New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.

Hamilton Wright Mabie

Time is an illusory concept. We all know that, and many people use it as a reason to brush off the significance of the 31st of December of any given year. But I think New Year’s eve is important simply because, like the quote above suggests, it’s the one day when most of us become fully aware of the passage of time. At no other point in the year are we as mindful of the present moment as we are when the countdown begins. New Year’s eve is a much-needed motivational tool: it shakes us up, makes us think about where we’ve been and where we’re going. And as much as I hate the anti-climactic, over-priced bullshit that the rest of the night usually entails, I can certainly be grateful for that.

Happy New Year.

Remember when I said I didn’t like end of year/decade ‘Best Of’ lists? Well, I guess I was lying to you – and myself – because I’ve found another such compilation I wanted to share: Interview magazine’s ‘Twenty Most Beautiful People of The Decade’. Not exactly the most meaningful way of looking back at the last ten years, but then who doesn’t like looking at photos of people who are like, really, really, ridiculously good looking? (Name that film.)

If you’re not familiar with Interview magazine then I definitely suggest picking up a copy next time you’re at a store that sells international publications (although fuck knows where that will be now Borders has closed down. RIP.) If was started by Andy Warhol in 1969 and its format is basically just famous-person-interviewed-by-famous-person Q&As, accompanied by beautiful and artistic photography. Celebrity voyeurism on a hundred, thousand, trillion.

More photos and a link to the full feature after the jump.

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Miss Christmas Tree, 1951

Hope you have a happy and blessed day, wherever and however you choose to spend it.

Back in May 2007, when I was at the tender age of 19, I took myself to New York City, rented an apartment in the East Village, hooked up an internship at TRACE magazine and had what could be described, without exaggeration, as the time of my life. One of the best things to come out of that period were the friendships I forged with various people in New York, including writer Devin “Pan” Barrett.

Pan just sent me over this short clip he did with Tone and I’m posting it because not only is it beautifully shot (as is all of Tone’s work) but because what he says in the clip really resonates with me. Like Pan, I have no formal journalistic training. I didn’t even study English beyond GCSE level. So I’d say that, similarly to him, any writing ability I may have is the result of years spent reading and studying literally thousands of magazines. Subconsciously I’ve absorbed the style and structure of a million different journalists, so that when it came to writing my own first piece of editorial I somehow just ‘knew’ how to do it.

That’s not to say that I’m anywhere near the level of expertise or ability that I’d like to reach – I’m years away from being the kind of writer I want to be.  But it’s still important to remember that, if you have even a vague aptitude for something, your initial, tentative attempts at becoming good at it always begin with simply looking to people you admire and emulating what they’ve done. The first step of your path is always the last step of someone else’s.

It’s like Nas said:

“No idea’s original, there’s nothin’ new under the sun/It’s never what you do, but how it’s done.”

Gifts bought and wrapped. Tree up and decorated. Hello Kitty chocolate advent calendar steadily being worked through (my Mum bought it – allow me!) All this and I’m still yet to feel ‘Christmassy’. Not that I ever really feel Christmassy. I think that’s partly to do with being an only child from a small family and partly to do with the fact that I lean on the side of world-weary cynicism. Honestly, I’m just looking forward to a chance to regroup after an extremely hectic year, and to prepare myself for an even more manic 2010.

Anyway, I’ve actually resorted to downloading Phil Spector’s ‘A Christmas Gift For You’ in an attempt to generate some kind of festive cheer. If listening to The Ronettes singing about sleigh rides doesn’t work, then basically nothing will…

I’ve thought about deleting my Twitter account on numerous occasions and each time I’ve been stopped by the thought that, if I didn’t have one, I would really struggle to promote this blog and my other ‘professional ventures’. Most people I know who are trying to advertise their clothing brand/presenting skills/DJing ability/writing prowess etc., utilise the Internet, and particularly social networking sites, in order to advertise themselves. And why not? It’s free, it’s quick and it seems to be pretty effective.

Similarly, nearly all big brands now use the internet as a primary marketing tool. There seems to be a growing (and quite frankly, disturbing) social consensus that, as a company or an individual, if you’re not proving your existence to the world with Tweets, Facebook updates and blogs, then you basically cease to exist. So it’s interesting to read that Apple, a company that is ‘without a doubt the consummate innovator of the new media era’ doesn’t do any of the above. Apple doesn’t Tweet. Apple doesn’t blog. Apple doesn’t really ‘do’ Facebook. Apple doesn’t actively seek customer feedback. Apple has minimal presence in terms of internet adverstising. And yet Apple has the highest brand loyalty of any computer manufacturer in the world.

When I deleted my Facebook account back in April, I was surprised (given how much fucking time I wasted on there) by how little my  life was affected by its absence. Now I’m wondering if the same premise could be applied to all forms of social and professional networking. Yes, I know I’m a bit weird to use the marketing strategies of multi-billion dollar, multinational corporation as an analogy for my own life, but this article made me think that perhaps having no internet presence beyond this blog might not be as bad as I’ve envisioned. Maybe it might just make things…better?

Article via The Hundreds (but of course)