imaginary mails

To Bill Watterson

2010-10-19T23:58:00.000-07:00

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Dear Bill,

First of all, I confess to have cropped a picture of Calvin and been using it for profile ID in almost all my social media accounts for years without your permission. Those pictures of him making faces are just too darn cool. You know, AJ Jacobs once commented: 'love the profile pic' --"the" being me. Now that I mentioned it, I'm not sure if he was complimenting my choice of picture or my drawing skill (or so he thought). Should I clear that up with him? In any case, please don't sue me (boy am I off with a bad start).

A friend of mine once told me he was tempted to pull a prank on me. In his scenario I was to wake up one morning finding all my Calvin and Hobbes collections no longer on my shelves. If Mike Myers is right, that comedy is misery plus time, I can't say how much time I would need to find it funny had my friend really gone through with his plan (I'm quite sure it's part exaggeration part truth, I just don't if it is truth-ish exaggeration or the other way around). All those collections are still safe and sound on my bookshelves to this day, I'm very much relieved to say.

Calvin and Hobbes strips are the coolest. I love how they are drawn. I have no idea if you're using brushes or pens. I haven't been succeeded to copy, or even close to copy, your strokes. I thought maybe if I can imitate them, I may get lucky enough to get to think a little bit like you do. I love how the characters are designed, especially how they are named after (do you really read John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes through and through?). I love all the puns. It gives me the feeling of being intelligent getting them. I laugh and get goosebumps oftentimes. I love the metaphors, both the pictures and the words. I don't get poetry, but I find Calvin's, or I suppose yours, amusing. I love how you think through drawings. In fact, I'm set to try the same thing. I'm scheduled to take drawing lessons before this year ends (wish me luck). Especially, I love how you always manage to exhaust one single theme into a series of limitless strips. I can only imagine the taste of never running out of ideas.

I remember that by the time internet had made it to my home, your name was one of the first keywords I Yahoo-ed (Google wasn't around yet) and stumbled upon several sites posting speeches you make on various occasions (all those thoughtful people I don't know how to thank). I immediately realized quite a speech maker you are.

You expressed in one of your 1989 speeches how you learned a lot from Peanuts, that it is about "the search for acceptance, security, and love, and how hard those self-affirming things are to find... also about alienation, about ambition, about heroes, about religion, and about the search for meaning and 'happiness' in life." I've always thought that it was a sappy, phlegmatic comic, no more. All the characters make me, at best, sleepy. Maybe I will take another try at it. Can't imagine that it will top yours, though.

To echo your millions of adorers, I, too, would have to say that it was a very sad day when you signed off from the strips. Calvin and Hobbes is the first strips, at least for me, that show life is that funny, that you can laugh at it with style, and be smarter for it, too. Thank you for the amazing adventurous ten years (though I think another year or two wouldn't hurt, sir).

Where are you now, anyway. Are you in any social media at all? Are you in Twitter? Or Facebook? Or LinkedIn? I know you're not in Flickr nor DeviantArt. Not that I know better, but I wish you're searchable in at least one of them. Not for exploitative reason (I know how you see that cheapens things), but it would be nice to see what sort of contact you will make with people. I promise I won't stalk, I'll just follow. If I have to, I'll change my profile picture.

See you (so to speak),
Your fan,
adih.
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Upon this watered one

2010-10-15T02:11:00.001-07:00

Upon this watered one, originally uploaded by adihrespati.

This post has been a tiny support for Blog Action Day 2010 : Water (http://blogsctionday.change.org)

To Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2)

2010-03-14T03:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Johnann,

It has been almost one year since the last time I wrote you last April. I apologized that I didn’t get to keep my promise to know you better by the time of your birthday (I even forgot to say happy birthday). I didn’t read more of your works like I said I would, either. To my defense, I should tell you that we now have countless options of books to read. So while I skipped yours, I read many others’. That should merit a good excuse, right?

Also it has been almost two years since the first day I followed your advice. By that count Following-Goethe should have amounted into 591 entries, but it’s 105 instead. I have mixed feelings about the discontinuity. On one hand, I feel like I’m failing my promise; on the other, I feel like I’m still keeping the advice in mind, only that I’m doing that on different --various (I’m happy to say)-- projects.

Among other things, I most want to tell you that I wish to thank you. By the end of the letter, you see on what and why. I don’t know how to thank people like you, but I’m guessing filling you in with some updates will do justice. In fact, in this present of time, the word “update” is by itself a kind of the future thing for you. So here are some ‘status update’ of your future --our present.

In case you’re interested to know, I used Wolfram Alpha to count the total number of days since Day One of Following Goethe to today. I just asked away, and Voila! By the way, I was just saying that to tell you some of the cool stuff we have now to access data, information and knowledge. I hope you don’t find me --us-- arithmetically lazy).

Speaking about knowledge, I absolutely think that you would find the present time the most exciting moment of human history so far. We have been globally and equally enabled to not only access them, but to also participate in creating them. Unlike your time, when genius is an exceptional characteristic and those who are considered as one are eternally praised (such as you are), now creative --if not genius-- is the trait of the norms. And more and more people are creating things in groups instead of in solitude. Even the lines between professionals and amateurs have blurred. Discoveries and inventions emerge literally on a daily basis (possibly every second, literally, too). Soon, our later youngs will be the likes of you. You will have many peers, I suppose. That’s one more reason you’ll like the present. Do you believe in reincarnation?

You might find shocking, however, that bad things happen ever a lot nowadays. I really don’t know much about these things, but I suspect that it’s the exposure of them that have escalated, instead of the real proportion (we do have the access of being highly informed after all). It is said that exposure of self-deficiencies is a promising start to self-improvement; and with us coming up with smaller number of collective identities, who knows. Projects on such efforts are abundant now, some waged by individuals, some by companies (even for profit ones --and you’ll find some distrustful comments about this, though). All are driven by the rising consciousness of collectivity, I’m happy to say. All are --at least to me-- heart-melting (and mind you, I don’t use that term a lot and I’m embarrassing myself here). All in all, I think it’s a good moment in history to expect for the better.

I told you I would come to you about something later. So here is ‘later’. At the time I’m writing this letter, I’m on a part of a book at which the author recommends a habit of writing some sort of gratitude notes. It is supposed to be just short notes, but --thanks to you-- I can’t write short :-) The notes should go to people close to us (family, friends, etc), but as citizen of the net, I feel ridiculously close to just about everyone I want to (We can feel like that now. You’ll love it. Two people invented Twitter with which we can follow everyone second-to-second. We can even follow the leading of anyone we admire. And --maybe-- they’ll follow us, too. It happens. In fact, I think many --I mean, really really many, people will follow you. Now there’s an idea: make a Twitter account for you! Some status updates you will post, I bet!).

That feeling of crazy connectedness means I can write to just about everyone. The author I was telling you about came up with gratitude insight around the month of August: the month of your birthday (happy coincidence, right?) For that reason, I’m addressing my first thank-you note to you.

Anyway, I’m glad I stumbled upon your advice. And you are absolutely right about taking notice (Thank you!). We’ll talk more soon.

Sincerely,
adih.

PS:
* more about Goethe’s advice I follow
* more about the first letter to Goethe.
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To Gretchen Rubin

2010-03-13T23:52:00.000-08:00

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Dear Gretchen,

At the time I’m writing this letter I’m on ‘August’ of Happiness Project. I bought the book because on the back cover AJ Jacobs said he was happy reading only after the first five pages (I’m sure he read the remaining 287 pages, considering he read the Bible and The Britannica, both cover to cover, both literally), and that it filled him with countless insights. I’m no Jacobs’ equal but his impression on your book is so far also, I should say, mine, too.

I like it that you broke Project into twelve chapters, one resolution for each month (you’re either genius or patience, or both). I like it that you work on energy boost in January (charge up before you start, right?); on love in February (surprise, but no surprise); on work in March (we Arian know about ambition); on lightening up in April (let loose on April’s Fool, I suppose), etc. Did those themes get where they are intentionally? Either way, it really shows like you're having fun with life.

So far, the most shocking part I’ve found is July, when you find yourself in a pickle but none of your Twelve Commandments help. You said that you realized that your Commandments aren’t works of magic. I like them even more. Like I said, I’m on August now, I’m on reading memoirs (here’s some of my favorite --should you be interested in reading: Michael J. Fox’s Lucky Man and Sting’s Broken Music).

I think it is very friendly of you to mention all those researches as sources that help you find your way to insights, as opposed to claiming them your theoretical background to butter up your book. I think it is very modest of you to present the book as something you wish to share, instead of something you find necessary to teach to others. You put yourself as clueless as we are. And the fact that you found your way to understanding gives hope that such an experience is not limited to the rest of us. In short, it makes your book extremely elegant, unlike almost all self-help literature available, even the ones you mentioned you admire (and I’m glad Harper Publishing didn’t put you in that category).

Maybe I read too much into your books. All I know is, that I’m glad I found your book. It was nice to find a book about how a regular Joe can change, written by another regular Joe (Jane?).

Looking forward to reading another one of your book (or other books’ of the likes of you)

Sincerely,
adih.

Note:
* more about Gretchen Rubin and Happiness Project here
* more about Happiness Project blog here
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change me into we

2010-03-05T19:50:00.001-08:00

change me into we, originally uploaded by adihrespati.

Dear good people,

Here's what I think every time I learn about your works.

Sincerely,
adih

To Everyone (in advance)

2010-01-17T07:43:00.000-08:00

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Dear good people,

I have to write this in advance. You're in such a long list of people I wish to write (not that I think my letters would matter), so I may not be able to catch up (but I'm working on it). So here it is:

You word your thoughts, voice your words, and do your voices. How do you do that?

Sincerely
adih.

the long-list (my homework)
1. Larry Page, Sergei Brin
2. Carl Sagan
3. Steve Martin
4. AJ Jacobs
5. Robin Williams
6. Al Gore
7. Richard Dawkins
8. Stephe Fry
9. Charles Darwin
10. JImmy Wales
11. Michael J. Fox
12. Lawrence Lessig
13. Bill Bryson
14. Nick Hornby
15. John Lennon
16. YouTube people
17. TED people
18. Google people
19. (to add continuously later, if not soon)
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To Anwar Jusuf

2009-11-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

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Dear Anwar,

I’m a stranger to you but it’s safe to say that I hear quite enough about you. For a start, I heard that you are the kind of physician who takes his time with his patients. You know very well that when they come to you with their health issue, they take with them also various stories, of which they need to make sense, and of which you choose to take the the care to help them make sense. I don’t know how rare that quality is among the likes of your profession, but your son seems to think that it isn’t a popular virtue in the truest sense.

I also heard that you find many things interesting. That it is your habit to be cautious toward any initial information; to take the time to seek for trustworthy explanation; and to reserve some time of delay before making your decisions, especially critical ones (both critical to you, and critical to those who pose the issue to you). And you did so because you think that anything interesting is worth probing. Since you find almost anything interesting, yours must have been a busy mind.

From what I heard, you are an exceptional father. Your son told me that you make sure that all your three children learn that their father trust them very highly. You let them explore their world themselves. You let them make their own decisions, and oversee them from afar for proportional protection. ‘No’ is the word the least likely to come from you, and ‘think first’ are ones you implicitly express the most. You seldom tell them directly because you trust that they don’t need reminding. Let me tell you that although your son value that trust, at certain times it scares him.

So I heard you’re also fun. Your son said that in public gathering you always introduce him as your brother, not son. He enjoys the peer-to-peer conversation he gets from those occasions (Pssst. He also hates it because you make it impossible for him to ask for some money, just in case he wants to bail out).

Let me tell you about your son (I know a little bit about him). I think your curious nature has grown in him, too. He is not as skillful as you are when it comes to being a people person. In fact, that is the most difficult quality of yours for him copy. But please be satisfied that he’s trying, impossibly hard. It is nowhere easy to be a person as thoughtful as you are.

I noticed your birthday just passed by. I don’t say happy birthday often to people because when it goes, it goes without a genuine taste. But the way your son told me the stories of you, I think I would very much mean it when I say ‘Happy Birthday”, especially the ‘happy’ part. And say ‘hi’ to your wife for me. I heard she’s great, too.

Sincerely yours,
A Friend

To Malcolm Gladwell

2009-11-09T09:09:00.000-08:00

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Dear Malcolm

First of all, I think your hair rocks (and this would be the first time I make comment on anyone’s hair). And the rest of my points I will try to present as tidy as I can (and as tidy as I can being the operative words).

I’ve read three of your books and I’m in the middle of your fourth. I’ve seen you on TED delivering your ‘spaghetti sauce’ story you wrote for Tipping Point. I’ve read the short interview TIME had with you. It is defying reflexes not to like you.

A friend of mine has a very strong opinion on popular books like yours. He thinks they are, half-strickly speaking, unscientific (he has a mind of a scientist and in personal pursuit of being one), which means they won’t make his reading list. I’m not smart enough to decide the validity of his assessment, nor I am smart enough to be sure whether your pieces are, in fact, scientific in nature or not. I consider myself a snob man --that to some extent I base my deeds on whether or not they make sense (when they don’t, I withdraw). To his face especially, I figure I would hesitate to announce my admiration toward you. But it turned out that I don’t. It’s too difficult to mask the pleasant thoughts I had when reading your books. So announce to him my admiration toward you I did (and I felt brave).

Maybe my friend is right. After all you aren’t, indeed, an official scientist (though I suspect you have a mind like one, and more, instead merely having one that of a story teller’s as my friend pointed out to me). It isn’t your science status that amazes me. One, I think it is your agility to jump from one viewpoint to another and to another and to another on phenomenons under your investigations. Two, it is that each of the viewpoints you are taking are ones of scientific; and that your intense ability to familiar yourself with them and zoom in on some relevant theories (at least relevant to my limited opinion) are perfect, justified calls for envy. Three, it is the grace of how you discover that several seemingly separate events are actually interellated through the available multiple sciences you weave. Four, it is the shocking fact that you can render everything difficult easy.

The goal of science is the pursuit of truth. Though what you wrote may skid off truth-wise as some said, your ability to always take a novel perspective on everything is what I think missing out from most scientists (at least most scientists I know). When TIME asked your methods of approach on your stories, you answered:

“I'm interested in placing things in a larger context and in making lateral connections. A lot of my process is informed by the notion that two mildly good stories put together sometimes equal one really good story.”

Your clear and simple answer dwarfed my know-it-all comments I have on you (ya iya laaaah).

Anyway, I’m looking forward to reading your next adventure. Again, I think your hair rocks.
Sincerely yours,

adih.

PS: Like you, and many scientists and/or authors I am fond of, my father is an idea enthusiast. When he speaks of a subject, he speaks with passion. He is constantly eager to make sense of every idea he encounters, thus old ideas never go obsolete, while new ideas automatically excite him. And I was, as his son, infected. Actually, there aren’t many staggering similarities between you and him. It’s just that today is his birthday, and I find it a good excuse to mention him.

don't worry be happy

2009-07-22T10:37:00.001-07:00

don't worry be happy, originally uploaded by Evil Erin.

Dear Febry,

I hope UEA does not block this site.
Picture taken by username --ironically-- Evil Erin.
I hope Erin cheers you up, even if only a little bit.

adih.

To Sir Tim Berners-Lee

2009-06-09T01:07:00.000-07:00

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Dear Tim,

Not that this is important to you, but before the thought occured to me to write you this, I was scribbling something for Jeff Jarvis (I just read his recent book, What Would Google Do? It's amazing!!!), during which time I can't help but think that I have skipped too many people to whom I should've written first (Oh, I should write first to Brin and Page, oh and that guy, and that guy, and that guy, etc). And your name finally came up. If there is anyone to whom I should write a thank-you letter, your name should have come up in an instant, if not the first (I apologize, I guess).

At this moment I'm holding a teaching job. I don't have much confident in what I do. I never thought of myself as a scientist, but I very much love knowledge. I love acquiring them. My dad thought me about finding out anything I wish to know. And knowing things on my own terms has never been disappointing, pleasurable, in fact; and that makes schools, to me, bitches. It never bores me to know what people know, and especially how they come to know what they know.

Not until in my college years, when one particular aspiring professor made me realize, that schooling can at the same time be the platforms where knowledge are transferred and distributed , instead of merely an item on my daily schedule. To have them (knowledge) multiply and prosper, he thought me (how cool is that?). I'm a sucker for sharing thoughts ever since. What especially my professor helped me realized is that I wish to work in education; not as teaching staff, but as environmental system developer instead. I think I would be good at making things possible for people to learn (but I could be wrong, haha). But for now I'm holding on to teaching because it lets me broadcast what I think exciting, in addition to useful, for people to know (which may very much serve a personal bias). I love sharing them so much, I'm having difficulties to leave this position.

On sharing, you of all people should know much much much better.

I've read the stories about how you came up with the idea of the worldwide web; that you were a supervising researcher at CERN, that you created it so that you can supervise the works of 5000-ish researchers whose data are scattered inside thousands of different computers, so that you can supervise them from just about anywhere, and especially so that all those 5000-ish researchers can 'talk' to one another; and that you made the patent and kept it for free so that one day the 'world' (is that why you call it the WORLDwide web?) can have a good taste of it, too. Oh, and I read, too, that you were honored much late for it (not that I think you're expecting for one). I guess I'm not the only one who at times take you for granted. It should not be so.

How does it feel to see your work be used by a billion people (and counting)? (I'm one of them. I love your work, and that's an understatement). How does it feel to see your work changed, changes, and will keep changing the running of the world? (I'd ask the same thing to Google guys, if they answer me, I'll let you know). What kind of person do all those knowlege make you? Good one I hope. Good one, I wish that to you.

So for what you have invented and share: thank you, thank you, thank you (and the rest of my gratitude, I will pay them forward, if you don't mind). And good luck with semantic web (I hear you're working on it).

Sincerely yours,
adih.

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PS:
* More about Tim-Berners Lee
* More about Semantic Web
* More about Jeff Jarvis
* More about What Would Google Do?

To Bono

2009-05-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

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Dear Bono,

At around I thought about writing this, my laptop was shuffling songs, and I was reorganizing my magazines. A moment hit when your song --and Edge's, and Larry's, and Adam's, to be fair-- was on, and in my hand was TIME's 2005 Persons of the Year with you on the cover (and the Gates). As if the cosmic was playing tease. And all hell broke lose in my head, hence this letter (but this letter finished much later. I was too cautious writing this, and here's what I got so far. I'm an amateur, so be gentle with me).

On that occasion, I browsed again the words people wrote and said about you: the words of admiration Bill Gates put on you in his TIME article some time ago (about the time when you, in his presence, relentlessly cell-phoned every single CEO friend you know to talk them into joining you to eradicate curable diseases, relieve debts of the third worlds, and --my favorite, if it is sensible to pick one-- making extreme poverty history; and that you got most of them in); appraisal of your relentless hard negotiations with world leaders by your partner in DATA, Bobby Shriver. Then again, you have been saying similar strong words about people, too. You wrote that when poverty is history, its architect Jeffrey Sachs --your friend, you claimed-- will be more famous than you are. You applauded George Clooney, your fellow activist, for his, to borrow your words, "almost peculiar ability to sublimate his ego to win a point." You high-praised Aung San Suu Kyi for her determination to never settle less than the full freedom of Myanmar.

The late John Lennon is definitely right when he said that in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make. The things these people said and wrote about you must have been because of what you said and wrote about them, too (or it's the other way around I'm not really sure --I would think that neither are you).

On the days that have long passed it is your habit to forced your words down people throats. You intimidated them with your tongue. You went on head-to-head collision with your bigot, oppresor enemies, crashing them the hardest. You rocked. You still do, but I guess time did ripen you up. Now, though when you speak you still growl, and when you sing you still scream, you're different. You've changed from an angry rock boy to a preaching man. Ever through the lyrics you've weaved, you're more persuasive now. And when you sing back your old tunes, now we go, "ow so that's what you meant." The cocky lines on your face now boast that you're right, almost without vanity (but on this, I like you enough that biased is very possible).

You are probably almost the only preacher I pay attention to. I'm no fan of any kind of sermon. Life is brand new everyday and any teaching that broadcasts in repeats just fails to notice it. Yours is way ahead. I know that among other things, you are a man of congregation. But you live in the present as if you notice every inch of it. Thus when you say the L-word (and for a musician in your rebellious genre, you sure use it an awful lot), you say it with new different meanings attach to it every time. This one is my favorite: 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.' Bless you for every one of them.

You are a very diligent man, and have a very sharp set of eyes. You know a piece of history in the making when you see one, when only few people notice or care. And you make songs of them. So in real-time your songs are reminders, and when things have come to pass your songs will celebrate them. Humanity will proudly have a soundtrack album of its own, and your masterpieces --and Edge's, and Larry's, and Adam's, to be fair-- will probably be ones that make the most contributions.

I know that it is not your intention, but it's too late. You only get what you deserve.

Sincerely yours,
adih.

To TIME100 People and Authors

2009-05-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

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Dear Time100 people,
May you be better at whatever they are you do...

Dear Time100 authors,
May your insights be contagious...

Sincerely yours
adih.

To Jerry Seinfeld

2009-04-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

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PS (Pre-Script):
I've racked my brain out to impress you with this letter. I tried to be funny, but I guess you're way way way out of my league. It took me days (on and off) to figure out how to start, making sure you'd find this letter interesting enough to finish(or at least enough to get to get you to read up to this sentence). I don't think I'm doing well at it, so I give up "impressive."
(end of pre-script)

So I guess, let cliche be cliche (but for what it's worth, this isn't a habit of mine):

Dear Jerry,

(1) I think you rock!
(2) Where've you been?
(3) What've you been up to lately?

You were gone after you released your DVD (that was one --and a half-- fantastic hour); then appeared on Letterman one night (first, your bits on 'nothing' is hilarious; second, this wish may come much too late but here I go anyway: congratulation with the baby) and went MIA again; then you appeared on Bee Movies (which by the way although nowhere near PIXAR's, i like it) and you disappeared again, and still do.

I may be exaggerating this, but I think stand-up comics are creepily brave. When you get up on stage, people expect you to make them laugh; but being so, they're also on disappointed-ready mode (you know this already, lah ya). How do you handle that kind of tension? Does posing a flat face, as you do, help? What is it anyway, your flat face? Is it your natural, given modality? Or is it a personal technique? Is it teachable? Does it come with a manual? Is it available for free? (look at me being cheap)

I suspect you won't be offended when I say that you are not the number one on my comedian list (Now that I think about it, I don't know who it is either). But it is safe to say that yours are probably one of the very very few comic acts almost* without racial nor sex slurs. And I think anyone who crosses out those two items off his or her conversational menu are amazing, comedian included. I find that being funny is mostly about exposing erronous things around us. And with our civilization preoccupied with war (mostly racial in nature, if not, discriminative for sure) and love (potentially in sexual fashion), it is almost too easy to find how we err, and make fun of them.

So I guess comedian --or anyone, for that matter-- who chooses to leave out those two items from his or her daily routine is one who takes the road least travelled. That makes your act not only pleasant, but also an honor, to attend to.

And that is why I hope you come back soon.
So I guess I'm not being funny after all.

Sincerely yours
adih.

---
Note:
` More about stand-up comic from Wikipedia.
` More about Jerry Seinfeld from Wikipedia.

* The word 'almost' is added after a comment from a friend.

To Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

2009-04-11T04:44:00.000-07:00

" One should, each day, try to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it is possible, speak a few reasonable words" (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Dear Johann,

I don’t know who you are. And it is very shameful for me to admit that after 100 days following your advise I still don’t know who you really are, let alone look up your supposedly timeless, inspiring mindworks. At the very least, before I started this letter, I’ve looked you up in Wikipedia. (By the way, from the looks of the only words of wisdom of yours that I’ve snatched, you would love Wikipedia! There, everyone works together building knowledge. Everyone from all over over the world, hand in hand, attempt to --to borrow your words-- say reasonable things. It’s not always perfectly valid, but for a start, it’s a giant leap already. In the court of knowledge, it’s one of the sexiest, if not noble [read my other letters for other people and you’ll know that I love that word --noble], thing the twentienth century has to offer. Wow. Now I wish you were here to see it.)

Again, it is with shame to admit that this letter is only possible because one kind person reminded me that 100th of anything is worth celebrating. At the time I didn’t know what to celebrate. What I did with your words is, I think, a so-so thing. But she is right. There is definitely something to celebrate. You. So I’m gonna write a thank-you note for you. I hope you’ll count this as a celebration. I know you deserve much much more, but it’s the only thing I can do, at least for now.

I don’t remember where I get your words the first time, but I like them instantly. My father, possibly by accident, taught us to live articulately, that it is much more fun to go by each day knowingly, as much as one can. I’m not a stranger to talking about music --or paintings, or movies, or books, or hobbies, or science (I’m a newbie on this one, actually), or anything-- as you advise us to. In fact, I probably talk about them too much that I bore people to death. So at some point in time I decided to cut back not only by a little, but by much. When I found your words I knew that my habit was not something to give up, instead it is something worth-keeping, at least for the sake of myself.

I like doing it again. Everything becomes more enjoyable, not to mention understandable. I become more aware of the shape of all things --music, paintings, pictures, books; basically, ideas. Music experts weren’t kidding when they say music has structures, were they? And it is exciting to know that this apply to everything else. And the hope of knowing merely the range of possibilities of things one is able to know is overwhelming. And I like it very much when things start to make sense. You see, I have a very weak memory. The only way I can remember multiple information is if they are all interconnected making up one single, hopefully, simple idea, a story. Your advise does exactly that to one’s mind, I suppose.

Above everything else, I like it that you suggest people to say reasonable things. It gets me writing small notes without worrying of having to also present the complete supporting arguments (presenting main ideas along with its arguments is the very devil that keeps me off writing). I guess what I’m trying to say is, that you get me exercising thinking in writing again. So, thank you for that.

I still have endless things to say, all of them are scattered, and if I push my luck, I may bug you. Besides, this one is already too long. I guess I’ll write you again later, maybe on day 200th. I’d like to make it up to you for being ignorant of who you are. By your next birthday, I promise I will know more about your works so the next time you read my letter we won’t be too much of strangers (cut me some slack, I won’t be able to know many of them, I have a graduate paper to worry about --excuses, excuses).

Your grateful stranger
adih.

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Note:
` More about Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
` More about Following Advice

To Chris Anderson

2009-04-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

.
Dear Chris,

I've been following TED.com for two years now and I think it's the coolest. My all-time favorite is still Ken Robinson's take on creativity --that schools have been possibly killing it. His message is surprising and his delivery is the most fun (which is rather besides the point since all your materials are fun to follow). I've heard of this popular design wisdom, that "form follows function". If 'messages' have their forms, I guess TED is definitely the right design for them.

I think the idea of presenting 1000 speakers at one event to share (and follow-up) their ideas are noble at the very least. And to have them available online for free is just kindness on a whole new level. And I'm sure that I'm not the only one to think so.

Now that I think of it, it isn't merely kindness behind you people, is it? So whatever business models you take/make, I hope we learn about it very soon.

Looking forward to listening more of TED. I wish you no luck, since, the way things are going for you, I don't think you'll be needing any.

Sincerely yours,
adih

PS: I don't think I'll make it to TED India next year (though I really want to)

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Note:
` Chris Anderson is TED's curator
` TED stands for Technology Entertainment and Design
` More about TED from Wikipedia