Bill Lascher 5/15/10 Bill Lascher 5/15/10

One Year Ago: Mastering the Bus

Bill Lascher 5/12/10 Bill Lascher 5/12/10

Do what I would do.

Bill Lascher 5/11/10 Bill Lascher 5/11/10

Sights seen while not writing

Bill Lascher 5/10/10 Bill Lascher 5/10/10

Reading between the blogs

Bill Lascher 5/7/10 Bill Lascher 5/7/10

The Free(lance)dom to Investigate

Bill Lascher 5/6/10 Bill Lascher 5/6/10

Confessions

I am a hypocrite.
I take long showers.
I drive in Portland, often by myself and far more often than I did in L.A.
I eat meat.
I use a cellular phone and spend a lot of time on a computer.
I live alone in a two-bedroom apartment that is likely far too large for my needs.
I don't garden, despite the presence of a huge yard and so much desire to do so.
I don't bike, yet, though I walk often.
I often eat by myself.
I recycle, but don't always reuse.
I adore the train, but still take the plane.
I drink, I watch movies, I play video games, I enjoy coffee, I want a dog (though I'm not sure about kids).
I am a hypocrite.

Bill Lascher 5/5/10 Bill Lascher 5/5/10

Hesitations

Bill Lascher 5/3/10 Bill Lascher 5/3/10

In Transit

More formally known as the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency, Metro offers more than buses and trains. It exudes personality, a personality interwoven with this vast community. Many claim Los Angeles has no public transit, but I know otherwise, and this afternoon's ride only cements my opinion. A bus driver stopping randomly alongside the road might not be the model of efficiency, but he embodies the charm of transit in Los Angeles. I've heard of bus drivers who croon Rat Pack hits as they carry passengers to and from their homes; I've watched flirtation blossom to affection on the platforms of the Green Line. I've watched drunken partiers stumble down bus aisles then politely strike conversation with late night commuters. I've even seen gangbangers politely offer their seats to elderly and disabled passengers.

Bill Lascher 5/1/10 Bill Lascher 5/1/10

Ducking the Elephant in the Room

The day takes shape slowly. Getting out the door just happens. Once you do the bus is ten minutes late. Then, so is the MAX, but you don't mind. You've been quietly extricating yourself from time. You wait in the chill beneath an interstate, listening to teenagers gossip. Staring at the spikes lining the steel beams beneath the roadway you think perhaps a bit too long about pigeon deterrence.

Bill Lascher 4/23/10 Bill Lascher 4/23/10

Telling the stories we aren't searching for

I agree that SEO isn’t about conforming to a robotic standard, but it’s also not about speaking to people, it’s about speaking to some sense of the mean average of what people are looking for. The thing is, if we want to succeed — both in reaching people and in drawing them back to our work — we can’t just be producing what the public is looking for, what the public wants to read. We must, we absolutely must tell the stories that the public doesn’t know it is looking for, that the public isn’t looking for, that the public hasn’t even conceptualized the terms for. If we don’t, in very short order we will tell fewer and fewer stories that matter, that impact society and we will lose not only all impact, but all value we are capable of offering the public.