Towards an Understanding of Social Revolution in the Digital Age
Camille de Toledo’s advocacy for a “lucid romanticism” in his book Coming of Age at the End of History is a deeply impassioned quest for an alternative to the distant ironic veneer which goes for social engagement these days. While his rhetoric falls a little too firmly in the French existentialist vein of experiencing social problems as a physical sickness within one’s own body (Nausea was inspiring at 20, but a bit old hat to me now) the intent is squarely directed in the right direction. Through the dissolving and decentering of power in the contemporary age any attempt at revolt, revolution, or rethinking, becomes dissipated. Unions have n

The Power of Networks
I used to think that work came about by talent alone. As if getting a gig were as simple as sending off a few resumes and portfolios and waiting for the phone to ring off the hook with offers. Clearly I knew how good my work was, so of course anyone who saw the work would think the same. While there is some objectivity and I have received a handful of gigs from the aforementioned method the vast majority of work I have had over the years came from my network of friends and colleagues. In fact, I can only think of two instances where I merely sent my resume and portfolio and was offered work. Right ou

The Uncertainty of the Freelance Career and a Love of the Game
One of the hardest things to come to terms with in freelancing is the fundamental lack of job security. These days it seems like no one has much job security and while it is certainly true that the position of the American worker has become far more tenuous in general the impacts on the freelancer are even greater. As a general rule workers tend to keep their jobs so long as the company is doing well and they do their work. Not so with the freelancer. Organizations they have worked with for years might be doing even better and choose not to rehire them. While it might come down to money, it could just as easily be a matter of aesthetics, or simply the desire to try someone new. In short,

If Brecht were alive today he would be twittering about Kanye
One of the things that interests me about Brecht’s theoretical project is his focus on creating work that resonates strongly with contemporary audiences. The world as he knew it was one firmly rooted in “the scientific age” of modernist utopian possibilities. He saw theater as a tool to open up fracture points in contemporary society in order to make possible a transformation in class consciousness. He writes in A Short Organum for the Theatre: We need a type of theatre which not only releases the feelings, insights and impulses possible within the particular historical field of human relations in which the action takes place, but employ

5 Tips to Build Your Blog Audience or Why My Blog Will Never Be Popular
I do a fair amount of reading about blogs. The structure of blogs, blog writing style, how to have a successful blog, and so on. I think anyone who has been blogging for any length of time, I’m going on 5 years now (more than 3 in this current incarnation), would like to see their work widely read by thousands of adoring fans. I certainly would. Having gone out and done extensive research through reading successful blogs, to reading articles about successful blogs, I think I have uncovered the key. Not having much interest in radically transforming my style from where it currently is I decided to use my own blog as a negative example to illustrate the five keys to a suc