No Filter

Frier's exhaustive research creates a compelling narrative of Instagram's humble beginnings

and Kevin Systrom's intention to cultivate a community of artists.

Eighteen months later, selling to Facebook for a billion dollars, Systrom's vision was challenged again and again by Zuckerberg's desire to grow and monetize the app.

Being a good soldier, Systrom struggled to remain true to his vision and honor the deal. 

As Instagram continued to soar in spite of the difficult working relationship,

 Zuckerberg's jealousy also spiked.    

Ultimately, Zuckerberg's fear that Instagram would cannibalize the mothership

 drove Systrom and co-founder Krieger out.  

I am an avid user and lover of the app, 

but in the past year, since the departure of the founders, I've noticed many more ads in my feed.

Instagram's simplicity, a key feature of Systrom's vision,  is becoming overloading with features like IGTV

I fear that it is just a matter of time before the platform is completed corrupted by Zuckerberg.

2020 Reads

It's becoming more and more difficult for me to remember the books I've read.

I can't keep all of the titles and story lines straight, let alone catalogued in my brain.

There are fractured remnants of workplace transgressions, sexual experiences and severed body parts

floating in my gray matter like color forms looking for a sticky landing strip.

At night, as I try let go of consciousness,

the lives of these characters cloud the nothingness I long for.

Routines

I watch the patterns the sun casts on the houses in the neighborhood as it lands on  

tree limbs, petals and electrical wires.

I find the light magical and uplifting in these times that are anything but.

I shed the day as I climb the hills in the canyon, familiar paths during a time 

whose future feels like the great unknown.

I want to scream from the mountaintops about the lack of leadership in the WH.

The corrupt administration pretending they are not imposing martial law in Portland

or trying to suppress the number of C19 cases and deaths for campaign purposes

The days pass.  

During this unsettling time I find a dual comfort and restlessness in having a routine. 

Hours reading for work, periodic zoom meetings, cooking daily meals,

quality time with Scotch P. 

Some days its easier to surrender to the sameness than others.

It's when I focus on the future that I experience troubling thoughts.

Stay present.  Be in the now. 

Zuma

All Good Things Come To An End

7.4.20

July 4th felt somber this year.

Summer activities suppressed by the pandemic compounded by spiking desert heat.

AND, most importantly, the light being shined on American hypocrisy.

It's sobering to be an American in 2020.

The tenets of our founding fathers' mission

need to be more than platitudes on a tee shirt.  

There is no going back to how things were.

I hope one day, on this particular day and every day,

Americans can truly celebrate freedom and equality.

The American obsession with freedom has to be traded for a desire for actual freedom:

the freedom to get sick without knowing it could bankrupt you,

the freedom for your peers to live life without fearing they'll be killed by police.

The dream of collective well-being has to outweigh, day-today, the dream of individual success.

Jia Tolentino

All That Glitters

Somewhat interesting inside look at the Conde Nast empire.

Billed as a rivalry between Wintour and Brown, 

but more like a history of SI Newhouse Jr's rise to power 

in the publishing industry.

  

How to Chill in the Heat