Dresden Sketch

This is a 1 hour sketch, original picture by The Apple Scientist called Rainy Dresden. Good fast one. Sort of used the same approach to drawing as I did for Rue de Orfevres. Just on A4 paper using a regular mechanical lead pencil. Did not erase anything at all for this, completed in one attempt. I am getting more comfortable with this style now.

The Tipping Point

by Malcolm Gladwell

Short description from wikipedia.

Gladwell defines a tipping point as "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point."^[1] The book seeks to explain and describe the "mysterious" sociological changes that mark everyday life. As Gladwell states, "Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do."^[2] The examples of such changes in his book include the rise in popularity and sales of Hush Puppies shoes in the mid-1990s and the precipitous drop in the New York City crime rate after 1990.

This again is a great book by Gladwell, though I personally like Outliers the best because it is the most personal. This is more of broad strokes of social behavior. But still it is a wonderfully insightful read on what causes a tipping point to occur. In all, I think it presents great ideas, though I believe it is subject to quite a bit of reasoning and one can argue one way or another whether these hypothesis are true or not. A great thing with Gladwell is he forms his arguments in a very comprehensible way, keeping one engaged. So even though you may not necessarily agree with what is said, you would at least stick around to find out what he's on about.. 

The Curtain and Window

Once there was a curtain. He was very proud of himself because he felt his role so important. He said so to the window, "Look, see. I have colour and sway in the wind when you are left open. I have such grace and culture. What have you, dear window, you are but opaque panes of glass. No one notices you, you are transparent."

The window replied, "Indeed that is the case. But people will look through me and they will never look at you. Who ever heard of looking at curtains to being something of any value?"

This sort of bickering went on for a long time, the back and forth going on for weeks, months, then years. Then one day the old curtain having been hung for more that 10 years was losing colour and getting tattered. The old curtain was thus replaced by a new one. Its colour even more vibrant that the old curtain.

The new curtain said to the window, "Dear old window, see how beautiful I am. My colour reflect the colour of the sun and I serve such fine purpose as to block out the sun when it is too bright, or let the sun in when our master wishes it."

The window replied in turn as he had with the previous curtain and also added, "Think about the old curtain having been replaced. One day you will be replaced too."

With that the curtain was silent. But that evening, while the children were playing in the street, a baseball went astray and crashed through the window and shattered it into pieces.

Moral of the story: All things are replacable.