October 26th 2011
Steve Jobs Tribute
Made by my friend, John.
Here’s the original:
October 12th 2011
What I Learned From Spying On A Wedding
(It wasn't that creepy)
I recently witnessed the *very* end of a wedding. I was just another Park Slope passerby until I unwittingly sauntered by this open church door. To my surprise, a newly minted bride and groom walked straight down the aisle towards me as if I had just called them over after they had finished their ceremony. The crowd was cheering, the music was playing and their bridal party would soon follow in the traditional procession as a flury of hugs, handshakes, highfives, and fistbumps celebrating the recent newly weds would ensue right before me.
Too cute.
Parris Whittingham wrote this lovely quick read over at revolution.is a little while back entitled “I believe that remarkable love stories change the world.” Parris, a phenomenal photographer, touches on what he’s learned from photographing and meeting countless inspiring couples. It really must be something to capture that many quintessential special moments.
I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for weddings. I think weddings are awesome because they’re often so celebratory and optimistic. It’s like a birthday party is somewhat of a routine while a wedding–yes, even amidst all of those heavy divorce stats–is an honest occasion with a reason that people come together for. Not to mention the dancing…
When on a periodic self-improvement binge, I often look for lessons in books, talks, and articles. Especially in a creative bubble it sometimes feels like the internet must hold the answer to all, and it’s seemingly easy to ignore the lessons that witnessing a human relationship can afford.
About a month ago, I had the lovely honor of “best-manning” the wedding of a dear highschool friend. The mental snapshot of my buddy on edge before starting the ceremony combined with sitting at the same table as a beloved crew of friends (usually spread across the U.S.) was warming. Luke’s wedding was a grand reminder for me about the magic of having passionate people in the same room. Nothing really seems to compare. Nothing.
Especially as a twenty-something who grew up with a mouse in hand and a screen name at the age of 9, it may sound silly, but I think it’s easy to forget the energy and raw soulful “umph” that comes from both connecting with people face to face and learning about the links between others.
This all reminds me of a talk I used to give in high school speech and debate. I was a scrawny, shy freshman, and I had this heavily rehearsed ten minute speech about how relationships (of all types) “need to be nurtured.” I really can’t believe how I performed that sappy talk literally over a hundred times, but I’d touch on everything from health benefits of a companion to the concept of humans as social beings.
Maybe I was wise for my age or maybe I was desperate for a girlfriend, but in all it seems like 2011 Kevin could maybe learn a thing or two from high school hormone Kevin. If you peer through the world’s open church door, there are seven continents full of people out there and an exponential amount more connections that spark between them every day. Based on my extensive wedding spying experience, I’d say it’s worthwhile not to let ‘em pass you by.
Photos by Jamie Marie
September 14th 2011
Connecting the Dots Between Past Students and Great Teachers of the World
Within 24 hours of moving to NYC, I shook hands and agreed to sublet this awesome bedroom in Park Slope, Brooklyn for my first two months as a fresh West Coast transplant. I’d spend the coming weeks in the lovely company of Nick and Stephanie, enjoying a beer on the stoop and applying Tattly tattoos I’d bring home from the office.
Nick is only a few years older than me, working as a middle school teacher nearby. I remember one night as we discussed how he stumbled into the job–a path that involved starting out in architecture and ending up in a philosophy Master’s program–I asked him in passing, “So…did you have any really amazing teachers growing up?”
I love that question. I love it because everyone seems to have a great story to answer with. I wouldn’t connect all the dots as to how this new idea came to be, but over the next few weeks that conversation would linger, and I would soon be lucky enough to find myself with a small team of people invested in bringing ThanksForTeaching.Us to life.
Launched as an original project by TBD (a badass social good newsletter I get to handle with Sophia these days), ThanksForTeaching.Us is a platform for you to share your thanks for a standout teacher from your past. It’s simple. There’s a big madib-esque form and a growing grid of allstar teacher stories overlaid on some sweet custom doodles.
The education system in this country has been getting a lot of heat recently. In my circles, topics like the California public education budget crisis or the lack of creativity among teachers and students are hot topics that (although incredibly important) definitely add to the negative energy surrounding our school system. It became apparent a few weeks ago, that with the approach of back to school season there was no better time to provide a space for the spotlight to shine on the positive effect that great teachers have had on us.
We are the product of great teachers.
Amidst the tough challenges facing education today, there are still these great memories and stories that occur everyday thanks to influential educators. Lots of times, I boil down making positive change to putting awesome, passionate people in the best position to be awesome and passionate. For me, ThanksForTeaching.Us started with the goal to get these thank you messages in the hands of those educators. We don’t show our appreciation often enough, and after speaking with some of my past teachers, that sort of recognition of making a difference makes the job worth it.
ThanksForTeaching.Us has been live for just about 12 hours, and we’re honored to have over 400 touching, personal great teacher stories already posted. We haven’t figured it all out yet, but I think there’s so much potential there in that simple human connection, and what we have now is a step in that direction.
Nick obviously had a great story about a past teacher as he replied to my question. Someone made him think, challenged his understanding, and inspired him to do what he’s doing now. I’m not sure where this project will lead, but if I can make someone’s day, or inspire one more stellar teacher out there to keep affecting students’ lives, it’s all been well worth it.
Learn more and submit your story at thanksforteaching.us
Big thank you to the team: Sophia, Elena, John (vid), Yoko (web), and Nathan
If you have any ideas for where we can take this project, I’d love to hear from you. Say hello at kevin@ourfutureistbd.com
August 14th 2011
Time to Wake Up
I moved to Brooklyn a little over a month ago with two giant suitcases, an overstuffed backpack, and a black duffel bag… I believe that’s the maximum amount of luggage a human being can physically move by him or herself.
Nonetheless, as expected, time has flown by since my humble arrival as the princess in the airport attempting to operate a revolving door with one too many rollies to fit through.
Flash forward to my current state. I have the absolute pleasure to work on a lot of things, with my biggest project helping build out this wonderful idea called CreativeMornings.
Started by Tina aka swissmiss aka master and chief about two years ago, CreativeMornings is a free, monthly breakfast lecture series for creative types. What started as a simple meetup at Tina’s studio has become a global movement with chapters worldwide in New York, LA, SF, Vancouver, Boston, Zurich, Milan, London, Auckland, and Tokyo among others.
It’s nothing fancy, but somewhere between fifty to a few hundred people get together once a month to mingle with good folk, enjoy some free breakfast, and listen to that killer speaker that’s usually reserved for the multi-day, heavily pricetagged epic conference. There’s no better way to wake up.
Once called “TED for the rest of us,” CreativeMornings is this amazing blend of no frills creative pow wow meets heavy hitting, inspiring speakers — not to mention it’s now even venture-backed by the ever-innovative Collaborative Fund. Past speakers in just NY include John Maeda (President of RISD), Milton Glaser (legendary designer of I
CreativeMornings/SanFrancisco with Craig Mod, hosted by Typekit
CreativeMorings/NewYork with Liz Danzico, hosted by Blurb
CreativeMornings is at an exciting point, as we’re launching new chapters every month, expanding exponentially. My job as Breakfast Lecture Series Specialist (hell yes) involves a variety of things, so let’s just boil it down to doing all that I can to make CreativeMornings as badass as universally possible.
Find the nearest chapter to you, and join us next month. If you’re around NYC, don’t hesitate to drop me a line, and I’d love to show you what we’ve been up to. I promise it’s worth waking up for.
For more information head over to creativemornings.com
The next NYC event is this Friday with Kirby Ferguson of Everything is a Remix, sign ups open Monday (tomorrow) at 11am
To stay up to date, follow us on twitter @creativemorning