It’s my husband’s birthday! It’s the first time I’ve had a husband’s birthday, so I thought I might celebrate by sharing some of him. I’ve recently written about how he has inspired me to start blogging regularly because of his amazing, daily blogging. To demonstrate what I meant, as well as properly honor Celebrate Mike Day, here are some of my favorites of his:
How did you get your start? (& that one time I saw John Mayer get his start playing at a bookstore)
“How did they get their start?” I obsessed over that question. I think this question started taking over my brain because of my experiences watching John Mayer’s career grow before my eyes in 2000-2001. I discovered Mayer’s music from a sampler CD that lead to finding his self-made MP3.com. (Remember when that existed?) I went to see him play his first gig in Michigan at the Shelter in Detroit,with Howie Day. I even saw him play at Borders Bookstore in Ann Arbor! [keep reading here]When One of my Dogs Died, My Other Dog Accepted Change. (A Metaphor for Being Scared of Spotify)
This week, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke made headlines criticizing Spotify; the shit hit the fan in the music world again over a dead topic. (Read here and here; and Lefsetz’s critique here and here. Oh and this. ) I understand his argument; but I also need to remember what it was like for Gunshy when my other dog Bonnie died. (Analogy time!) [keep reading here]Don’t make a plan to achieve success; plan to stumble
In many narratives about successful artists or musicians, the person admits they found success by accident. They stumbled upon it. I’m rereading The World is Flat by Friedman. Halfway through the book, Friedman describes the story of Bill Greer, a freelance graphic designer with 30 years experience, whose job changed because of technology. [keep reading here]Detroit: Which story do you hear?
Detroit’s action of filing for bankruptcy has caused a media frenzy. Which story are you hearing? 1. You would be naive to disbelieve Detroit is in ruin: It has major crime, abandoned neighborhoods, poor achieving schools, failing infrastructure, overwhelming debt… 2. The media is only reporting the negatives and ignoring the positives: the new creatives, the Midtown revival, the higher education and medical districts, urban farming, the art community at Russell Industrial, Groovebox Studios, the investments by Dan Gilbert, Hatch Detroit…[keep reading here]You can follow him on his non-birthdays too, here.
Natalie Burg 