Thursday, June 23, 2011

Abigail Turin on Embracing Change

I've got two resolutions for my house in 2004:

1) To put it on a diet - no excess furniture, no excess anything!

2) To get it drunk more often: more parties, more dancing. It's been taking itself a little too seriously lately.

Abigail Turin
Designer, San Francisco
From Metrolpolitan Home magazine, January/February 2004, Volume 36, No. 1, p. 62, Leaping Forward.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Bruce Springsteen on Ultimate Cool

You wish you could be like him, but you can't.

Bruce Springsteen introducing Clarence Clemons
Concert Footage via The Daily Show, Moment of Zen
June 20, 2011
Comedy Central

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Clarence Clemons on Living Large

My mom used to say to me that the older you get, the more friends you lose. That’s the way life is. You keep doing it until your time comes. I’m trying to enjoy my life, and keep doing what I love to do until my time comes. Hopefully I will inspire somebody along the way to keep it going.

Clarence Clemons
To Ken Shane for The Popdose Interview
October 26, 2009

Source: popdose.com

Thank you, Big Man. Farewell.

Anna Quindlen on Critical Thought

But it’s not simply the obligation to live an examined life, to embrace each moment as though it might be last. It’s also to live each moment as though it might be the first. To throw your arms wide to the new, the unexplored, even to that of which you may be afraid. Don’t cave to the status quo. Don’t trade happiness for deferred gratification. Don’t give up adventure for safety and security. The safe is the enemy of the satisfying. Deferred gratification has a way of being deferred forever. And the status quo, “business-as-usual,” “the-way-things-have-always-been-done” has completely failed us. The last few years have made that eminently clear. How will your audacious and authentic new world work?

Anna Quindlen
Commencement Address, Grinnell College
May 23, 2011

Good advice: Got 5 minutes? Read this address!

Source: grinnell.edu

Conan O'Brien on Resilience

No specific job or career goal defines me and it should not define you.  In 2000, I told graduates to not be afraid to fail, and I still believe that.  But today I tell you that whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Speech, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Conan O'Brien on Redefinition

Way back in the 1940’s there was a very funny man named Jack Benny.  He was a giant star and easily one of the greatest comedians of his generation.  And a much younger man named Johnny Carson wanted very much to be Jack Benny.  In some ways he was, but in many ways he wasn’t.  He emulated Jack Benny, but his own quirks and mannerisms, along with a changing medium, pulled him in a different direction.  And yet his failure to completely become his hero made him the funniest person of his generation.  David Letterman wanted to be Johnny Carson, and was not, and as a result my generation of comedians wanted to be David Letterman.   And none of us are --- my peers and I have all missed that mark in a thousand different ways.  But the point is this: It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.  It’s not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can be a catalyst for profound re-invention.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Conan O'Brien on Embracing Life

Your path at 22 will not necessarily be your path at 32 or 42.  One’s dream is constantly evolving, rising and falling, changing course.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Conan O'Brien on Facing Fear

It’s simple: there are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address to Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Monday, June 13, 2011

Conan O'Brien on Disclosure

Nietzsche famously said “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But what he failed to stress is that IT ALMOST KILLS YOU. Disappointment stings and, for driven, successful people like yourselves it is disorienting. What Nietzsche should have said is  “Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you  watch a lot of Cartoon Network and drink mid-price Chardonnay at 11 in the morning.“ 

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address to Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com