2014

My favourite story about Einstein is the one where he and a colleague are trying to find a paperclip to hold the pages together of a report they’ve been working on. They find a paperclip in a drawer, but it’s all bent out of shape, so they set about trying to find a tool to fix it.

In a draw lower down, the colleague finds a box full of paperclips. Einstein takes one out of the box, straightens it out and uses it to fix the original paperclip. He colleague says, “Einstein, what are you doing? There’s a whole box of new paperclips.”

“When start I a task,” replies Einstein, absentmindedly, “I like to see it through to a conclusion.”

I like the story, because it demonstrates two things. One, it demonstrates how obsessive and dedicated one has to be to be at the top of one’s particular field. It also demonstrates that even the brightest men and women in history can be a bit thick sometimes.

This year I’m going to try and post something new to this blog every day. In the past I've used the blog as a place to post stories, articles and essays and so in 2014 I’m going to try and write a steady stream of new pieces of writing, pushing myself as much as possible. That might sound a bit thick, but it also demonstrates the level of obsession that I need to start demonstrating to not merely good at what I do but an expert. That’s what I’m doing this year and I think this should be the year for all of us of getting shit done. My motto this year, Get it done.

Coming up in the next few weeks and months, invented news, Deep Space Nine, Blue Metal Jazz, on the hating of adverts and the electronic afterlife. There will also be far, far too much about James Joyce, for which I can only apologise in advance. There will be some filler, I’m sure, when I’m mired in some larger project, but I’ll try to keep the standard as high as possible.

Welcome to 2014 (please mind your head).

Get it done.