kiss my flash

An Open Letter to Mr. Graydon Carter

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:09:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Carter,

This morning I applied for a job delivering the newspapers that I was once published in. If journalism was considered an addiction this would be my rock bottom. In the interest of full disclosure I should tell you that I am in my pajamas, out of coffee and jonesing to hit the browser refresh button. So perhaps it’s not all that different.

After navigating my regular path of job searches and coming up empty, it was suggested that I try out the Government of Canada website which tells you the jobs you are most suited for. Maybe there was something out there I could do with my skills that I hadn’t considered. Not a dream job, but something to keep Visa from coming after me with tiny plastic pitchforks and hologram torches. A couple of mouseclicks later I scrolled through the results. The Government had decided that I was most suited to be a photographer, an author or a journalist. Job listings: 0. I texted my mother with the news to which she replied “Well, at least we know the test works.”

When I was 7 years old I declared to my parents that I was going to be a photojournalist. At the time I thought it meant taking the photographs, writing the story and telling everyone else what to do. I wanted my own magazine. As I got older the realities changed but the dream remained.

I put myself through night classes while working a full time cubicle job to become a photographer. I assisted one of the best in the city, and volunteered with the News Photographers Association of Canada. And when my journalism professor told me to “shit or get off the pot” I quit my job and jumped into the proverbial abyss. Little did I know that it would also become a literal one when social media boomed and the economy fell to pieces just after my feet left the ledge.

So now here I sit, after a freelance freefall, body intact but spirit littering the pavement. In a cruel twist of irony* using the medium that changed the industry enough to shut down my job to gain the attention of the employer I always desired.

I’m not writing in hopes of working for Vanity Fair (unless you’re offering). I didn’t make this letter public to garner the support of other freelance failures (unless it’s financial). And at 3,000 miles and an international border from New York I can’t even offer to buy you coffee (unless Starbucks does air mail).

Mr. Carter, I’m writing you to ask for advice as a fellow Canadian without a fancy university degree but a deep love of all things editorial. What do I do now? Is there still a place for us storytellers in this new era? Or at some point do you just let the dream die?

Sincerely,

Katherine

*Do I get bonus points for the correct use of irony?

"It’s better to do a dull thing with style than a dangerous thing without it."

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:25:17 -0700

““It’s better to do a dull thing with style than a dangerous thing without it.””

- Charles Bukowski

"DiCaprio and Mulligan, meanwhile, don’t seem like star-crossed lovers so much as a delusional man in..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:57:29 -0700

“DiCaprio and Mulligan, meanwhile, don’t seem like star-crossed lovers so much as a delusional man in love with a bauble of a woman. Maybe that’s intentional?”

-
People Magazine’s review on ‘The Great Gatsby’

(via brucewaynes)

READ A BOOK

(via lexcanroar)

Ohmyfuckinggod

HE’LL TAKE HIS OSCAR NOW

(via lyndez)

The one about star-crossed lovers was the other Baz Luhrmann film.
Based on completely different literature. From different time periods. And countries.
I weep for the future.

writer's block saturday

Sat, 11 May 2013 15:44:45 -0700

cursor blink. cursor blink. page up. page down. twitter. funny comment, funny comment, direct message, pull down to refresh.

refresh.

words with friends. words with strangers. words with enemies. spellcheck.

thumbs up. heart it. scroll down for more.

coffee break. stretch. dance break. musical black hole.

cursor blink. sigh.

"Don’t let yourself be victimized by the age you live in. It’s not the times that will..."

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:37:41 -0800

“Don’t let yourself be victimized by the age you live in. It’s not the times that will bring us down, any more than it’s society. When you put the blame on society, then you end up turning to society for the solution. … There’s a tendency today to absolve individuals of moral responsibility and treat them as victims of social circumstance. You buy that, you pay with your soul. It’s not men who limit women, it’s not straights who limit gays, it’s not whites who limit black. What limits people is lack of character. What limits people is that they don’t have the fucking nerve or imagination to star in their own movie, let alone direct it.”

- Tom Robbins, Still Life With Woodpecker (1980)

One of my high school teachers had this up on the blackboard, and although I hated the class this has stuck with me years later.

"(This is for Groupon employees, but I’m posting it publicly since it will leak anyway) People of..."

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:36:16 -0800

“

(This is for Groupon employees, but I’m posting it publicly since it will leak anyway)

People of Groupon,

After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding - I was fired today. If you’re wondering why… you haven’t been paying attention. From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that’s hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable.

You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I’m getting in the way of that. A fresh CEO earns you that chance. The board is aligned behind the strategy we’ve shared over the last few months, and I’ve never seen you working together more effectively as a global company - it’s time to give Groupon a relief valve from the public noise.

For those who are concerned about me, please don’t be - I love Groupon, and I’m terribly proud of what we’ve created. I’m OK with having failed at this part of the journey. If Groupon was Battletoads, it would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever play through. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to take the company this far with all of you. I’ll now take some time to decompress (FYI I’m looking for a good fat camp to lose my Groupon 40, if anyone has a suggestion), and then maybe I’ll figure out how to channel this experience into something productive.

If there’s one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have the courage to start with the customer. My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our customers. This leadership change gives you some breathing room to break bad habits and deliver sustainable customer happiness - don’t waste the opportunity!

I will miss you terribly.

Love,

Andrew

”

- Andrew Mason’s awesome goodbye email sent after he got fired from Groupon today (via digg)

This may be the most ridiculous thing you read all day.
(via latimes)
I’ll have whatever he’s having.
This is some well adjusted, lemons into lemonade, next level inner peace. I bet it was all those 2 for 1 yoga deals.

This may be my favourite post-Oscar moment of all time.Also for...

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:37:03 -0800

This may be my favourite post-Oscar moment of all time.

Also for someone who seconds earlier jaw dropped at meeting Jack Nicholson, to then have the composure and wit for such a good comeback… genius.

8 years my junior and every bit my idol.

"That’s my ‘I never wanted to be famous but I can’t help it because I have these..."

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 22:49:42 -0800

“That’s my ‘I never wanted to be famous but I can’t help it because I have these awesome tits’ face.”

- Dave Grohl

(hosting Chelsea Lately Thursday, February 7)

Inspiration of the week: Wild Belle I’m smitten with this...

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:38:49 -0800

Inspiration of the week: Wild Belle

I’m smitten with this brother/sister duo and can’t wait until their album is out in March.

"I believe I am in Hell, therefore I am."

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:02:01 -0800

“I believe I am in Hell, therefore I am.”

- Arthur Rimbaud

It’s been a really long time since I’ve found...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:40:38 -0800

It’s been a really long time since I’ve found anything inspiring about photography. The overwhelming glut of instographers and digital flatness has left me over stimulated but completely empty. Like an endless series of one night stands. I wish that weren’t the case, but sadly it is.

Then I came across this picture. I would love to credit the photographer but I have no idea who took it or why. It’s not the most complex or the most artistically set-up photo I’ve seen, but something about it struck me. And not just the fact that Charlie Hunnam looks great in it, though he does.

It made me remember how beautiful and simple light can be.

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:36:24 -0800

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

- Albert Camus

"I believe that today more than ever a book should be sought after even if it has only one great page..."

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:42:42 -0700

“I believe that today more than ever a book should be sought after even if it has only one great page in it. We must search for fragments, splinters, toenails, anything that has ore in it, anything that is capable of resuscitating the body and the soul.”

- Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

Miller wrote that in 1934. If he were alive today I wonder what he would have to say about the sorry state of literacy 78 years later.

“The leaf fall of his words, the stained glass hues of his...

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 13:20:33 -0700

“The leaf fall of his words, the stained glass hues of his moods, the rust in his voice, the smoke in his mouth, his breath on my vision like human breath blinding a mirror.”

Anaïs Nin

St John the Evangelist - Spokane, WA

St John’s Cathedral in Spokane, which might be one of the...

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:13:04 -0700

St John’s Cathedral in Spokane, which might be one of the nicest buildings I’ve seen outside of Europe.

Photo

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 17:26:23 -0700

Osoyoos, BC A little view from the top. Went to eastern...

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 17:23:33 -0700

Osoyoos, BC

A little view from the top.

Went to eastern Washington & Southern BC last week on a road trip with my Dad. It was the first time I’ve been through those parts, and I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. And how remote. Sometimes I forget that’s how a lot of Canada lives. We drove 512kms (318mi) without a Starbucks, despite finding a Home Hardware in every little town. Though how anyone can manage to swing a hammer straight without decent coffee first is beyond me.

Photo

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:38:52 -0700

Is fandom too violent?

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:43:00 -0700

Is fandom too violent? :

There is something desperately broken in our fan culture that a movie – a movie we’re all excited about seeing – would create an atmosphere of bitterness and hate to the point that people were threatening one another over it.

Do I think this man was one of those sending death threats? No, not necessarily. But I do wonder about those who glibly made them, and whether they’ve gone cold at what the reality of words like “kill,” “murder” and “death” looks like.

My friend, Elisabeth, a movie critic who lives in Colorado, wrote a great article about the current climate of fandom in light of what happened this morning. It’s well thought out and balanced, and definitely worth a read.

Dedicated Winston Howes, 70, spent a week planting each oak...

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 19:15:36 -0700

Dedicated Winston Howes, 70, spent a week planting each oak sapling after his wife of 33 years Janet died suddenly 17 years ago.

He laid out the fledgling trees in a six-acre field but left a perfect heart shape in the middle - with the point facing in the direction of her childhood home.

The labour of love has now blossomed into a mature meadow - a peaceful oasis where Winston can sit and remember his wife of 33 years.

Read the whole article at the Telegraph, and then down a pint of Ben & Jerry’s after you realize that douche you’ve been seeing would never plant a heart-forest for you.

photo by Andy Collett