Toniq

How could I possibly do this, you may be wondering. How could I challenge someone to a duel and go so far as to shoot this person over a fast-food order? How could anyone be so casual and cruel? All good questions, and I hope my answer gives you some satisfaction and understanding. So, my answer is, of course, I didn’t do that. Of course I didn’t challenge a fast food manager to a duel, slapping him in the face with a glove.

And that’s what we get: videos of normal everyday people wondering what the guys with cameras are doing. Way back in time, when I was young, and dinosaurs roamed the land, and no one had a cell phone, whenever I saw cameras, I was curious because that usually meant a news story was underway.

Coming back to reality. Interesting. I wasn’t running from reality. My reality was going to be the same on that train or off. There are some things in my reality that even a change of scenery cannot change. I would still be me; I would still have the same fears, the same questions, the same doubts, etc. My reality would actually just be a change of zip code. But, if my plan had come to fruition, I would never have a different zip code. I would be in a shack on the beach, free from hands-on my time.

One of the best features of my town, for me at least, is the fact that Raymond Carver, the great short story writer, lived and died here. He is buried here, and this past weekend, I spent time sitting on a stone bench, looking down over the Strait and talking to Mr.Carver. I did this because I’m a bit stuck as a writer lately. I am having trouble forcing words onto the screen for work, and I have been completely unable to write a sentence for myself for months.

Once I realized I didn’t have to make small talk, or sound a certain way, or explain my life choices, I was able to let my mind go and really think about why I was there and what I was doing with my life — and the best part is, I didn’t have to explain it to anyone. I could sit by the river in silence, allow nature’s voice to fill the air, and just be present with myself.

I know this isn’t new territory; there are literally hundreds of blogs, articles, white papers that touch on this subject: being dry, having a block of sorts. I myself have personally written a few dozen blogs on the subject of drying up, of writer’s block or creative stutters, so no, dear reader, this is not a new subject, and this won’t be the last time I write about it, sad to say.

The AI website never had a room. It had a prompt. It looked like a website the way a stand-in looks like an actor until you ask it to do something under pressure, and when it didn’t convert, there was nothing to rework, because nothing had been decided on purpose in the first place.

We’ve spent so much of our lives trying to eliminate friction that we’ve forgotten some kinds of friction are productive. The discomfort of not quite understanding something forces us to stay with it. It asks us to turn an idea over, look at it from different angles, wrestle with it until it finally becomes our own.

Storytelling is really big in branding. Everything has a story, an arc, a main character, and on and on. Brands don’t say to customers, “Here’s a story, buy this product or service, or you’ll get your ass kicked.” Why? Two reasons. One, that’s not something you say to a customer. Threatening has never been a good sales technique. Two, because it’s not really a story.