June 18, 2009
the creative bug
[This quote was an excerpt from my last CDF Newsletter.]
[etc: About Hugh. Book. Limited Edition Prints. Private Commissions. Cube Grenades. Hughtrain.]
Hugh MacLeod
I'm a cartoonist.
I sell limited-edition prints.
I wrote a book.
I'm CEO of Stormhoek USA, which markets South African wine in the States.
I also draw private commissions.
Prints |
Opening | Current |
|---|---|---|
Bluetrain |
$900 | |
We Need to Talk |
$650 | |
Portfolio #2 |
$300 | |
NY NY |
$275 |
Archive for the ‘crazy deranged fools’ Category
June 17, 2009
newsletter excerpt
An excerpt from my latest Crazy Deranged Fools Newsletter, which I sent out earlier today:
“Here’s the reality: The Creative Bug will give you everything, and it will take from you, everything. It will cost you your life, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.
But knowing this, of course, is what ultimately sets you free.”
Feel free to sign up, Thanks!
May 8, 2009
on finding “meaningful work”
Back in October, I wrote a relatively candid blog post, “Note to My ‘Tribe’: Where are we headed, Anyway?”
And as our mutual friend, Seth says, every tribe needs a leader:
The next frontier of marketing is in leading groups of people who are working together to get somewhere.
I concur. So I’m guessing that “Leader” job now falls down to me.
Don’t get too excited. I’m not Gandhi, I’m just a cartoonist in West Texas with a few crazy ideas up my sleeve. I find the prospect of leading a “tribe” a bit daunting, to be honest.
Leadership does not exist in a vacuum, you need somewhere to actually lead your tribe to. Moses had the Land of Milk & Honey. MLK had The Promised Land. Thomas Jefferson had the newly-formed United States. Putin has a strong and proud Russia. Doc Searls has The Cluetrain. Steve Clayton and his friends within Microsoft have The Blue Monster.
Me? I have no idea. Like I said, I’m just a cartoonist…
The good news is, to lead a tribe you don’t necessarily have to have a promised land, a utopian vision, or a new world order to lead a tribe. You simply need what my other great marketing friend, Mark Earls calls “The Purpose-Idea”, which as a bona fide Social Object, is THE REASON why people are joining together in the first place.
I’ve been telling my clients for years now, if you’re going to have a following, a community, a “tribe”, it can’t just be about you and your lovely product. It’s got to be about something higher than, and beyond… yourself.
What is true for them is, yes, also true for me. Like I told my good friend, James Governor on Twitter the other day,
If I’m to lead a “Tribe”, it needs to be for MUCH better reasons than “Please buy my lithographs, they’re very nice etc.”
Or my original drawings. Or my book. Or my consulting services. Or my speaking gigs. Or whatever.
I’m happy to report, Seth left a very kind remark in the comments:
Ask us something hard, Hugh!
Your mission is clear. You are leading us where we want to go. You are pushing us to demand the possible, not to accept the status quo. In an extraordinarily direct and passionate way, you push yourself (and us) to look at what we do honestly and to remove the bullshit and get down to what matters.
That’s where I want to go, anyway.
When I was eighteen, just after I had finished my final exams at high school, I went out and got my first real job. Trainee bartender at Whigham’s Wine Bar, Edinburgh, Scotland. I loved that job; I kept it every summer for four years. The guy who hired me, Nick Henderson, was a great man.
Since then I have been on the same, unending quest: To find “Meaningful Work”.
“Meaningful” is like “Creative”; its definition is a subjective call. I can’t tell you what’s meaningful to you. Nor can you do the same with me. All we can do is agree that somewhere deep within all of us, the hunger to find it is real.
My blog for the last eight years has been a mish-mash of all sorts of different things. Cartoons. Selling prints. Marketing 2.0. The Global Microbrand. “Creativity”.
Whatever. No matter what topic I was blethering on about that day, this blog has always been driven by the same thing that has always driven me. Finding meaningful work.
I’ve come close to finding it a couple of times. It’s never easy. It’s always elusive. I often wish that weren’t the case, but it is. Sorry.
[P.S. The best way to support what I’m doing is to sign up to my “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter. Thanks!]
March 21, 2009
painting update
[Tablet PC sketch of what I have in mind. Click on image to enlarge etc.]
[UPDATE: 12.10am, 23rd March. “DesertManhattan” is finished. Hurrah!]
DesertManhattan is nearly finished. Four x Eight foot worth of insanity. Months of work. Will be posting pictures soon.
My next painting will be half that size– 48″ x 48″ square… the sketch above should give you an idea. Again, the theme comes from a familiar place. Like I said when I first started on DesertManhattan:
I think being out here in Alpine, Texas, covered under a blanket of desert air and “Big Sky” brought about a wee change in me, at least in what I find interesting artistically. The “cartoons on the back of business cards” format came about in New York City, when living conditions, shall we say, were far more intense, crowded and cramped. Not to mention, I was ten years younger. Things change.
There’s a certain intensity to being out here in the desert. There was a certain intensity to living in New York. I’m trying to create objects that somehow capture both. Hence its name.
Yeah, I know, it’s a silly, stupid, insane way to try to make a living, to try to spend a life. I’ve spent the last twenty years learning this the hard way. The damage is already done. Alea iacta est. Rock on.
[Sign up to gapingvoid’s “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter…]
March 20, 2009
john t. unger, artist and global microbrand
One of John T.‘s “Great Bowls Of Fire”.
From March, 2006:
Chris Carfi points to John T. Unger, an artist and regular gapingvoid commenter who has used his blog and the global microbrand idea to carve out a nice wee career for himself (for more money than his last day job paid him, I hasten to add).
Go read John T’s take on it here. Very uplifting.
John and his girlfriend left Alpine, Texas this morning. We hung out and drank beer, and I got to take him to my favorite Mexican place in town, Alicia’s. Since I first wrote about him a a few years ago, we’ve become great friends.
John’s checking out Texas. He’s had enough of Michigan winters. He’s looking to buy land down here and build another studio for his sculpture. Alpine is on his short list of possible locations.
I may have coined the term, “Global Microbrand”, but John has actually lived it to the full. Now it’s my turn to play catch-up. Rock on.
March 2, 2009
the next gapingvoid print: “corinthians”, $250 pre-order
[“Corinthians”. Click on image to enlarge etc.]
[UPDATE: The “Corinthian” pre-orders are now sold out. However, we do have some still available at the retail price i.e. $450. Click on PayPal button below to make a $100 deposit. Thanks for the support, Everybody!]
[Click on Paypal button to make $100 deposit etc.]
I first heard 1 Corinthians 13 read out in church when I was about nine or ten. Like a lot of things in the Bible, as a kid I found it puzzling at first. And over the years, it kept on giving new meaning to me. It never got old.
Paul’s most-quoted passage from his letter to the Corinthians is one of those things in the Bible, like Psalm 23, that just gets better and better, the longer you live.
In Anglican circles, it’s pretty much required reading at weddings. I remember when they read it at my sister’s wedding, ten years ago, and how much happiness and depth it added to the occasion.
Anyone who has ever had it read out at their own wedding will know– it’s powerful stuff. Which is what inspired me to make a drawing out of it.
When we asked people for feedback on the next gapingvoid print, “We Need To Talk” came out the winner. It’s now in production and the pre-orders are now sold out.
That being said, there was a lot of backchannel interest with “Corinthians”, as well. It was by no means a distant second. Not to mention, it was a damn fine design and the message is timeless.
So what they heck, we decided to make Corinthians available as a limited edition, as well.
Here are the details:
1. It’s going to be a smaller edition. Instead of an edition of 85 like with “Bluetrain” and “WNTT” We’re doing an edition of 50. [UPDATE: BEcasue demand for this print far exceeded our expectations, we made it an edition of 75 in the end.]
2. Once its printed, it’ll retail for $450 [plus shipping & handling]. Like last time, you can pre-order the first 30 in the edition at a discount, i.e. $250 [plus shipping and handling]. To secure your order, please use the PayPal button above and make a $100 deposit. The PayPal form will ask you for all your details [including your preferred shipping address], which of course we’ll have for our records. Why are we asking for a deposit? To weed out the spammers, flakes and trolls out there [This is the Internet, after all], leaving only committed buyers in the mix. No other reason. This shall be our standard practice from now on.
3. The print will be ready to ship in 4 – 6 weeks. We’ll send you another PayPal for the outstanding invoice once the prints are packed and ready to be shipped.
4. The print will be the same size as the others [i.e. large, approx 21“x32”], hand-signed by me, and it goes without saying, the same high-quality inks and papers will be used.
5. If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me an email at gapingvoidprints@gmail.com, and either Laura or Me will answer them.
I’m excited about this one. This Biblical passage has always meant a great deal to me, and as I’ve been delighted to find out via blog comments and emails, it turns out it means a great deal to a lot of other gapingvoid readers, as well. So it’s looking like it’s going to be a great little project.
Once Again, thank you for your love and support. Rock on.
[PS: To keep up-to-date with the prints’ goings-on, please subscribe to my “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter, Thanks.]
print update: only four left!
[UPDATE: I’m happy to report that the “We Need To Talk” pre-sales are all already sold out. The design goes to print sometime in the next week or so, and the plan is to get the editions sent out to their buyers toward the end of the month. Thanks Again!]
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
I’m happy to report that the orders for my latest edition, “We Need To Talk” have gone very well. So much so that, besides what I’m keeping for myself, we only have four of them left! If you’re interested in acquiring one, please send me an email to gapingvoidprints, Thanks. All the usual details– price, shipping etc can be found here etc etc.
So I’ve been in the fine art print business thing for about two months. Here are my notes:
1. I suppose the first thing I’ll say about it is, yes, I am UTTERLY AMAZED about how well it’s going so far. Sure, I never started this venture with any intention of failing, but still, the response has been off the scale. I have honestly never seen anything like it. I’m kinda shell-shocked, to be honest, but in a good way…
2. I am truly grateful for everything; it would be insane not to be. Still, in the back of my mind, I am wondering to myself, is this just Beginner’s Luck? How long will it last? Could it all come crashing down tomorrow? I’ve seen that happen before, and it’s not pretty. Oh well, make hay while the sun shines, I suppose; that’s all you can really do.
3. I’m VERY glad I made the decision, early on in the game, to not to spare any expenses in the production department. The finest inks, the finest papers, the finest printers etc etc. When the Bluetrain prints arrived last week for me to sign, I remember opening the box and just being INSTANTLY STUNNED by how well they turned out, how pleasing both to the eye and to the touch. It was a truly happy, satisfying moment for me.
4. Choosing which design to turn into a print is actually pretty nerve-wracking. Producing an edition costs several thousand dollars, and no matter how good you think your gut instinct or market research is, YOU SIMPLY DON’T KNOW what people are going to do [versus what people SAY they’re going to do] until your money’s already been spent; until it’s too late to change you mind. “We Need To Talk”, is actually a pretty good example of “nerve-wracking”. It was a risky– it’s not exactly a message you’d want to give your wife for her birthday, nor a message you’d want to hang in your office in order to motivate the troops. That being said, it has a certain edge to it, which some people really relate to on a visceral level. Besides that, I had some strong, personal reasons for wanting it made into a print, so I made the call. I’m just glad it all ended well.
5. I fully expect these prints to one day be worth MANY TIMES what they’re selling for now. Which is why I hold onto a few of each edition– I’d be crazy not to. Art can be a very risky investment, of course, but when it pays off, it pays off EXTREMELY well. Looking at it from a brutally objective standpoint– do the math: My equity as an artist is worth a LOT more today than it was, say, five or ten years ago. I see no reason why that trend won’t continue, at least for the foreseeable future. What stocks in your portfolio can you say the same about? Just askin’…
6. All the experience I got setting up English Cut in 2005 – 2006 is suddenly paying off. We have a lot in common: a small, high-end, niche market, a blog to keep up, with a LOT Of emails to deal with. But this time, I’m not beholden to somebody else’s product. This stuff is all mine, now. I’m quite excited, frankly.
7. Probably the most salient piece of advice I came away with from Le Web in December came from Gary Vaynerchuk: “If you have a great product, and you love your customers, you WILL succeed, end of story”. I totally get that. That being said, I believe the latter is much harder than the former, on an executional level. Love is great, but Love is hard. Make of that what you will.
Thanks Again, As Always, for Your Love & Support.
Yours In Crazy, Deranged Foolishness,
Hugh MacLeod
February 27, 2009
holiday cottages in austin etc
[Austin, Texas]
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
For those who missed it, here’s an extract from this week’s “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter:
2. Holiday Cottage? South Congress? What? Again, let me give you the skinny…
B.J., the groovy cat who owns Verde Camp here in Austin [The cottages are painted light green, hence the name…], is letting me stay here for free, which is very kind of him. He’s a friend of a friend, he had a free cottage going, so what the hey, I thought in exchange for his kindness, maybe we could do a little “Marketing 2.0″ experiment together– you know how much I like trying these things out…
B.J. is a very cool cat. He worked for Yahoo in the 1990’s as some sort of techie fellow, before leaving there and opening an art gallery in San Francisco soon after. Somehow he managed to make to Austin [I’m sure his now-wife played some part in the story]. He actually knows another SF-art-world friend of mine, Scott Beale of Laughing Squid . Small world. So he bought this piece of property in South Congress, thinking he was building some sort of private home for himself and his lovely wife– somehow it turned out to be a guest cottage enterprise thing. Crazy & Deranged & Foolish. Exactly.
So, my fellow CDF’s, here’s what you can do for me. Please go check out his website, and if you like what you see, please tell your friends about it, or if you REALLY like the look of it, please drop BJ an email and let him know that you checked it out, and say that ol’ Hughie sent ya. Seriously, you’ll make his day. And it’ll be a very useful experiment for me, to see what happens etc. The Power of The Network etc. Please don’t hesitate, Thanks.
Earlier we were at dinner at Guero’s with two other of his friends– he was picking my brains about marketing, and I gave him my whole “Social Object” schpiel … “How do we make Verde Camp a social object?” etc etc. Sadly, he’s already fully booked for SXSW, but he’d be VERY interested in hearing from you, nonetheless.
I can sincerely attest– it’s a very sweet little setup he has going here– if travels ever take you to Austin, I hope you’ll check it out.
This is what “Marketing 2.0″ is all about, People… Cool friends of cool friends doing cool shit and sharing it with other cool folk, for fun and to make an honest living– at least, that’s what it means to me… Social Objects, Baby… Crazy, Deranged Foolishness at its finest, Baby… Yeah, Baby… Baby… Baby…
So far I am REALLY enjoying the Newsletter format. So far, it feels like I’m talking to people more directly [to people who actually want to hear from me, as opposed to me being just one more blogger to skim over in one’s RSS feed etc]. Just one man’s opinion etc. I hope you’ll sign up.
Thanks Again for Your Love And Support,
Yours in Crazy, Deranged Foolishness,
Hugh MacLeod
February 24, 2009
signing the bluetrain prints…
[Me signing the “Bluetrain” prints earlier this evening…]
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
Ok, so that’s the Bluetrain edition signed. Tomorrow I take them to the art packer’s, in order for them to be packed flat and shipped via UPS to their new owners.
From here in Alpine, Texas, to London, Hong Kong, Boston, Paris, New York, Austin, Seattle… all 100% enabled by our little, evil friend, The Internet. This is EXACTLY what I meant when I talked about The Global Microbrand, back in 2005. All happening for me now etc.
For those of you who have ordered one, please expect to receive an embedded PayPal button in an email from me, during the next couple of days. We were first waiting to see much an actual print weighs when fully packed, so we’d know how much to charge y’all for shipping. Thanks.
Yes, it has its complicated moments, but it’s all very exciting… I hope y’all feel likewise.
Thanks Again for Your Love And Support,
Yours in Crazy, Deranged Foolishness,
Hugh MacLeod
[PS: Check out the latest limited edition coming out: “We Need To Talk”.]
[PPS: Sign up for The “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter here…]
print update: “we need to talk” to be the next limited edition
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
After receiving a lot of feedback from y’all about the three choices, we decided to go with “We Need To Talk” as the next gapingvoid limited edition print.
Here are the basics:
1. The print will retail for $400 [plus shipping & handling], once it goes to print. You can pre-order it for $250 [plus shipping & handling], BUT ONLY if you’re already signed up to the “Crazy Deranged Fools” Newsletter [Sign up here if you haven’t already]. This pre-order offer only extends to the first 45 prints in the edition.
2. The print will be a signed, limited edition of 85, same as “Bluetrain” Dimension will be the same as “Bluetrain” as well.
3. If you’re interested, please email me at gapingvoidprints@gmail.com with your name, shipping address and a phone number for the UPS delivery guy.
4. The prints will be shipped flat, packed by a professional; not simply rolled up in a tube etc.
5. For more details, either e-mail me or go to yesterday’s blog post, Thanks.
This has been a pretty exciting 24 hours. Already a quarter of the edition has been pre-ordered, even though “Bluetrain” hasn’t even shipped yet.
Somebody emailed me this morning:
I believe the only viable future for artists (or most anyone else) is DIY, collaboration and cooperation. the existing systems, structures, paradigms and rules don’t work (never have actually, except for a chosen few, who worked hard to create the illusion that these things applied equally for everyone, lying bastards).
I wrote back:
Thanks. Yeah, the trick here is me trying to bypass as many established art-world systems as possible, in order to make [A] a point and [B] profit.
I have a lot of artists watching me at the moment, wondering if I can actually pull it off. It’ll be good for us all if I can.
We live in interesting times…
Thanks SO MUCH for your love and support,
Yours in Crazy, Deranged Foolishness,
Hugh MacLeod
February 23, 2009
second gapingvoid print in the works, or, why i’m not going down the gallery route
[“We Need To Talk”]
[“1 Corinthians 13″]
[“SMS Important Thoughts”]
[UPDATE: Please e-mail me at gapingvoidprints@gmail.com if you want to pre-order, Thanks.]
Well, the plan is to start sending out the Bluetrain prints this week. It took a while to get the right fine art printer in place, and get the silk screens just right. For those who are unfamiliar with the process, we chose the somewhat labor-intensive process of silk screening, so I had to proof the edition and make sure each image was perfect. Anyway, they are being flat packed (shipping tubes could damage the print if people wanted to store them long-term) and hopefully shipped late this week
[“Bluetrain”]
Here are some notes on the next Edition:
1. Above are the three contenders for the next limited edition– “We Need To Talk”, “1 Corinthians 13″, and “SMS Important Thoughts”. The one that rings the most bells win, so let’s hear your comments below, Thanks.
2. Like last time, it’ll be a signed, Limited Edition of eighty-five, plus some artist proofs. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.
3. This edition will retail for $400 apiece. Like last time, we’ll be offering a discount to those people who pre-order before the actual printing– $150 off– so $250 each [Plus shipping & handling]. Except this time there’s an added stipulation– only people who have signed up to my Crazy Deranged Fools Newsletter will be able to pre-order. So if you’re a CDF member, please be watching your email inboxes in the next few days, or feel free to sign up now, Thanks.
4. The print will be silk screened on pH neutral, French-made, archival paper– just as The Bluetrain was. Dimensions will be proportional to the images above with the rectangular ones being about 25“x36”.
5. If you have any specific questions or issues about the edition, I have set up a new email address to handle all the print-related business: gapingvoidprints@gmail.com. Please address all queries and/or issues there, Thanks.
6. WHY THESE PRINTS RETAIL FOR ONLY $400.00 When the Bluetrain went up for sale, a number of people mentioned that they thought it was too cheap. Lots of people think that ‘good’ art needs to be expensive. That used to be true. We are all used to the idea that the web can make things more efficient and cost effective, but there are few products where this is more true than with art. Here’s why:
The art market is set up where there are ‘artists’, ‘publishers’ and ‘galleries’. As expected, everyone along the way needs to make a margin. The artist gets paid for his image, the publisher finances and contracts for the printing, and then markets the prints to galleries. It is a ‘charming’ 19th Century system. Unfortunately, everything gets very expensive. Quickly.
We’ve chosen to self-publish, and sell through the blog, even though I have been approached by many galleries over the years. I just don’t think that people who want to collect my work should have to pay for publishers margins, high real estate prices in trendy neighborhoods, gallery employee payrolls, free wine for the hangers-on, markups on the framing etc. All of these things jack the prices up.
Next thing you know, instead of paying $400 for a print, you’re paying $1500-$2000. Go hang in Chelsea [Manhattan] if you don’t believe me. Sure, fine art is traditionally expensive– it’s a luxury item after all, an indicator of surplus wealth etc– but with the Internet now so evolved, does it have to be this way? I’m not just talking about the old– fashioned, “We passed the savings onto you” angle. It’s more like, since you’ve invested in my work, I owe it to you guys to do my damnedest to see that your investment pays off over the long-term. And that’s more likely to happen at $400, than at $2000; do the math. Even if you’re never going to sell it, even if you got it at a steal, knowing that it’s worth far more than you paid for it makes you feel far better than the alternative. Of course it does.
Is self publishing risky? Sure it is. Am I planning to sell my work for far more than $400 in the long run? Of course. But, I do know that [A] there is nothing like a good deal and [B] the folks who support me early on will, in the fullness of time, be very happy that they did.
7. Yes, I will admit, taking the plunge into the art business is a nerve-wracking experience. Crazy, Deranged and Foolish, I know. I don’t care, frankly. I’ve worked damn hard for many years to get to this point. Fuck ‘em if they don’t like it.
As Always, thank you for your love and support. Rock on.
[PLEASE LEAVE YOUR VOTE IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. THANKS.]
February 20, 2009
crazy, deranged fool: founder’s brewing, grand rapids, michigan
To bring you truly great beer,
we have focused our efforts to one simple pursuit…ignore mainstream.
We brew the beer we want to drink.
In this pursuit we have found lower efficiencies, higher cost, less yields and smaller market share. This may seem like an unsound business model, but in our pursuit for bigger and better beer we have discovered a subculture of microbrewery aficionados. People like you, who enjoy beers that push the envelope of creativity.
That sounds like Crazy, Deranged Foolishness to me.
Thanks to Craic for the link, and for his most excellent blog post, “Crazy, Deranged Fools: Grand Rapids Hall of Fame”. Rock on.
February 19, 2009
dear crazy, deranged fools, i’m starting a newsletter, part two
If you look at the top-right sidebar of my homepage, you’ll notice the new “Crazy Deranged Fool” sign-up blurb for the newsletter. Click on the cartoon or the links and it’ll take you to the sign-up page.
P.S. If you’ve already signed up for the newsletter, and you like that wee cartoon mascot, feel free to lift it and put it onto your blog sidebar, e-mail signature or whatever. Thanks!
dear crazy, deranged fools, i’m starting a newsletter
[Sign up here.]
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
I’m starting newsletter for you guys. Like I said in my last blog post,
A CrazyDerangedFool [CDF for short] is, like me, somebody who has the temerity to aspire to work in a way that produces both joy, meaning and contribution for both them and others, while also paying the bills. It’s about creativity, it’s about finding meaning, but it’s also about living in the real world. That’s the reality I want to live in, and from the vast quantities of e-mails and comments I get from y’all, that seems to be your game plan, as well.
Yes, Hugh has a new, secret evil plan. Rock on.
I hope you will sign up, Thanks. I’m thinking this newsletter will be sent out 2 – 3 times a month; no more. I certainly don’t want it to be a daily thing, nosiree…
Yours in Crazy, Deranged Foolishness,
Hugh MacLeod
February 17, 2009
dear crazy, deranged fools…
[UPDATE: Please sign up for the “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter. Thanks!]
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
For a while, I’ve been thinking about what to call y’all collectively, i.e. the people who follow my work with regularity.
My friend, Jason Calacanis calls his regular readers “Jason Nation”. I thought that was very clever; I liked it a lot. Hey, it rhymes! In a similar exercise in wordplay, I thought about “Voidettes”, “Gapingvoiders”, “Hughtrainers” or whatever, but nothing really stuck. I guess that’s because these kind of names were “All About Hugh”. And, well, let’s face it, it isn’t all about me– you guys have your own stuff going on, as well. That’s what makes it interesting.
So what unites us? The answer came to me in flash this morning, in a blog post:
A. Most people work for the money. Most people wouldn’t do their jobs for free.
B. Most people hate their jobs.
But I’m not thinking about “Most People” right now. I’m thinking about the small percentage of the population who want to love their work; who want to find meaning in their work… and are willing to work like hell to find out how.
Those crazy, deranged fools…
How do they manage to exist? How dare they exist!
Are you one of them? Just curious…
A CrazyDerangedFool [CDF for short] is, like me, somebody who has the temerity to aspire to work in a way that produces both joy, meaning and contribution for both them and others, while also paying the bills. It’s about creativity, it’s about finding meaning, but it’s also about living in the real world. That’s the reality I want to live in, and from the vast quantities of e-mails and comments I get from y’all, that seems to be your game plan, as well.
I really liked what Ms Constantine said in the comments of the aforementioned post:
I’m working about 30 hours a week on top of my “day job” so that one day I’ll be able to do the work I love.
I’m currently doing the extra hours for free, so I’m kind of one of them.
Gotta pay the bills though.
Ms Constantine, that too has been my life for the last twenty years. I too am a CDF. This IS INDEED the crazy, deranged, foolish world of my own making that I chose to live in. And this IS INDEED the crazy, deranged, foolish world I will die in. I’ve already crossed the Rubicon. Alea iacta est. There is no going back. Ever.
With Love and Respect to You All,
Thank You. Seriously. Godspeed!
–Hugh MacLeod
June 17, 2009
newsletter excerpt
An excerpt from my latest Crazy Deranged Fools Newsletter, which I sent out earlier today:
“Here’s the reality: The Creative Bug will give you everything, and it will take from you, everything. It will cost you your life, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.
But knowing this, of course, is what ultimately sets you free.”
Feel free to sign up, Thanks!
May 8, 2009
on finding “meaningful work”
Back in October, I wrote a relatively candid blog post, “Note to My ‘Tribe’: Where are we headed, Anyway?”
And as our mutual friend, Seth says, every tribe needs a leader:
The next frontier of marketing is in leading groups of people who are working together to get somewhere.I concur. So I’m guessing that “Leader” job now falls down to me.
Don’t get too excited. I’m not Gandhi, I’m just a cartoonist in West Texas with a few crazy ideas up my sleeve. I find the prospect of leading a “tribe” a bit daunting, to be honest.
Leadership does not exist in a vacuum, you need somewhere to actually lead your tribe to. Moses had the Land of Milk & Honey. MLK had The Promised Land. Thomas Jefferson had the newly-formed United States. Putin has a strong and proud Russia. Doc Searls has The Cluetrain. Steve Clayton and his friends within Microsoft have The Blue Monster.
Me? I have no idea. Like I said, I’m just a cartoonist…
The good news is, to lead a tribe you don’t necessarily have to have a promised land, a utopian vision, or a new world order to lead a tribe. You simply need what my other great marketing friend, Mark Earls calls “The Purpose-Idea”, which as a bona fide Social Object, is THE REASON why people are joining together in the first place.
I’ve been telling my clients for years now, if you’re going to have a following, a community, a “tribe”, it can’t just be about you and your lovely product. It’s got to be about something higher than, and beyond… yourself.
What is true for them is, yes, also true for me. Like I told my good friend, James Governor on Twitter the other day,
If I’m to lead a “Tribe”, it needs to be for MUCH better reasons than “Please buy my lithographs, they’re very nice etc.”Or my original drawings. Or my book. Or my consulting services. Or my speaking gigs. Or whatever.
I’m happy to report, Seth left a very kind remark in the comments:
Ask us something hard, Hugh!
Your mission is clear. You are leading us where we want to go. You are pushing us to demand the possible, not to accept the status quo. In an extraordinarily direct and passionate way, you push yourself (and us) to look at what we do honestly and to remove the bullshit and get down to what matters.
That’s where I want to go, anyway.
When I was eighteen, just after I had finished my final exams at high school, I went out and got my first real job. Trainee bartender at Whigham’s Wine Bar, Edinburgh, Scotland. I loved that job; I kept it every summer for four years. The guy who hired me, Nick Henderson, was a great man.
Since then I have been on the same, unending quest: To find “Meaningful Work”.
“Meaningful” is like “Creative”; its definition is a subjective call. I can’t tell you what’s meaningful to you. Nor can you do the same with me. All we can do is agree that somewhere deep within all of us, the hunger to find it is real.
My blog for the last eight years has been a mish-mash of all sorts of different things. Cartoons. Selling prints. Marketing 2.0. The Global Microbrand. “Creativity”.
Whatever. No matter what topic I was blethering on about that day, this blog has always been driven by the same thing that has always driven me. Finding meaningful work.
I’ve come close to finding it a couple of times. It’s never easy. It’s always elusive. I often wish that weren’t the case, but it is. Sorry.
[P.S. The best way to support what I’m doing is to sign up to my “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter. Thanks!]
March 21, 2009
painting update
[Tablet PC sketch of what I have in mind. Click on image to enlarge etc.]
[UPDATE: 12.10am, 23rd March. “DesertManhattan” is finished. Hurrah!]
DesertManhattan is nearly finished. Four x Eight foot worth of insanity. Months of work. Will be posting pictures soon.
My next painting will be half that size– 48″ x 48″ square… the sketch above should give you an idea. Again, the theme comes from a familiar place. Like I said when I first started on DesertManhattan:
I think being out here in Alpine, Texas, covered under a blanket of desert air and “Big Sky” brought about a wee change in me, at least in what I find interesting artistically. The “cartoons on the back of business cards” format came about in New York City, when living conditions, shall we say, were far more intense, crowded and cramped. Not to mention, I was ten years younger. Things change.
There’s a certain intensity to being out here in the desert. There was a certain intensity to living in New York. I’m trying to create objects that somehow capture both. Hence its name.
Yeah, I know, it’s a silly, stupid, insane way to try to make a living, to try to spend a life. I’ve spent the last twenty years learning this the hard way. The damage is already done. Alea iacta est. Rock on.
[Sign up to gapingvoid’s “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter…]
March 20, 2009
john t. unger, artist and global microbrand
One of John T.‘s “Great Bowls Of Fire”.
From March, 2006:
Chris Carfi points to John T. Unger, an artist and regular gapingvoid commenter who has used his blog and the global microbrand idea to carve out a nice wee career for himself (for more money than his last day job paid him, I hasten to add).
Go read John T’s take on it here. Very uplifting.
John and his girlfriend left Alpine, Texas this morning. We hung out and drank beer, and I got to take him to my favorite Mexican place in town, Alicia’s. Since I first wrote about him a a few years ago, we’ve become great friends.
John’s checking out Texas. He’s had enough of Michigan winters. He’s looking to buy land down here and build another studio for his sculpture. Alpine is on his short list of possible locations.
I may have coined the term, “Global Microbrand”, but John has actually lived it to the full. Now it’s my turn to play catch-up. Rock on.
March 2, 2009
the next gapingvoid print: “corinthians”, $250 pre-order
[“Corinthians”. Click on image to enlarge etc.]
[UPDATE: The “Corinthian” pre-orders are now sold out. However, we do have some still available at the retail price i.e. $450. Click on PayPal button below to make a $100 deposit. Thanks for the support, Everybody!]
[Click on Paypal button to make $100 deposit etc.]
I first heard 1 Corinthians 13 read out in church when I was about nine or ten. Like a lot of things in the Bible, as a kid I found it puzzling at first. And over the years, it kept on giving new meaning to me. It never got old.
Paul’s most-quoted passage from his letter to the Corinthians is one of those things in the Bible, like Psalm 23, that just gets better and better, the longer you live.
In Anglican circles, it’s pretty much required reading at weddings. I remember when they read it at my sister’s wedding, ten years ago, and how much happiness and depth it added to the occasion.
Anyone who has ever had it read out at their own wedding will know– it’s powerful stuff. Which is what inspired me to make a drawing out of it.
When we asked people for feedback on the next gapingvoid print, “We Need To Talk” came out the winner. It’s now in production and the pre-orders are now sold out.
That being said, there was a lot of backchannel interest with “Corinthians”, as well. It was by no means a distant second. Not to mention, it was a damn fine design and the message is timeless.
So what they heck, we decided to make Corinthians available as a limited edition, as well.
Here are the details:
1. It’s going to be a smaller edition. Instead of an edition of 85 like with “Bluetrain” and “WNTT” We’re doing an edition of 50. [UPDATE: BEcasue demand for this print far exceeded our expectations, we made it an edition of 75 in the end.]
2. Once its printed, it’ll retail for $450 [plus shipping & handling]. Like last time, you can pre-order the first 30 in the edition at a discount, i.e. $250 [plus shipping and handling]. To secure your order, please use the PayPal button above and make a $100 deposit. The PayPal form will ask you for all your details [including your preferred shipping address], which of course we’ll have for our records. Why are we asking for a deposit? To weed out the spammers, flakes and trolls out there [This is the Internet, after all], leaving only committed buyers in the mix. No other reason. This shall be our standard practice from now on.
3. The print will be ready to ship in 4 – 6 weeks. We’ll send you another PayPal for the outstanding invoice once the prints are packed and ready to be shipped.
4. The print will be the same size as the others [i.e. large, approx 21“x32”], hand-signed by me, and it goes without saying, the same high-quality inks and papers will be used.
5. If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me an email at gapingvoidprints@gmail.com, and either Laura or Me will answer them.
I’m excited about this one. This Biblical passage has always meant a great deal to me, and as I’ve been delighted to find out via blog comments and emails, it turns out it means a great deal to a lot of other gapingvoid readers, as well. So it’s looking like it’s going to be a great little project.
Once Again, thank you for your love and support. Rock on.
[PS: To keep up-to-date with the prints’ goings-on, please subscribe to my “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter, Thanks.]
print update: only four left!
[UPDATE: I’m happy to report that the “We Need To Talk” pre-sales are all already sold out. The design goes to print sometime in the next week or so, and the plan is to get the editions sent out to their buyers toward the end of the month. Thanks Again!]
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
I’m happy to report that the orders for my latest edition, “We Need To Talk” have gone very well. So much so that, besides what I’m keeping for myself, we only have four of them left! If you’re interested in acquiring one, please send me an email to gapingvoidprints, Thanks. All the usual details– price, shipping etc can be found here etc etc.
So I’ve been in the fine art print business thing for about two months. Here are my notes:
1. I suppose the first thing I’ll say about it is, yes, I am UTTERLY AMAZED about how well it’s going so far. Sure, I never started this venture with any intention of failing, but still, the response has been off the scale. I have honestly never seen anything like it. I’m kinda shell-shocked, to be honest, but in a good way…
2. I am truly grateful for everything; it would be insane not to be. Still, in the back of my mind, I am wondering to myself, is this just Beginner’s Luck? How long will it last? Could it all come crashing down tomorrow? I’ve seen that happen before, and it’s not pretty. Oh well, make hay while the sun shines, I suppose; that’s all you can really do.
3. I’m VERY glad I made the decision, early on in the game, to not to spare any expenses in the production department. The finest inks, the finest papers, the finest printers etc etc. When the Bluetrain prints arrived last week for me to sign, I remember opening the box and just being INSTANTLY STUNNED by how well they turned out, how pleasing both to the eye and to the touch. It was a truly happy, satisfying moment for me.
4. Choosing which design to turn into a print is actually pretty nerve-wracking. Producing an edition costs several thousand dollars, and no matter how good you think your gut instinct or market research is, YOU SIMPLY DON’T KNOW what people are going to do [versus what people SAY they’re going to do] until your money’s already been spent; until it’s too late to change you mind. “We Need To Talk”, is actually a pretty good example of “nerve-wracking”. It was a risky– it’s not exactly a message you’d want to give your wife for her birthday, nor a message you’d want to hang in your office in order to motivate the troops. That being said, it has a certain edge to it, which some people really relate to on a visceral level. Besides that, I had some strong, personal reasons for wanting it made into a print, so I made the call. I’m just glad it all ended well.
5. I fully expect these prints to one day be worth MANY TIMES what they’re selling for now. Which is why I hold onto a few of each edition– I’d be crazy not to. Art can be a very risky investment, of course, but when it pays off, it pays off EXTREMELY well. Looking at it from a brutally objective standpoint– do the math: My equity as an artist is worth a LOT more today than it was, say, five or ten years ago. I see no reason why that trend won’t continue, at least for the foreseeable future. What stocks in your portfolio can you say the same about? Just askin’…
6. All the experience I got setting up English Cut in 2005 – 2006 is suddenly paying off. We have a lot in common: a small, high-end, niche market, a blog to keep up, with a LOT Of emails to deal with. But this time, I’m not beholden to somebody else’s product. This stuff is all mine, now. I’m quite excited, frankly.
7. Probably the most salient piece of advice I came away with from Le Web in December came from Gary Vaynerchuk: “If you have a great product, and you love your customers, you WILL succeed, end of story”. I totally get that. That being said, I believe the latter is much harder than the former, on an executional level. Love is great, but Love is hard. Make of that what you will.
Thanks Again, As Always, for Your Love & Support.
Yours In Crazy, Deranged Foolishness,
Hugh MacLeod
February 27, 2009
holiday cottages in austin etc
[Austin, Texas]
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
For those who missed it, here’s an extract from this week’s “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter:
2. Holiday Cottage? South Congress? What? Again, let me give you the skinny…
B.J., the groovy cat who owns Verde Camp here in Austin [The cottages are painted light green, hence the name…], is letting me stay here for free, which is very kind of him. He’s a friend of a friend, he had a free cottage going, so what the hey, I thought in exchange for his kindness, maybe we could do a little “Marketing 2.0″ experiment together– you know how much I like trying these things out…
B.J. is a very cool cat. He worked for Yahoo in the 1990’s as some sort of techie fellow, before leaving there and opening an art gallery in San Francisco soon after. Somehow he managed to make to Austin [I’m sure his now-wife played some part in the story]. He actually knows another SF-art-world friend of mine, Scott Beale of Laughing Squid . Small world. So he bought this piece of property in South Congress, thinking he was building some sort of private home for himself and his lovely wife– somehow it turned out to be a guest cottage enterprise thing. Crazy & Deranged & Foolish. Exactly.
So, my fellow CDF’s, here’s what you can do for me. Please go check out his website, and if you like what you see, please tell your friends about it, or if you REALLY like the look of it, please drop BJ an email and let him know that you checked it out, and say that ol’ Hughie sent ya. Seriously, you’ll make his day. And it’ll be a very useful experiment for me, to see what happens etc. The Power of The Network etc. Please don’t hesitate, Thanks.
Earlier we were at dinner at Guero’s with two other of his friends– he was picking my brains about marketing, and I gave him my whole “Social Object” schpiel … “How do we make Verde Camp a social object?” etc etc. Sadly, he’s already fully booked for SXSW, but he’d be VERY interested in hearing from you, nonetheless.
I can sincerely attest– it’s a very sweet little setup he has going here– if travels ever take you to Austin, I hope you’ll check it out.
This is what “Marketing 2.0″ is all about, People… Cool friends of cool friends doing cool shit and sharing it with other cool folk, for fun and to make an honest living– at least, that’s what it means to me… Social Objects, Baby… Crazy, Deranged Foolishness at its finest, Baby… Yeah, Baby… Baby… Baby…
So far I am REALLY enjoying the Newsletter format. So far, it feels like I’m talking to people more directly [to people who actually want to hear from me, as opposed to me being just one more blogger to skim over in one’s RSS feed etc]. Just one man’s opinion etc. I hope you’ll sign up.
Thanks Again for Your Love And Support,
Yours in Crazy, Deranged Foolishness,
Hugh MacLeod
February 24, 2009
signing the bluetrain prints…
[Me signing the “Bluetrain” prints earlier this evening…]
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
Ok, so that’s the Bluetrain edition signed. Tomorrow I take them to the art packer’s, in order for them to be packed flat and shipped via UPS to their new owners.
From here in Alpine, Texas, to London, Hong Kong, Boston, Paris, New York, Austin, Seattle… all 100% enabled by our little, evil friend, The Internet. This is EXACTLY what I meant when I talked about The Global Microbrand, back in 2005. All happening for me now etc.
For those of you who have ordered one, please expect to receive an embedded PayPal button in an email from me, during the next couple of days. We were first waiting to see much an actual print weighs when fully packed, so we’d know how much to charge y’all for shipping. Thanks.
Yes, it has its complicated moments, but it’s all very exciting… I hope y’all feel likewise.
Thanks Again for Your Love And Support,
Yours in Crazy, Deranged Foolishness,
Hugh MacLeod
[PS: Check out the latest limited edition coming out: “We Need To Talk”.]
[PPS: Sign up for The “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter here…]
print update: “we need to talk” to be the next limited edition
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
After receiving a lot of feedback from y’all about the three choices, we decided to go with “We Need To Talk” as the next gapingvoid limited edition print.
Here are the basics:
1. The print will retail for $400 [plus shipping & handling], once it goes to print. You can pre-order it for $250 [plus shipping & handling], BUT ONLY if you’re already signed up to the “Crazy Deranged Fools” Newsletter [Sign up here if you haven’t already]. This pre-order offer only extends to the first 45 prints in the edition.
2. The print will be a signed, limited edition of 85, same as “Bluetrain” Dimension will be the same as “Bluetrain” as well.
3. If you’re interested, please email me at gapingvoidprints@gmail.com with your name, shipping address and a phone number for the UPS delivery guy.
4. The prints will be shipped flat, packed by a professional; not simply rolled up in a tube etc.
5. For more details, either e-mail me or go to yesterday’s blog post, Thanks.
This has been a pretty exciting 24 hours. Already a quarter of the edition has been pre-ordered, even though “Bluetrain” hasn’t even shipped yet.
Somebody emailed me this morning:
I believe the only viable future for artists (or most anyone else) is DIY, collaboration and cooperation. the existing systems, structures, paradigms and rules don’t work (never have actually, except for a chosen few, who worked hard to create the illusion that these things applied equally for everyone, lying bastards).
I wrote back:
Thanks. Yeah, the trick here is me trying to bypass as many established art-world systems as possible, in order to make [A] a point and [B] profit.
I have a lot of artists watching me at the moment, wondering if I can actually pull it off. It’ll be good for us all if I can.
We live in interesting times…
Thanks SO MUCH for your love and support,
Yours in Crazy, Deranged Foolishness,
Hugh MacLeod
February 23, 2009
second gapingvoid print in the works, or, why i’m not going down the gallery route
[“We Need To Talk”]
[“1 Corinthians 13″]
[“SMS Important Thoughts”]
[UPDATE: Please e-mail me at gapingvoidprints@gmail.com if you want to pre-order, Thanks.]
Well, the plan is to start sending out the Bluetrain prints this week. It took a while to get the right fine art printer in place, and get the silk screens just right. For those who are unfamiliar with the process, we chose the somewhat labor-intensive process of silk screening, so I had to proof the edition and make sure each image was perfect. Anyway, they are being flat packed (shipping tubes could damage the print if people wanted to store them long-term) and hopefully shipped late this week
[“Bluetrain”]
Here are some notes on the next Edition:
1. Above are the three contenders for the next limited edition– “We Need To Talk”, “1 Corinthians 13″, and “SMS Important Thoughts”. The one that rings the most bells win, so let’s hear your comments below, Thanks.
2. Like last time, it’ll be a signed, Limited Edition of eighty-five, plus some artist proofs. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.
3. This edition will retail for $400 apiece. Like last time, we’ll be offering a discount to those people who pre-order before the actual printing– $150 off– so $250 each [Plus shipping & handling]. Except this time there’s an added stipulation– only people who have signed up to my Crazy Deranged Fools Newsletter will be able to pre-order. So if you’re a CDF member, please be watching your email inboxes in the next few days, or feel free to sign up now, Thanks.
4. The print will be silk screened on pH neutral, French-made, archival paper– just as The Bluetrain was. Dimensions will be proportional to the images above with the rectangular ones being about 25“x36”.
5. If you have any specific questions or issues about the edition, I have set up a new email address to handle all the print-related business: gapingvoidprints@gmail.com. Please address all queries and/or issues there, Thanks.
6. WHY THESE PRINTS RETAIL FOR ONLY $400.00 When the Bluetrain went up for sale, a number of people mentioned that they thought it was too cheap. Lots of people think that ‘good’ art needs to be expensive. That used to be true. We are all used to the idea that the web can make things more efficient and cost effective, but there are few products where this is more true than with art. Here’s why:
The art market is set up where there are ‘artists’, ‘publishers’ and ‘galleries’. As expected, everyone along the way needs to make a margin. The artist gets paid for his image, the publisher finances and contracts for the printing, and then markets the prints to galleries. It is a ‘charming’ 19th Century system. Unfortunately, everything gets very expensive. Quickly.
We’ve chosen to self-publish, and sell through the blog, even though I have been approached by many galleries over the years. I just don’t think that people who want to collect my work should have to pay for publishers margins, high real estate prices in trendy neighborhoods, gallery employee payrolls, free wine for the hangers-on, markups on the framing etc. All of these things jack the prices up.
Next thing you know, instead of paying $400 for a print, you’re paying $1500-$2000. Go hang in Chelsea [Manhattan] if you don’t believe me. Sure, fine art is traditionally expensive– it’s a luxury item after all, an indicator of surplus wealth etc– but with the Internet now so evolved, does it have to be this way? I’m not just talking about the old– fashioned, “We passed the savings onto you” angle. It’s more like, since you’ve invested in my work, I owe it to you guys to do my damnedest to see that your investment pays off over the long-term. And that’s more likely to happen at $400, than at $2000; do the math. Even if you’re never going to sell it, even if you got it at a steal, knowing that it’s worth far more than you paid for it makes you feel far better than the alternative. Of course it does.
Is self publishing risky? Sure it is. Am I planning to sell my work for far more than $400 in the long run? Of course. But, I do know that [A] there is nothing like a good deal and [B] the folks who support me early on will, in the fullness of time, be very happy that they did.
7. Yes, I will admit, taking the plunge into the art business is a nerve-wracking experience. Crazy, Deranged and Foolish, I know. I don’t care, frankly. I’ve worked damn hard for many years to get to this point. Fuck ‘em if they don’t like it.
As Always, thank you for your love and support. Rock on.
[PLEASE LEAVE YOUR VOTE IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. THANKS.]
February 20, 2009
crazy, deranged fool: founder’s brewing, grand rapids, michigan
To bring you truly great beer,
we have focused our efforts to one simple pursuit…ignore mainstream.
We brew the beer we want to drink.
In this pursuit we have found lower efficiencies, higher cost, less yields and smaller market share. This may seem like an unsound business model, but in our pursuit for bigger and better beer we have discovered a subculture of microbrewery aficionados. People like you, who enjoy beers that push the envelope of creativity.
That sounds like Crazy, Deranged Foolishness to me.
Thanks to Craic for the link, and for his most excellent blog post, “Crazy, Deranged Fools: Grand Rapids Hall of Fame”. Rock on.
February 19, 2009
dear crazy, deranged fools, i’m starting a newsletter, part two
If you look at the top-right sidebar of my homepage, you’ll notice the new “Crazy Deranged Fool” sign-up blurb for the newsletter. Click on the cartoon or the links and it’ll take you to the sign-up page.
P.S. If you’ve already signed up for the newsletter, and you like that wee cartoon mascot, feel free to lift it and put it onto your blog sidebar, e-mail signature or whatever. Thanks!
dear crazy, deranged fools, i’m starting a newsletter
[Sign up here.]
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
I’m starting newsletter for you guys. Like I said in my last blog post,
A CrazyDerangedFool [CDF for short] is, like me, somebody who has the temerity to aspire to work in a way that produces both joy, meaning and contribution for both them and others, while also paying the bills. It’s about creativity, it’s about finding meaning, but it’s also about living in the real world. That’s the reality I want to live in, and from the vast quantities of e-mails and comments I get from y’all, that seems to be your game plan, as well.
Yes, Hugh has a new, secret evil plan. Rock on.
I hope you will sign up, Thanks. I’m thinking this newsletter will be sent out 2 – 3 times a month; no more. I certainly don’t want it to be a daily thing, nosiree…
Yours in Crazy, Deranged Foolishness,
Hugh MacLeod
February 17, 2009
dear crazy, deranged fools…
[UPDATE: Please sign up for the “Crazy, Deranged Fools” Newsletter. Thanks!]
Dear Crazy, Deranged Fools,
For a while, I’ve been thinking about what to call y’all collectively, i.e. the people who follow my work with regularity.
My friend, Jason Calacanis calls his regular readers “Jason Nation”. I thought that was very clever; I liked it a lot. Hey, it rhymes! In a similar exercise in wordplay, I thought about “Voidettes”, “Gapingvoiders”, “Hughtrainers” or whatever, but nothing really stuck. I guess that’s because these kind of names were “All About Hugh”. And, well, let’s face it, it isn’t all about me– you guys have your own stuff going on, as well. That’s what makes it interesting.
So what unites us? The answer came to me in flash this morning, in a blog post:
A. Most people work for the money. Most people wouldn’t do their jobs for free.
B. Most people hate their jobs.
But I’m not thinking about “Most People” right now. I’m thinking about the small percentage of the population who want to love their work; who want to find meaning in their work… and are willing to work like hell to find out how.
Those crazy, deranged fools…
How do they manage to exist? How dare they exist!
Are you one of them? Just curious…
A CrazyDerangedFool [CDF for short] is, like me, somebody who has the temerity to aspire to work in a way that produces both joy, meaning and contribution for both them and others, while also paying the bills. It’s about creativity, it’s about finding meaning, but it’s also about living in the real world. That’s the reality I want to live in, and from the vast quantities of e-mails and comments I get from y’all, that seems to be your game plan, as well.
I really liked what Ms Constantine said in the comments of the aforementioned post:
I’m working about 30 hours a week on top of my “day job” so that one day I’ll be able to do the work I love.
I’m currently doing the extra hours for free, so I’m kind of one of them.
Gotta pay the bills though.
Ms Constantine, that too has been my life for the last twenty years. I too am a CDF. This IS INDEED the crazy, deranged, foolish world of my own making that I chose to live in. And this IS INDEED the crazy, deranged, foolish world I will die in. I’ve already crossed the Rubicon. Alea iacta est. There is no going back. Ever.
With Love and Respect to You All,
Thank You. Seriously. Godspeed!
–Hugh MacLeod