To celebrate National Bike Month, we’d love to see more cops on bikes.
What positive changes do you want to see in your cities? Send us your ideas + tweets (@HOLSTEE) and tag #moreofthis.
nyc would benefiet greatly if more nypd would opt to be on bikes rather than cars (or horses). they would have better connection to the communities they serve, get in (even!) better shape and probably be happier. while this isn’t a replacement, but there’s a clear opportunity to balance it out.
Dave Radparvar
A glimpse into my thoughts, findings, and adventures.
Dave Radparvar
Good morning Mirror Lake. @goldenarrow #adirondacks
March 2013: Balance and following through
My personal theme for march was following through. I had started a lot of new habits in the past few months and started some new projects and my goal for March was not to create any new habits but rather follow through and make sure I could balance what I have already started.
In March I picked up where I left off with classes at 3RD Ward and took an intermediate wood shop class, a metal machining class, a hand tool workshop, a lamp making workshop, a cutting board workshop, and a knife skills class.
In the theme of following through, I set on finishing to build my floor lamp which I started welding and cutting wood for back in January.Photos to come.
I also spent a week in California with my family over Passover, where I squeezed in a morning to get my motorcycle license.
The month was awesome. Both fun and productive, and it just flew by which is why I writing this a week late :-)
Book Review: Moonwalking with Einstein by Josh Foer
Like most people I have had moments when I could remember specific details of events that happened years ago and others where I couldn’t remember where I left my wallet or friends birthdays. Somewhere along the lines the Moonwalking with Einstein title and cover made an impression on me and when it was time to choose a new book I decided to give it a read. I was instantly taken by Josh’s writing style. A great balance of factual and anecdotal stories - I actually felt like contents of the book came in conversation sitting in the basement of his parents house where he spent a year training for his eventual winning position as the US Memory Champion.
As the summaries of the book hinted, the book doesn’t reveal ways on how to improve your memory overnight but more realistically explains why we somethings come naturally to our memory, why others are so difficult and how certain tasks like memorizing an entire deck of cards at records speeds under 30 seconds doesn’t make someone a ‘genius’ but rather shows there dedication and creativity.
The book also reminded me of a little game I used to play. I would sit and close my eyes, clearing my head. Then I would actively imagine nothing, which would take the form of total darkness. Then I would imaging changing the nothingness, the darkness to light - to a massive white canvas. Then I would try and find the edges or shape of the canvas, if my brain where a computer this is the moment it would crash, a way for me to break the canvas that we translate from the physical world into our minds. The only limit of our mind’s canvas size are the ones we artificially put in place.
I spend most of my creative time in a day dream. Designing, placing, building in my head while walking, cooking, talking or any moment when distraction and inspiration hits. Steve Jobs mentioned in his biography that the people the that find themselves being creative aren’t any smarter than others but that they are making more connections from different experiences, materials or observations, that would otherwise be stored in different places in the mind.
Moonwalking with Einstein confirmed the notion that how and where we place ideas and concepts in our mind make all the difference when it comes time to recall them. The book was a good refresher on the power and mystery of one of the most complex parts of the human body, definitely recommended.
Very excited about the @holstee manifesto design in Arabic + Hebrew. Launching at @seedsofpeace benefit tomorrow night.
From calling home to human-powered transportation to cooking, there are things we all know we need more of.
To celebrate these beautiful moments in life, we’re drafting up examples of things we love and staking claim to having #moreofthis. The uber talented Helen Williams (aka your very own Community Love Director) will be hand illustrating them, starting with the one here.
Have a #moreofthis moment or experience we should highlight? Recommendations are warmly invited: send us your tweets, and be sure to hashtag!
A time tested tool for positive change is to focus on the outcomes we want, rather than to dwell on the things we don’t. Lets see #moreofthis.
February 2013. Oaxaca City and Puerto Escondido, Mexico with my Holstee Family.
A month of clarity, new experiences, mezcal, inspiration, sun, sand and waves.
Makes me even more excited for a possible trip out to Japan at the end of this year!
Almost two years ago, two members of the Holstee community in Japan, Kenji Hiranabe and Satomi Joba, helped us translate the Holstee Manifesto into Japanese.
Today, thanks to the additional help of talented calligrapher Narisawa Shurei, we have a beautifully designed version of the Holstee Manifesto in traditional Japanese lettering.
In Shurei’s own words:
“The Holstee Manifesto reminded me of a Buddhist term ‘TEI-KAN,’ which means finding out the real nature of something. It also means to attain spiritual enlightenment. I created this artwork with ‘TEI-KAN’ in mind.”
It has been a real pleasure working with Shurei to create this poster, and I have learned a lot about Japanese calligraphy in the process. You can see more of her work on Shodo Arts and Sumi-Painting.
Please share the design with your Japanese-speaking friends!
Book Review: Let My People Go Surfing
I picked up a copy of Let My People Go Surfing, by Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard over a year ago and it sat one my shelf as other books found their way to my hands. As we prepared to head out for our second annual February in the Sun - Holstee team retreat it seemed like the perfect book to read.
I started reading the book on a ride to a glass factory outside of Oaxaca city, continued reading snaking through the hills riding up to San Jose Del Pacifico, and just finished the last few pages steps from the ocean in Puerto Escondido under the palm leafed roof our our Palapa.
Had the stories and lessons from the book not clicked so perfectly to my experiences at Holstee, I would have been blush by the cliche of reading it while on such an environmental and business adventure.
Starting with the history of Patagonia, Yvon talks about their struggles and great successes in their early years as a climbing hardware company (now know as Black Diamond) to the eventual growth of the active wear company we know today.
The next few chapters focused on specific philosophies they have developed at Patagonia on everything from Design, to Production, to Finance to the Environment.
It was encouraging to hear the challenges they faced in their early years from designing, to materials to identifying the right product market fit and above all inspiring, as I read it here with our team as we plan for many more years of excitement.
In growing Holstee over the past three years we have experienced a lot. Many things went as planned, though most did not. But at every step it has been an exciting and educational ride for us and hopefully for our community as we share more about how and why we make the decisions we do as a company, and in our lives. If the journey itself is the goal, then by my own measure, it continues to be an overwhelming success.
“From this seed we will grow.” - sketch inspired by reading Teaching Rebellion
Book Review: Teaching Rebellion, Stories from the Grassroots Mobilization in Oaxaca
Before departing for Mexico, a good friend and frequent visitor to Oaxaca, Michael Cox, sent a couple copies of Teaching Rebellion to the Holstee office.
I began reading the book on the flight from New York and was instantly consumed by the stories of passion, struggle, community and hope. The book follows the stories of 23 individuals from a 9-year old whose father is kidnapped, tortured and held in a high security prison to a great grandmother who on the fateful morning of June 14, 2006 is sweeping in front of her house as protestors run from the armed repression that occurred in the earliest hours of the morning. Some stories made my heart race with excitement while others brought a tear to my eye. They all gave amazing context to this magical city.
Walking now through the Zócalo, I imagine the plaza filled with 40,000 teachers. As I walk through the city and see radio towers I imagine people storming the stations and taking them over to bring voice back to the people. When I see graffiti on the walls, I remember the stories of artists using every medium to do more than spread a message but to start a conversation, to raise consciousness.
To me, this book, and this city, are a reminder to stand for what we believe is just, to have hope for the world we want to live in, and to embrace others who share our values.
My book review for Teaching Rebellion originally posted on Holstee.
February in the Sun: Oaxaca, Mexico
Too cold to ride a bike, ever other person has the flu, it gets dark early, not enough sun, limited produce in season…there are many reasons to get out of New York City in the winter. Last year at Holstee we started what has become an annual migration, dubbed, February in the Sun.
Last year we moved the team for two weeks in February into my parents home in southern california, Occupy Rads House was in full effect. It was an amazing opportunity for everyone on our team to really get know each other better outside of an office environment, while offering more face time for projects that often get pushed to the back burner with the everyday routine at the office.
This year we decided to go further away and for longer. After narrowing down our list to Guatemala and Oaxaca we finally decided on Oaxaca because of the opportunity to have a dedicated office space at the Hub, confirmed reliable and fast internet, the weather and the amazing cultural scene that we heard so much about.
The photo above courtesy of Jess, was from a half day exploration we took to Monte Albán just outside the city here. An ancient ruin site dating back to 500 BC. It is moments like these when we are taken out of our routine and reminded of our histroy and humbled by our place in the universe that I find true inspiration.
Sorry we’re so behind on catching up with all the media madness this morning: we were busy putting the finishing touches on our new book!
In all seriousness, imagine our surprise as we got ready for our first working day in Mexico and found the internet (and our inboxes!) abuzz with notifications: writer Paulo Coehlo had posted our Manifesto! Our excitement faltered, however, when we found it was posted without proper credit.
Still, while we are extremely grateful for all those who showed their support on Facebook, we’re also honored that Mr. Coehlo found our words worth sharing! You know what they say: no press is bad press! And who knows, this could be the beginning on an amazing opportunity for collaboration.No hard feelings, everyone. Coehlo has since apologized, and we wholeheartedly accept.
Wow just arrived in mexico and loaded up my email what a storm haha. I must say that being plagiarized by an author whose (own) writings i thoroughly enjoy is some how very flattering haha. we just posted a quick response
Book Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
This morning I finished reading Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. I loved it. The characters, the setting, the plot and the above all the dialogue Reading Harry’s paradoxical epigrams and seeing Dorian adopt the style.
The story itself seemed to grab pieces from other great dramatic works, most notably Faust. Though some of the the characters and the langauge seemed to come right from Wilde’s experiences. Wilde himself part of the aesthetic movement induldged in decadence of speech and appearance in his own life, similar to Dorian and Harry.
It was an engaging and fun read, full of Wilde’s classic one liners. I recommend it.
