Comments on: more thoughts on “the edges”.

By: Kevin Leversee

Kevin Leversee — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:25:54 +0000

Hugh,
All is vanity indeed. I remember when I was a young teenager when I first read Ecclesiastes I was spell bound, I thought to myself did anyone else know that this stuff was in here?
At the end of the day we get all excited with ourselves on the “new” technology or process and we tend to forget that we are really doing the same behavior that humans have been doing since the dawn of man.
Technology just enables natural human behavior.
Great work,
The stars at night… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QltlctqfY4E
–Kevin

By: Shazz

Shazz — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 06:58:35 +0000

Glad I dipped in again to read your words on a rainy Canadian evening, Hugh - always makes me think! I'm also a marketer and advise entrepreneurs. Many are mired in a me-too general zone, concerned about choosing the 'right' edge ... as if there were one. Their fear makes them invisible. I've always like the French sense of the word 'marginal' as in "t'es un peu marginale, toi" ... I take it as a compliment. Hmmm. marginal marketing - ha! ;D

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:42:22 +0000

Y’know one of the reasons I read you? Because you write of topics that are applicable to such a broad spectrum of people. Gets me out of my art-centric, NYC-centric GoogleReader mode.
If I had been more sensible about my art career, I’d have gotten an MFA and stayed in Brooklyn (rather than leaving in 2001) and gotten in with the gallery crowd and clawed my way up, like most young&motivated American artists do.
Instead, I decided NYC wasn’t for me, upped sticks & taught art in Korea, photography in Cambodia, and have run a community gallery in Hong Kong. My publisher has just sent me to Vietnam to update his website gallerycyclo.com, and there are more projects on the way. None of this would’ve happened if I’d stayed in NY.
Every career has its benchmarks. Many of my american peers are striving for a solo show or three in NYC by my age; I’ve just looked for something else, and am still not quite sure what it is.

By: Hannah

Hannah — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:35:05 +0000

Great post.
I would like to hear more of your thoughts on Personal Sovereignty. And on how to find the Edges, but I think that’s more of a personal problem.
The Ecclesiastes passage is one of my favorites.

By: bonnieL

bonnieL — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:33:01 +0000

“Edgeling”
What a fantastic word Hugh!

By: juliejulie

juliejulie — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:26:37 +0000

Maybe Louis XIV would have been happier if he had a nice family in the burbs to play frisbee with him.

By: mulder

mulder — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:28:00 +0000

is living on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foula living on the edges. decelerating to a standstill, working hard at simple things.

By: John Dodds

John Dodds — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:27:12 +0000

My title is actually Lord High Emperor ;o)

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:05:29 +0000

Coming from The King of Semantic Micro-Management, I found your last point amusing

By: John Dodds

John Dodds — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:02:41 +0000

Your observation that “edgy” blogging now appears somewhat mainstream is correct, but some might also be misled by it.
Blogging surely does appear mainstream to those who do it and read it (and the more so, the longer they have been), but there are still a huge number of people who don’t engage in it and, to many of them blogging, still appears to be on the edges.
One person’s mainstream is another person’s edge and vice versa. Not only do the edges and the middle need each other, in some senses they can be each other. In other words, one doesn’t have to be edgy/wacky to be doing something on the edge.
P.S. Some might say that one person’s semantic micro-management is another person’s clarification, but not me ;o)

By: Charlie

Charlie — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:53:35 +0000

Regarding #7 — I wrote a post regarding that EXACT topic. Click on my name to see it.