Author Archives: Steve Mays

Sheryl Crow previews new album

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“Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow previewed several songs from her forthcoming album “Be Myself” at a small-scale show Thursday at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. […] Concertgoers were required to check phones at the door or leave them in their cars so the evening might proceed without the now typical sea of cellphone screens hoisted in the air.”

Now that takes some moxie. Getting an LA audience to put down their mobile phones.

“(Crow) holds an increasingly rare spot in pop music: a female rocker who writes and sings, who is utterly comfortable navigating what remains predominantly a boys’ club, while staying devoted to voicing a woman’s perspective on life, love, politics and even social media. Her new album (“Be Myself”) will be released on April 21. Lady looks damned good at 55 (or any age)” [LA Times]

Busyness is a kind of debt

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“Having zero clutter is an entirely different experience than having a little clutter. The psychological effect of reducing any type of mess to zero is profound. It feels like a noisy fan has shut off. Now I love the feeling of being at zero, and I never want to be far from it. Every neglected possession, unanswered email or open browser tab is like a little hook in your brain. There isn’t a huge difference in how it feels to have six of these hooks in your brain versus having eighty, but there is a vast difference between having some and having zero.”

David Cain expands on this at Raptitude

Audio-Visual Day

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Technology provides the hash marks to our lives. When I was in the 4th grade (1957) we did the thing where fathers came to school to talk about their jobs. My mom worked just as hard as my pop but this was the 50s, so…

My old man brought a reel-to-reel tape recorder and everyone got to record — and listen to — themselves saying their name or something. Very cool. I’m guessing it was the first time many of my classmates had heard a recording of their voices.

VHS video recorder/players didn’t hit the consumer market until the early 70s. So when a teacher was too hung over or depressed to teach a class they rolled in the audio-video gear which, in my youth, was a film-strip projector. And I guess we thought that was cool technology.

How long before the hologram teacher instructs the class to strap on their VR goggles cause we’re touring the International Space Station this morning.