Of Death, Lists, and Art in Pittsburgh…..

Rather than bore you with my own musings, I thought I would subject you to the musings of others! These are things that I happened upon: on my own, by force (ie. via work related research), and through a friend, not in that order.

If I have intrigued you, then by all means, click the link and read more! Life is too short to say you don’t have the time. I hope any and/or all of it catches your fancy like it did for me.

• Happy Ending by Todd May = (essay/blog post from the NYtimes) (length – 2 scrolls with your mouse thingie)

At first glance the essay seems a little morbid. But actually it is incredibly thought provoking in its discussion about living and dying. Wonderfully written. My take away thought- we have to die in order to truly live. It is the idea that our lives will eventually come to an end that enables us to live with a certain degree of purpose. I’m curious to hear what you get from it. It’s the last post of an awesome column, blog, discussion or whatever hosted by the NY times. It’s called, “Happy Days: The Pursuit of What Matters in Troubled Times.” A dream blog I wish I knew about earlier!!

• We Like Lists Because We Don’t Want to Die = (interview w/ a famous Italian dude :) who is curating a new exhibition at the Louvre in Paris (think-tough life) (length – 2 pages worth)

Hmm it really seems like I’m obsessed with death doesn’t it? Well it’s either because I’ve hit that age OR that I don’t believe that discussion about death should be limited to the morose. Or I was just so inspired by the previous posting. You be the judge. While some parts of the interview are not that riveting, I have never ever thought about the role and importance of lists in a given culture before. Umberto Eco thinks their important enough to build an exhibit around. It could still seem boring but it’s absolutely fascinating for those of us who enjoy considering new ways of thinking about things. Thanks to my friend for shooting this over. She knows who she is.

• Bill Strickland makes change with a slide show = (TED talk/video) (length - ~35 minutes but worth every freaking second)

If you watch this, you’ll know that I’m not in a Goth phase. I don’t know how I got to this video. But that is probably what happens when you are still on your computer in the wee hours of the morning. Like crack. I love TED like crack, which could also explain it. Anyway, in my am delirium, I sent this link to a bunch of friends who probably saw the length, rolled their eyes, and said “one day.” Well after seeing it, after shedding tears while brimming with inspiration, I felt I needed to plug it again. It’s about how a man named Bill Strickland from a rough neighborhood in Pittsburgh is using his love for art and humanity to make a difference. I’m sure he is well known enough by now to have plenty of critics but it can’t take away from how special this talk was.

Oh the websites you will go (NR materials not covered today)!

One of the things that I love about the World Wide Web is the random, but fascinating places it can take you. Sometimes I think they should call it: World-Wide-Choose your own Adventure, because depending on what and where you click, you could stumble upon a whole new world that you have never considered.

Speaking of stumble upon, I just found out that there is a site called Stumble Upon which if you sign on for and personalize your specific interests, will take you to a random site or article that matches your interests whenever you feel like surfing.

An example of a little adventure before I actually learned about the stumble upon tool, started when I was reading about TED on Wikipedia. (For those naysayers of Wikipedia – I say, it’s a great baseline to begin learning more about something, not a one-stop shop).

And TED for those of you who are unfamiliar, stands for: Technology, Entertainment, and Design. TED is known for their “idea” conferences, for attracting attendees across sectors who can afford it (read: rich and famous people) to share thoughts and ideas on an array of topics, and for ridiculously interesting and often inspiring talks which are easily available to us commoners, online. TED’s excellent business model does a great job of keeping the event exclusive but making it accessible to everyone via the (yes, you got it): World Wide Web J The best part is that these talks are usually no longer than 20 minutes. I could go on and on but check it out if you want. One of my favorite talks so far is from Benjamin Zander on music and passion. You won’t be disappointed.

ANYWAY, so one of the founders of TED is Richard Saul Wurman. I clicked on his name and found out that he is a pretty cool guy. He is seventy-something and he is considered a pioneer in the practice of trying to make information understandable. Calls himself an information architect. Very neat. A few clicks later and I’m on his website.

A few more taps on the mouse pad and I was onto his latest project: 19,20,21. COOL STUFF!

I’ll let you explore but it is basically an effort to identify, map, and understand the 19 most populous cities in the world. Why? Because more than half of the people on earth live in what he calls super cities, and the trend is accelerating to where 2/3rds of the population will be concentrated in cities in the future. Wurman and his partners think that by understanding different issues in cities (eg. Health, transportation, demographics, economics, etc) and making that information available to policymakers, businesses, non-profits and others, we can better prepare for this trend ahead. And given his TED founding, and just the design of his website, I can’t wait to see how Wurman and his crew share this with the world! Did I mention that he is seventy something? That’s even more amazing to me.