An Invocation for Beginnings

New beginnings. Sometimes exciting. Sometimes scary as all hell.

For those who actually follow these posts you've probably read about one of my personal favorites Ze Frank here and here. I've been anxiously awaiting the start of his new show, and to my delight things have gotten underway.  Below is the first episode in what I hope will be many, and in my opinion it's a brilliant start.

To those of you who are starting new jobs, going back to school, beginning new relationships, ending old relationships and choosing to move on alone, having kids, meeting new people, writing your first book, writing your second book, giving painting a shot, auditioning for a play, choosing to spend the rest of your life with someone else, going to see a movie in the theater by yourself for the first time... to those of you who are starting something new, "This is an invocation for anyone who hasn't begun, who's stuck in a terrible place between zero and one..."



Perhaps this particularly strikes me as I'm personally on the verge of new beginnings.  One of the things I think is so great about what Ze Frank does is his ability to make his followers feel connected and somehow remember that they are part of a larger community.  We remember that we're all in it together; whatever the task might be at hand.  New beginnings can hard; that first step is a doozy.  Knowing that we're all in it together makes it just a little bit easier.

So thanks Ze, I'm looking forward to what's coming too.  Let's start this shit up.

The Return of The Show with Ze Frank!

Hey there Sports Racers.  For those of you who have followed this here blog from its inception, you may have read my post about the online character Ze Frank.  If you haven't you can check it out... here.

Being a huge fan myself I was alerted yesterday to his new Kickstarter project. I've posted his Kickstarter video below, but you can check out his page... here to bring back The Show with Ze Frank!

I was going to post about this yesterday right when I heard about it, but figured today would be good, and low and behold he's already surpassed his goal! In less than 24 hours! Amazing.  Just goes to show how many people love the stuff that he puts out there.  For those of you who know me, you probably know I'm beyond excited for the return of The Show!  For those of you who don't know me, you know now.

So get excited Sports Racers, the show's coming back! And if you feel so inclined, go and support his Kickstarter!  Even though he's surpassed his goal, I have no doubt whatever additional funds he comes up with will be put to good use on new fun internet projects like dressing up vacuum cleaners or songs about a guy named Ray.

By Leaves We Live

I know its been awhile, but here I am again, hoping to be better at posting more often. 

Today one of my favorite online "personalities" Ze Frank, who I've written about before, posted a link to this article, and I just really felt the need to share it as well. 

If you take a look you'll see it is about a series of a paper sculptures left anonymously in "support of libraries, books, words and ideas" in various libraries, cultural centers, book festivals, etc...  around Scotland.

The sculptures themselves are pretty incredible, and what they are all about is pretty incredible too.  So here is to good storytelling, to the writers that inspire, to the readers who enjoy, and to the anonymous artist for their beautiful work.

Here are a few of my favorites...

"Nothing beats a nice cup of tea (or coffee) and a really good BOOK, except maybe a cake as well"

"a gesture (poetic maybe?)"

"A gift in support of libraries, books, words, ideas..... and all things *magic*"

Ze Frank

About five years ago I was introduced to Ze Frank.   

I guess “Internet Personality” might be one way to describe him.  When I originally began getting to know Ze, it was through what he called The Show.  The Show was an online video blog posted every day, Monday through Friday, for one year.  He’d discuss a wide variety of topics including current events, pinky snapping, dressing up your vacuum cleaner, product placement, hotel etiquette and concepts like “hindsight.”  (You know you've had a productive day once you've learned all about pinky snapping, and the effects of hot sauce on said snaps).  I enjoyed my daily dose of Ze until The Show ended, and then to be perfectly honest, I pretty much forgot all about him.  Harsh I know, but I’m pretty sure at the time I was looking for a job or something.  Paying rent on time is an unfortunate but necessary reality. 

It wasn’t until this past year that Ze popped back into my life.  On a particularly uneventful day, I decided to go back and search out a number of websites, blogs, etc… that I used to go to, but for one reason or another had allowed to fall by the wayside.  Delightfully, I realized that when The Show ended, Ze continued to work on new projects!  I saw that he’d spoken at a TED conference in 2010 and talked about the sort of things he’s been doing.  If you take a look at his speech at TED you’ll get to hear all about various projects he’s put together like Earth Sandwich, a childhood walk, angrigami and my personal favorite, the chillout song.

In a time where we all spend so much time online and have so much more information about the world and about each other at our disposal, some may say it has diminished the time we actually spend together face to face.  What I love so much about what he has done and is doing, is how he is taking a medium that could potentially draw people further and further apart, and is using it in a way to bring them together in new, meaningful and creative ways. 

In the chillout song for instance; I just love the idea that he was able to take the voices from people from all different walks of life, and put those voices together in way to provide support and comfort for the woman he wrote the song for.  Perfect strangers are brought together in support of someone they’ve never met.  Just thinking about that as a concept feels so uplifting and hopeful to me. Perfect strangers coming together to feel a real and new connection to their lives and to each other; its kind of a beautiful idea.