HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY. If you are someone who has pushed another human out of your body and managed to keep it alive, kudos to you! I’ve never given much thought to this holiday, because of all the made-up holidays it seems fairly innocuous. If you happen to have a mother who is alive and likes…
Author: kittyireland
Paying attention to attention, psychology, habits, art, writing, literature, mysteries, nonsense, addiction, humanism, humor and cake.
Your Unauthorized Biography
When we die, each one of us leaves behind an archive. How much control do we have over that material once we have shuffled off this mortal coil? This week, SIFF is doing a limited run of the new documentary on the life of Kurt Cobain, Montage of Heck. This is the first “authorized” documentary, in that…
The Role of the Artist in Tech
When I was in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress in March, I attended the ‘Content is King’ panel at the “4 years from now” exhibition. Included in the discussion were representatives of Cisneros, Playbuzz, and Kantar. All three men had much to say about formats and platforms for delivery, and everyone agreed that “good content” is…
What I’m Doing With My Life
As of April 27 I will once again be part of the 9-5 working world. I have officially accepted the position of Content Strategist at the Seattle Public Library. The past 9-ish months have been exciting, fun, challenging, stressful, and blissfully unstructured. I will miss my lazy mornings and working while binge-watching Mad Men and…
14 Great Novels by Women
Do you read enough novels written by women? I’ve found that most people who love literature tend to be heavily skewed toward male authors (the complex reasons for this deserve their own post). Even my own top 10 list would probably include more men, and I seek out novels by women. These are some of the…
Things I’m Not Very Good At: The Mundane Stuff
Self-employment has certain pitfalls (or benefits, depending on how you look at it), like the ability to lie around in bed reading the internet as long as you like, any day of the week. In this morning’s link casserole, I happened across this great little piece of advice from Derek Sivers for getting through difficult times….
What I Mean When I Say “Content Strategy”
Increasingly, interactive products are platforms for content delivery. From retail sites to mobile apps, every screen contains content, and that content will only be effective if it is fresh, relevant, and supports a positive user experience. Unfortunately, many software companies and tech startups don’t think of content as a key factor to the success of their product….
Vegas: The Edge of Civilization
I watched the barren terrain of Nevada crawl past below the wing of the plane and wondered, “why here?” Why would anyone build a metropolis of excess in the middle of the desert? Why would people choose to settle so far from life and water? It was my first visit to Vegas. My friend had decided…
Mistakes Were Made: My Thoughts on Ferguson and American Delusions
In the seventies — like all good liberal children — I believed that peaceful protests led to change. I learned this through the massive advances made by the civil rights movement in the decade before my birth. I knew racism still existed, because I grew up a few miles from the national HQ of the…
Patrick
I’m trying to write something to say at my friend Patrick’s funeral — something “short and beautiful” as his mother requests — but there is so much to say about such a multitudinous being whom I’ve known for close to 40 years. Patrick died last Friday as the result of a catastrophic cardiac event. His…
Plumb Wonderful 