Inspiring hope in a cynical world might be the most radical thing you can possibly do.
missing #reedcollege already (Taken with instagram)
Maurice Sendak teaches Stephen Colbert how to draw a pole. Sendak’s drawing (left), true to his signature wit, depicts a Polish woman holding a pole.
Well, kids. Here it is. Our fifth and final present before boarding a plane to Portland in three hours. We humbly offer our profound gratitude. Thank you for making alumni feel useful; thank you for inspring us with your passion, talent and creativity, and pushing us to dig deeper and think harder about what might actually be of service to you; thank you for being so nice and welcoming, and for understanding this project; thank you for your ideas and suggestions that drove and will always drive the work we do. Here’s to many more years of cat gifs, confessional late night posts, and loving Reed.
(PS: please come hang out Saturday at the ampitheatre from 5 - 7 pm and introduce yourselves!)
I was recently invited to participate in poetry class project at Reed College in which a couple students wrote poems in response to work on my website and then I was to make a new work in response to their poems. This is one of the pieces I made, which ended up being a hand lettered reworking of selected words in their poem that resonated with me in the rearrangement I produced. Fun times. (Taken with instagram)
Aw, thanks so much for taking the time to write! The Tumblr learning curve has been steep. But once I started pretending I was 16 years old again things got a bit easier. It is you who is awesome (and also you who will suffer a barrage of Tori Amos and NIN if I take things too far in this direction).
Reedies, you’re probably exhausted, right? Sleep deprived and living off of those mushy vegan burgers in Homer’s Hut and unshowered and saying to yourself, “Ok. I’ll get off Tumblr in just 5 more minutes.” And totally not paying attention to this awesome stuff the Switchboard is throwing your way: parties, Instagram alumni, cold hard cash. It’s cool. But file today’s present in your back pocket: dozens of awesome alumni have offered to host you in cities across the world. It’s like that last scene in Labyrinth:
Sir Didymus: Should you need us…
Hoggle: Yes, should you need us for any reason at all..
And then Sarah says “I need you” and they all dance and freak out. That’s what I’m trying to say the Switchboard is all about. And that is how you should feel when you see this list of places. That alumni are here for you. XO
Every really good creative person…whom I have ever know has always had two noticeable characteristics. First, there was no subject under the sun in which he could not easily get interested-from, say, Egyptian burial customs to modern art. Every facet of life had fascination for him. Second, he was an extensive browser in all sorts of fields of information. For it is with the [creative] man as with the cow: no browsing, no milk.
No browsing, no milk.
And on the third day of finals week, Reed Switchboard gave to me: a party! Stop by the ampitheatre Saturday, May 12 from 5 - 7 PM and introduce yourselves. I mean, perhaps all you emo Tumblr kids would prefer to stay home and not come to our party. But really, come. If only so I can personally thank you for sharing with me a lifetime’s worth of animated GIFS, girls in cute skirts, inspirational quotes, candy, and cats. My god, so many cats.
On the second day of finals week we present to you: Dan Toffey ‘07. He’ll be guest tweeting for us tomorrow (Tuesday 5/8). Dan works at Instagram on the Community Team. Do you know how many queries we get from students interested in social media or working in government? It’s ridic. So now’s your chance. Carpetbomb Dan with questions: “Dan, what do I need to know to get one of these jobs?,” “Dan, how can I build something that sells for a billion dollars?,” “Dan, why are Reedies stupendously qualified to work in social media?,” “Dan, what types of companies should I intern with during the summer so I can get a social media job after graduation?,” “Dan, how do I work for a Senator?,” “Dan, what is the best piece of advice you have for current students?” You can ask questions here, or via twitter at @reedswitchboard. Also, I bet he’d love it if you’d send him Instagram photos from campus.
Dan writes: “I’m a Philadelphia native and Virgo. I graduated in 2007 with a degree in political science. At Reed, did Senate and J-Board, was Paradox barista and founded a dance party organization. I also was editor of the Griffin [Ed. note: if you are on campus, and you’ve seen a sneak peek of this project, you understand how Dan + Griffin + Instagram + Senior Hearts project now makes a lot of sense.]
After graduating, worked for Prof. Gronke before moving to Louisiana to work on a senate campaign. After 2008 election, worked for Prof. Gronke for most of 2009 before moving to DC to work in Senator Landrieu’s press office. A year later, I left for a position at the press office of the CFTC (that would be the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission), and recently made the move to SF to join fellow Reed alumn Josh Riedel ‘07 at Instagram. [Ed. note: you can find both over on the informal offers page.]
Interests include typical bougie things: skiing, coffee, beer, art, bicycling, dogs, etc.”
Welcome aboard, Dan! Reedies: ask away. What do you want to know? Or: photo reply and show us something fantastic on instagram?
That’s right. We’re giving one student $2,000 this summer. Apply by Saturday, May 12. Tell your friends who have some fantastic opportunity but are too broke to pursue it.
6. Read obituaries. They are just like biographies, only shorter. They remind us that interesting, successful people rarely lead orderly, linear lives.
Charles Wheelan on 10 things commencement speakers won’t tell you, to complement some timeless smart things commencement speakers do tell you.
In the early stages of creation of both art and science, everything in the mind is a story.
