Month: May 2023

creativity · Quotes

A good blog is like this item of clothing 👗

patmcg3 Comments

The best quotes are both funny and true, and therefore memorable. At the end of this talk good on conversations, Celeste Headlee credits her sister with this quote.

A good conversation is like a miniskirt; short enough to retain interest, but long enough to cover the subject.

The sister might have borrowed the idea from Winston Churchill. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I think the idea generalizes to writing too, so I’m going to adapt the spirit of this quote for my own purposes.

A good conversation blog is like a miniskirt; short enough to retain interest, but long enough to cover the subject.

And it’s working. I already deleted three sentences from this post – and added this one. 🤔

Before I forget, here’s a salacious photo – as required – to catch your attention.

Via Pinterest (I don’t think miniskirts even existed in Winston Churchill’s time 😆)

See also

Don’t Be Like Uncle Colm

“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”

Songs

Sonic inspiration – Sad Moon Above

patmcg2 Comments

My friend and I have been working on a song called Sad Moon Above for a while now. It started with just some lyrics (hers), then a few guitar chords (mine), culminating in a very rough outdoors acoustic demo, recorded on my iPhone and featuring a metronome and a barking dog. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Yeah, it was that rough. But it was just a proof of concept.

The was three years ago.

We got a little stuck, so to move things along, I made a really basic “karaoke” version of the song. I even sang on one cut, even though I’m not a singer, to demonstrate the timing.

That was two years ago.

Now I’m trying to get to a fairly “good” version of this song. Or maybe 2-3 good versions. 🤷🏻‍♂️ In my head, I hear a New Wave version, a grunge version, and a dream pop version of this song.

So I just bought a keyboard, even though I’m not a keyboard player.

Aspirations keep us moving forward.

Here is a playlist of sounds that I want Sad Moon Above to feel like when it’s eventually done.

I just bought a keyboard. Wish me luck. 🤷🏻‍♂️
You

Super Summary: 10 ways to have a better conversation

patmcg1 Comment

Would you give 11 minutes of your life to learn how to have consistently better conversations forever after?

If so, here is a really useful talk by Celeste Headlee on the subject.

Okay, if you only have one minute, than here is the super-summary breakdown of the talk.

  1. Be present – focus 100% on the conversation
  2. Don’t pontificate – set yourself aside in the conversation. (Write a blog if you want to pontificate. 😆)
  3. Use open-ended questions – let them pick their own words
  4. Go with the flow
  5. If you don’t know, so say
  6. Don’t equate your experience with theirs
  7. Don’t repeat yourself (don’t repeat yourself)
  8. Stay out of too many details and facts
  9. Listen to understand the other person
  10. Be brief but cover the subject – like a miniskirt

Yes, she says not to pontificate in a conversation – if you want to pontificate, then write a blog instead. So here I am. 🤷🏻‍♂️