An essential precondition of innovation and the first step in social and cultural change.
Boring stories are rarely heard and never remembered. Eager to get our site launched, we’ve decided to publish a miscellany of unrelated but interesting information for our first blog post. Some is weighty, and some is light. You may find something funny. You may find something insightful. We also think writing about a lot of different topics will increase views, shares and ultimately drive site traffic. Happy reading! Watch this space for regular, interesting updates.
Daring Greatly:
“The courage to be vulnerable, to show up and be seen.” – Brenè Brown
We love Brenè Brown and we thought we would start with a quote from her bestselling book, Daring Greatly. The inspiration for Daring Greatly was a speech from Theodore Roosevelt in 1910: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” Thanks, Teddy. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. So here we are, putting ourselves out there.
Mad Men: A Couple of Fun Facts
“Success Comes From Standing Out. Not Fitting In.” – Don Draper
Mad Men is the story of an ad agency in New York City in the 1960s. Don Draper, the Creative Director, is portrayed as a creative marketing genius, always figuring out creative ways to position different products to his audience. Many marketing lessons from the show are still applicable today. The story is based on the real-life experiences of Jerry Della Femina, an Italian delivery boy turned ad agency executive from Brooklyn. Della Femina is the author of “From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor: Front-Line Dispatches from the Advertising War,” the book that inspired the television series. #madmen #dondraper #advertising
Other Stuff
Minnesotans identify as nice, which is an ambiguous and hard-to-define term that may include friendliness and an aversion to conflict. Minnesota is also known for its “hot dish,” a culinary delicacy that can be found at church suppers throughout the state. Maybe if we ate more hot dish we’d all be nicer. #minnesotanice #hotdish
In 2015, discerning Canadians made the decision to elect their 23rd Prime Minister based on the following qualifications: good looks and charm. It is difficult to explain to non-Canadians the level of the family’s celebrity. His father dominated the political scene in the 1960’s as “Canada’s most eligible bachelor” and his mother, Canada’s First lady, ran off with the Rolling Stones. #trudeaumania
Grigori Rasputin, a Russian mystic and friend of the czar, survived five separate assassination attempts, including multiple gunshot wounds, stabbing and cyanide poisoning. He was also a huge hit with the Moscow ladies. He’s just one of the reasons we’re intrigued with Russian lore. #rasputin #russia
In 2019, the college admissions bribery scandal, nicknamed Operation Varsity Blues, exposed a criminal conspiracy where rich people and celebrities paid money to get inflated test scores for their kids. This may have been inspired by Fordham University, circa. 1965, but we’re not sure. It goes to show that all you really need are looks and a whole lotta money to be an Ivy Leaguer. #varsityblues
In 2017, The New York Times declared that the best pizza in New York is actually in New Jersey, swelling Jersey pride throughout the nation. Unfortunately, we can’t speak to that ourselves. We went to try it but the line was so long and we were so hungry we went home to our favorite pizzeria in New Providence. Razza is in Jersey City, but hey, Union County has a heck of a lot to offer. #ilovenj #newjersey
Male nursery web spiders will often present fake gifts to female spiders in an attempt to woo their affections. Predictably, this backfires when the female discovers the gift is fake. The angry females generally respond by eating the male, even if they are playing dead. Makes sense to us. #latrodectusmactans
The city of Winnipeg, also known as the heart of continent (aka the middle of nowhere) has the dubious distinction of being the third coldest major center in the world. The only two cities that are colder have unpronounceable names and are located in Siberia, where it’s cold enough to freeze the #%&* off a brass monkey.
