mid-week reading :

on the nature of creative culture ... 

"people are secretive with ideas. 'Don't tell them that, they'll take credit for it.' The problems with hoarding is you end up living off your reserves. Eventually you'll become stale.  If you give away everything you have, you are left with nothing. This forces you to look, to be aware, to replenish. Somehow the more you give away the more comes back to you. Ideas are open knowledge. Don't claim ownership. They're not your ideas anyway, they're someone else's."
- Paul Arden, It's Not How Good You Are (on Lifehacker via Anna Allen)

•  . GeekSugar has a great article to educate about the impact of SOPA
• . Chuck Palahniuk said in Invisible Monsters "Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I've ever known."
• . a print by Mark Malazarte of the "nothing is original" Jim Jarmusch quote
• . Austin Kleon's inspiring advice on how to How to Steal Like an Artist. My favorite :

"An artist is a collector. Not a hoarder, mind you, there’s a difference: hoarders collect indiscriminately, the artist collects selectively. They only collect things that they really love. There’s an economic theory out there that if you take the incomes of your five closest friends and average them, the resulting number will be pretty close to your own income. I think the same thing is true of our idea incomes. You’re only going to be as good as the stuff you surround yourself with."

• . This does not mean be a plagiarist! If it's a question of credit, read Chelsea Fuss on proper photo sharing etiquette.  
• . Creative Commons, an organization for the culture of sharing.  
• . and speak out! sign Google's petition

One of the best pieces of advice my dad ever gave me is :

 lose your 'mine' mentality

He was talking about greed and consumerism, but I've adopted it as my creative motto.

[ (photo) on film with Nikon n2000 at Portland's Little Bird]