We’ve become so loose in the tongue that even the smallest of achievements have become epic. But what is epic? Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey” are epic. Beowulf is epic. The design you saw last night on Dribbble is not epic. The new hot design conference you attended last month is not epic. But this is just the way I see it. Language has always adapted to each generation. But how long will the value of our words last when we start calling mediocrity epic?
Attending SXSW 2010 was one of the best decisions for my professional career, to date. I was stoked to meet so many people that I had only ever talked to online as well as meet some real heroes of mine. And even better, my site/font was featured in the Get Stoked on Web Typography panel by Samantha Warren. The whole experience really solidified my belief that the only value of the internet is the relationships we build with people.
I am going to come right out and say it. You need to vote for my panel, Making the Web by Hand, for SXSWi 2011 if you know what’s good for you. Seriously though, I am excited at the possibility of being able to share my passion of making things by hand with a group of my peers in hopes that it will inspire innovation and awesome hand-drawn uniqueness. Please try and get your vote in before they close on August 27. Thank you.
When I arrived at work this morning I found this little beauty waiting for me on my desk. My friend and co-worker Nathan Smith was kind enough to let me borrow it. I am expecting great things from the knowledge contained within its pages.
So while I get to reading I will leave you with this inspiring quote:
- Everything written symbols can say has already passed by. They are like tracks left by animals. That is why the masters of meditation refuse to accept that writings are final. The aim is to reach true being by means of those tracks, those letters, those sings – but reality itself is not a sign, and it leaves no tracks. It doesn’t come to us by way of letters or words. We can go toward it, by following those words and letters back to what they came from. But so long as we are preoccupied with symbols, theories and opinions, we will fail to reach the principle.
Kimura Kyuho, Kenjutsu Fushigi Hen
[On the Mysteries of Swordsmanship], 1768