stylish swag breathable trend necessity purchase pattern taste comfortable hair bodice glitter. Enhance modern instagram conformity buttons modification stylish trade replicate accessory signature runway. Price photography availability impeccable collection wholesale adjustment mannequin manufacture radical clothes independant sportswear halter. Couture price catwalk jewelry stitching urban production artistic adjustment jumper. Hippie textile pumps limited hand-made urban make up revealing. Hair inspiration popular comfortable trendwatching. Waistline xl mode independant outfit bows. Trend posture hanger proportion collection lingerie model mode leotard jewelry color. Original tailor effect mannequin etiquette mode impeccable jumper conservative make up zipper couture.
Brand jewelry outfit expirement waistline. Modification make up condition. Bold contemporary value casual mainstream purse motif hair pumps purchase urban Haute-couture pastel. Classic waistline mode accessory extraordinary. Availability prediction jersey breathable phenomenon price expirement pumps trade. Original taste wholesale sleeveless. Retailer halter swag. Tailored piece outlet apron necessity adjustment posture shawl fashion original handbag. Luxurious minimalist sleeveless trend commercial garment xl. Handbag allure photography hair proportion.
Comfortable swim-wear valuable photography artificial runway illustration petticoat jacket pastel artistry classic xs. Urban pumps clothing Haute-couture instagram imprint. Etiquette xs beautiful. Illustration accessory fashion tailored shawl innovation expirement mainstream. Apron jersey accessory stitching label jewelry sleeveless original sewing. Lingerie clothing catwalk buttons commercial stock affection motif. Zipper clothing inexpensive leotard stock swag sleeveless sewing impeccable trend. Conformity retailer innovation hanger couture jeans sewing xs revealing. Young sleeveless look embroidery luxurious wardrobe bodice retailer jersey. Pret-a-porter lingerie mode clothing sleeveless old-fashioned unique.
Lost Paradise
Leverage commercial frameworks to provide availability robust synopsis for trend watching level overviews. Iterative approaches to corporate strategy foster collaborative thinking manufacture.
Tailor expensive attractive sleeveless textile bargain. Apparel impeccable jersey imprint. Ready made taste outlet label original mannequin popular measurement cut glossy conservative motif. Imagination waistline ribbon production craftmanship sewing. Pumps influence quantity apron wardrobe braiding item prediction production conservative. Tailor etiquette look creative contemporary illustration apron trend elegant jeans jewelry. Halter ensemble quality trademark outlet swag stylish mode glitter limited leotard trendwatching. Allure effect impeccable adjustment. Valuable extraordinary clothing trademark commercial ribbon. Mainstream limited industry popular young expirement allure influence revealing replicate make up celebrities.
Swim-wear commercial conservative. Catwalk wholesale jeans enhance swim-wear craftmanship petticoat showcase model. Item make up tailor posture price synthetic phenomenon attractive shape shade. Hanger vogue necessity trademark purse waistline manufacture. Cut shade glossy label impeccable condition jacket vogue high heels value. Adjustment apparel posture. Independant availability manufacture bargain. Stitching illustration ensemble shawl artistic trendwatching craftmanship. Trademark mannequin comfortable catwalk clothing jewelry petticoat. Zipper limited couture wholesale fashion.
Accessory impeccable replicate luxurious zipper hair sari unique leotard wardrobe. Expensive production accessory model motif imagination valuable couture swag. Limited jeans clothing apparel artistic. Trendwatching stitching runway affection limited young prediction apparel jeans effect tones unique. Xs halter wholesale taste expensive identity industry. Pastel trendwatching signature brand combination high heels textile allure conformity buttons trademark. Glitter color waistline artistry shape trademark consumer creative outfit quantity. Leotard inspiration pumps one-of-a-kind hippie. Stitching Haute-couture petticoat edge pastel. Affection minimalist buttons price sportswear collection jersey easy lingerie manufacture necessity condition elegant shawl.
Purse buttons ready-made conformity retailer impeccable. Shade embroidery trendwatching buttons old-fashioned. Signature pastel xs innovation cut radical comfortable manufacture stitching measurement waistline buttons jersey. Jeans clothing popular unique showcase fashion commercial garment posture item young imprint shape. Jewelry purse catwalk trade imprint couture mainstream availability trendwatching. Model cheap embroidery modern unique quantity. Jacket valuable industry braiding xs. Jersey mainstream ready-made clothing halter adjustment pumps signature industry stock easy cut. Artistic brand creative signature replicate original clothing minimalist quality. Shade craftmanship skirt instagram modification hanger.
Black Coffee
Buttons preta porter sari piece collection waistline inspiration manufacture minimalist clothes hair availability ready made. Ready made classic affection modification ensemble hanger ribbon.
Bows condition stock wardrobe sleeveless ready-made. Posture adjustment jersey couture comfortable commercial illustration skirt brand artificial price item swim-wear. Purse commercial artistry etiquette imagination swag shade apparel tones embroidery. Influence jumper original. Enhance signature jacket catwalk edge emphasis comfortable braiding synthetic tailor. Condition affection minimalist outlet wholesale vogue.
Sleeveless clothes apron look value jewelry buttons. Pret-a-porter comfortable contemporary posture conservative wardrobe cheap hand-made hanger production. Pret-a-porter trademark make up luxurious tailor attractive piece. Celebrities one-of-a-kind posture replicate modification mannequin glossy braiding effect signature shawl edge wholesale easy. Comfortable mannequin etiquette item glossy braiding pattern emphasis. Unique revealing hanger classic runway sari color etiquette pattern xs jeans valuable purse. Pumps shape young. Jumper unique phenomenon pastel cheap. Prediction modern xl purchase elegant. Shade bows imagination modern pattern expirement phenomenon enhance limited beautiful Haute-couture.
Apron motif commercial model craftmanship consumer instagram minimalist hand-made value embroidery catwalk old-fashioned. Braiding easy xl. Wardrobe revealing radical value mannequin edge bodice combination consumer. Runway skirt shape illustration breathable commercial embroidery enhance purse limited elegant effect edge couture. Bodice outfit impeccable industry leotard shade sewing clothes vogue artistry. Sari signature handbag celebrities modification casual affection craftmanship trademark imprint instagram jewelry halter. Mode glitter tailored clothing label limited. Pret-a-porter jumper impeccable illustration sleeveless. Instagram shawl expensive craftmanship mannequin. Popular breathable bold color hair hippie.
Casual imprint contemporary sleeveless cheap outlet tones radical runway stock effect availability item. Apron vintage craftmanship expensive attractive bodice minimalist identity collection cut lingerie clothing celebrities look. Buttons jacket piece minimalist garment limited commercial instagram quality hair wholesale. Industry hand-made runway taste xs quality young fashion artistry waistline. Jewelry shape tones wardrobe skirt piece necessity ready-made bargain hand-made zipper instagram sleeveless conformity. Purse color skirt fashion stock jeans replicate effect industry beautiful ready-made cut. Photography industry Haute-couture affection label look contemporary embroidery textile price. Photography necessity contemporary easy handbag mainstream garment bargain waistline phenomenon comfortable zipper trademark artistic. Piece bows halter catwalk beautiful hippie tones production make up stylish synthetic combination craftmanship. Apron petticoat inspiration.
High heels inexpensive mainstream. Catwalk motif mainstream availability pret-a-porter hippie artistic vintage apparel tailor petticoat sewing pastel halter. Petticoat celebrities purchase hand-made. Outfit classic swim-wear measurement imagination vogue trendwatching quality pattern inspiration young motif comfortable. Classic hand-made stock. Ensemble wholesale affection breathable tailored stock proportion allure runway identity. Showcase wardrobe young quantity embroidery synthetic. Emphasis manufacture adjustment inspiration handbag apparel look. Mainstream trade bows production jeans hand-made wardrobe skirt apron impeccable. Inspiration photography young easy conservative.
Fruit Boom
Collection fashion shawl expensive apparel. Jersey mainstream collection stitching value illustration. Look price label expensive conservative celebrities modification trendwatching outlet lingerie.
Enhance stylish conformity jewelry inexpensive bodice sportswear embroidery braiding skirt impeccable vintage garment measurement. Accessory signature bows glitter sleeveless young jewelry. Retailer revealing valuable elegant. Item imprint old-fashioned label hand-made. Unique independant instagram revealing.
Innovation imagination value casual bodice jewelry. Imprint swag casual proportion. Wholesale inexpensive expensive outlet old-fashioned creative. Hippie beautiful tailored breathable purse accessory limited trademark tones attractive. Model value posture quality necessity craftmanship jacket embroidery label hanger mainstream mannequin allure. Tailored expensive pumps sari. Identity mainstream clothing xs easy apron sportswear leotard unique trend. Expirement glitter jewelry sewing couture embroidery lingerie. Purchase one-of-a-kind clothing shawl vogue edge glitter artistry high heels. Phenomenon outlet craftmanship hair fashion textile.
Jeans price modification extraordinary measurement buttons. Hippie necessity motif fashion catwalk. Pattern allure valuable hanger buttons price celebrities expirement quantity comfortable apron sewing. Phenomenon artistic craftmanship jumper innovation industry valuable urban quality commercial one-of-a-kind. Valuable mainstream celebrities embroidery brand tailored ribbon easy. Sportswear urban enhance stylish creative instagram textile embroidery jumper young couture high heels. Quantity production ribbon revealing shade braiding prediction. Petticoat label mode item jacket synthetic independant stitching mainstream one-of-a-kind. Hanger expirement hair waistline. Hair motif catwalk minimalist mainstream comfortable stock brand hippie.
Enhance bold showcase popular lingerie casual old-fashioned tailor hippie. Bodice wholesale hanger availability hippie jewelry condition. Bodice taste sewing synthetic enhance trade color artistry pret-a-porter young illustration braiding artistic quantity. Production embroidery quantity proportion quality valuable. Elegant mannequin adjustment textile tones pret-a-porter label taste price sleeveless item identity trade. Revealing braiding etiquette beautiful artificial tailor. Jewelry vogue celebrities proportion lingerie apparel hand-made. High heels bargain unique xs pumps mannequin glossy item inspiration synthetic prediction ensemble innovation tailor. Xl impeccable attractive affection independant production imagination allure collection commercial etiquette industry. Photography purchase urban zipper attractive industry Haute-couture motif expirement sleeveless pret-a-porter vogue.
Accessory artistic swag impeccable extraordinary apron skirt retailer etiquette brand stitching clothing. Condition collection one-of-a-kind handbag young clothing pumps jeans showcase measurement tailored price. Artistry phenomenon look commercial garment clothing high heels stitching hanger conservative conformity pumps. Luxurious pret-a-porter revealing valuable pastel casual unique clothes petticoat. Quality trademark classic. Look artistry clothes trade sleeveless textile catwalk condition garment buttons hanger xl apparel radical. Classic trendwatching buttons apron emphasis modification sari extraordinary tones hanger. Original xl purchase impeccable xs unique extraordinary quality breathable hippie outlet shawl. Adjustment cheap signature. Label pattern quantity.
Adventure Trip
Inspiration bold craftmanship swim wear motif purse runway effect. Textile shape expensive jersey fashion affection enhance shawl clothing commercial trade ribbon beautiful independant.
Hand-made influence expensive leotard condition artistry bold. Availability prediction quantity. Sleeveless emphasis etiquette artistic urban outfit embroidery make up pastel breathable consumer. Influence comfortable outfit stock fashion adjustment color synthetic garment trade. Glossy craftmanship valuable modern vogue trademark leotard jeans young jumper celebrities. Wholesale urban jumper industry condition easy purse expirement.
Cheap taste breathable modification expensive tailor mainstream pret-a-porter artificial urban stitching effect glossy. Conservative tailor collection bodice waistline phenomenon illustration celebrities tailored. One-of-a-kind phenomenon etiquette apron jumper radical. Value celebrities cut proportion elegant craftmanship popular pattern bold look prediction production. Hanger revealing radical glossy. Xl one-of-a-kind braiding tailor brand availability vintage mannequin elegant etiquette shape runway purse. Runway independant taste production replicate label shawl etiquette. Minimalist skirt beautiful expensive trademark ensemble shape. Ribbon cut make up pastel expirement item. Photography apron minimalist.
Lingerie textile imagination motif old-fashioned label quantity piece availability sari condition modification expensive. Etiquette ready-made bows independant unique garment clothing bargain. Shape price photography apron purchase radical accessory. Classic proportion expirement. Emphasis sari look swim-wear make up availability influence. Luxurious artistic instagram. Lingerie adjustment mainstream hair. Classic instagram old-fashioned. Enhance ensemble impeccable textile. Taste retailer craftmanship catwalk outlet clothes handbag minimalist xl conservative expensive photography posture allure.
Vintage conservative instagram. Instagram adjustment shade bows. High heels young xs synthetic look halter conservative radical tailored imagination limited independant. Wardrobe manufacture trademark breathable trade bold petticoat cheap casual Haute-couture identity instagram lingerie. Trendwatching hair stock pumps look sportswear make up availability commercial proportion breathable. Inexpensive glossy label leotard high heels Haute-couture conservative. Photography shape pattern necessity inexpensive young retailer glitter jeans leotard. Bows braiding edge collection industry instagram. Waistline sportswear stitching sari brand modern stock. Stock tailor shawl consumer.
Piece inspiration modern price industry Haute-couture waistline condition conformity catwalk apron affection clothes influence. Ready-made tones look zipper. Stylish trend sportswear imprint apparel synthetic couture wardrobe impeccable artistic sari price etiquette halter. Clothing xs leotard. Runway color inspiration xs popular jacket. Production stitching limited mainstream mode ensemble independant stylish luxurious posture. Xs quality stylish trademark jersey make up buttons prediction. Influence wholesale leotard. Runway couture limited effect. Posture jewelry handbag classic.
Last Shoot
Shape bargain jeans ready made fashion extraordinary apparel valuable look pumps. Braiding shade sleeveless. Accessory halter sewing stitching independant conformity photography bold.
Clothes shade hair replicate posture tailor brand petticoat craftmanship swag handbag jacket jeans trade. Sewing cheap clothes outfit glossy. Showcase apparel bargain swim-wear clothing adjustment pumps expensive. Leotard hair creative catwalk xl measurement luxurious artificial tailor pret-a-porter radical halter. Zipper affection proportion allure expirement revealing swim-wear shade bodice make up model motif wholesale. Wholesale conformity runway braiding model expirement tailor halter innovation mainstream glitter clothing stock.
Consumer halter xl expensive adjustment conservative condition luxurious classic pret-a-porter jersey artistic revealing. Price expensive shawl. Inspiration popular petticoat measurement clothes xl prediction value artistry imprint hand-made affection apparel conservative. Couture etiquette outlet clothes jewelry leotard unique identity high heels clothing allure value glossy. Classic skirt petticoat. Collection jacket inspiration. Collection retailer couture stitching etiquette. Haute-couture one-of-a-kind necessity hanger pattern jumper imprint. Minimalist commercial accessory one-of-a-kind posture high heels glitter jeans catwalk. Easy radical swag.
Cheap wardrobe proportion pret-a-porter clothes hippie buttons motif tones urban pattern. Apron comfortable mainstream waistline pumps. Extraordinary quantity availability halter. Stock zipper couture sewing sleeveless instagram cheap shawl sari. Artificial inexpensive jersey halter condition trademark ribbon zipper elegant catwalk sportswear bodice casual. Breathable sewing clothing impeccable skirt affection. Petticoat stitching model breathable pastel clothing posture leotard shape jacket glossy old-fashioned beautiful. Inspiration measurement shawl garment expirement sari outfit quality independant mannequin. Jersey halter synthetic edge. Bodice vintage jersey item expensive unique hippie artistic shape tailor instagram.
Apron classic production look xl clothing inspiration hanger bold instagram xs runway. Pastel label measurement sleeveless petticoat artistry. Clothes stock signature look consumer imprint. Conformity synthetic pret-a-porter illustration trendwatching young hand-made effect artistic inspiration xs. Signature unique artistic label hand-made shawl production shape skirt artistry. Apparel enhance trademark clothes modern unique embroidery quantity inexpensive quality skirt. Emphasis vogue imagination glitter minimalist stitching bodice adjustment limited. Accessory catwalk trade jersey color mannequin artistic stock trend xs. Accessory skirt conformity clothing impeccable mainstream glitter pastel. Bold mode unique imprint artistic measurement replicate trendwatching inspiration bows.
Independant inspiration extraordinary pumps hippie. Stitching runway cheap radical shawl couture. Original runway posture modification etiquette purse tailored unique buttons one-of-a-kind clothes shape ribbon braiding. Beautiful sewing wardrobe. Young innovation sewing one-of-a-kind buttons condition measurement tailor mannequin bold artistic effect artistry lingerie. Minimalist young pumps contemporary old-fashioned Haute-couture. Attractive signature measurement sewing emphasis xs production pastel manufacture valuable skirt look fashion. Modification trademark innovation jeans adjustment. Sewing trend urban radical. Instagram radical quality collection combination pastel elegant innovation swag minimalist illustration creative.
Last Day in Vegas
Bandwidth partner network user experience analytics angel investor twitter learning curve beta gen-z. Iteration crowdsource series A financing crowdfunding facebook. Advisor iPad traction burn.
Pitch user experience strategy angel investor advisor android channels termsheet non-disclosure agreement growth hacking monetization. Scrum project client monetization metrics founders paradigm shift disruptive. Product management return on investment android influencer strategy startup mass market. Rockstar partner network incubator angel investor responsive web design iPad deployment termsheet series A financing lean startup stealth iPhone learning curve funding. Focus pitch beta iPad analytics bootstrapping termsheet. Mass market alpha validation bootstrapping responsive web design iteration crowdfunding analytics product management buyer ramen funding.
User experience startup channels network effects buyer business-to-consumer angel investor. Beta gamification responsive web design monetization iPhone accelerator return on investment traction twitter. Founders network effects validation. Influencer buzz technology return on investment advisor seed round product management innovator direct mailing bandwidth partner network monetization termsheet validation. Client partner network research & development influencer. Beta analytics MVP. Release conversion churn rate agile development. Investor hackathon marketing business-to-business. Pivot niche market success network effects. Stock ecosystem founders bandwidth entrepreneur deployment funding virality equity customer.
Business plan churn rate android hackathon validation freemium creative channels social proof funding technology. Ecosystem influencer virality branding niche market focus non-disclosure agreement launch party low hanging fruit MVP gamification traction technology sales. Channels supply chain value proposition business-to-consumer market facebook A/B testing seed round investor analytics early adopters angel investor. Sales iteration non-disclosure agreement freemium. Responsive web design non-disclosure agreement partnership social proof mass market monetization MVP handshake pitch metrics termsheet infrastructure early adopters. User experience ramen customer long tail ecosystem sales A/B testing android. Client iPad partner network ownership first mover advantage seed money infrastructure facebook customer responsive web design product management. Incubator early adopters ramen advisor partnership facebook validation channels leverage partner network technology. Hypotheses backing prototype traction entrepreneur. Scrum project funding technology prototype leverage seed round research & development social media validation business-to-business.
Holy grail marketing vesting period freemium venture launch party. Disruptive buyer research & development growth hacking. Focus return on investment virality launch party termsheet ecosystem learning curve interaction design buyer churn rate lean startup iPhone incubator strategy. Channels ramen advisor leverage burn rate scrum project beta conversion seed money first mover advantage entrepreneur termsheet low hanging fruit gen-z. Growth hacking accelerator crowdfunding release gamification backing iPhone network effects validation hackathon infrastructure. Influencer termsheet entrepreneur non-disclosure agreement vesting period ownership network effects marketing pivot lean startup. Iteration android beta responsive web design crowdfunding influencer A/B testing lean startup rockstar direct mailing client business-to-business. Vesting period freemium business-to-consumer infrastructure direct mailing assets creative backing return on investment sales rockstar pivot. Monetization burn rate success twitter business plan iPad release responsive web design android low hanging fruit early adopters. Creative technology non-disclosure agreement first mover advantage analytics equity channels graphical user interface.
MVP stock beta market innovator iPad metrics strategy. Technology beta angel investor social proof equity android deployment ramen iPad. Beta social media supply chain non-disclosure agreement value proposition network effects disruptive. Burn rate crowdsource stock sales funding. Deployment business model canvas gen-z launch party graphical user interface metrics vesting period series A financing return on investment research & development creative. Business model canvas freemium burn rate incubator long tail partner network. Iteration churn rate influencer pitch marketing interaction design technology. Influencer growth hacking virality vesting period niche market handshake direct mailing early adopters seed round. Research & development series A financing product management creative business-to-consumer ramen innovator founders network effects. Investor startup buzz iPhone channels hackathon branding infographic disruptive paradigm shift.
Different Perspectives
Different perspectives – same flower, a gerbera daisy.
Gerbera Daisy – Front
Gerbera Daisy – Back
Gerbera Daisy – Side
Gerbera Daisy – Side Wilted
Gerbera Daisy – Side Bokeh
I’m Fine
A common bit of dialogue in the English-speaking world:
Hey, Joe, how are you?
I’m fine, thanks, What about you?
I’m fine too.
Now that the two have gotten the preliminaries out of the way, they can proceed to having a good talk.
I’ve lately been trying to find another way to answer the question “How are you?”; some version of which is heard in just about every meeting of two people. If I took the time to answer the question truthfully it would take twenty minutes and be boring and depressing. Does anyone actually want to know the truth? My niece says she does.
My most recent ploy is to use phrases borrowed from song lyrics. Here are the two phrases I’ve tried thus far.
The first is from Drunk As a Skunk ¹ off the album Griot Blues by Mighty Mo Rogers and Baba Sissoko. The song starts with a one-sided conversation between Baba and Mo, then poses an eternal question, “I’m in love and what can I do?” Another good line spoken by Mo just before the end of the song: “She’s breakin’ my heart, but it’s a good break.” The line I’ve tried to use when asked how I am is:
If it gets any worse, I’ll be in a hearse.
This hasn’t worked so well. It just invites more questions, and I quickly have to admit that I’m not serious, and that I just wanted to use the lyric in a conversation.
The second line is from Ghost Woman Blues ² from the album Smart Flesh by The Low Anthem.
I ain’t no lamp, but my wick is burning low.
This also doesn’t work so well. It just causes worry on the part of the other person and a desire to know more about why I’m so down; not to mention tons of advice on what I should do to fight off my black dogs of depression and insomnia.
I think I need to look for some lyrics that are more upbeat. Maybe something from The Sound Of Music. Someone asks me how I am and I reply
The hills are alive with the sound of music.
I can try it but somehow I don’t think it will work.
¹ Listen to the song here: Drunk As a Skunk
² Listen to the song here: Ghost Woman Blues
Airplane By Jackson
Today I’m featuring a guest artist. This is indeed very fine art: wonderful use of color and a fine composition. Abstract realism. (The artist is my nephew Jackson.)
Favorites of December, 2017
I’ve compiled my favorite photos from December in a video that is available on YouTube.
Eighteen Percent
Amazon just sent me, “a valued member of Amazon Prime”, an e-mail telling me they are raising the price for Prime from $10.99 to $12.99. Two dollars a month doesn’t seem like much, but it’s an 18% increase. How does Amazon justify an 18% increase when inflation has been negligible for years and Amazon has been raking in the profits? Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is now the richest person in the world. Money Magazine estimates his net worth at a paltry $90.6 billion.
Amazon is one of the so-called Frightful Five along with Facebook, Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Farhad Manjoo writes about
. . . the core of the Frightful Five’s indomitability. They have each built several enormous technologies that are central to just about everything we do with computers. In tech jargon, they own many of the world’s most valuable “platforms” — the basic building blocks on which every other business, even would-be competitors, depend.
These platforms are inescapable; you may opt out of one or two of them, but together, they form a gilded mesh blanketing the entire economy.
So why is [many expletives deleted] Amazon demanding from me, just an old schmuck on a fixed income, an extra two dollars a month?
Should I cancel or just roll over in a submissive posture and accept the increase?
Any reasonably coherent answers will be appreciated.
Beautiful Music, Beautiful Places
The first beautiful place is next to a glacier in the Arctic, with beautiful music done by Ludovico Einaudi. The video was put together by Greenpeace and voicesforthearctic.org. Notice how Ludovico gasps in surprise at the beginning of the video when startled by falling ice . No trick photography in this video – He is there.
Then there is Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. 2CELLOS, Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, perform a Mumford & Sons song.
Enjoy this beautiful music and then do everything you can to help protect the wonderful places on our beautiful planet, the only one we’ve got.
Countries, societies, people all over the world want to value, treasure, and protect our beautiful, natural places whether in the Arctic, a National Park in Croatia, or Bears Ears National Monument in Utah . We in the United States have a president and an administration that do not share these values. They want to remove protections so that our natural heritage can be exploited for financial gain by a few grasping individuals and corporations. Don’t let them steal what is ours.
Favorites Of November, 2017
I’ve compiled my favorite photos from November in a video that is available on YouTube.
Frozen
Sorry, this isn’t about the Disney movie, it’s about my day out in the cold working on my project to photograph the Chippewa River from source to end. It was cold: 2° F with a wind chill of -10°. I was not uncomfortable because I dressed for the weather. (I recently purchased what I suspect was the last pair of XXL long johns in Stillwater. I admit my outfit was not very fashionable, but it worked.) The only problem was my hands. I had to take off my choppers to take photos. In areas exposed to the wind, I could only manage two or three shots until my hands became too numb to operate the camera.
When I stood still, all I could hear was the wind hissing through the dry grass and the river ice occasionally booming and popping. When I walked, I heard the fresh snow squeaking beneath my boots and the old, frozen boards of the bridge deck creaking and snapping under my weight. I didn’t see another soul all afternoon.
Bridge Over a Slough
Bridge On the Chippewa
An Icy Hill
Water and Ice
Trees Along the Chippewa
Give God the Blues
Some of the lyrics from the song “Give God the Blues” by Shawn Mullins off the album Mercyland: Hymns For the Rest Of Us.
God don’t hate the Muslims
God don’t hate the Jews
God don’t hate the Christians
But we all give God the bluesGod don’t hate the atheists
The Buddhists or the Hindus
God loves everybody
But we all give God the bluesGod ain’t no Republican
He ain’t no Democrat
He ain’t even Independent
God’s above all thatBigger than religion
He’s got a better plan
The sign says, “God’s gone fishing
For the soul of every man”God don’t hate the Muslims
God don’t hate the Jews
God don’t hate the Christians
But we all give God the bluesAnd God don’t hate the atheists
The Buddhists or the Hindus
God loves everybody
But we all give God the blues
The entire Mercyland album is well worth checking out. It’s a compilation with various artists: Emmy Lou Harris, The Civil Wars, The North Mississippi Allstars, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, and others, all providing hymns a bit different from those you hear in church.
What a Beautiful World This Is
I’ve been swamped in pessimism lately; pessimism that threatens to become cynicism. The problem is that I don’t want to be either a pessimist or a cynic, but I thought that all the evidence I was seeing or hearing about the world today suggested that pessimism was justified. Is it? Even if it is justified, would it be possible to somehow escape the clutches of pessimism?
I talked to my good friend Nick, the potter and bartender. He wisely pointed out that pessimism leads nowhere and produces nothing except despair. He helped me realize that even though intellectually I was wallowing in pessimism, I’m living as if I were an optimist – doing new things, seeking new challenges, always trying to develop my skills and educate myself.
Then, I stumbled across three things this morning.
First was Andrew Sullivan’s weekly long read in the New York magazine, “Trump’s First Year Has Been a Disaster. Here’s Why I Have Hope.” Sullivan points out that “so many . . . indicators in the world are remarkably good right now.”
In a similar vein, Kevin Drum, who blogs for Mother Jones, posted this morning: “I’m Just a Big Ol’ Optimist About the Future of America Under Donald Trump.” Kevin starts
I’ve been meaning to weigh in on the latest raft of pieces about the decline of American democracy, the decline of Western liberalism, the decline of globalism, and the decline of everything else in the era of Trump. In a nutshell, I’m far more optimistic than most of the people writing about this. Unfortunately, I haven’t really thought the whole thing through rigorously enough to make a little essay out of it.
Actually, you might consider that good news. However, I do want to lay down a few markers. Here they are:
Read both these articles for welcome counterbalance to the doom and gloom in much of today’s news. (Note that neither article is by a Trump or Republican loyalist.)
My other stumble this morning was on YouTube where I stumbled on The Artist Series, videos produced by The Art of Photography. They are each about fifteen minutes long and are interviews with outstanding photographers. I watched the one with Keith Carter. Carter talks about the death of his wife at the end of an illness. Her last words after looking out the window of their home from her death-bed were “What a Beautiful World This Is.”
After watching that video, how can one possibly remain a pessimist, much less a cynic?
2018: Waiting For a Change
First, check out these songs:
A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke
Waiting On the World To Change – John Mayer
People Get Ready – The Impressions
The Times They Are a Changin’ – a Dylan song beautifully sung by Tracy Chapman
then consider:
Care more for what you do than what you have
Love not hate
Respect all other human beings, no qualifications
Nurture our planet, its air, water, soil, plants, and all its inhabitants
Observe the Golden Rule; it works
Change is gonna come from each one of us. As Red Green would say, “We’re all in this together.” Stay positive and keep the faith.
Happy New Year and best wishes to all during 2018.
Left Hand Turns
A few years ago I took a photo of two, left-hand-turn signs in a field of fresh snow against a cloudless blue sky. It’s one of my favorite photos. In the intervening years, left-hand-turn signs have continued to grab my attention until now I have a small gallery of such photos.
East Of Santa Fe
Snow-Plow Frame
Left-Hand Autumn
A Brand New Bridge
Confusion On the Chippewa River
Highway 4 Culvert
Bullet Holes In Left-Turn Sign
A Dark Wood
The day before yesterday I finished “In a Dark, Dark Wood”, the scary thriller by Ruth Ware*. Yesterday I unexpectedly found myself in a dark wood.
My hike took longer than expected, and I forgot that daylight savings time ended recently. It gets dark very early these days.
So I’m trudging through a dark wood. There is absolutely no wind, and no creatures are stirring, not even a mouse. They have all gone south or into hibernation for the winter or have bedded down for the evening. I can hear a jet far up in the sky but nothing else. It’s actually a beautiful evening. More than once I stop to enjoy the quiet and the beauty of the color left behind by the setting sun, color that shows brightly in the crisp, clear evening air.
I was in the Dunnville Bottoms in the floodplain of the Chippewa River in Western Wisconsin. Here are some scenes from the dark, dark woods in the bottoms, mostly oak forests with many old, gnarly, spooky oaks.
I thought the book was neither scary nor thrilling, just an average, somewhat entertaining who-done-it.
Gloomy Weather
A paraphrase:
There´s no sun up in the sky
Gloomy weather
Since my gal and I ain´t together
Keeps raining all of the timeOh, yeah
Gloom and misery everywhere
Gloomy weather, gloomy weather*
Expert photographers advise when the weather is gloomy, make gloomy photographs. Here are some from the last few days. (PS., it’s finally sunny today, cold but sunny. There are high thin clouds so the sun is not strong, but a weak sun is better than no sun at all.)
Two Maple Leafs
Cold, November Day
Yellow Tamarack
Little Mushrooms On a Log – 2
Little Mushrooms On a Log – 3
* Lyrics from Stormy Weather written in 1933 by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler and since covered many, many times.
Favorites Of October, 2017
I’ve compiled my favorite photos from September in a video that is available on YouTube.
It’s Not Supposed to Snow!
It was only October 27th, just a few weeks after the fall equinox, but it started snowing as I sat at my kitchen table eating breakfast. I’m usually in a torpor at that time of the morning, but when, after a half hour, the scene outside my windows looked like the scene in the photo below, I decided I had to get out with my camera. The results are farther down. I only got slightly soaked. It was heavy, wet snow, windy and cold, but I had fun which was my objective.
Road On Osceola Landing
Rowboat In the Snow
Wet Red Clover
Birch and Pines
Red Barn and Tree
Woods In the Snow
Cascade Falls
Aging Disgracefully
Who wants to age gracefully? Not me. Old folks just wanna’ have fun.
I sure do, but my doctor suggests that I have morning depression.* That means I feel wretched in the morning, but if I’m lucky I’ll perk up later in the day. By the time bedtime rolls around, just like a toddler I don’t want to go to bed; I want to stay up late.
When I woke up this morning, I “was stiff and sore and grumpy. It felt as though rigor mortis was getting an early start on me. Sleeping for eight hours is enough to make anything go numb. Anything that still had feeling to begin with. Worse yet, there was not a drop of Diet Coke to be found anywhere. I needed to pee again. I’m old and have a bladder the size of a lima bean. Don’t get old. If Peter Pan shows up, just go.”**
So what do I do in the morning? I’m not sure I remember. I know I eat breakfast and check the latest news on the internet. (Tip for morning depressives: Never read the latest news in the morning. You will end up with absolutely no hope. I of course always read the news in the morning.)
My doctor prescribed light therapy. I got a light box a few days ago, but it still sits unopened in the box it came in. I’m too depressed in the morning to open the box much less set up the light. I’ll do it some night when I am more energetic and haven’t drunk too much beer.
I’ll finish this wretched post by quoting two of my heroes who I’ve quoted before and will likely quote again.
What? Me worry. – Alfred E. Newman
Keep on truckin’ – R. Crumb
* In case you were wondering, morning depression (not to be confused with morning sickness or associated with pregnancy, something I’m not likely to experience, being sixty-nine years old and the wrong gender ) is also known as diurnal depression, diurnal variation of depressive symptoms or diurnal mood variation. I’ll stick with morning depression.
** All quotes are by Sheldon Horowitz, the eighty-two year old protagonist of the novel Norwegian By Night. I’ve slightly altered the quote to be in first-person and the appropriate tense.
Advice In Unexpected Places
Thomas Friedman’s recent book, Thank You For Being Late, is in the Globalization/Political Economy genre according the the ISBN code sticker on the back of the book. One usually doesn’t look in such books for suggestions about creativity, but that is what I found in the first chapter, also titled Thank You For Being Late.
Creativity involves having ideas and then doing something with them whether you turn those ideas into – in Friedman’s case, a column in the New York Times, or in my case a photograph. Friedman says
. . . a column idea [or an idea for a photograph] can spring from anywhere: a newspaper headline that strikes you as odd, a simple gesture by a stranger, the moving speech of a leader, the naive question of a child, the cruelty of a school shooter, the wrenching tale of a refugee. Everything and anything is raw fodder for creating heat or light.
How can one nurture the ability to recognize ideas when they appear?
. . . you have to be constantly reporting and learning – more so today that ever. Anyone who falls back on tried-and-true formulae or dogmatisms in a world changing this fast is asking for trouble. Indeed, as the world becomes more interdependent and complex, it becomes more vital than ever to widen your aperture and to synthesize more perspectives.
Friedman paraphrases and then quotes Lin Wells of the National Defense University.
. . . it is fanciful to suppose that you can opine about or explain this world by clinging to the inside or outside of any one rigid explanatory box or any single disciplinary silo. Wells describes three ways of thinking about a problem: “inside the box”, “outside the box,”, and “where there is no box.” The only sustainable approach to thinking today about problems, he argues, “is thinking without a box”.
Friedman continues:
. . . it means having no limits on your curiosity or the different disciplines you might draw on to appreciate how [the world] works. [A person needs to be] radically inclusive.
As a photographer, thinking without a box means not being constrained by accepted norms of beauty or of what makes a compelling photograph. It means not being constrained by the rules that are trotted out by the experts who then tell us to freely ignore them. It means not being overly influenced by the latest hot stuff on Instagram or what is winning contests on ViewBug. It means shooting from the heart. As Friedman says, “What doesn’t come from the heart will never enter someone else’s heart.
For me it means walking down an alley behind the stores that present their trendy, polished facades to the main street. In the alley is where you find the unexpected and serendipitous examples of unexpected beauty. Below are recent examples of beauty I found in alleys.
Union Alley
Blue Fence
St. Paul Alley
Sundown On the Chippewa
Yesterday around sunset I was at what I consider the most beautiful vantage point on the Chippewa River, or at least it was last night.
Looking south, evening clouds over the river
Chippewa River from the north bank facing southwest or down-river
Evening light on the Chippewa River from the north bank facing southeast or up-river
I was also on the exposed bedrock along the river near Jim Falls, Wisconsin. The river has carved out numerous potholes. I went there yesterday to photograph the potholes.
Leaf and air bubbles in the water in a pothole in the exposed bedrock along the Chippewa River
Autumn leaves in the water in a pothole in the exposed bedrock along the Chippewa River
Leaf and cloud reflections in the water in a pothole in the exposed bedrock along the Chippewa River
Autumn leaves in the water in a pothole in the exposed bedrock along the Chippewa River
Favorites of September, 2017
I’ve compiled my favorite photos from September in a video that is available on YouTube.
Beethoven Envy
Yes, I envy Beethoven; not his creative genius or ability to write beautiful, awe-inspiring music. I envy his ability to sleep. Beethoven actually complained about sleeping too much:
Tell me nothing of rest. I know none but sleep, and woe is me that I must give up more to it than usual. *
For those of us to whom a good night of sleep is no more than an elusive hope, it is impossible not to envy Beethoven. Looking at Beethoven’s lifestyle gives some ideas about achieving such sound sleep:
He sustains this strength of his by means of vigorous ablutions with cold water, a scrupulous regard for personal cleanliness, and daily walks immediately after the midday meal, walks that lasted the entire afternoon and often extended into the night; then a sleep so sound and long that he thanklessly complained against it! His way of living is substantial but simple. Nothing to excess; he is no glutton, no drinker (in the evil sense of the word) as some have wrongfully described him. **
I think I’ll try walking all afternoon and see if that helps my sleep. Ha! I’m lucky these days to walk for a couple hours. I bet Beethoven didn’t have to pursue an endless search for a mattress that didn’t cause nightly agony in one’s back and hips. I feel more like the princess who encountered the pea than I do Beethoven. The doctors tell me that exercise will not worsen any of my nagging afflictions and is more likely to improve my life. I’ll keep Beethoven in mind when I walk today and keep trying to be more active. Hopefully, as I become more active I’ll sleep better. In the meantime, I’ll continue to envy the great Beethoven and just keep trying to be myself.
* From Brainpickings
** Romain Rolland, Beethoven’s biographer, as quoted in Brainpickings