Here's something you might be interested in.
Since yesterday I have learned something about Art Cars. I am told that the Art Car is a sort of tradition at the Burning Man> festival; a paradoxically exclusive and surprisingly expensive community experiment held yearly in the scorching Nevada desert. Analysis of the festival aside, if the Art Car in question is intended for Burning Man, it must be for next year's Burning Man, since this year's festival ended a week ago. One word: dedication. You go, Art Car Maker, let nothing stop you!
Today, I've sought out content from the other side of the "Free Stuff" coin. Here's a link to today's (totally objective) best ad:
32 blank cassette tapes for teachers (Normal Heights)
To begin with, this ad is awesome for being so brazen as to promote the use of (absurdly obsolete) cassette tapes, but not being so unhip as to want actual money for them. I also appreciate the suggested uses for the tapes, which actually makes a lot of sense considering the vast majority of craigslist readers don't have tape decks, let alone uses for 32 tapes, each of which holds a mere 15 minutes (give or take) of audio. The best part of the ad, however, is the line, "if you can use them, please reply with your phone number, why you want them...." Specifically, the last phrase. The poster wants to be sure that these tapes are put to good use, not squandered like some sort of valueless commodity, relevant only for it's kitschy, 1990's nostalgia factor.
And this is beautiful.
This is beautiful because, hidden behind that veneer of protectiveness is the poster's memories of an entire career--an entire life, even--spent teaching kids. This person cared enough to try and pass on not just 32 tapes, none of them any good for music, but a personal philosophy and a lifetime's worth of professional etiquette. If you look closely enough, you can read the kids' names on the tapes: Esmerelda, Elaine, and Martha A. There's love in those tapes, considerable amounts of it. Probably, no one should try to take them, but it's good to know they're out there.
Today's Runner Up wins a Stan Lee No-Prize for taking a picture of the bike chained up to Lestat's fence and thereby doing his or her part to further immortalize an already legendary Normal Heights landmark.
Since yesterday I have learned something about Art Cars. I am told that the Art Car is a sort of tradition at the Burning Man> festival; a paradoxically exclusive and surprisingly expensive community experiment held yearly in the scorching Nevada desert. Analysis of the festival aside, if the Art Car in question is intended for Burning Man, it must be for next year's Burning Man, since this year's festival ended a week ago. One word: dedication. You go, Art Car Maker, let nothing stop you!
Today, I've sought out content from the other side of the "Free Stuff" coin. Here's a link to today's (totally objective) best ad:
32 blank cassette tapes for teachers (Normal Heights)
To begin with, this ad is awesome for being so brazen as to promote the use of (absurdly obsolete) cassette tapes, but not being so unhip as to want actual money for them. I also appreciate the suggested uses for the tapes, which actually makes a lot of sense considering the vast majority of craigslist readers don't have tape decks, let alone uses for 32 tapes, each of which holds a mere 15 minutes (give or take) of audio. The best part of the ad, however, is the line, "if you can use them, please reply with your phone number, why you want them...." Specifically, the last phrase. The poster wants to be sure that these tapes are put to good use, not squandered like some sort of valueless commodity, relevant only for it's kitschy, 1990's nostalgia factor.
And this is beautiful.
This is beautiful because, hidden behind that veneer of protectiveness is the poster's memories of an entire career--an entire life, even--spent teaching kids. This person cared enough to try and pass on not just 32 tapes, none of them any good for music, but a personal philosophy and a lifetime's worth of professional etiquette. If you look closely enough, you can read the kids' names on the tapes: Esmerelda, Elaine, and Martha A. There's love in those tapes, considerable amounts of it. Probably, no one should try to take them, but it's good to know they're out there.
Today's Runner Up wins a Stan Lee No-Prize for taking a picture of the bike chained up to Lestat's fence and thereby doing his or her part to further immortalize an already legendary Normal Heights landmark.