I just came a post on Russell Davies’ blog, which suggested 10 ways of being Interesting. Basically Russel’s suggestions are on 2 main assumptions: The way to be interesting is to be interested – Using all your senses (esp. look and listen) to find what’s interesting… in everything.
Interesting people are good at sharing – Unless you share, you can’t let people play with the ideas you’re good at talking about.
His suggestions are quite interesting, and applying his assumptions, I guess that the very fact that I got interested in the post, makes me an “interesting” too! (So much for blowing my own horn!). My own feeling is that all these points somehow are well related to the “wired world” / media we’re increasingly finding ourselves in. Perhaps technology and it’s derivatives are somehow forcing us to “be interesting” and importantly “stay interesting” each day!
Nevertheless, here are his points in a nutshell (with my technology take on each):
1. Take at least one picture everyday –Your Camera phone makes you do so everyday! This is what we see everyone doing anyway, ever since these phones were introduced. Further, the phones also made it possible to share these pictures with others immediately. So full marks to Camera Phone! Point made!
2. Start a blog. Write at least one sentence every week – Mushrooming electronic media with its information overload was limiting users’ voice. Blogging empowered these users to express themselves, present their views and commentaries on other’s views. Hence technology helped again.
3. Keep a scrapbook – Today, no-one keeps a paper note-book anymore. Scores of online services empower one to maintain online scrapbooks – again with the intention of sharing with scores of other similar minded people. Shadow of technology here too!
4. Every week, read a magazine you've never read before – With time and speed being of utmost importance, many of us get to know about any article or coverage much before the magazine comes on the news-stands, Similarly, any off-beat subject is easy to access thanks to technology.
5. Once a month interview someone for 20 minutes, and then Podcast it – Advancements in technology makes you a multidimensional personality – so why not an interviewer too? The very knowledge that you’re going to post this on the net, makes the interviewee eager to help you. For tips on interviewing, you can always ask the www.
6. Collect something – Information collecting and that too thru the web, has replaced many traditional collection hobbies, eg. Stamps, coins, autographs, rare photographs, etc. More often than not, this info. may be of specialized nature too! A friend of me collects and shares info. on “ghost castles” and “supernatural” but true incidents, using Google and specialized searches.
7. Sit in a cafe for an hour/ week and listen to others. Take notes. Blog about it. (Carefully) – Sitting at the coffee shop with your laptop is in vogues these days – you can pretend working, yet are basically listening (sometimes with extra-sensitive microphones) to ideas and opinions of others.
8. Every month write 50 words about one piece (of visual art, writing, music, film/ TV or any other art-form) – Yes, you can use your camera, laptop, voice recorders, and voice writers to help you do that and Blog about each.
9. Make something – It may sound over-stretched, but I’ve known people fiddling with new programs, new software, even when they are not at all related to them! Some people even try to write a wiki on these experiences. Just to create something new! Somehow it seems that people find it easier to do something with technology – rather than anything else
10. Read – Russel’s top 3 suggestions are:
- Understanding Comics - Scott McCloud
- The Mezzanine - Nicholson Baker
- The Visual Display Of Quantitative Information - Edward Tufte
Most often than not, I’ve found different summaries, reviews, first chapters, extracts and quoted sections of many books which I want to read, but am never able to access immediately (because of unavailability in my region). Hence technology can help get to get you closer to most unlikely areas too!
Thus, we see that the shadow of technology is found everywhere, in helping you to become interesting… regardless of your current state of “interestingness”. But from your side, first you have to get interested!
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