The Vine

The rewards of parenthood are many. For me, one of the most peculiar and delightful has been re-immersion into the world Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. The more I read his works to our two young kids, the more I appreciate the simple wisdom contained in them.

This time of year, natch, we spend a lot of time in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. And if you’ll indulge me a bit of mawkish holiday sentimentality, there’s something worth considering here.

Not to get all Naomi Klein on you, but as I reflect on the story of the Grinch—at a time when the ugly consequence of so much greed, consumerism and easy credit is staring us in the face—I can’t help wonder how much of these woes could have been averted, or at least mitigated, by not seeking fulfillment “from a store.”

As the wise Doctor has written:

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?
It came without ribbons. It came without tags.
It came without packages, boxes or bags.
And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.
What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?

May you appreciate the true meaning of the holidays.

See you in the New Year.

McSweeney’s serves up a hilarious, satirical perspective on the economy, foreclosures, bailouts and inflation—through the lens of Monopoly. Here you go.

Hey, if we can’t manage a wry smile in the midst of tumult, what do we have left?

Thanks, Ann, for sharing.

The clever folks at SMITH Magazine—creators of the Six-Word Memoir project—are running a series of “true life webcomix” depicting all that’s wonderful, and all that’s horrible, about the people with whom we share walls or property lines.

Next-Door Neighbor is a collection of illustrated stories from some of today’s most talented artists and writers. New contributions are posted every two weeks.

My personal favorites are here and here.

The stories are by turns whimsical, poignant, heartfelt and distressing (loneliness, loss and vermin are prevailing themes). But there’s more here than just artistic diversion…these kinds of deeply personal and unguarded reflections reveal more about human longing than market research ever will.

In his talk at Vine 06, Arnold Wasserman surveyed the room and asked why we’re not all playing The Sims as an exercise in ethnography. He wasn’t being flip. His point was that you don’t have to be IDEO to discern meaning from human behavior. It’s all around you. Just look closely.

So check out the comics. And the Six-Word Memoirs. Listen to the voices inside the stories. You might be surprised at what you learn.

16 minutes…and well worth it. Fun and playful, with a powerful underlying truth about the effects of human connection.

Thanks, Christine, for bringing it to our attention.