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Link love (Powered by creative envy and blue cheese)

I am always astounded by the sheer number of mechanics in the city. They are EVERYWHERE. Surely they can’t all have enough business to get by? Still, we are a city of a couple million; many of us have cars – and we also tend to drive older cars here – that need warrants and repairs and tuneups.

Likewise, the proliferation of creative agencies also baffles me. But business is business, right? Some of these guys are doing seriously stupendous work, be it for up-and-coming challenger brands or refreshing the likes of Nike and Fila. I wish I was more visually creative… I’d love to be doing work like that (although not working those crazy hours). Outstanding advertising is art in its own right.

To the point: I was lucky enough to be at Semi-Permanent this weekend, a creative and design conference featuring ad types, illustrators, artists, designers, filmmakers.  (I was stoked to see a lot of Asian faces in the audience – too many of us still get stuck following our parents’ dreams, and it doesn’t always go the Glee way with the kid standing up for their artistic dream and the parent coming around.)

And there were so many great quotes shared by Florian of design agency Hi Res I just had to share here with you:

Be passionate about your work but remember there are other things in life

Learn to separate sense from nonsense

Learn to question, but don’t question as a reflex

Fail better

You learn balance by losing it

Life is trying new things to see if they work

Experience is something you get just after you need it

Other highlights – Kelli Anderson (you might know her for her stunt creating a paper record player), cute as a button, doing amazing graphic design work for huge brands like JC Penney and infographics for Wired and Fast Company to things like Google Maps hacks and mapping income equality over a map of NYC; and Wallpaper magazine in London – I had to marvel at the creativity of their covers (letting 22,000 subscribers design their own; printing every issue with a unique range of hues) and how they’re pushing both analogue and digital boundaries, integrating their print and online properties.

Tell me, what’s inspired you lately?

And in meantime, peruse this jumbo edition of links:

WORK

The topic of passion and work continues to intrigue me. Following your passion – it’s easier said than done. Try asking these questions to get to the heart of yours, via Grow.

The real secret to making money by following your passion, via Get Rich Slowly.

Kyla Roma on what she wishes she had known about finding/following her passion.

And Sense to Dollars expounds on how passion always pulls her through at work.

A nice post for freelancers on cracking online business markets. Wise words. I often see blogs advising freelancers to get their sales calls out of the way early in the day. NOOO. We do not have the time to deal with pitches in the morning – yours will likely get ignored or lost.

Sean Ogle blogs about how to extract more enjoyment from your day job.

Rachel Hills on getting started in the world of writing (something I touched on this week)

Freelancing isn’t for everyone, says Krystal.

Don’t assume you need a prestigious career, at Afford Anything.

A Cat of Impossible Colour has some fantastic quotes to reinspire the writers among us.

Two stories from the Billfold also caught my eye: insights into the life of a professional cellist and an interview with a Wall St journalist. Favourite quote: “Really high finance has very little to do with personal finance. The things that companies do, we would all get arrested if we tried.”

LIFE

Erika ponders what happens when the recipe for successful 21st century life fails.

Penelope Trunk argues that more than anything, we’re in the age of personal responsibility.

Diary of Why explains why she’s better off alone.

Suburban Sweetheart has a lovely post on family, heritage and identity.

Also at Grow, a reminder about being social – and genuine – on the social web (pretty much what I was trying to say here)

20 and Engaged reflects on her first year of being a wife, and loving to the maximum of your capability.

How to get the respect you deserve, by Betsy at Married with Luggage.

Amelia Pontes on the things she’s learned about time.

I loved this post from Zen Habits on finding contentment in small things.

FOOD

A Wandering Food Lover shares her recipe for afghan biscuits.

Love this! 15 sorta-truths about dinner, at Dinner: A Love Story

A fresh take on asparagus by Not Eating Out in New York.

And finally, Iowa Girl Eats whips up some open faced chicken caprese sandwiches

2 thoughts on “Link love (Powered by creative envy and blue cheese)

  • Reply fromshoppingtosaving May 22, 2012 at 03:43

    Thank you so much for the link love! I loved the quotes you brought back with you. Fail better has been my mantra for awhile now and although it’s short and sweet, it works. I also wish I was more creative because I have a lot of talented graphic designer friends who are just bursting with talent, and I see so many bloggers do the same! I’m just not the creative type as much as I try haha.

    Lots of links about passion in work so I’m off to check em out. Thanks for introducing us to new blogs!

    Hope you had a great weekend!

  • Reply affordanything May 22, 2012 at 09:14

    Thank you, not just for including my link, but for your breadth and quality of links. I immediately clicked on “A Cat of Impossible Colour” because I loved that blog name, and I love her take on finding an agent, etc.

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