The “Darling vs. Done” Edition :: Rusty’s Electric Dreams, Issue #178

 

“In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix first must burn.”


Rusty's Electric Dreams, an inbox zine by Rusty Blazenhoff

An inbox zine for positive deviants and the people who love them
Issue #178 :: The “Darling vs. Done” Edition :: 6:13:2018

Darling vs. Done…

I tend to overthink business ideas. One minute I’m like, “This is the BEST idea I’ve EVER thought of!” And then later I think, “Omg, no one would buy THAT. What was I THINKING??”

Then I see that someone has started an inane fancy ice pop subscription service and I still haven’t kicked off anything. It kinda makes me laugh how fierce my inner critic can be. S/he doesn’t want me to fail, but that’s exactly what I need to be willing to do.

I came up with an idea a while back of what I call “suckceeding,” in other words, failing your way to success. I’ve failed many, many times in the past. I used to get an idea and just run with it.

Did you know I used to ship Western shirts in bulk and other trinkets of Americana to Australia to make money? Or that in the beginning days of eBay I would buy stuff — like weird vintage photos — cheap at the flea market and flip them? Or that in the early 1990s, I made hippie-style Fimo clay beads and sold them to the tourist shops on Main Street in the place where I grew up? I’ve bought storage units and run estate sales before they started TV shows about them.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m in my forties or what but I feel less willing to run with an idea now (and I think my ideas are bigger/better now), i.e. I’m less willing to fail. Yet, if I want to be suckcessful again (and I do), I need to be willing to fail… and, well, I’m getting there, slowly but surely.

I was talking to a new friend recently about perfectionism and how it can really impede getting anything accomplished. He said, “It doesn’t need to be precious.” Later, as I was sharing the thought with another friend, a phrase popped into my head and I said, “It doesn’t need to be darling, it just needs to be done.” Voila. That’s it.

Readers, I’d like you to be my witness on this: I will get’er done, even if it means failing.

Rusty Blazenhoff
P.S. I would love to hear YOUR stories. Have you ever started a business and failed? Have you ever started one and succeeded/suckceeded? Or maybe you just want to cheer me on. I could use that. You know where to find me.

As seen on the Internets

 

Ukiyo-e woodblock prints of David Bowie

:: Ukiyo-e woodblock prints of David Bowie

:: http://www.spoon-tamago.com/david-bowie-ukiyoe-woodblock-prints

:: “How David Bowie Invented Ziggy Stardust
:: https://www.rollingstone.com/strange-stars-book-excerpt-david-bowie-ziggy-stardust

:: Funeral director, blogger, and author Caleb Wilde on setting boundaries
:: https://www.calebwilde.com/why-ive-stopped-being-nice-and-why-you-should-stop-being-nice-too Thx, Greg!

:: Comedians giving (amusing) advice to their younger selves
:: http://www.vulture.com/comedians-give-advice-to-their-younger-selves.html

:: On Anthony Bourdain: “anything we aspire to at all — is really just the currency we use to buy the four things that really matter: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins
:: https://www.facebook.com/seancarterfilm/posts

:: For sale: (1) California ghost town
:: https://boingboing.net/2018/06/11/for-sale-1-california-ghost.html

:: Apparently MySpace isn’t dead #whoknew
:: https://www.theguardian.com/myspace-who-still-uses-social-network

:: Clever restaurant menus (that View-Master one tho!) via
:: https://www.buzzfeed.com/jonmichaelpoff/restaurant-menus

:: Speak your shame into the Shamebooth (artist: Paula Williams)
:: https://shamebooth.org

:: A long delicious article on Neko Case
:: https://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/neko-case-hell-on-truth

:: Congrats to Allee Willis who is being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this week!
:: https://www.nytimes.com/allee-willis-songwriters-hall-of-fame.html

:: Une femme libre vs. a free spirit
:: https://www.npr.org/advice-for-grown-ups-in-their-40s-just-do-what-you-want-more-often

:: These awesome matchboxes show drunk cats in “good, embarrassing and confusing situations” (artists: Arna Miller and Ravi Zupa)
:: https://boingboing.net/2018/06/12/amusing-matchboxes-show-drunk.html

Real things you can actually buy: yay!

 

The ultimate “Flip ‘n F*ck”: I want this bread bed real bad.

Real things you can actually buy: yay!

 

Book bags: I’m admittedly not a fancy designer purse kind of gal but I do love a good novelty purse like these “book bags” by Russian Etsy seller Krukru Studio Books. There’s even a way to add a first page to your “book.” (The downside to these, of course, is that the authors and/or their families won’t see a dime.)

Featured Events

image via

[7/19 SAN FRANCISCO] The Dancehall of Beautiful Radiant Things is back. What is it? It’s “a social-mixer-disguised-as-a-slow-dance-club that welcomes dancers and non-dancers of all skill levels to share in a night of song-length social vignettes,” Verdi Club, 7:30 PM to 11:30 PM, Tickets

Alameda, CA
[6/23] Pacific Pinball Museum is selling off surplus pinball machines! 1680 Viking Street from 10 AM to 4 PM

Los Angeles, CA
[6/29] Lights Out: A Blindfolded Dinner Experience

[Until 9/2] The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited at Skirball Cultural Center

[7/29] 49 Boxes: New show announced

[October] The Pizza Experience, a pizza-themed pop-up museum, opens. Tickets go on sale June 29

Ai Weiwei’s going to have 3 shows in LA this year

Oakland, CA
[6/21] Garden of Memory at Chapel of the Chimes, 5 PM to 9 PM, Tickets (all ages event)

[7/6] Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You opens in theaters (limited release)

[9/29] FIGMENT Oakland 2018, 10 AM to 6 PM

San Francisco, CA
[6/27] dorkbotSF #100 at DNA Lounge, 7 PM to 11 PM

[Until 9/3] Inflatable Expanding Works of Art at the Exploratorium, curated by Colossal’s Christopher Jobson, Tickets

United States
[Starts 10/9] The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live 30th Anniversary Tour

Worldwide
[6/21] There’s going to be a Global Celebration and Day of Gratitude for Burning Man’s Larry Harvey

Thx, Christopher Bickel!

Rusty’s Electric Dreams is a (mostly) weekly inbox zine by Rusty Blazenhoff for positive deviants and the people who love them.

Described as, “One of the most inspiring, weird and off-kilter collections of curated kitschy ephemera for the big-brained.”

People like it.

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