I Don’t Love You Anymore

 

There weren’t any tears during my most recent breakup. No possessions strewn across the lawn. No passive aggression. No yelling or fighting or angry text messages. Rather, there was a twinge of relief—an unexpected pang of freedom.

The moment it all ended, I just stood there, an awkward silence between us. When I finally handed her the bag of clothes, I knew there was no turning back. But her features held no sign of sadness—more like a look of gratitude. As I drove away, I didn’t once look in the rearview.

Thankfully, this estrangement wasn’t with a person, but with a large chunk of my wardrobe. If I would’ve anthropomorphize that bag of clothes before I handed it to the pretty girl at Goodwill, I would’ve told it, “It’s not you—hell, it’s not even me—its us. We’re no longer right for each other. I just don’t love you anymore.”

I realized it was time for us to part ways just last week, after I pulled on a teeshirt and immediately wanted to wear something else. Truth be told, it was a decent shirt, one I got a lot of use out of, but I didn’t love wearing it anymore, and I hadn’t loved wearing it in a while.

So I decided to go through my already minimal closet and jettison every item I didn’t love. I’d rather own just a few outfits—outfits I enjoy wearing, clothes I feel confident in, a wardrobe that brings me joy—than a mediocre collection of once-loved threads.

Sometimes love sunders, and we have to move on. The things we once loved, we may not love forever.

Read more insightful entries from The Minimalists here.

P.S. Today (Oct 23) is Ryan’s birthday. Wish him a happy 32nd on Twitter.

Free Apps Equal More Dollar Signs???

Think the secret to making money from an app is adding a price tag? Think again. According to data, 96 of the top 100 highest-grossing apps in +Google Play are free: Read the original Mashable article

Did Copyright Kill Evolving Artistry?

Copyright is said to be created to protect the interests of the creator. More specifically, at least for a writer, the creator’s Intellectual property. I think this is bullshit.

Yes, we all have the desire to be recognised for our work and there’s absolutely nothing Wrong with that. But what good is being recognised for something that’s never been seen/read or heard?

We live in an age where platforms like Twitter, Tumblr, WordPress and even Facebook have turned many of us into self-proclaimed writers- in our own right. Information is flowing-in at an extremely rapid pace and the output of that information (in the form of commentary and response) is moving just as quickly. In the Internet’s plight to integrate through expansion; copyright only serves as a detrimental factor to progression.

This is not to say that copyright is all that bad. The core intentions of copyright are to ensure that some lazy bugger doesn’t make a buck for work that took you hours to create. So yes, Copyright does have good intentions but it also has the tendency to set barriers between the creator and the consumer. For example: According to Copyright laws, you would have to ask me for permission before copying and pasting any of my work. But what if I get up to 160-emails a day and subsequently can’t get to yours? Then my work my message has not reached the amount of people that it could have, had you just been able to openly distribute (however you see fit) my work to your friends and to their friends and their friends…

If strictly implemented; copyright can become a mere impediment to progress within the eco-system of creativity and information consumption (which further aids creativity). The goal of the artist in 2013, is then to find the middle-ground between rightful recognition and open distribution.

By looking at the extract above, Leo Babauta‘s middle ground seems to be- books . Instead of restricting (adding a price) his content on a platform that is “free” to start-off with (his blog); he would rather extend this “restriction” only toward the hours that he spends writing, editing, printing (and more…) his awe-inspiring catalogue of insightful literature. This, however, is what he prefers not what he dictates.

How would you draw the line between restriction and openness?

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32: MY BIRTHDAY GIFT TO YOU (A FREE BOOK)

 

According to the calendar dripping days onto my desk, today is my 32nd birthday. (Feel free to say hi on Twitter.) To celebrate another year in the rearview, I’d like to give you a gift—and at the same time, I’d like to contribute to some kids who could benefit from our help…

Throughout my twenties, when I was an aspiring writer, I never thought my words would be able to pay my debts. But now they have. Quite literally.

Six months ago, I published my novel, As a Decade Fades, on Christmas Day, and to my surprise it climbed into the top 10 on Amazon’s Literary Fiction bestsellers list. While I certainly didn’t get rich from the book’s initial success, the money I earned allowed me to pay off the rest of my debt—to become 100% debt free. Which goes to show that when you dedicate four years of your life to something, it can pay off.

It’s been a long, flawed 32 years, but I’m grateful for where I am—thankful for the life I’ve created. And now that my novel has been out in the world for a while, I want to be able to help other people with my creation. So for the rest of 2013, I’m going to donate 100% of As a Decade Fades‘s revenues to 826 Valencia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages six to eighteen with their creative and expository writing skills.

Accordingly, I’ve lowered the price of As a Decade Fades to $3 on Kindle and $12 in print.

And for my birthday, the Kindle version is FREE for five days, 6/29–7/3.

Happy birthday! I hope you enjoy the book. If you do, an Amazon review would be lovely.

You can also discuss the book on Twitter: @AsaDecadeFades.

 

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Interested in Learning How to etirW edoC?

It really isn’t as complicated as the title may suggest it to be.

Fortunately, there are so many established and emerging educational resources out there right now that offer great and easy-to-learn platforms for basic computer sciences. Most are especially suitable for those who don’t quite have deep pockets- or any pockets at all really. So now students can sign-up on these websites that operate on cost-free business models. Through these various schools, one can gain a basic knowledge of coding (whether it be Python or HTML or even CSS) and can, from there, progress towards another more advanced language and level of computer sciences- already having generated an understanding of the basic foundations of creating in code.

Here’s a list I’ve compiled to lead you onto the path of becoming a programming wizard:

• For HTML coding (which is what is mainly used to build websites), I found that W3Schools has tutorials that are simple to understand even if you cant spell HTML. This site is also great if you just need quick assistance while stumbling upon a rock in your personal html code
• For basic coding skills and understanding, I found that Coursera was the best. It is far more comprehensive and informational than its other “lighter” learning counterpart Codecademy. Which, I might add, has a pretty decent JavaScript course that doesn’t require you to download any software. Everything is “on-screen”

 

• For Python and General Programming, this article gives you a great guide to get started with: How I Taught Myself to Code in 8-weeks!

 

Start coding and feel that child-like sense of creating again.

 

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