Keith Barney

I've never written anything besides hardcore lyrics and tweets so don't expect everything to make sense. The only thing you can expect are opinions and honesty. ~ @keithbarney

[keithbarney]

A nice set of totally free flat icons with source files.

This is awesome. The icons are free, they already look really nice AND they give you the illustrator files for everything in case you wanna tweak em. Super helpful. Icons by Nick Roach of Elegant Themes.

[keithbarney]

Russell Brand speaks his mind on politics, revolution and refusing to vote.

(General note: Isn't it refreshing to see people speaking their minds and having a distinct opinion on things? In general, I think people are far too worried about offending each other.)

The speed at which Brand can race between jokes and genuine anger/frustration is incredible to me. I like the way he handles himself. He is fully aware of his comedic background and that most people don't take him very seriously, but when he shifts to serious conversation it's hard to refute his outlook. In this interview he pretty much says everything that's in my head concerning politics and social struggles. I wish I had half the the effortless conversational talent he has.

After doing a bit of research on him for the past few months I've discovered that he's pretty much a closet activist. Maybe not even closet. Brand and others like him are so crucial to the debate because they can speak well and also be quite entertaining in the process. This is so crucial to opening new doors of education for the average person that just doesn't have the energy to stomach the daily bullshit in the the world. It's exhausting for all of us. Anyway, I'm def a big Russell Brand fan now.

After watching this, you might want to google "gq awards russell brand"...

[keithbarney]

New Living Sacrifice sounds great.

[keithbarney]

It's not a job anymore. It's just an extension of who I am.

I'm just a few months into my own startup venture and I've never felt so free and energized. It's so much more than a job to me. It's complete expression for me. I can confidently say I've learned more in 2 months then I ever have from any of my previous jobs combined. That alone is worth the risk. Will this last forever? I have no idea. I hope so. I'm so incredibly thankful that I have this opportunity. I def consider myself lucky, while at the same time, I really subscribe to the notion that you really can create your own luck.

The Core is heavy. What does that mean? To me anything you are incredibly passionate about can be described as heavy. The Core is heavy because we give a shit. We care about being rad at our professions. We care about people. We care about what's going on in the world. Bottom line is we care and that's heavy!

[keithbarney]

Simon Sinek is the most inspiring speaker of all time.

Simon Sinek. One of the most influential people in my life. If you haven't had a listen to what he has to say yet then please, please do. It's so inspiring. The whole concept of "Starting with Why" is so simple and powerful. It's not WHAT you do that people hold on to - it's WHY you do it. His TED video "How great leaders inspire action" has over 12 million views. I'm not sure how long after this one was recorded but this one was for Creative Mornings.

[keithbarney]

Are there really 2 Americas? Because it feels more like 200 to me.

Back when I was working at Ad Agencies I used to sit there and look around the office and notice how completely random the collection of people we were. There were old people, young people, jaded people, eager people, frustrated people, happy people...  you name it. It was just a little micro community within southern California. The only thing we had in common for the most part was our job. Certain people had more in common so they would go to lunch together or grab coffee. Some people even hung out outside work together.

On a bigger scale this is the same thing that's happening with this government shutdown and just about every other major issue. We've got a bunch of people who are nothing alike trying to make decisions on how everyone should live. Of course this doesn't work. Of course people are going to be unhappy.

I've done a ton of traveling and especially with the US. I've seen the differences loud and clear. People in Irvine, Ca are completely different than people in Iowa. Why are both American?

These are old traditions that I think people need to give more thought to. Borders and flags are so stupid. These lines are drawn all over the planet and we're forced to live in them and uphold the values there. If you're one of the 49% who lose out in the election then you're shit out of luck. I happen to think Obamacare is a good first step toward being a more caring people and I also totally agree that is has flaws. But that's what happens when you try to make 300 million people happy all at the same time. I totally get why some people don't like it. There's nothing wrong with that.

The point is, our systems are outdated. Business is starting to learn that you don't need as many middle men when technology is allowing us to communicate instantaneously. Sending representatives to Washington to vote on things for us isn't necessary anymore. It's archaic. If such a system were in place we could all be voting all the time. REAL democracy is literally possible. Ya, I just said that. If you continue to read my blog you'll have to get used to the fact that I'm kind of a dreamer and optimist. I like to think really big things are possible.

I quit working at agencies this year to do my own thing. It's called The Core. I work with 2 awesome friends and we're finding how amazing it is to work with the people you choose to. We don't have to look around the room anymore and feel disenchanted because 50% of the people don't want to make awesome websites or apps like we do. It's fucking amazing to know we don't have to pick up the slack and work late for a bunch of lazy people who don't give a shit. I KNOW we want to make useful and awesome products and I can't wait to share them. More on that to come...

IMHO, fuck flags and borders and american/whatever country/wahtever color pride tattoos. It's all just part of an outdated system. Knowledge is only as good as the present time and tomorrow we'll learn new stuff that will totally change everything we currently believe. Why do people willingly accept stuff just because it's been that way for a long time? We need to step back and rethink government completely. Why? Because we can, so we should, all the time.