author: Jonathan Bignell

name: Steev

average rating: 4.00

book published: 1997

rating: 4

read at:

date added: 2011/03/28

shelves:

review:

author: Paul Cobley

name: Steev

average rating: 3.28

book published: 1997

rating: 5

read at:

date added: 2011/03/28

shelves:

review:

author: Thomas Frank

name: Steev

average rating: 4.14

book published: 1997

rating: 5

read at: 2000/01/01

date added: 2011/03/28

shelves:

review:

An ancient Chinese curse goes as follows: "May you live in interesting times."  In this way we definitely live in interesting times lately.

What do people do in interesting times? In this time of instant communication from all parts of the globe, the interesting and the unfortunate are all available for view by Read more>>>

author: Mark Nash, curator

name: Steev

average rating: 4.00

book published: 2004

rating: 4

read at: 2011/03/14

date added: 2011/03/14

shelves: filmmaking

author: Derek Bailey

name: Steev

average rating: 4.05

book published: 1982

rating: 5

read at: 1996/01/01

date added: 2011/03/06

shelves:

review:
pretty much the best book on improvisation i've ever read. unfortunately i seem to have misplaced my copy. i feel like i loaned it to someone but i can't remember who. was it you?

I learned very early in life that the best way to begin figuring something out, fixing something or answering some question or solving something or just getting anything accomplished at all is to first DEFINE what the problem, question, or goal is.  I've never forgotten that but many apparently never learned this in the first place.

Of course another key to life is communication. Always strive to be the very best you can be at communicating whatever it is to the other person or persons.  Your level of communication will deterimine your level of sucess at whatever it is you're trying to do that involves other people besides yourself.

Put these 2 basic rules of thumb together and of course that means, when you're trying to get something done, or some problem fixed, or some trouble troubleshot, and you're asking someone else to help you with that, you have to accurately and clearly communicate to them what that problem IS, or if you don't know that yourelf, at least communicate with them clearly enough all the bits and piece so that you and they can help you figure out what the fundamental goal is.  Until that other person or persons has a good idea of what your goal is, what problem you're trying to solve, they literally can't help you. They can maybe randomly get you closer to what you're going for, but  this will be accidental, and probably frustrating for both parties even after eventual success.

The reason this is important is this: let's say you are asking someone to help you with something but you already have an idea of how to do it, you just need need them to help you execute it. you ask them because they know that area of expertise, they have experience doing this sort of thing, possibly more than you.  But what if you're wrong about what it will take to solve the problem? So you ask them to solve it in your wrong way and they either try to do your wrong way, not realizing what you're up to, or they just get confused and they start asking questions in a wild goose chase attempt to figure out why you asked for such a a thing. If you're just started out describing what your problem was, instead of asking them to help you with your incorrect solution, then the other person would have been free to apply their expertise to help you come up with the right answer, quickly and without fuss and frustration.  The other thing is that this gives the other person some sense that you respect his expertise and trust him to help you generate a solution, rather than that you look at him as just some unthinking pack animal that you expect some aditional brute force from.

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author: James Frey

name: Steev

average rating: 3.46

book published: 2003

rating: 5

read at: 2011/02/27

date added: 2011/03/01

shelves: spirit-self