|
|
The increasingly inaccurately-named blog of journalist and futurist Chris Taylor. Either the most sporadically brilliant amateur blog, the most brilliantly amateur sporadic blog, or the most amateur sporadic brilliance on the Web since 2001.
Oh My God, the RSS Feed Actually Works!
Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
Do you write any other blogs, by chance? Could that have something to do with the fact that Daily Blah isn't always Daily?
Yes -- the Future Boy blog for Business 2.0. And yes. If you want true, editorially-mandated daily coverage from me, that's probably the best place to look.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
Praise for Daily Blah:
"It is fun to watch the author's navel-gazing joy." - Sunday Times (UK)
"It's really funny and informative." - Dave Eggers, author
"The Blah is becoming a daily destination for me." - Richard Marsh, Playwright
"I like it, and I don't." - Fiona Hogg, Teacher
"Better than Xanax." - Lessley Andersen, journalist
"Dude, lay off the crack pipe." - Souris Hong-Porretta, gamesmith
Friends, Bloggers, Countrymen ... lend your ears to these people. I come not to bury them, but praise them.
Arik
Bill
Dan
Cole
Emily B
Emily G
Helena
Jee
Jewelz
Kaila
Kathryn
Mac
Robin
Slim
Souris
Mr. West
My TIME articles
All magazine articles (subscription required for older stories)
Online column index
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Blah for... Thursday, July 10, 2003
Achievement Angst
Being at the tail-end of your twenties can be a panicky time, looking back at the last ten years (where did they go?) and wondering if you did enough with them (where did that novel go?). It is absolutely no help at all when a study like this comes out and tells you that most of the great scientists (and, for some reason, the great criminals) of history did all their best work by the age of 35, that they did so to impress women. Once they settled down and got married, their testosterone levels dropped off, and so did their desire (or ability) to make headline-grabbing breakthroughs. Good thing I'm not on the verge of settling down or anything like that. Ahem.
All of which achievement angst is why I'm glad I picked up a copy of a book called Tolstoy's Bicycle in the fabulous Powell's City of Books some years ago. It describes itself as "an amazing compendium of human history in which all mortal achievement is grouped by age from birth to death." This turns out to be somewhat hyperbolic -- it's not all mortal achievement, of course -- but its overall effect is to calm all fears of the "I'm too old" genre. The eponymous Russian author had his first bicycle lesson at 67, you see, and that is probably the most trivial achievement in the book. Flip it open to any page, any age, and certain things become apparent.
First of all, yes, certain people tend to group the real achievements of their lives into their 20's and 30's. And yes, these do tend to be people in certain fields like science and (especially) music. But there is no preordained age for genius, and the ones that peak early are also the ones that flame out early. Most of us tend to plod along, and as long as we don't loose faith in our pursuits, that seems to be okay. Opening the book at random, I see that Darwin didn't write Origin of the Species until age 50. Ditto with Bram Stoker and Dracula. That was also the age at which James Herriot, having been told by his wife "you'll never be a writer," started churning out books. I suppose marriage can have a positive effect on creativity after all.
|
|
|
|
