So then, dear reader. Another year, another post to get the ball rolling. In terms of writing here, I may not surpass 2017's quantity so I'll aim for quality. While there is a strong need to vent (Already? Yes. I know.), it may be in your best interests for me to take a tangential path and put down a few things I've realised over the last 3 weeks. Sure, I could have spun each of the below into a post by itself but that'd be cheating.
On Dating Apps
Since humanity is now firmly entrenched in the internet, it seems only logical that the opportunities to meet people have also migrated online. Being a paranoid Luddite, I resisted the urge to try various dating apps for the longest time. However, there are only so many moments one can enjoy one's own company, so I capitulated and downloaded a few to see what they were all about. And, made a startling (to me) discovery. If you are not on FB, your options are rather limited, since every app I tried (okay, two) requires you to sign in via that ubiquitous platform. As I don't have an FB account and (FSM willing) never will, the journey has ground to a halt without my vehicle leaving the garage. It amazes and scares me to understand just how powerful an institution FB has become. A digital passport, really. With it, many doors open for you, although the authorities will know your life, and effectively, you, inside out (because they 'need' to). Without it, you're crippled and left for dead by the roadside. Do people need to share so much? Or do they simply crave belonging and validation? I'm still undecided but I can only see FB's sphere of influence growing. As for how this impacts me in the immediate future, it's back to the drawing board, Pinky!
On Advertising
I suspect that bemoaning the state of affairs in advertising has now become a cottage industry in itself. While the mavens of yore are screaming themselves hoarse, the lemmings of today calmly continue to march over the edge of the cliff that is digital advertising, confident in the knowledge that elders will retire/die one day and the indignant squawking will fade out eventually. It's quite amazing just how easily everything that made advertising remotely appealing to people who saw the world sideways got sold down the digital stream so quickly. Meanwhile, members of the Indian advertising fraternity continue to stab each other in the back while clients split their sides laughing as to how easy it was to take a hold of the steering wheel. ABBA clearly had seen the signs pretty early. Know the funny thing? If the advertising industry mandated overtime pay, things would sort themselves out damned quickly. Until then, unnecessarily long hours, weekend working, multiple rounds of re-dos and quick capitulation to client demands will be the norm.
On Working
All it takes for the wind to vanish from your sails is one Eureka moment. Mine kind of happened a few days ago and it goes something like this. All my working life, I may have run away from the wrong places than towards the right ones. It's almost as bad as finding out that the only reason you're halfway up Everest is because a bear is after you, not because you want to scale the peak and plant a flag. Discovering this truth was and is devastating. It explained the predictable patterns of my work experiences and, sadly, suggests that I need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and reevaluate my goals. Or worse, actually find one.
On being With It (musically)
Over the last few years, I've developed a taste for different, more modern genres of music. Synthwave, Electroswing and Deep House, to name a few. It's not enough though. Not only am I not on the cutting edge of today's trends in music, I'm not even on the knife. When did our musical tastes say "Enough" and stop finding new music to listen to? I suspect I'm not alone in finding my wagon at the end of the cultural caravanserai. For example, I can't name (with certainty) a single song that was on the Billboard Top 10 in the last decade, and my blog is a little musically themed, for fuck's sake. It's natural of course. The baton always passes from the elders to the youngsters as the wagon train of our cultural world is led by another generation. It's just a little sad to realise that the bridle is no longer in our hands... heck, the road has now completely changed, since youngsters now largely live in the internet rather than the real world. One day, we who are inching towards the very back of the line will stop and wave goodbye. Maybe some of us already have. And, no one will turn around to wave back.
Song for the moment: Halo on Fire - Metallica
On Dating Apps
Since humanity is now firmly entrenched in the internet, it seems only logical that the opportunities to meet people have also migrated online. Being a paranoid Luddite, I resisted the urge to try various dating apps for the longest time. However, there are only so many moments one can enjoy one's own company, so I capitulated and downloaded a few to see what they were all about. And, made a startling (to me) discovery. If you are not on FB, your options are rather limited, since every app I tried (okay, two) requires you to sign in via that ubiquitous platform. As I don't have an FB account and (FSM willing) never will, the journey has ground to a halt without my vehicle leaving the garage. It amazes and scares me to understand just how powerful an institution FB has become. A digital passport, really. With it, many doors open for you, although the authorities will know your life, and effectively, you, inside out (because they 'need' to). Without it, you're crippled and left for dead by the roadside. Do people need to share so much? Or do they simply crave belonging and validation? I'm still undecided but I can only see FB's sphere of influence growing. As for how this impacts me in the immediate future, it's back to the drawing board, Pinky!
On Advertising
I suspect that bemoaning the state of affairs in advertising has now become a cottage industry in itself. While the mavens of yore are screaming themselves hoarse, the lemmings of today calmly continue to march over the edge of the cliff that is digital advertising, confident in the knowledge that elders will retire/die one day and the indignant squawking will fade out eventually. It's quite amazing just how easily everything that made advertising remotely appealing to people who saw the world sideways got sold down the digital stream so quickly. Meanwhile, members of the Indian advertising fraternity continue to stab each other in the back while clients split their sides laughing as to how easy it was to take a hold of the steering wheel. ABBA clearly had seen the signs pretty early. Know the funny thing? If the advertising industry mandated overtime pay, things would sort themselves out damned quickly. Until then, unnecessarily long hours, weekend working, multiple rounds of re-dos and quick capitulation to client demands will be the norm.
On Working
All it takes for the wind to vanish from your sails is one Eureka moment. Mine kind of happened a few days ago and it goes something like this. All my working life, I may have run away from the wrong places than towards the right ones. It's almost as bad as finding out that the only reason you're halfway up Everest is because a bear is after you, not because you want to scale the peak and plant a flag. Discovering this truth was and is devastating. It explained the predictable patterns of my work experiences and, sadly, suggests that I need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and reevaluate my goals. Or worse, actually find one.
On being With It (musically)
Over the last few years, I've developed a taste for different, more modern genres of music. Synthwave, Electroswing and Deep House, to name a few. It's not enough though. Not only am I not on the cutting edge of today's trends in music, I'm not even on the knife. When did our musical tastes say "Enough" and stop finding new music to listen to? I suspect I'm not alone in finding my wagon at the end of the cultural caravanserai. For example, I can't name (with certainty) a single song that was on the Billboard Top 10 in the last decade, and my blog is a little musically themed, for fuck's sake. It's natural of course. The baton always passes from the elders to the youngsters as the wagon train of our cultural world is led by another generation. It's just a little sad to realise that the bridle is no longer in our hands... heck, the road has now completely changed, since youngsters now largely live in the internet rather than the real world. One day, we who are inching towards the very back of the line will stop and wave goodbye. Maybe some of us already have. And, no one will turn around to wave back.
Song for the moment: Halo on Fire - Metallica
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