It’s an unwritten rule that when you take a family vacation to the beach, at some point you must get the family dressed up and head to the shore for the group pics. I used to dread this event. With. A. Passion. When the kids were younger I had to resort to scary big daddy voice in order to get them to line up and smile. I mean, smile at the same time. In the same millisecond. Instead of handing them a story to remember, I handed them a nightmare to run away from. It didn’t work out the way I wanted.

So we changed. We’ve only got a few years with these dearies before they leave our hive, so let’s not waste a chance for an awesome memory. Now we give the kids more freedom, and they give us this:

If you want to see the real photo essay of our trip, Sarabeth has a great series running here, here, here and here.

I’m out of words now…

]]> http://wholebrevitything.com/2010/07/21/polaroids-from-the-edge/feed/ 3 34.803099 -92.248271 34.803099 -92.248271 bryan jones DSC_0136-pola DSC_0034-pola DSC_0055-pola DSC_0088-pola01 DSC_0080-pola DSC_0146_2-pola DSC_0128-pola DSC_0192-pola02 DSC_0171_2-pola http://wholebrevitything.com/2010/07/19/being-malcolm-gladwell/ http://wholebrevitything.com/2010/07/19/being-malcolm-gladwell/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:48:46 +0000 bryan jones http://wholebrevitything.com/?p=1279 ]]> I am very thankful for Malcolm Gladwell. Thankful for his mind (the things that he finds fascinating) and his heart (the way he shares about those fascinating things).

Gladwell’s latest publication, What The Dog Saw, is a collection of essays that he has written for the New Yorker. The content may not be new, but it carries a sense of timelessness about it. I think that is due to how much interest he has in the subject about which he is writing. He is highly passionate without being intrusive, a truly amazing feat, and he is careful without being reserved; equally impressive.

I’d like to show you what I mean. Take this article written in 1999 for example, True Colors. Do you see it, too?

I’m out of words now…

I blame @ghidotti

#LRTweetup killed my blog.

Before I gave myself fully over to the microblog, I was cranking out three posts a week to wholebrevitything.com, but then the 140-character miracle took over my social life, and I found a truer whole brevity thing. Okay, maybe it didn’t kill this blog, but I need someone/something to blame. I love to blog, but as far as time investment goes, Twitter is just way too easy.

I joined Twitter in the fall of ’07, but I did not really become an active user until the following summer when I got hooked on @Loopt. Loopt was the bridge that moved me from Facebook to Twitter. I went from tweeting once or twice a month to tweeting like ten whole times a week.

The Little Rock Twitter scene raised it’s head above water in the fall of ’08, and then really took off in the Spring of 2009 – I blame Lance Turner and his LR Twitter directory. Yes, back then, there were so few Little Rock folks using Twitter that Lance could house all of our names in a single blog post.

Soon, the idea of this crew getting together in person started churning and then this happened:

I jumped in with a two word commitment

I’ll save you the chronology of the next twelve months of this community’s growth, but that first night was an awesome experience of having drinks with a competitor, meeting amazing young talent, discovering how hilarious @robertblake truly is, and learning that there really was a person behind the pseudonym, @tsudo.

If it doesn't have a hashtag, it didn't happen

It has been very difficult for me to put into words how LRTweetup has crossed Twitter over from an online chat into real world relationships, so let me get all PowerPointy on you:

• This has turned my colleagues into my friends.
• This has nurtured kindred spirits out of profile pics.
• This has shot the hell out of Dunbar’s number.
• I have hired two people because I first got to know and trust them through this local Twitter community.
• This community have shown me real, tangible love and concern.
• My heart goes out to these folks when their lives get sideways, and I really do smile with them when they stumble into happiness. (however, I will never LOL)

It is surreal how real these LRTweetup connections have become. I feel very lucky to have found a place with these friends. Maybe I can get these folks to help me kick start this blog back to life.

I’m out of words now…

(ps. If you haven’t been following #LRTweetup Stories, I think that it would really be worth your time to do so.)

There was no reason to fear that something bad would happen, her body was very strong and healthy. The problem was with me – I had no power to control the situation. I could make sure that she was in safe surroundings. But that night, that was all that I could control, and I was not prepared for such a realization.

The reason that this day has had a similar feeling is because yesterday I spent the day in two different – and I cannot stress how different – hospitals with a broken child. My little angel had fallen to the ground while playing a game at church and when she reached for the ground to brace for the fall, her arm twisted awkwardly causing three major fractures. I was standing nearby when the accident happened so I scooped her up as quickly as I could and within moments I was holding her in the back of a dear friend’s minivan as we raced across town to an Emergency Room. With every bump in the road her pain intensified and each scream was soul-wrenched. I was helpless to ease her pain, and with each wail, I lost a day of my life.

I did what I could – I stroked the tears from her face, I held her body as steady as possible, I called the ER to let them know that I was bringing in a badly injured girl. None of it was enough. She was in incredible pain and she desperately wanted it to stop, but Daddy couldn’t make it stop.

When we rushed into the reception area of the ER, I expected to be met by a team of trauma nurses, not an admissions clerk who was solely focused on keeping the situation calm. As Elizabeth screamed, we filled out the appropriate paperwork and then stood alone in the empty waiting room…just waiting. I studied the place trying to find the right doors to tear off of their hinges so that my daughter could receive medical attention. Eventually we were taken to an exam room where a group of polite nurses, and an attending physician let us know that their hospital could not take care of my daughter, and that we would have to move her to Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

Our time at ACH was a blur of compassion and healing. Many doctors met with us to determine what had happened and what would be best for her restoration to full health. We consulted with the anesthesiologist and wheeled Elizabeth into the surgery center. One of the state’s top pediatric orthopedic surgeons performed the operation, and within a span of four hours our family was on our way home.

Now after a day has passed, Elizabeth is resting well and her three broken bones are healing. My healing is taking place in a different way. I think that I’ve been broken for a while and this window into the reality of control (or lack thereof) may make things right. With that, I’ll say goodnight.

I am exhausted. I had no idea how tiring not-ripping doors off hinges and not-strangling people could be.

I’m out of words, now..

Nick Drake

Your reaction to the discovery of Nick Drake’s music may have been different than mine. I had always been a music lover, but this was different music. This music was organic, and it was real. The words that he sang were his words. The music that he played was written by his hand. Not only that, but the music was delivered bare – stripped of production – without gimmicks and layers to hide behind. This music was what I needed to wash away the taste of Lita Ford and Vanilla Ice.

I found Nick Drake through a David Wilcox bootleg tape that had been passed around my college campus. At the end of a trip to see Wilcox perform live, I walked up to the stage following his show and talked to him as he packed away his gear. I didn’t want to be a fanboy that gushed about how wonderful his performance had been (and it was incredible) so I asked him about Nick. I wasn’t just trying to be cool, I really wanted to know who Nick Drake was. This was B.G. (Before Google) and the answer to every question wasn’t available at your fingertips.

Wilcox’s eyes lit up when he answered, “Nick Drake was an amazing musician. He was a dreamer living in a world that didn’t have room for dreamers. He was run over by the train that he couldn’t stop.”

Beck covers Which Will originally recorded by Nick Drake.

I’m out of words now…

(not-so-hidden easter egg)

Fearless Fighters of Foo

I love that are selfless men in this world ready to fight foo at a moment’s notice. They don’t ask why. They don’t do it for glory. It’s just about people helping people. Foo needs to be fought, and they are the chosen ones for the fighting.

Paramore covers My Hero originally recorded by Foo Fighters.

I’m out of words now…

(not-so-hidden easter egg)

Whole Brevity Thing - Summer '07

While loading up the magic phone with music for this unexpectedly awesome weekend, I discovered a mixtape that never made it to the blog. It was a sad realization. (I held the tears at bay with a promise to post it over the weekend) I’ve been listening to this playlist all day, and it still serves. I hope you enjoy this two-year step back in time. …

[download whole brevity thing - summer 2007 mixtape]

1. Be Your Husband / Jeff Buckley
2. Searching for the Ghost / Heartless Bastards
3. Hospital Rooms Aren’t For Lovers / Bear Colony
4. 10 A.M. Automatic / The Black Keys
5. Baby Fratelli / Fratellis
6. Hang Me Up to Dry / Cold War Kids
7. Side with the Seeds / Wilco
8. Faberge Falls For Shuggie / Of Montreal
9. Forget Myself / Elbow
10. 23 / Blonde Redhead
11. Naive / The Kooks
12. Back to the Life / Spoon
13. We’re from Barcelona / I’m from Barcelona
14. Fake Tales of San Francisco / Arctic Monkeys
15. Lazy Eye / Silversun Pickups
16. 7/4 (Shoreline) / Broken Social Scene

For the rest of the mixes available via whole brevity thing, here’s the link: original soundtrack

I’m out of words now…

Go West

Jumping back into the series known as Ode to Saving Silverman with a nice little cover of a song off of the soundtrack to Pretty Woman.

William Fitzsimmons covers King of Wishful Thinking originally recorded by Go West.

I’m out of words now…

(not-so-hidden easter egg)

Whole Brevity Thing - Summer 2009 Mixtape

School supplies have invaded my house, and so has the sadness that comes with the realization that summer is not immortal, and that soon my tan will fade. But I’m not ready to give in to the darkness of reality – not as long as there is a windows-down road trip to be had.

So, if there is going to be a road trip, we must have a soundtrack, right? …Cheers!

[download whole brevity thing - summer 2009 mixtape]

1. No One Said It Would Be Easy / Cloud Cult
2. Heavens To Purgatory / The Most Serene Republic
3. Vacationing People / Foreign Born
4. Heart It Races (Architecture In Helsinki Cover) / Dr. Dog
5. Broken Hearts Sounds Like Breakbeats / Los Campesinos!
6. Quiet Dog / Mos Def
7. Too Many Rappers (feat. Nas) / Beastie Boys
8. Percussion Gun / White Rabbits
9. Summer Grof / The Spinto Band
10. Stillness Is the Move / Dirty Projectors
11. Red F / Dan Deacon
12. D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune) / Jay-Z
13. Two Weeks of Hip-Hop (by The Hood Internet) / Dead Prez vs. Grizzly Bear
14. Young Adult Friction / The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
15. Harold T. Wilkins Or How To Wait For A Very Long Time – Fanfario
16. Natural Man / Harlem Shakes
17. People C’mon / Delta Spirit
18. Friends / Luke Top
19. Coast of Carolina / Telekinesis
20. Eleven Saints / Jason Webley
21. Can I Kick It? / A Tribe Called Quest

For the rest of the mixes available via whole brevity thing, here’s the link: original soundtrack

I’m out of words now…

7:46 AM Jul 20th
This weekend, @sarabethjones has her H.S. 20-Year Reunion. (and I have the pressure of being a trophy husband.)

2:08 PM Jul 24th
White Trash Story – Casey Donahew Band: Perfect song for @sarabethjones’s 20YR Reunion. #DogtownNeverDies http://tr.im/tTxd

7:15 PM Jul 24th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip: Don’t pretend that you went to school with these people. It confuses them, and pisses off your wife.

7:38 PM Jul 24th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip: DO NOT BRING YOUR 6-MONTH OLD ( dear God, why!?!)

8:41 PM Jul 24th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip: DO NOT introduce youself to other dudes, and then ask, “So, have you ever kissed my wife?”

9:10 PM Jul 24th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip Just stop! (about an hour ago) @ Sticky Fingerz Rock and Roll http://loopt.us/_OmeOw.t

10:53 PM Jul 24th
#TrophyHusbaaamfirjdudjdjsjs

12:00 AM Jul 25th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip Leave the party with your dignity intact.12:00 AM Jul 25th from Birdfeed

11:12 AM Jul 25th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip What she said ☞ http://tr.im/tZTV

12:40 PM Jul 25th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip For the family picnic, dress your Little Dudes better. (apparently I’ve chosen poorly)

4:37 PM Jul 25th
Photo: ReunionTrophyHusband To be honest, this whole trophy relationship is the other way around. http://tumblr.com/xlx2grb75

6:30 PM Jul 25th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip: Wear Polo cologne and see if anyone gets the joke. @ Home : North Little Rock, AR http://loopt.us/AQ3tQw.t

7:54 PM Jul 25th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip: Be less obvious when spiking your punch. Unsexy.

8:57 PM Jul 25th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip: Dancing. Remember your lessons from “Hitch” – No Freestyling. You are not Jiggy. @ Lit… http://loopt.us/1cVL9Q.t

9:28 PM Jul 25th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip: “Let’s do the wild thing” is a song lyric, not permission.

10:28 PM Jul 25th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip: Relax. (Frankie says so!) @ Little Rock, AR http://loopt.us/zTYHig.t

10:49 PM Jul 25th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip: Eventually, you will have to dance. Just bite lip, and shuffle – a la Eddie Murphy.

11:40 PM Jul 25th
#ReunionTrophyHusbandTip: @sarabethjones‘s 20YR Reunion is over. 16YR Marriage is still intact. Win!

I’m out of words now…

My Home Screen #2

I love photography. ( It runs in the family ) I love to trap a moment, and hold onto it forever. If you are patient and curious you can collect some very special slices of life. One of my favorite things about the magic phone is that it makes sharing these moments so very easy to do. I send a lot of pictures to the web from my little, hand held friend.

The magic phone is ultra-capable  – you may have heard, there an app for just about anything. The ability to edit pictures on the iPhone is a really cool feature, and one that I take advantage of all of the time. Here is a quick look at the apps i use to style my mobile pics. …

CameraBag: This is a one-stop shop of awesomeness. One of my first photography apps for the iPhone and still one of my favorites. This $3 application offers nine different styles which can be applied to any image housed on the phone, or the styles can be applied as the photgraphs are made through the application. I really like the square ratio that is delivered by the “Helga” and “Lolo” styles. It reminds me of my old Hasselblads.

CameraBag for iPhone

TiltShift: A fun $2 application for manipulating perspective and depth of field, TiltShift allows for a lot of creative expression. I don’t use TiltShift as much as I use the other photography apps, but when I do, I’m always pleased with the results.

TiltShift / CameraBag for iPhone

FocalLab: Similar in service to TiltShift, FocalLab offers the ability to alter the appearance of an image’s depth of field. FocalLab also offers the ability to ad faux-motion to an image with multiple “blur” options. FocalLab carries a price tag of $2.

CameraKit: The easiest to use of all of the photography applications that i own. CameraKit, another $2 application, makes it very easy to add vignetting, saturated processing, and a slightly softened focus to any image.

Photogene: The swiss army knife of iPhone photography applications, Photogene offers a user-friendly interface for performing several essential photo-editing tasks. I use this $3 app for adding a slight white border to my images.

FocalLab / CameraKit / Photogene for iPhone

ToyCamera: I was too much of a creative snob to buy ToyCamera when it first came to the app store. It was a toy for the folks who didn’t know how to use the legitimate tools – at least that is what I thought back then. A few weeks ago, a friend at work showed me some shots that he had taken with this $1 app, and I was floored with how cool they looked. I use ToyCamera to deliver random processing effects for cool antiqued photographs.

ToyCamera / Photogene for iPhone

QuadCam: Another one of the painfully simple to use applications, QuadCam produces some incredible stories. The images captured with this $2 application allow the viewer to see a moment from several different perspectives enabling the imagination to create a unique narrative. I am a big fan of QuadCam.

QuadCam for iPhone

I’m out of words now…

planes, trains and automobiles

In that time, I missed the 2-year birthday of wholebrevitything. So…hey, we’re two!

On to the now, I don’t want you to miss these two things:

1. Sarabeth has a great post about our 42 hours in New York.
2. I’ve awakened Flairification.

I’m out of words now…

For some reason there are now 300+ people following me on the Twitter. Alas, only half of them want me to buy Viagra. Here is a quick snapshot of the poor unfortunate souls who’ve chosen to listen to what I have to say:

…

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Crayon Art by Christian Faur

The last two months in awesome: sorry for slackin’, folks.

• 99 Things You Should Have Seen On The Internet (thanks guy)
• One Love (Bob Marley Cover) – Jason Mraz (thanks copycats)
• King of Twitteronia (thanks soup)
• In The Name Of The Father – Gavin Friday & Bono – almost forgotten awesomeness
• I Bet This Party Was Awesome (thanks again soup)
• My Waitress On Twitter (thanks gchoate17)
• Got To Give It Up – Marvin Gaye (thanks mercifuldiatribe)
• Seriously Kid… (thanks everybodycares)
• Ghosts In The Machine: Jimi Hendrix – analog awesomeness
• Urban Outfitters Project LSTN#4 (thanks hunson)
• Flag (thanks awesomejuice)
• Tauntaun Sleeping Bag – dreamy geeky awesomeness
• Jesus Shaves – David Sedaris – unfettered awesomeness
• Sea of the Memory (thanks roamin’)

I’m out of words now…

Bob Marley

I posted this one on extraawesome earlier in the week, and it’s just too nice to not post here.

Jason Mraz covers One Love originally recorded by Bob Marley & The Wailers.

I’m out of words now…

(not-so-hidden easter egg)

NYMecca

The week in awesome: links open in new tabs

• Sir Mix-A-Lot Photo Shop – saturday night awesomeness
• KryptoNate (thanks furryrabbits)
• Lykke Li & Bon Iver – Dance Dance Dance – perfect storm awesomeness
• 25 Things I Hate About Facebook (thanks mashable)
• Every Album Ever (thanks thecommonplacebook)
• Thoa with the Get Down Stay Down (thanks WoopWoop!)
• The Trilogy Meter (thanks inthefade)
• Troopers’ Night Out (thanks guy)

I’m out of words now…

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Savinelli Slowdown (B-Side)

The original playlist was comprised of 103 tracks. In the spirit of the CD, I try to limit my mixes to be burnable for the standard car stereo. So Savinelli Slowdown was a version, my best version, of a CD for mellowing a bit.

But after a couple of days passed by, I thought “man, I wish ‘x’ would have been on there.” And, “Gah! I can’t believe that I cut ‘z’ from the list.”

So Here is the B-Side to Savinelli Slowdown – the regrets.

Cheers, friends! …

[download savinelli slowdown b-side]

1. Empty (Live) / Ray LaMontagne
2. Typical Situation (Acoustic) / Dave Matthews Band
3. Come Down (Acoustic) / Bush
4. Straight To Hell (the clash cover) / Josh Rouse
5. Out to Get You / James
6. Re: Stacks / Bon Iver
7. Dreams (fleetwood mac cover) / The Morning Benders
8. Looking For The Heart of Saturday Night (tom waits cover) / Shawn Colvin
9. Speed of Sound of Loneliness (john prine cover) / Amos Lee
10. How Can I Tell You (cat stevens cover) / Ben Taylor
11. My Love (justin timberlake cover) / Tender Forever
12. Kid A (radiohead Cover) (live) / John Mayer
13. Albion (Acoustic) / Pete Doherty
14. Sting – Roxanne (Live) / Sting
15. Rocket Man (elton john cover) / Jason Mraz
16. Hello (lionel ritchie cover) / Blackbird Harmony
17. These Days (jackson browne cover) / Denison Witmer
18. Hallelujah – Live (leonard cohen cover) / Ari Hest

For the orginal version, here’s the link: the big easy

I’m out of words now…

Sad Vader

The (last two) week(s) in awesome: links open in new tabs

• CareerBuilder.com: Tips – advertising awesomeness
• Pepsi Max: I’m Good – dude awesomeness
• The Beastie Boys, Live on Letterman ‘04 (thanks soup)
• Andre the Giant (thanks butterflyeffects)
• Joshua Radin covers Sam Cooke – acoustic awesomeness
• David After Dentist (thanks robhuebel)
• Take Away Show #58 – architecture in helsinki awesomeness
• AT-AT wants outside (thanks robot-heart)
• Margo & the Nuclear So and So’s (thanks hipstertracks)
• I’m On A Boat – the lonely island awesomeness
• Dance Off With The Star Wars Stars 2008 (thanks darthvader)
• Dude (thanks wadea)
• Movie Poster Color Usage (thanks roamin)
• Domo: My Pet Awesome – paternal pride awesomeness

I’m out of words now…

Whole Brevity Thing: Savinelli Slowdown

There are days.

There are always days.

There are days when I’m thankful for traffic jams that stretch the drive home at the end of the day from the normal 15 minutes to 30 or so. It’s not a sadistic pleasure, this is a decompression necessity. I love The Dramatic and the Little Dudes and Dudette, and I think that it’s best that they not see me when I’m frustrated by the immovable objects that exist at my place of employment.

On those days, rather than driving home to the jaunty rhythms of Los Campesinos! or the good ol’ Beasties, a more mellow vibe is needed. So my good friend Mr. Savinelli and I meander home via the long way with the chilled Savinelli Slowdown mix.

Because you may also have the need for an attitude adjustment from time to time, I’m sharing the goods. Not Mr. Savinelli, the tunes, man…

[download savinelli slowdown]

1. Details In The Fabric (Feat. James Morrison) / Jason Mraz
2. Float On (Live Modest Mouse Cover) / Ben Lee
3. Be Be Your Love (Live At KCRW) / Rachael Yamagata
4. Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own (Live In Studio) / U2
5. In the Middle / Mat Kearney
6. No Envy No Fear / Joshua Radin
7. Dance, Dance, Dance / Lykke Li
8. Heretics (Early Version) / Andrew Bird
9. Love Vigilantes (New Order Cover) / Iron & Wine
10. Modern Love (David Bowie Cover) / The Last Town Chorus
11. Running To Stand Still (U2 Cover) / Elbow
12. Naked As We Came (Iron & Wine Cover) / MDL
13. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (The Postal Service cover) / Jonna Lee
14. You Really Got A Hold On Me (The Miracles Cover) / She & Him
15. All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down (Hank Williams Jr. Cover) / Elliott Smith
16. Thank You Jack White (For the Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me) / The Flaming Lips
17. Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard (Paul Simon Cover) / Julie Doiron
18. She Says (One-U2) / Howie Day
19. To Zion / Lauryn Hill

For the rest of the mixes available via whole brevity thing, here’s the link: original soundtrack

I’m out of words now…