Zach's PEN #31: State of the PEN

2021 Week 8: Some thoughts on why I'm writing this and what my PENpals can expect more of.

Feb 27, 2021

Hello PENpals,

I've been thinking (probably too much) about why I'm writing every day, why I'm so excited about publishing more and more, and there are several reasons for this. I posted about the most important reason last night:

https://little.zachphillips.blog/2021/02/26/my-commitment-to.html

Zach Phillips @zachphillips

Today I am making a solemn commitment: Going forward, I will do as much of my learning as possible _in public_. One reason I’m doing this is to repay my debt to the thousands of generous people who have publicly shared their learning, immeasurably improving my life. 👇

There are a few more obvious reasons:

I learn better when I try to teach others.
A little social prompt makes it more likely I'll do something ("meeting you at the gym for basketball" > "going to the gym").
It's fun.

While perhaps not the most important reason, I think this last one is the best reason.

That said, I realize that this means I'm going to continue to be a relatively meandering mess. If my lovely PENpals expect me to become more focused someday, what I'm saying is that I'm fiercely committed to the opposite. Individual projects and commercial things that I do will spin out to have their own tightly-focused brands and communications, but the guy writing this PEN (me), has no intention of ever focusing on a single subject. It's just not who I am. I wrote a little bit about this on Tuesday:

https://little.zachphillips.blog/2021/02/24/people-brands.html

Zach Phillips @zachphillips

One person may have many brands, but no brand may have a person. 👇

In case you think I want you to check out all the weird stuff I'm interested in, I’ll be super clear: I don't. My hope is that, in a given month, I might write one or two things that are interesting to you or that you would pass along to someone in your life who might find them relevant. The rest can be experienced as just a babbling brook rolling by.

Of course, if you think I'm too noisy (there's already a lot and there's only going to be more) I'd welcome any feedback on what might make this PEN a better experience.

It's only growing from here.

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This Week's Other Posts

I wrote about creative intentions, creative tool choice, and quality.

https://little.zachphillips.blog/2021/02/25/creative-tool-choice.html

Zach Phillips @zachphillips

A creative intention necessarily includes tool choice. Without "putting pen to paper," The Intention doesn't transform into The Act. It remains daydreaming (nothing wrong with daydreaming unless it isn't wanted). Here are some reasons why tool choice often becomes a block. 👇

I wrote about how our business environment has everyone thinking about hamburgers and hamburgers only.

https://little.zachphillips.blog/2021/02/21/hamburgerification.html

Zach Phillips @zachphillips

I don't remember where I heard this, but something like "If you want the best chance of being successful in business, you should sell hamburgers. People will always buy hamburgers." So the bulk of our smartest minds are currently focused on turning everything into hamburgers. 👇

I wrote about really bad companies that I hypocritically give money to.

https://little.zachphillips.blog/2021/02/23/top-bad-companies.html

Zach Phillips @zachphillips

Here are the Top 5 companies I willingly give money to, ranked by how against my values it is to do so, counted down from "terribly" to "most unconscionably." 5. eBay/PayPal 4. Google 3. Facebook 2. Amazon 1. Factory Farming Monopolies I'll also rank by "hardest to leave.” 👇

I wrote about clickety-clackety keyboards and some good options for you if you really want to click and clack hard.

https://little.zachphillips.blog/2021/02/22/my-favorite-clicketyclackety.html

Zach Phillips @zachphillips

Clickety-clackety keyboards are the best keyboards but they annoy others. You’ll need to swap out your daskeyboard (ktink! ktink! all black keys, no letters on them) for an Apple Magic Keyboard (the black version) sometimes. But what about when you want even MORE clackety? 👇

And finally, I wrote about how we've reached Peak Camera and why it's safe now to buy one (and a recommendation, if you're looking for one).

https://little.zachphillips.blog/2021/02/27/weve-finally-reached.html

Zach Phillips @zachphillips

Most people don't know this, but we reached Peak Microphone more than half a century ago. Most of the best microphones, pre-amplifiers, and even processing tools we have today were available in the 60s. I'm happy to announce that we have now (finally) reached Peak Camera. 👇

Babies and Home

This week's baby video is a flashback to almost a year and a half ago. A time of innocence. I'll be doing these flashbacks every week I don't actually shoot something new of the babies. It's fun to go back through old videos and find stuff I never shared even with Allison. This is one of those:

One of the nice things about having a west-facing window above the roofline in a city is that we get beautiful sunsets pretty much every evening. This one isn't one of the most beautiful, but it's unique. This was one of those rare bright yellow horizons while the sky is deep blue. Extreme contrast, (almost) opposite colors.

Allison has been thinking about posting a sunset every day on Instagram. I think she should do it.

More next week, PENpals,

Zach