Tonight I’m leaving the Steve Jobs memorial page at apple.com open.
This is my equivalent to the old tradition in the theater world of leaving a single light, known as the “ghost light,” lit at center-stage. The light would be turned on by the last person to lock up at night, and was used, “as a light for the spirits of former actors, characters from past shows and other ghosts to see by.”
Found via @Digeratii
I woke up this morning at 3:15am, after getting about 45 minutes of sleep. The night before I got three hours of sleep after drawing a self-portrait for Drawing 2. According to all standard reasoning, I should be completely asleep, not able to move, and ready to stay in bed all day.
So why am I so productive today?
I woke up, answered the call from my pre-arranged cabbie, and then got picked up at 3:45. I made it to my gate at the Savannah airport with about 20 minutes to spare, right after I bought a Venti sized Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Frapuccino. (which is bigger than any drink I ever got before)
I got on my plane and had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with @USCBsandsharks both before and after our simultaneous in-flight naps. *Side-note: she got way more sleep than I did. I got like ten minutes…*
When I arrived at my half-way destination of Charlotte (where I am as I write) I sat right down next to the ONLY plug in sight and got to work on my laptop. I posted a DailyBooth photo, edited a video, uploaded said video, chatted with a LOT of people on my Twitter, and then closed up shop and got some breakfast. Now I’m sitting here munching on yogurt with granola, a muffin, and an egg-and-cheese bagel sandwich. Writing this blog post. I’m even being productive during my sacred meal time.
So the real question I keep coming back to is this: Why in the world am I always productive when I’m traveling? It really confuses me. It makes me want to sleep even more than before, because just thinking about the things that I’ve been doing is exhausting. And yet, I keep on trucking.
Is it because I want to “look cool” with my MacBook Pro out and in-use? Is it because I can finally escape to a place where I can work, without distractions that normally come with my dorm, or my house at home, or anywhere else I try to get work done? Or is it just the minty caffeine in the huge Frapuccino I had? (the last one is doubtful, since I snoozed on the plane right after downing the whole thing…)
Have you ever found yourself overly-productive and active for no reason and wondered what was making all of the glorious progress happen, and so efficiently at that? Let me know… Otherwise I might not stop and just stay here in Charlotte International Airport working away!
Everyone has their very broad and amazing tales of what they would do if they won the lottery. Some include yachts, fancy cars, and dining at the top restaurants while traveling the world.
And then there’s me.
So what would I do if I won the lottery? Let’s say that I won a million dollars. I would, of course, choose to get the lump-sum payout instead of the payout that takes many years, and so I would probably end up with $700,000 give or take at the end of the day. Here’s what I would do:
— Pay off my college tuition.
— Buy my dad a Harley Davidson motorcycle to replace the one that he sold so we could afford for me to go to school.
— Buy 100 MacBook Pro’s, and have them customized to the top extent possible.
“But, Ben, you just said that you wouldn’t do anything crazy or extravagant! One Hundred MacBook Pros!?”
Yes. Here’s why.
I remember longing for a machine like that up to almost a year ago from the time I was fourteen. I knew that design was what I wanted to do, and in order to have any leverage in that world I would need to have a computer of the Pros. I always had my sights set on that laptop, but not until I was going off to college did I get it. If I had had it a lot earlier I would have been able to do even more amazing stuff and build up my portfolio that much more.
So, if i were to win the lottery, I would buy 100 MBP’s and give them all away as toolships (like a scholarship, but for material items relevant to the person’s work) for kids around the country. They would be chosen based on need, income, likelihood of being given to a good home, and only after a portfolio review. Hopefully there would be two kids from each state chosen to receive a MBP, and we all would meet somewhere beautiful, all expenses paid for them, so they could have an awards ceremony and a huge party afterwards. Each laptop would come decked-out with the latest Adobe Creative Suite Master’s Collection, Final Cut Pro, iLife, iWork, and a ton of applications that I personally use which I would hand-pick for them.
This is my dream. If I ever win the lottery, have my own charity, or just come in to more money than expected, this is what I hope to accomplish. Other than that, I wouldn’t need anything other than a roof over my head and some nice food to eat. I could live happily in shables knowing that across the country there’s kids who are realizing their dreams and talents more and more every day, especially because of a contribution I made to their lives and futures.
I hope you enjoyed this posting, and that you’ll pass it on to others. Perhaps some day I can start a charity or come in to a nice heap of money and make these dreams a reality…
-Ben Hughes (obviously!)
The personal blog of graphic designer and online personality Ben Hughes.
