deviant of the day: you make this the year you realize that ego isn’t a bad word. we’re given one for a reason. there’s a difference between embracing your ego and being an asshole, and the last time i checked, usually the assholes were the people who had very little confidence and disguised it as egomania. the fact is, no one is going to toot your horn louder than you, so pucker up and blow. know your strengths and own them. build on them by learning and sharing. this takes time in social media, writing, business, but as the stones said, time is on your side. we’re all working on it. confidence is a muscle, and you must flex it. 

deviant of the day: you

make this the year you realize that ego isn’t a bad word. we’re given one for a reason. there’s a difference between embracing your ego and being an asshole, and the last time i checked, usually the assholes were the people who had very little confidence and disguised it as egomania. the fact is, no one is going to toot your horn louder than you, so pucker up and blow. know your strengths and own them. build on them by learning and sharing. this takes time in social media, writing, business, but as the stones said, time is on your side. we’re all working on it. confidence is a muscle, and you must flex it. 

deviant of the day: pamela slim, founder: escape from cubicle nation

this open letter to cxos of the world rivals jerry maguire’s manifesto. girl’s got the “quan” and then some. it’s that letter you wish you had written because you have thought it, too, only not nearly as diplomatically or eloquently. consider this letter the fire under your ass. have a good 2011.

deviant videos of the day

joan jett, patti smith, sleater kinney, hole, salt-n-pepa and more are highlighted in a collection of rebel girl anthem videos found after the jump. i personally don’t think lil kim should be in this mix over someone like mary j. if for no other reason than she says “you cease to amaze me” when she means ‘you never cease to amaze me’. seriously?

deviant of the day: gypsy rose lee

i’ll let npr reveal why this burlesque beauty was considered the “intellectual stripper,” and how she was a brand before madonna and lady gaga were born.

deviant of the day: dorothy parker

it’s Martin Luther King Day, and so you  might be wondering why i picked a short, white woman as the deviant of the day. dorothy parker was known for her acerbic wit, her drinking, her writing and for being a part of the legendary “vicious circle” known as the algonquin round table. however, she was a civil rights activist, in her way, promoting tolerance of, and collaboration between women, men, homosexuals, blacks and jews, if only by spotlighting the ridiculousness of our human natures.

From the Dorothy Parker Society:

“When she died, her will was plain and simple. with no heirs, she left her literary estate to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. she’d never met the civil rights activist, but always felt strongly for social justice. within a year of her death, Dr. King was assassinated, and the Parker estate rolled over to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. To this day, the NAACP benefits from the royalty of all Parker publications and productions.

In 1988, someone figured out that Mrs. Parker’s ashes were unclaimed, 21 years after her death. New York tabloids ran stories and readers sent in letters about what should be done with the dust. But the NAACP stepped in and took the box from Paul O’Dwyer’s drawer. The NAACP built a memorial garden at the national headquarters in Baltimore, and interred the ashes there.

On Oct. 20, 1988, the president of the NAACP, Benjamin Hooks, dedicated the memorial garden on the office property. The brownish brick memorial is circular, meant to recall the Round Table, according to designer Harry G. Robinson. The memorial stands in a small grove of pines outside the offices, with pine needles and pinecones scattered around the ground.

There is a round urn that holds the ashes, and an inscription on the top. This is what the realParker epitaph says:

“Here lie the ashes of Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) Humorist, writer, critic, defender of human and civil rights. For her epitaph she suggested “Excuse My Dust”. This memorial garden is dedicated to her noble spirit which celebrated the oneness of humankind, and to the bonds of everlasting friendship between black and Jewish people.”

What does that last sentence mean? You should read Parker’s 1927 New Yorker short story “Arrangement in Black and White” to know. Parker was way ahead her time in pushing for social justice. She may be more often recalled as a drinker and wit, but for many, she was a pioneer in the civil rights movement and her memorial is a testament to it.”

Bobby Robinson (1918-2011): An Unreleased History

deviant of (back in) the day

Dan Charnas, friend and author of
The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop, remembers Bobby Robinson, the founder of Enjoy Records, who died this weekend.

Deviant of the Year: Mark Zuckerberg how does a socially awkward kid define the social landscape? from nerd to iconoclast, mark zuckerberg, who has enough brains to feed a legion of zombies for a month, is named TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2010. he had an ego big enough to ignore that MySpace and Friendster dominated the social cyberspace, and went from wanting to be an exclusive force owning the university market, to becoming an open force wanting to own it all. now that’s some deviant behavior. what will you ignore? what space will you own?

Deviant of the Year: Mark Zuckerberg

how does a socially awkward kid define the social landscape? from nerd to iconoclast, mark zuckerberg, who has enough brains to feed a legion of zombies for a month, is named TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2010. he had an ego big enough to ignore that MySpace and Friendster dominated the social cyberspace, and went from wanting to be an exclusive force owning the university market, to becoming an open force wanting to own it all. now that’s some deviant behavior. what will you ignore? what space will you own?

Remembering John Lennon

It’s funny that someone who speaks so much of peace could be considered a social deviant. 

Be deviant.

10 of the World's Most Eye-Catching Offices

Building on a previous post where I talked about what I call “workhorseplay” Here’s another installment from the Flavorpill team showcasing creative, stimulating, calming and innovative work environments.

Notorious outlaw and beloved folk hero From Wikipedia: One widely reported characteristic of McCarty has stood the test of research: his personal charisma and popularity. Various accounts recorded by friends and acquaintances describe him as fun-loving and jolly, articulate in both his writing and his speech, and loyal to those for whom he cared.[113] He was fluent in Spanish, popular with Latina girls, an accomplished dancer, and thus especially well-loved within the territory’s Hispanic community. There, he was regarded as a champion of the oppressed.[7] ”His many Hispanic friends did not view him as a ruthless killer but rather as a defender of the people who were forced to kill in self-defense,” Wallis writes. “In the time that the Kid roamed the land he chided Hispanic villagers who were fearful of standing up to the big ranchers who stole their land, water, and way of life”.[106] From Young Guns: “REGGUULLLAATTORRRS….RIDE!”

Notorious outlaw and beloved folk hero

From Wikipedia:

One widely reported characteristic of McCarty has stood the test of research: his personal charisma and popularity. Various accounts recorded by friends and acquaintances describe him as fun-loving and jolly, articulate in both his writing and his speech, and loyal to those for whom he cared.[113] He was fluent in Spanish, popular with Latina girls, an accomplished dancer, and thus especially well-loved within the territory’s Hispanic community. There, he was regarded as a champion of the oppressed.[7] ”His many Hispanic friends did not view him as a ruthless killer but rather as a defender of the people who were forced to kill in self-defense,” Wallis writes. “In the time that the Kid roamed the land he chided Hispanic villagers who were fearful of standing up to the big ranchers who stole their land, water, and way of life”.[106]

From Young Guns:

“REGGUULLLAATTORRRS….RIDE!”

NIGHTNIGHT by DEDDY