What you need for a party: a list of liquor requirements

A buddy of mine is throwing a party and he emailed me about what kind of booze he should get and how much. It was surprising to me how many ideas come flowing from inside me, like some deep spiritual well of wisdom.

I come from a good family, who knows how to throw a party (i.e., if mom’s not on the table one-leg-fluting it to Jethro Tull, the party hasn’t started yet). I’m grateful for the blood-deep education I have on giving people a good time at a party. And in the spirit of “all good truths are free” I thought I’d share some of this deep wisdom. Please comment with any ideas of your own! (more…)

Ogilvy’s 10 rules for building and running a business

80 year old David Ogilvy’s advice for building and running a business:

  1. Remember that Abraham Lincoln spoke of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He left out the pursuit of profit.
  2. Remember the old Scottish motto: “Be happy while you’re living, for you are a long time dead.”
  3. If you have to reduce your company’s payroll, don’t fire your people until you have cut your compensation and the compensation of your big-shots.
  4. Define your corporate culture and your principles of management in writing. Don’t delegate this to a committee. Search all the parks in all your cities. You’ll find no statues of committees.
  5. Stop cutting the quality of your products in search of bigger margins. The consumer always notices — and punishes you.
  6. Never spend money on advertising which does not sell.
  7. Bear in mind that the consumer is not a moron. She is your wife. Do not insult her intelligence.

David Ogilvy

Art and pain

“Always move towards pain when making art.”

J.M. Coetzee via pieratt

I wasn’t going to post this. I liked it, but it felt too “tumblr” for my sensible ways. But this morning as I’m editing the book, there’s just one fk’n painful thing – editing this one meandering chapter – and I went to the easier things and edited the rest of the entire book.

Move towards the pain.

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