an important kinder note.
i’ll be writing back.
—
“words are but pictures of our thoughts.”
-john dryden
Mar5
Tag Archives: communication
Jan2
sci-fi or reality tv?
Rod Serling – working at home in Connecticut, 1956
anti-war and social justice activist, tv-writer, producer, narrator
and one of my idols.
—
*In 1955, the miscarriage of justice in the Emmett Till case proved a galvanizing point in the Civil Rights Movement. Rod Serling, a 30-year-old rising star in a golden age of dramatic television, watched the events play out in the news. He believed firmly in the burgeoning medium’s power for social justice. “The writer’s role is to be a menacer of the public’s conscience,” Serling later said. “He must have a position, a point of view. He must see the arts as a vehicle of social criticism and he must focus the issues of his time.”
Soon after the trial concluded, Serling, riding off the success of his most well-received teleplay to date, felt compelled write a teleplay around the racism that led to Till’s murder. But the censorship that followed by advertisers and networks, fearful of blowback from white, Southern audiences, forced Serling to rethink his approach. His response, ultimately, was “The Twilight Zone,” the iconic sci-fi anthology series that spoke truth to the era’s social ills and tackled themes of prejudice, bigotry, nuclear fears, war, among so many others. At this point in history, the censors didn’t know what to make of this genre and he was free to deliver his message in a new way.
—
in honor of Rod Serling on national science fiction day,
who understood the power of the arts
as a way to communicate important messages.
—
“there are weapons that are simply thoughts.
for the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy.”
-rod serling
—
credits: Getty Images, *Smithsonian Magazine
Dec5
hearing.
I have a strong feeling
that olive has a strong feeling
about me leaving for a few days.
I hear you.
—
“the most important thing in communication
is hearing what isn’t said.”
-peter trucker
Nov24
words are thoughts.
that moment when the apple crisp you made
is finally ready to eat
and you learn how to write a new word
because you need to tell people something.
‘apple.’
—
“words are but pictures of our thoughts.”
-john dryden
Nov20
doorknob confessions.
it is said that no matter how long a conversation has gone on
the most important truths are revealed
as one touches the doorknob and turns to leave.
I find this phenomenon so interesting
and have experienced it firsthand.
have you ever made,
or been the recipient of,
a doorknob confession?
—
“all confessions are Odysseys.”
-raymond queneau
Oct11
what’s ‘in’ this season.
fashionable kinder witch mixes up her brew.
—
“clothes are just something you put on to cover yourself…
fashion is a way to communicate.”
-dries van noten
Aug31
shared humanity.
in yet another amazing case of serendipity
i was recently at school (in the united states)
attending a professional development session
with colleagues who were describing a wonderful project
they had undertaken with their students.
during the last school year they had worked on design thinking projects
intended to help our world’s environment in some way.
throughout the process
the teachers provided the students
with a wide range of sources of information having to do with their area of interest.
during our seminar, they passed around some of the sample articles they had used.
imagine my surprise when reading the random article that i was handed
and i saw the photographic credit on the back page
realizing that i had a connection to it.
it read:
‘michel porro – getty images.’
michel porro is a long time friend of mine who i happened to meet
when we were both working at the world cup in my city 24 years ago.
michel, at the time was a photojournalist from the netherlands, stationed in hong kong, working for reuters, and covering events all over the world. i was in advertising, taking time off to working in the media tent for the duration of the event. we met there and continued to run into each other in a variety of places, though we never had the chance to meet up outside of a working situation, try as we might.
we finally had the chance, and it was the last night before he was to leave. unfortunately brazil won, causing a chain of unusual events, that led to our last chance to meet not ever happening.
since that time, (24 years ago), we’ve stayed pen pals, and followed what’s happened in each other’s lives. i wrote an earlier blog about our long distance unlikely long term friendship and the link is below, but i’ve somehow lost the photo part of the post.
—
—
upon seeing his name again last week, i texted to tell him about my surprise. he texted back surprised as well. our paths continue to cross in the most interesting ways.
| B Kennedy |
| to Michel |
small world, Michel
Sent from my iPhone
——–
Michel Porro
| to me |
Wow Beth, that is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing. Boyat (the subject in the photo) is a quiet man with a big mission. I met him twice for 2 photoshoots.
How are you doing? I’m in Italy at the moment. The world is a turbulent place isn’t it?
You do good work.
Best
Michel
—
“this idea of shared humanity and the connections that we make with one another – that’s what, in fact, makes life worth living.”
-clint smith
Jan9
relate.
-mem fox
—
first day back at school relating.
Jun9
wha?
after working hard all day
without taking a break to eat
tired and hungry and looking for the easy way out
i decided to just drive through the closest place
to get food to eat on my way home
trying to eat something healthy
was a quite a challenge based on the menu
ordered a small wrap without sauce and unsweetened iced tea
they repeated my order to me
i confirmed it and paid
got my order
slipped back into traffic and headed off
only to quickly discover
much to my dismay
they had actually
added extra sauce, a sugary fake honey mustard sort of thing to my wrap
and poured me a fully-sugared iced tea
was this a trick?
had i asked for my order in some other language that i was unaware of ?
did yes actually mean no?
was i a horrible communicator?
did i appear to need a sugar boost?
too tired and too much traffic to go back
but one of us in the equation was clearly confused
and perhaps both.
—
“the single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
-george bernard shaw
—
image credit: pinterest
Mar29
“i’m hoping this matter will not involve my eagerness to help you.”- joel
and yet another encounter with a customer service rep
this was the rest of our live chat conversation
once joel and i reached an impasse with no solution:
Joel: Still with me?
Me: yes
Joel: Will there be anything else I can assist you with?
Me: no, thank you anyway
Joel: I’m hoping that this matter will not involve my eagerness to help you.
Joel: Hope you had a great rest of your day.
(somehow i really had hoped that joel would have involved his eagerness to help me…)
—
“patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen
in a different order
than the one you have in mind.”
― david g. allen
I didn't have my glasses on.... 