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Author Archives: AJ Kessler
Understanding Exposure, pt. Practice
If you want to learn to take good photographs, you need to understand how cameras work. See my super-simple explanation here: Understanding Exposure. If you want to actually take good photographs, you need to put that understanding into practice. I’ve … Continue reading
What America Said
“What made America great was her ability to transform her own dream into hope for all mankind . . . America did not tell the millions of men and women who came from every country in the world and who … Continue reading
Posted in Food For Thought, Inspiration, Quotes
Tagged America, France, Greatness, Nicolas Sarkozy, Opportunity, United States of America, USA
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Why Their Offer Sucks and You’re Always Right
Following yesterday’s post, I thought I’d share a bit more about irrational behavior. The following attributes won’t help as much at the tables in Vegas, but they can save, or make, you more money in a lot of other situations. … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Food For Thought, Negotiation, Persuasion, Rationality, Self-Improvement
Tagged Diagnosis Bias, Irrational Behavior, Sway, Value Attribution
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How To Lose Your Shirt In Vegas
I like to gamble. Actually, that’s a lie. I love to gamble. Poker and craps, mostly, but if I’m bored enough, I will literally gamble on anything. I’m fortunate in that I’ve developed a bit of skill at the games … Continue reading
Keep Your Mouth Shut
Number one piece of advice if you’re ever questioned by the police about a crime: keep your mouth shut until your lawyer gets there. Interrogation techniques are so psychologically effective, people confess all the time. Even when they didn’t do … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Food For Thought, Persuasion, Rationality
Tagged Arrest, Do Yourself a Favor, Jail, Shut Up
2 Comments
Transparency
Polished Sausage “Transparency” has been one of the hottest buzzwords in business for a few years now. Pundits and actual businessmen alike tout the advantages of full disclosure, and maybe more importantly, the ramifications of not being forthright. But, as … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Creativity, Food For Thought, Self-Improvement, Style
Tagged Mystique, Presentation, Show, Style, Trigger
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The Cult of Status Quo
Bill Simmons, who’s nicknamed The Sports Guy and writes a comical column for ESPN, shares a very insightful response to a reader’s email about why soccer will never become popular in the U.S.: “Sometimes when people become die-hard fans of … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Aesthetics, Art, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Photography, Self-Improvement
Tagged Bill Simmons, Fads, HDR Photography, Sports, The Sports Guy, Trends
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Great Decision
You know how you can tell when you’ve made a good decision? If you feel like you waited too long to make it, then it’s a good decision. [If you say] we should have done this a long time ago. … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Quotes
Tagged 37Signals, Decision making, Rework
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Art Is Just A Story
People make a big fucking deal about art. They talk about provenance and historical relevance and cultural significance. Those things can certainly make a piece of art more interesting, but why does that make someone want to own something? There’s … Continue reading
Posted in Aesthetics, Art, Creativity, Inspiration, Style
Tagged Deborah Butterfield, Horses, Sculpture, Storytelling
3 Comments
Investing For Dummies
I recently wrote the following as a response to one of Sebastian Marshall’s posts about investing, in which he breaks down what he’s learning about the financial game, the reasons people shouldn’t try to pick their own stocks, and how … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Food For Thought, Rationality, Self-Improvement
Tagged Investing, Pick, Stock Market
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Get Rich?
A lot of people I know want to get rich. The problem is, most of them probably couldn’t answer this very simple question: How do you define “rich”? Is it a sequence of numbers following a dollar sign? Is it … Continue reading
Deadlines Force Creativity
Inspiration and work ethic, they ride right next to each other. When I was an upholsterer, sometimes you’re not inspired to reupholster and old chair. Sometimes it’s just work and you just do it because you’re supposed to. And maybe … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Productivity, Quotes, Self-Improvement, Style, Tips
Tagged Creativity, Deadline, Jack White, Pain, Restriction, White Stripes, Work
12 Comments
Poke The Box
Not only do I think Seth Godin’s new manifesto, Poke The Box, is worth reading, I think there’s some ideas in it that are so important I’m putting them down here so I don’t forget them. The book is only … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Creativity, Inspiration, Productivity, Quotes, Self-Improvement
Tagged Doing, Failure, Fear, Focus, Poke The Box, Seth Godin, Starting
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Change Is Good
I know a lot of people who not only fear change, but hate it. I had never really understood why. To me, change is always good. I’ve never gone through a change and said “I wish that never happened.” Even … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Quotes, Rationality, Self-Improvement
Tagged Change, Risk, Seth Godin
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Anxiety
Anxiety is experiencing failure in advance. – Seth Godin
Posted in Art, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Productivity, Quotes, Self-Improvement
Tagged Anxiety, Seth Godin
1 Comment
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