Matt O’ Rama

Is The Digital Age Stamping Out Serendipity?

WE’VE gained so much in the digital age. We get more entertainment choices, and finding what we’re looking for is certainly fast. Best of all, much of it is free.

But we’ve lost something as well: the fortunate discovery of something we never knew we wanted to find. In other words, the digital age is stamping out serendipity.

via Ping – The Digital Age Is Stamping Out Serendipity – by Damon Darlin in NYTimes.com.

Sometimes I read something that’s so far out of my experience that I have a hard time processing it. This article is one of those times. I can’t decide if I’m misunderstanding the point of the article or if it’s really not a problem. The author of the article, Damon Darlin, is saying that the internet and ipods and in some weird way, Twitter, are taking the “randomness” out of finding new stuff. Balderdash, I say. :)

First, he says for some reason finding stuff on a friend’s bookshelf or album collection is “serendipitous” but finding new music on a blog or Twitter is “group-think”. Somehow if people online say something is cool it’s been “filtered and vetted” but finding the same thing via a friend isn’t. I don’t get it.

Not only does his argument not make sense, he’s looking at the problem through the wrong end of the telescope. It doesn’t matter where you found something new because it’s new to you. No matter if you find something through a friend or via a review linked on Twitter or on a Top 10 list, it’s new to you. It’s still serendipitous if you like it.

Every year when the Top X Of The Year music, book, and movie lists come out I go through some of them and see if there’s anything interesting looking. I usually download whatever looks halfway good in the Pitchfork top albums list, then delete anything I don’t like and buy what I do like from Amazon’s MP3 store. I’ve found an unbelievable amount of great music this way. (Seriously, try it.) I don’t pay attention to radio or music blogs or magazines so this is my way of finding new stuff. Is this worse than finding an album though a friend? I can’t see how it is. But it’s still filtered in the strongest way, being a Top 10 list or whatever. When I first saw The Knife as the #1 album on the Pitchfork list a few years ago I thought it was them being willfully weird until I listened to the album a few times, then a few more times, then a few dozen more times until it became one I still listen to regularly. I found my favorite band, The Hold Steady, completely randomly when somebody on a podcast recommended I listen to some teenage girl’s music podcast long ago and Your Little Hoodrat Friend was one of the songs she played. I was hooked from the first 30 seconds of that song and if that’s not serendipitous I don’t know what is.

I really can’t even see what the heck Mr. Darlin is talking about, even if you cut out the mostly pointless but seemingly required paragraphs about Twitter. The internet / digital age has brought so much serendipity to my life this just seems like he must be talking about something else. But like I said, I don’t really care (and I don’t think it matters) where something new came from as long as it’s new.

(During this post I mentioned 2 bands you really should try. There’s some serendipity for you. And if you listen to them, you’re welcome. :))

Rands on Reality

Reality is a constraint to be applied creatively.

via rands on Twitter

Rands is one of my favorite writers. His blog is great and he’s one of the highlights of my twitter stream. He’s consistently putting out really interesting, thought provoking stuff. I was in San Francisco during the last Apple conference and he was tweeting telling people to come hang out. To my eternal shame I chickened out of going and saying hi.

No is for wimps

No is for wimps. No is for pussies. No is to live small and embittered, cherishing the opportunities you missed because they might have sent the wrong message.

There is a point in one’s life when one cares about selling out and not selling out. One worries whether or not wearing a certain shirt means that they are behind the curve or ahead of it, or that having certain music in one’s collection means that they are impressive, or unimpressive.

Email interview with Dave Eggers

I have no memory of how I found this interview, really just an email to the author Dave Eggers and his replies from 2000, but it stuck in my mind and has probably ended up being one of the most personally important things I’ve ever read online. It’s religious to me in the way that Frank Llyod Wright’s buildings are religious to me; they inspire me and awe me and make me want to be better to live up to their standard.

I was recently in San Francisco and finally made it to 826 Valencia, a free tutoring center fronted by a pirate supply store, and I knew it wouldn’t happen but I was really hoping Mr. Eggers might be there so I can thank him for this interview. I’ve read his work and bought every issue of The Believer for a few years, but this is what I would thank him for. The message of saying Yes to things, to not give a shit what people think or how this or that might affect your rep really resonated with me.

What matters is that you do good work. What matters is that you produce things that are true and will stand. What matters is that the Flaming Lips’s new album is ravishing and I’ve listened to it a thousand times already, sometimes for days on end, and it enriches me and makes me want to save people. What matters is that it will stand forever, long after any narrow-hearted curmudgeons have forgotten their appearance on goddamn 90210. What matters is not the perception, nor the fashion, not who’s up and who’s down, but what someone has done and if they meant it.

It’s long and some of the specific references are a little dated but the overall message, the way Eggers smacks down this pseudo-intellectual hipster prick whose asking him “what steps are you taking to keep shit real” with an honest and open soliloquy on saying yes to new things and no to fashion and what others will think, is something I re-read regularly and would memorize if I could. I really encourage you to read it as well, there’s something for everyone to take from it.

I try to live up to this, even though it’s hard for me. I’m incredibly shy and have a problem with new things sometimes but I try to remember “No is for pussies” and press on. When I feel like I’ve let myself down by giving in to my introverted nature I read the end of this interview and am renewed.

My new eyes

After close to 20 years wearing very heavy perscription glasses, I recently underwent a new-ish surgery called ICL and am now totally glasses free!

The ICL is an implantable lens (ICL used to stand for implantable contact lens but now it’s implantable collamer lens as that’s what it’s made of and it doesn’t sit on top of your eye) that they put into your eye in between the front of the eye and the lens. The result is fairly amazing.

I went to Dr. Bernitsky here in Albuquerque and everything went super smoothly. Everybody there is very helpful and professional and I would recommend them without reservation.

I went in on Thursday afternoon for the procedure and even right after they did my right eye, I could see better out of it. I went back and forth closing my eyes and looking at the vent in the ceiling and could really tell a difference. That afternoon my vision was fuzzy from all the drops and trauma my eyes had gone through but I could still pretty much watch TV even then. The next morning though, I could see at 20/15 (better than normal!) whereas before I was off the 20/X chart since that measurement requires that you can actually see some feet in front of you and I could only see 6 inches in front of my face.

For the first week I had to wear a pretty uncomfortable plastic eye mask to sleep to make sure nothing happened to my eyes. I’m also still putting 3 drops in my eyes 4 times a day which is kind of a pain but I’m fine with it if it means everything heals up okay.

The end result is that I can actually see better than with my glasses. I’m seeing things in a whole new light and noticing details I never saw before. Even though I’m going to be paying off the cost of the surgery for awhile, I wouldn’t give up my new vision for anything. If you can get it, I really recommend it. If you have questions about it for me, feel free to ask in the comments.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs unexpectedly announced he was taking a 6 month leave of absence from Apple today due to his ongoing medical problems. I very much hope Mr. Jobs is okay and he returns to the company he founded and rescued. Steve Wozniak, his co-founder in Apple, is one of my personal heroes and Steve Jobs has always held a special place in my heart because of his partnership with Woz and his central place in the history of computing. My family’s first computer was a used Apple IIe and even though I wasn’t always a Mac fan, I’ve really admired what Apple has done since Jobs’s return. He, Woz, and Bill Gates are at the top of the list of people who invented the personal computer and in very real ways the world we live in today, as well as the device and industry that has given my life focus and meaning since I can remember.

Get well soon Mr. Jobs.

Not Me

A Chevrolet van driven by Matthew Grommes, 24, was pulling out of the business’ lot and turned into the path of Watts’ motorcycle.

Motorcyclist Dies In Collision; Van Driver Ticketed

Wow, color me surprised. My Google alert for webpages where my name appears came up with this today. I’ve seen a few other Grommes’ (even one with my Dad’s name who writes computer books) but I’ve never seen a Matthew or Matt before.

The Year of Reinvention: Learning how to dress

The first real step I’ve taken in my year of reinvention is to try to figure out how to dress less like a lazy geek and/or slob. Since I’m a geek and know nothing about fashion besides that I like tshirts, I started like I normally do with new projects and researched the topic like crazy. I spent way too much time reading various websites on men’s fashion to see what the basics were and what I liked out of that stuff. I finally read a book I bought awhile back as well.

For my web research, I used my favorite new tool, Evernote, to keep track of what I found. Evernote’s Firefox add-on lets you clip parts out of websites and store them in a special notebook in Evernote. Then when I went to Old Navy (the first place I could think of that might have the clothes I was looking for despite never having had shopped there before, surely a triumph of advertising) and pulled up the notes in Evernote on my iphone. Yes, I’m a geek. They were having a good sale so I was able to go out on a limb and get a number of things I wouldn’t have otherwise bought for not too much money.

I’m still trying to get used to wearing long sleeves instead of my t-shirts and polos. But overall I’ve been happy with my choices. So far I think I look a little more polished without sacrificing my personal style and I’m fairly comfortable. I credit a pragmatic attitude and baby steps with this. If I had tried to jump whole-hog into everything I saw in my research, I wouldn’t have been as happy. So far so good.

Rands in Repose tshirts to support First Book

Rands in Repose bamboo tshirt – Supporting First Book!
One of my favorite bloggers, Rands, is giving 100% of the proceeds from his new tshirt to First Book, which helps give books to kids from low-income families. Like Rands, books are one of the most important things in my life and I’m more than happy to help give kids books. Please consider donating to First Book even if you don’t want one of the rad tshirts.

Gift Ideas For People Who Are Not Me

As everybody who might buy me presents has told me already, I’m very difficult to shop for since I tend to just eventually buy everything I might want for myself. So, here is a list of things I’m putting on my personal wish list I’ll be sending to Santa, disguised as a bunch of gift ideas for somebody very cool in your own life so I don’t seem like the kind of doofus who puts his christmas list on his blog.

Gift Ideas for Other People
Books (everything here should be findable on Amazon.com)
PulpHope
Heavy Liquid
Herbie Archives Vol. 1
Locas
Absolute Sandman
Scott Pilgrim Vols. 1 & 2
USA trilogy by John Dos Passos
Refactoring to Patterns by Joshua Kerievsky
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
Liberation by Brian Francis Slattery

Xbox 360 Games (again, on Amazon or a local game store)
Midnight Club: LA
Lego Batman

Blu-Ray movies
Godfather trilogy (the Coppola Restoration)
The Dark Knight

8 Years Late

The other day I was watching some reruns of The West Wing and told my wife that if things didn’t go right during this election, that show might be the last vision we see of government as capable, intelligent, and standing for something. I honestly think we’ve avoided that future with the election of Barack Obama as our next president. I’m looking forward to finally starting to move this country forward into the 21st Century the way we should have 8 years ago.