Comments for Ryan W. Johnson

Comment on Better than copy by Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:29:08 +0000

Here’s another: “Ryan is phenomenal… It’s rare to meet someone who can write so well — and be so strategic — as Ryan is.” – Ramit Sethi, I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Comment on The next (next) big thing by Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 03:05:04 +0000

I don’t know that it’s possible to return to where we were. We are shaped by our environment, and as the environment continues to evolve, so do we. Maybe your predictions will come true, but if they do, I’d say they’d come true in a permutation we haven’t seen before.

Comment on The next (next) big thing by Harlan

Harlan — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 18:33:49 +0000

The next big thing can’t be conceived yet. Only very few people are gifted or lucky enough to figure out what the next big thing is. The Internet caught on, and now my phone has a faster connection than the good ole 14.4 modem. Using existing things in a new arrangement is the name of the game.

I would propose that the next big thing is a return to where we were – more self-sufficient, locally and family focused, less keen on taking on debt and saving more – before we as a society began to worship the almighty dollar. Somewhere, developers will catch on, and figure out how to profit.

Comment on The next (next) big thing by Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 02:40:02 +0000

Maybe it’s exclusivity. Things that are inherently limited.

If everyone has universal access to every piece of music ever recorded, than live music takes on a special value. In a world where everything lasts forever, this performance will only happen once. This is already true, of course, but it might become relatively more valuable in the future.

There’s already a movement of authors pretty much giving away their books and making money from speaking events and small-scale training seminars.

On the manufacturing side, even as customization becomes the norm, perhaps a new elite will form around, oddly, non-customization and, well, inconvenience. Imagine a car designed not for you (like every other car will be) but by an artist pursuing his own vision. Just like how Frank Lloyd Wright insisted residents of his houses used the furniture and decorations he designed for those houses.

Comment on Burn through the cliches with freewriting by dane

dane — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:55:00 +0000

i know i am not your target audience nor a good writer but my favorite blog posts, which are most of mine, come completely free written. just sitting down with nothing more than a word or topic/item to write about usually amounts to some good stuff, you don’t have any expectations or preconceived notions of what it should be, so you are not disappointed when it isnt that

Comment on The Heights of Story by Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:07:41 +0000

Here’s your solution: Your work will suck. The key is deciding what you are going to do next. Are you going to write it anyway and keep working on it until it gets better? Or are you going to do something else, something easier instead?

This isn’t a trick question. Writing is hard work, and even the great writers suck more than they write well. The difference is that they keep writing, figure out how to tell the bad writing from the great writing, and whittle their work down until just great writing is left.

Comment on The Heights of Story by dane

dane — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 16:51:24 +0000

the idea of writing excites and scares me. so many good ideas but when it actually comes time to write i find something else to do, or say I will do it tomorrow… I have a lot of tomorrows building up. i think its the fear that my work will suck. not sure how to solve that

Comment on Cubicle Poetry: Exercises in Style, Voice and Subject by Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:29:41 +0000

I have to chuckle. A few days after getting the idea for my cubicle poetry, I read a poem by Carver on this very topic. Funny how these things come together. Here’s the poem:

KAFKA’S WATCH

from a letter

I have a job with a tiny salary of 80 crowns, and
an infinite eight to nine hours of work.
I devour the time outside the office like a wild beast.
Someday I hope to sit in a chair in another
country, looking out the window at fields of sugarcane
or Mohammedan cemeteries.
I don’t complain about the work so much as about
the sluggishness of swampy time. The office hours
cannot be divided up! I feel the pressure
of the full eight or nine hours even in the last
half hour of the day. It’s like a train ride
lasting night and day. In the end you’re totally
crushed. You no longer think about the straining
of the engine, or about the hills or
flat countryside, but ascribe all that’s happening
to your watch alone. The watch which you continually hold
in the palm of your hand. Then shake. And bring slowly
to your ear in disbelief.

Comment on On Sabbatical by Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 02:28:12 +0000

I don’t think family and most work sabbaticals are mutually exclusive. Your family will also benefit from the rejuvenation and expansion sabbaticals. Production sabbaticals will likely be shorter, so you might be able to squeeze 1-3 weeks for yourself (sans spouse and kids), but you’ll need to prove how productive you are and be ready to pay the favor forward and back. And educational sabbaticals can fit into your normal 9-to-5, around the kids’ schedules.

Comment on On Sabbatical by Harlan

Harlan — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 01:12:36 +0000

I love the idea of just getting away from it all, or taking a break to do whatever it is that you want to do. However, you don’t mention family at all. I think family limits the type of sabbatical, if any, you can take, especially if you have younger children. What are you thoughts on the role of family and sabbaticals?