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Author: Patrick Rhone

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix; Angel-headed hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night.

Howl – Allen Ginsberg

Shameless Self Promotion

Just a few mentions of where this little blog has popped up around the web.
* Michael Ramm of Black Belt Productivity was interviewed by Fresh Focus recently and had some overwhelmingly humbling things to say about how I have influenced his personal productivity. Not quite sure what to say beyond “thanks”. I was truly floored by it.
* Then, my friend Ryan at Brassing Adds Character references what I had to say about my Taccia Staccato fountain pen in his recent roundup of $100.00 range pens. I am getting a visit from him next week and will be buying him a beverage for sure.
* Finally, Chris at The Weekly Review was sucked in by my idea, mentioned at work.life.creativity, of keeping a daily log file. Basically a running journal of the things you work on for the day. Mine is in a single text file but he finds some great web based alternatives.

Short Term Personal Savior: David Byrne

Every so often someone inspires me in such a way that I designate them my Short Term Personal Savior. There are many ways one can receive this special designation. It could be through a lesson I have learned from them, a way that they are living life that is inspirational or that they are just plain badass.
Today’s Short Term Personal Savior is David Byrne. Here is why:
* He is one of the few true musical visionaries of the last few decades. Not simply through his work with Talking Heads but also his many solo projects and his collaborative work with Brian Eno. This guy’s work saves me musically on a weekly basis. His upcoming work with Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, promises to once again push boundaries and inspire others just as the influential My Life in The Bush of Ghosts did 30 years ago.
* One of the ways that his music saves me is not through his own works. His internet radio stream, Radio David Byrne, features a new theme monthly of hand selected tracks from his vast musical collection. Sub Saharan African Pop, Avant Jazz, Deep Track Rap, no theme is off limits. Each month I am enlightened by music and sounds I never would likely never be exposed to in my lifetime.
* He is also a pioneer in the the conceptual art world. Note his book of drawings of trees, Arboretum, to his recent interactive installation, Playing The Building, to designing new bike racks for the City of New York.
I really think David is a visionary and a badass. He is one of the few people who never ceases to fascinate me.

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

Maya Angelou