NGdC

I saw that Julien Smith had done a new In Over Your Head Podcast.

This is me talking back to Julien and anyone who would like to listen.

The show is about turning 30… then turning 31.

Does the world change, or does the person, or do both?

What do you think?

-N

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Dear Reading Public,

I have said this again and again, and now I’m going to say it again. I honestly don’t know why I keep saying it over and over, maybe I think that if I say it (or write it, podcast it, email it, or whatever) enough, it will sink in.

Print is alive and well.

It is a fact that the methods for delivering the printed word to readers are rapidly evolving now days, but that does not mean that the printed word is dying or dead, as many people seem to believe it is.

~1~
Words are words are words.

Whether the words someone wrote appear on paper or on a screen does not matter. Let’s make this a simple If/Then statement…

If the words that the reader reads are the words that the writer wrote,
then it does not matter what the words appear on, or what size they appear in, or what color they are.

In other words: The words are what are important, not the way they are displayed.

I can understand people wanting to read the words on paper. I like reading words on paper. Paper is a good storage device for words of fiction and non-fiction. But if the words appear on something besides paper it does not mean that the words are dying or that they have died.

~2~
This has happened before.

The time period that we are in is a time of great change for several industries that have been built up around the printed word.

The paper industry
The book seller & news stand industries
The print shop industry (makes paper into books, magazines, and newspapers)
The publishing industry (pays the writers who make the words)
The print news industry

I’m sure that there are others, but I think you get the idea.

The only constant in life is that there are no constants in life. That goes for the life of a person and it goes for the life of industry/industries. The printed word is at a point in its life cycle where things that have been considered givens are being changed or disregarded.

Change is difficult for people to deal with. As the industries that bring the printed word to readers change, there will be many false starts, mistakes, and at times things might be just plain fucked up. But every mistake will be a learning experience; every challenge will be an opportunity to grow.

I was at a wedding reception once, and when the best man gave his speech he said, “Remember that no meaningful… no worthwhile change ever comes without a temporary surrender of security.” Those words ring true for the people and the industries that bring us the printed word.

~3~
What about print journalism?

There are some bad things happening to the printed word as a result of the changes it’s going through; for example, the closing of many newsrooms that produced great works of print journalism. It really sucks that newsrooms are shrinking… Notice that I said newsrooms and not newspapers. I say that, because a newsroom is the heart, soul, and brain of a newspaper.

I truly believe that when someone finds a way to make a newsroom profitable in the age of the web (and mark my words someone will find a way… There is far too much money to be made for someone not to find a way…), you and I will get the same quality of journalism on the web that we got from newspapers.

In short: the newspaper might not be as strong as it use to be; it might shrink, it might go the way of vinyl records or eight tracks, but the newsroom will survive, and print journalism will survive with it.

~4~
What about book sellers & newsstands?

These are affected by the creation and subsequent advancement of two technologies:

1. Internet (mainly web-based) technologies; and
2. Print-on-demand technologies

The cost that has been associated with the creation, fabrication, and distribution of a book in the physical form is greatly reduced. While this is bad for book, magazine, and newspaper sellers, I believe it is a good thing for the reading public.

I say this because I believe that today web-based and print-on-demand technologies have made it much easier to get more books and more information presented via print into the hands of more people for less cost. I believe that these technologies will go a long way towards increasing literacy and appreciation for the written word.

The printing press was a huge technological leap that increased literacy and appreciation for the written word. I see the web-based and print-on-demand technologies of today as doing much the same.

The web and print-on-demand technologies are the printing press of the now.

The companies and the people who attempt to sell mass-produced physical artifacts that contain the printed word will shrink; they may even go the way of the Pony Express. That is the cost of progress. It’s bad for those industries, but good for the world.

~5~
To sum it all up.

Change does not mean death or dying.
The words don’t change. It doesn’t matter if they are on paper or a screen.
Newsrooms will find a way to survive, even if newspapers don’t.
The web and print-on-demand technologies are the printing press of today.
What is bad for people who sell the printed word might be good for the world.

The reading public (that’s us) are living in a time of great change. The change will involve many mistakes and much learning. It will be both scary and exciting. The change will be bad for some, good for more.

Please don’t mistake the growing pains of the industries that create, fabricate, distribute, and sell the printed word with the dying or death of the printed word. They are not the same thing.

Thank you.

-Neil Gorman

1. This is really bad ass.

2. I now believe that the song “We Diden’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel is one of the greatest songs to run to. DON’T YOU EVEN GIVE ME THAT SNARKY LOOK!

Listen… I know that might sound kind of nuts, but it is the truth.

Don’t believe me? Try running with out listening to that song, then run listening to that song. There will be a difference.

Cheers.

-N

In this show I tell a story that starts with me becoming a Chicago Blackhawks fan when I was in the 7′th grade back in 1992. As I tell the story I work my way to the present day when the Hawks are playing the Detroit Red Wings, and I talk about how very VERY much I want the Chicago Blackhawks to beat their bitter rival the Detroit Red Wings.

Be advised: I use dirty, un-kind words frequently in this podcast.

-N

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I woke up today before my alarm started to tell me that it was time to wake up, and I knew that something what is up with me today, something seemed off… The feeling that something was wrong grew as I got ready to leave my house and go to work.

When I wake up feeling like this I know that I will have to be extra careful as I go through my day, because if I’m not chances are that I’ll end up doing something foolish. In fact, I’m writing down that I have to be careful right now to re-enforce that idea in my own mind.

The last time that I woke up feeling this way I snapped on someone who I should not have snapped on. I was lucky because I quickly realized my mistake, and made an apology which was accepted. If I’m not extra careful today I might not be lucky again.

My plan for now is to make sure that I can find something, a idea, or something I can repeat to myself, a mantra, whatever, that I can use to anchor myself if the day starts to take a turn for the worse.

I’m out of time for now.

It’s later in the day now, and I can head home from work. I made it through the entire day with out snapping, which I think is a good thing, because there were several times today when I really felt very close to snapping. So on that front I have a victory.

However, the level of anxiety that I have been feeling through the day has not diminished. It has not really increased either.

I’ve always seen anxiety (and anger) as secondary emotions that stem one of three primary emotions.

1. Fear — A feeling of being threatened in some way.
2. Hurt — A feeling of being wronged, taken advantage of, abused, etc.
3. Lack of control (or) out of control — A feeling of having lost control over events that are taking place in the life that your living. This is the “ship with out a rudder in the storm” sort of feeling.

In my case I think the anxiety is coming from a combination of fear and lack of control…

And again I’m out of time for now.

-N

I had an interesting thing happen that inspired me to sit down in front of my mic and do a podcast, which is something that I have not done in a very long time.

If I can get some good / positive / constructive feedback on this thing I’ll do more like them.

-N

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

There was a really cool short post over on the O’Reilly Tools of Change blog today about eBook piracy.

The main argument of this post is:

“The reason there’s an “exponential” increase in piracy of ebooks is because there’s an exponential increase in demand for ebooks:”

The New York Times also talked about this.

-N

Today on my way into work I stopped at a Starbucks. I was going to stop at Dunkin Donuts, but I was not in the best of moods, so I decided to treat myself to what I consider a more “high end” coffee beverage.

What I ordered was a

1. Grande (medium)
2. Iced
3. Hazelnut
4. Latte made with SOY milk.

The drink came as ordered, but there was this thick hard white stuff at the bottom of the cup.

No big deal I thought, as I left the Starbucks and stirred the drink.

In the car I go to take a sip of the drink and I see the white stuff is still there. So I vigeriouslu stirred the drink for a bit. Still no effect.

Below are two pictures that I took after I stirred the drink to two minutes.

My question is would you drink it?

If this were a one time thing I would not be writing this blog post. The thing is this has happened to me before, but only with Starbucks drinks. It never happens when I get a drink made with soy from Caribou Coffee, or the Intelligentsia Cafe.

Granted: I could have asked the barista to remake the drink, I’m sure that she would have. However, I was in a rush and did not notice the problem till I had left the Starbucks, and even if I had noticed it I would have felt bad holding up the people behind me who were on their way to work. i.e. I don’t think I should have to ask to have the drink remade… The baristas at Starbucks should just make sure that there is not a thick layer of hardend soy stuff at the bottom of my drink.

Am I being unrealistic coffee snob? (For real. If I am please tell me.)

-N

I was reading a book about running, and I found these words of wisdom.

On 11 April 2008 I turned thirty. It was not a big event, it did not freak me out, it just happened, the world spun madly on, and I spun with it, around the sun for another year.

Then on 11 April 2009 I turned 31. During the days leading up to the calendar date that marks my birth I started to get introspective. I became very occupied comparing where I was a year ago, to where I was now.

Here is a summery of my thoughts.

Education: I’m closer to having a Masters Degree (a Masters in Social Work for those who care). I loath the masters program that I’m in. I really hate it. I often think about not finishing it, yet I keep on going.

Job: It feel like I’m good at what I do, better at it than I was a year ago. I’m making more money doing it. There are more days where I like going to work than days where I hate going to work.

Money Stuff: I have paid off my car. I managed to stick a bunch of money into a Money Market savings account. My 401K is fucked, but… I don’t know… whatever. Everyone’s 401k is fucked. It will get better or it will not, but there is not that much that I can do to have an effect on that.

Travel: I went to places I had not been to. I hope to do more of this during year number 31. I love to travel around. I had wanted to go to Europe, but things never lined up. Maybe this year I’ll get to go to Europe! That would be nice.

Public Speaking: I totally sucked at this. I want to get better at public speaking.

Love life: Fucking nightmare. I fall into the same traps/patterns over and over.

Twitter: I gained tons of followers on Twitter. Then lots a bunch of followers on Twitter. Now I’m at about 500 followers. (I wonder how much time I spent on Twitter between 30 and 31.)

NGdC (the blog): You know… Whenever someone says the words “personal branding” I hear the ghost of Hunter S. Thompson telling me to light their iPod on fire. I think that would be a really fun thing to do, but I if 31 years has taught me anything it has taught me that listening to the ghost of Hunter S. Thompson is often a bad fucking idea. Lots of people talk about how their blogs are a tool for their “personal brand”. Not me. The way I see it: People are people. Brands are brands. People are not brands. Brands are not people. Lots of folks disagree with me, and that’s fine.

Health: I don’t smoke, or drink. I suck at eating things that are good for me. I’m great at eating things that are bad for me. Nonetheless I somehow manage to stay very thin. (Which is to say that I have the physical fortitude of a freeze pop.) My health goals for 31 are to eat more plants, drink less pop, and work out more.

Podcast: I started the Text Edit Podcast. I like doing it.

Friends: I have the gretest friends that anyone could ask for. Most of them live near Chicago, or in Canada. A few live out on the West & East coasts. Having friends all over the damn place is one of the things that makes it easy to travel.

-N