Logga in   
Swedish

degebo

19 December 2010

#353 Write letters to the editor

Don’t settle with just being angry. Evaluate what has happened since you wrote your letter to the editor.

Don’t settle with just being angry. Evaluate what has happened since you wrote your letter to the editor.

There are a bunch of people in the world who would say that they were born with a certain talent. Some of them call themselves, and each other, poets and writers. Just to keep others out. It's bullshit. Anyone can write. But to get good at it, you need to practice. Get up early and sit in your chair, stop whining and write. Here are: Seven things you can write.

I've always wondered what people who write letters to the editor really want. Do they sit at their kitchen table and suddenly become angry over something that is unfair, wrong or annoying and then scribble 500 characters together to send to the nearest local newspaper? Are they happy then? Does whatever they’re irritated over go away when they see their letter to the editor in the newspaper? Do they think: "Now at least 123 people will read about how irritated I get when bus drivers are late."?

There should be a follow-up requirement. The newspaper that published the letter to the editor should call the writer in question after a month and check what's up. Where the person should answer the questions:

- What happened to my irritation since last time?

- How has the response been to my letter to the editor?

- What have I done to improve the situation?

This is a great opportunity to get people do more than just sit at home and write cowardly letters to the editor, and also to inspire things to help the world to level-up.

Text: Navid Modiri

Required time: 
1 day or less
Cost: 
Less than €10
Cons: 
It can be difficult to do anything about structural problems ...
Pros: 
... but you can’t lose anything by trying. Start by writing a letter to the editor. Think about what you can do to improve the situation. Then just do it.
Taggar: letters to the editor, head wings, degebo, culture aunt, 365 points
18 December 2010

#352 Write a personal ad

Perhaps you’ll find love at the vegetable counter instead of in a bar. Or after writing a personal ad.www.creativecommons.org

Perhaps you’ll find love at the vegetable counter instead of in a bar. Or after writing a personal ad.www.creativecommons.org

There are a bunch of people in the world who would say that they were born with a certain talent. Some of them call themselves, and each other, poets and writers. Just to keep others out. It's bullshit. Anyone can write. But to get good at it, you need to practice. Get up early and sit in your chair, stop whining and write. Here are: Seven things you can write.

The strange thing isn’t that it’s considered a bit uncool to post personal ads or date people online. The strange thing is that it’s accepted to at any time to go out to a pub, get drunk and fuck a stranger in the hope that one day, through this method, you’ll meet someone who you'll share the rest of your life with. As if you, by going to a bar and observing a person's jawbone or attitude, will find the woman or man of your life. And that is if there is only ONE woman or man that you could share your life with. There are a thousand different ways to meet people and there are thousands of people who could be your future partner. The remarkable thing is how closed most of us are to the various methods and opportunities that exist.

Such as:

- Dating on the web.
- Writing a personal ad.
- Going on a blind date.

Writing a personal ad isn’t easy. It’s natural to begin to slip into the usual traps of thinking that you want to meet someone who shares your interests. Maybe you want to meet someone who doesn’t at all have the same interests. So you’ll have something to talk about and can learn from each other. Write that in your personal ad. Maybe you want to meet someone you don’t understand at all. Write that in your personal ad. Dare to go a different way. Write a totally honest personal ad where you write exactly what you're looking for and don’t use worn-out phrases such as beach walks, non-smoker seeking non-smoker or middle-aged man who likes women is looking for similar someone like-minded. Think again. Do the opposite. Dare to.

Text: Navid Modiri

Required time: 
1 day or less
Cost: 
Less than €50
Cons: 
You could meet crazy people who aren’t at all who you want.
Pros: 
You could meet crazy people who aren’t at all who you want.
Taggar: ragga, notebook, love, hugging, dinner, degebo, collective, coffee, 365 things you can do
17 December 2010

#351 Write a love letter

There are a bunch of people in the world who would say that they were born with a certain talent. Some of them call themselves, and each other, poets and writers. Just to keep others out. It's bullshit. Anyone can write. But to get good at it, you need to practice. Get up early and sit in your chair, stop whining and write. Here are: Seven things you can write.

The best love letter I ever wrote was a hate mail. I had met a girl who was a few years older than me and I had fallen head over heels in love with her. She was complicated, nuanced and had been through things I hadn’t been. I adored her and her uncompromising integrity. I thought she was absolutely magical. And based on the classic cosmic rules she hurt me over and over again by dumping me. After the tenth time I had had enough. My torso was minced meat from all the knife blows. So I decided not to try again.

Instead, I sat down and wrote a long letter to her about all the things that she wouldn’t know about me. All the things she wouldn’t get to hear me tell. Everything she would miss out on when she kept dumping me time and time again. I told her my two favorite colors. I told her about my aunt who set fire to herself to escape her husband's beatings and the two children who remained in their father's violent (lack of) care. I talked about how my parents met. About my nightmares as a child. About my nightmares as an adult. I told her about the obsessive thought I have as to which chair to sit in when I walk into a room. I told her that I had broken my hand twice. And that I hate penicillin.

All this I wrote in a letter. I didn’t dare send it to her. Instead, I formulated the beginning of the letter so that I could read it to her answering machine. I sat next to the phone and found the courage to call. My hands were totally sweaty. My body shook and I was one second from calling her. I held the phone in my hand when it began to vibrate. Her name appeared on the screen.

I answered.

It was quiet.

- Sorry, she said.

Then we started from scratch. I told her that she couldn’t keep behaving like that. She apologized again. Then we moved in together. Then she proposed. Then she gave birth to our daughter.

Text: Navid Modiri

Required time: 
1 week or more
Cost: 
Free.
Cons: 
It might have the completely opposite effect. You might get turned down. You can embarrass yourself. You can get even more hurt. You can feel like shit.
Pros: 
You may get the ones you love to realize that they love you.
Taggar: shelf, Quito, never give up, love, degebo, courage, colorful, 365 points
16 December 2010

#350 Write someone in power

There are a bunch of people in the world who would say that they were born with a certain talent. Some of them call themselves, and each other, poets and writers. Just to keep others out. It's bullshit. Anyone can write. But to get good at it, you need to practice. Get up early and sit in your chair, stop whining and write. Here are: Seven things you can write.

I know I should write this text about the time I wrote to someone in power. But I won’t. Instead, I’m going to talk about something much better. I'll tell you about when the world's sweetest guy phoned the Prime Minister of Sweden at the time and scolded him for breaking his promise.

I have a friend who has a baby brother. This little brother loves to collect autographs. Then one day he got the idea that he could get hold of the autograph of the prime minister at the time, Göran Persson. So he phoned the parliamentary switchboard and asked to speak to Mr. Persson.

For some strange and magic reason, he got put through directly to Mr Persson.

- Yes it is Göran.

- Hello Göran. I would like to have your autograph because I collect autographs and I don’t have yours.

- In that case I’ll get on it right away. Give me your address I'll send it to you at once.

- Thank you.

- Thanks.

A few weeks went by but no autograph appearance. My friend's little brother was totally pissed off. He called the switchboard again and asked to speak to Mr. Persson. And for the same strange and magical reason he was put through to Persson again.

- Yes it is Göran.

- Hello Goran. A few weeks ago you lied about how you were going to send me your autograph. Now I'm angry. Why haven’t you sent it?

- I am terribly sorry. I’ll send it NOW! Sorry.

- Okay. Thank you.

- Thanks.

Two days later my friend's little brother received the then Prime Minister's autograph in an envelope in the mail. And the story is much better than the one you thought you wanted to read in the beginning.

Text: Navid Modiri

Required time: 
1 week or more
Cost: 
Less than €10
Cons: 
You may need to wait for several weeks.
Pros: 
You can boast that you have the Prime Minister's autograph.
Taggar: those in power, terminal, telephone, marie Alsér, letters, degebo, Conrad, 365 points
15 December 2010

#349 Keep a diary

There are a bunch of people in the world who would say that they were born with a certain talent. Some of them call themselves, and each other, poets and writers. Just to keep others out. It's bullshit. Anyone can write. But to get good at it, you need to practice. Get up early and sit in your chair, stop whining and write. Here are: Seven things you can write.

Keeping a diary goes way back in history. Anne Frank wrote a diary. Carrie in Sex and the City writes a diary and I have tried to start keeping a diary about 500 times but I’ve never followed through. I realize that it’s stupid to begin a text that’s supposed to inspire people to keep a diary by describing my inability to keep a diary. But I have a point to make with the introduction. Stick with me.

When I was five, I started keeping a diary. Every day I wrote about who I was in Street Fighter and what kinds of kicks and combos I had learned during the day. I’m not saying that I was a fat kid but I was very fond of video games.

When I was twelve, I started keeping a diary. Every day I wrote about how unpleasant going to school was. I hated being a child. I hated being afraid of the older students. I hated that most adults would tell me what to do.

It wasn’t until I started keeping a diary as a 20 year-old that I managed to keep at it for a longer period of time. The trick was that I wrote the diary as a different person. I won’t say his name but I can tell you that it was funny shit. I took things that happened to me and placed it all in a universe that was surreal, twisted and in a character that was completely stupid. Suddenly, writing a diary felt great.

Text: Navid Modiri

Required time: 
1 week or more
Cost: 
Free.
Cons: 
If someone who shouldn’t read your diary does read it, things might feel a bit tough. Best case scenario, it's just a friend that you’ve talked shit about in the diary. Worst case scenario, it’s a matter of national security that shouldn’t get out, or stories of infidelity. Either put a large padlock on your diary, hiding it somewhere ninja-style, or write in code. Or, don’t write down things that can jeopardize national security or stories of infidelity in there.
Pros: 
You can go back and read your diary and find out what you did at a certain point. You can also learn from past mistakes by reading about them. In addition, it’s an incredible way to practice your writing and perception.
Taggar: yarn, vocabulary, noun, guerrilla knitting, degebo, 365 points
13 December 2010

#347 Write lyrics

There are a bunch of people in the world who would say that they were born with a certain talent. Some of them call themselves, and each other, poets and writers. Just to keep others out. It's bullshit. Anyone can write. But to get good at it, you need to practice. Get up early and sit in your chair, stop whining and write. Here are: Seven things you can write.

Before I met the members of my band I knew nothing about making music. I had at age seven tried to make rap-like songs with my Yamaha keyboard, but the result was some kind of Donald Duck hip hop. It wasn’t until I met seven geeky jazz musicians at a community college in southern Sweden that I was encouraged to sing. Although I couldn’t. And there is no modesty to saying that I could not sing. There is no romantic retrospective and it’s not something I’m saying to make myself look better. I couldn’t sing even if my life had depended on it.

But I did it anyway. And kept doing it and doing it. Again and again. Pretended until I could. Fake It ‘til You Make It.

1. Listen to a song you like.

2. Sit down and write a new text to the song based on the same structure as the original text.

3. Sing the new text of the song.

Text: Navid Modiri

Required time: 
1 hour or less
Cost: 
Free
Cons: 
It will probably sound like a bitch. But so what?
Pros: 
The 10 000-hour rule is that almost all the talented people in the world, superstars, athletes, musicians and engineers, have done what they’re passionate about for at least 10 000 hours. It's about doing. And sticking at it. And practicing and not giving up.
Taggar: vocal cords, light art, homework, help, dish, degebo, 365 points