Life of db

The little quips and musings that occur in the Life of Dylan Blanchard.

[lifeofdb]

Think about that while everyone else is sleeping.

[lifeofdb]

Fine, Fall. You win.... But only because I got to wear shorts today.

[lifeofdb]

The very nature of leadership is that you’re not doing what’s been done before. If you were, you’d be following, not leading.

Seth Godin - Tribes (why aren’t you reading this?)

[lifeofdb]

There's a romanticism surrounding artisanal products..

- Kate Shaughnessy

A mini-quote, we'll say, from a great article on young entrepreneurs. More importantly I think it hints at an important topic that is the shift from large to small markets. Look at the two businesses highlighted in the article - high-end, handcrafted shirts, and handcrafted preserves. Surely not everyone is interested in a $12 bottle of greengage plum jam, nor a $350 shirt. But it's interesting to note that these companies not only exist, but are striving during "rough economic times".

What does this mean for you and I? It means we're not competing in a commodity market. We can't compete with the big guys, where margins are nearly non-existent and high-volume is a requirement. Nor should we even try to compete with them - their work is boring, full of spreadsheets, reports and a race to the bottom.

We've got the best opportunity to bring back art into what we choose to do best, and a chance to be invested in our choices instead of investing in a consultant to choose for you.

Think about it. Let's make magic.

[lifeofdb]

All of the leaves. All of the summer.  

[lifeofdb]

Mr. Dan Mangan, my ears salute you, and my musical heart thanks you. 

[lifeofdb]

Understanding why the industry is cheating us out of innovation is great, but a look at the landscape makes it clear that it's time for the cheating to stop. "What you see with all this stuff is the rebuilding of the walled garden," says one industry source. "Carriers have had control for so long they want to continue to feel like they're in control."

Great article by Nilay Patel on The Verge. Read more here. 

[lifeofdb]

Guys!

I know I've been silent, but it's because I've been watching this video / commercial / ad over and over again.

I think it's the best I've seen this year. Confirm / deny / thoughts?

[lifeofdb]

World, I've been quiet, but I'm not not doing shit. 

Zefrank, take it away. 

[officialssay]

One of the things you learn as a college president is that if an undergraduate is wearing a tie and jacket on Thursday afternoon at three o’clock, there are two possibilities. One is that they’re looking for a job and have an interview; the other is that they are an asshole. This was the latter case.

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, giving his take on the Winklevoss twins. As dramatized in the film the “Social Network,” the well-heeled, well-connected twins once asked Summers—who was president of Harvard at the time—to intervene in their dispute with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.  (via officialssay)

Oh dear. Well now, that's just funny.  Kids, pick your suit-times wisely. 

[lutarcriarpoderpopular-deactiva]

[lifeofdb]

The key to fixing it all...

[lifeofdb]

When it comes to advertising, Volkswagen really has it figured out.  This is a ode to their 2011 superbowl commercial / one of the best of last year. 

[lifeofdb]

15 years. $450 million raised. 85 million people reached.

LIVESTRONG.

[lifeofdb]

Money & Kilometers

On the surface, they couldn't be more miles (eh oh! pun!) but in reality, they are more equal than one would expect.

The fact that I love cycling isn't something that I hide. Give me an open afternoon, a blistering hot sun and some well-laid pavement and I'll be happily occupied for hours. Money, on the other hand, isn't regarded with the same level of admiration. That isn't to say that I don't accept money as a necessary evil. I'm a commerce student after all, and I'm able to recognize that money sometimes even acts as a barrier between me and the road. However begrudgingly. 

With the new semester upon us, I've been able to settle down and put in some time on my bike, spinning away an hour or so (read: a hunk of festive turkey, or so).  Spinning alone in my apartment doesn't have the same allure that open roads have. Mother nature doesn't whisper the same sweet nothings into my ear as I watch re-runs on the tv as she didwhen my forearms are rested on the handlebars, barreling down the same mountainside in 10 minutes it took me 45 to get up just prior. 

But just like an well cared-for bank account, I'm slowly making regular deposits. And when the sun is upon us for more than 3.5 hours a day, and the snow has melted, that investment is going to pay dividends. And those dividends are going to allow me to ride those roads for hours. Blissful moment after blissful moment. 

Those lonely, sweat-ridden afternoons aren't looking so bad after all. 

[lifeofdb]

You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It's never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. The best thing is that it only takes a moment -- just one second -- to decide.

Seth Godin.

Presented without further comment.

[lifeofdb]

Well the picture doesn't lie. We can point fingers and call each other names, but at its core, I've simply read a shit ton over the course of the last three years. 

And I like it.

I'm not much for the latest and greatest in pop culture, and you won't find that I've subscribed to any gossip blogs (beyond Macrumors), but what you will find is a mix of personal blogs, corporate blogs and editorials centered around different business ideas and various areas of technology. As I sit and wonder how I've amassed such a large amount of read articles, and intuitively, invested so much time in such an undertaking, I can point to one reason:

My core belief that formal education is not enough, and does not prepare you to meet the needs of employers, the world, and more importantly, your own needs. Your informal education deserves as much of an investment as your 'formal' education does (at least in the time department), and by zeroing in on a basketful of great websites and blogs that turn out content, that in return will expand your perspective is critical, and I'd argue is likely directly related to your success in whatever your ventures are. 

School sucks, knowledge doesn't. 

[campussessions]

Tim Chaisson performs “Real” in the lobby of Main Building at UPEI. Check out Tim Chaisson and Morning Fold’s latest album on iTunes.

[lifeofdb]

You know what's cool? This. Why, you ask? Because for one, it's an island musician - a damn good one, who deserves all the attention he gets. And two, they've got a blog with a ton of these talented musicians that happen to be on the UPEI campus (pretty sure that they don't all attend, given that the list has Fred Penner on it, too... the guy can't not be a teacher. Brilliant.).

Is this a great and authentic way to market the culture of PEI, the campus life and its music department? You're damn right it is. (Thanks for posting this, Mitch)