It does not matter that it is already 2012. I have more lists to make. I was thinking about this over the last few days, and the internet is a big deal. Not just for me, but really for everyone. So, I thought I would put together a few of my favorite things on the internet this year. Not just memes, but sort of ideas or sites or charecters I returned to often.
1. SETH WERKHEISER. I found Seth on Flickr about 100 years ago. He was riding a bike in Brooklyn, and his photos were amazing. I was riding a lot at the time, and working my way back to an appropriate Minimal life. Seth was in the process of selling everything he owned, literally, and living out of a messenger bag (Chrome), and hitting the road. Over the years I have bought all of his ebooks, he is a hell of a writer, and contributed as much as I could to his efforts. Now he is off with Skull Toaster, and while I am not a metal guy, it is some seriously great writing.
And Seth has a good beard.
2. Jenna Marbles. This, like so much of the cool, comes from my main man Brad Schjoth. I have no idea how or where Brad found her, but Jenna kicks ass. She is funny, and cute, and willing to be comedically brave. I saw her on VH1 the other day, so I hope Jenna is making bank. Right now the Justin Beiber bit is my favorite, but the two Sex videos are killer just for the helmets.
3. The Ultimate Warrior. This started as a sort of nostalgia trip, but someplace it turned into watching this absurd train wreck. I used to be a pro wrestling fan, but after getting to know a couple of wrestlers, it just sickens me. Like the way Wal Mart sickens me. So few getting so rich. But, the Warrior seemed like a good dude for a second, sure conservative and nuts, but he had his head in the right place. This sort of living the authentic life vibe, but after a while that got nuts. And honestly I am watching now to see how far this all will go. And clearly it will go far, because he is showing up in LA at Metal shows, and working out with indie bands, and all the rest. Its wacky.
4. The Year of Mike Vallely. On the opposite (dare I say the right side) of the spectrum from the Warrior is Vallely. Mike is now, and always has been one of my heroes. I am about his age, and from the same time. He came up and was won of the guys who I dug as a young man. Over the years Mike has remained on course, and I dig that. Over the last year he has been making youtube videos, twitter stuff, changing around his website and all the rest. He brought me to the concept of Authentic Existence, something I dig very much. One of the coolest things is Mike has really taken on the GoRuck Challenge idea. So much so I think he is going to Japan to take on some over there. It seems like it has been a challenging year for the guy, but it seems like he is better off now. And I am pumped to buy all the Elephant Skateboards products.
5. NPR Planet Money. This truly became my favorite podcast of the year. It is so smart, and so funny. I learned a lot. I listen to every one of them.
I think the rest of this is a sort of bad list. So, I am not going to make the list. But, I think 2011 ended the internet love affair for me. I remember a time when I looked at Engadget everyday, and talked to my friend Andy about it every day. We spent TIME on this stuff, and thinking about the future and all the rest. We looked at guys like Gary Vaynerchuk or Kevin Rose or Tim Ferris or whoever as some sort of people to really pay attention to. I used to listen to the Leo LaPorte podcast, real Julia Allisons blog, or whatever.
Along the way I found my man Loren Feldman, and Loren seemed to be cool and poked fun at these guys. Then somewhere along the way Loren seemed to get really angry, and it was not funny anymore, he simply kept telling the world over and over again that these people were idiots. This of course is not true. Kevin Rose and Tim Ferris and most of that level are very successful both financially and in the ways of their chosen work. But it was fun how it changed.
It was not enough to simply poke fun of them, or tear them apart like Loren was doing. I lost interest in even that. So, I lost the social media superstars, and I lost the social media critic voice as something I was interested in. It all seemed so shitty. There was no point in poking fun at people who were giving it a shot, and for whatever reason their voices were being heard.
It was someplace in here that my friend Marcus Nelson started working at Salesforce. He had risen steadily through tech start up world, and was now doing work that was amazing. And I was blown away, and even though I have not talked to him in years he was teaching me a lesson. Doing something is always better than making fun of someone for doing something.
Doing something is always better.
So while I think Warrior is nuts, the guy is doing something. And that seems to be what these things all have in common.
