If you’re looking for a job, EWU has an opening for a GetLit! Festival Program Coordinator. You’ll need a bachelor’s degree, of course—because clearly you can’t coordinate a festival without having attended four-plus years of college (for which EWU, one of the more affordable options, charges over $6,000 a year for tuition alone).

Oh, and your degree can be in “any field.” Like, say, dental hygiene. Or gender studies. Or music.

I thought of this as I read an exchange between an adjunct philosophy instructor in New York and a person who writes college papers for money.

I think that the system, grading in general, grading as a gold standard of employability, college as the necessary step between high school and employment, all of these things alone aren’t necessarily wrong. But when you get them all together in this network, and college is going to define your future…you need that paper that says, “Diploma,” which means you need to pass. That’s all that matters.

By the way, the University of Washington will be raising tuition 20% next year.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

I’d have bet money that Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” would easily destroy the competition, but apparently science has confirmed that the most annoying sound ever is…whining. Remarkably, the Boys from New Jersey couldn’t even crack the top 10.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

Johann Hari has some thoughts on e-readers that we hadn’t considered in our June 14 post.

He’s not opposed to e-books in principal. But the more they’re capable of doing, he says, the less they’re able to preserve those aspects of dead-tree books that we actually need.

“The object needs to remain dull,” Hari writes, “so the words – offering you the most electric sensation of all: insight into another person’s internal life – can sing.”

Sounds downright reactionary.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

Just a couple of days ago, I wrote about my daughter Haley’s quest to get into a prestigious design school and some of the entrance challenges facing aspiring designers these days—as compared to my own experience back in the Dark Ages. I left off with “Drum roll, please…” since her acceptance had not yet been determined.

Today, she received the final answer: “Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the UW Division of Design.”

posted by: CK Anderson  |  category: the design life  |  comments(2)

Life was really simpler when I attended college.

I remember casually taking the SAT test one Saturday in high school, but I couldn’t possibly tell you the results (nor do I want to know). These days, GPA, SAT/ACT scores, AP courses – not to mention how much you help the poor – are all measures pored over by college admissions.

What happened to the days when attending design school was simply a matter of enrolling? As if a diploma and filling out a registration form didn’t demonstrate a real passion for a life-long career.

For my oldest daughter, Haley, who also has an interest in my profession, it’s something like being a contestant on American Idol: do or die. This past Tuesday, she attended an all-day tryout for future graphic designers (or, as it’s called these days, “visual communication design”) at the University of Washington.

Over 130 kids where there, vying for 42 spots. Bring your portfolio, they were told. Demonstrate your creative thinking with two live assignments that would make most professionals more than a little nervous, and make sure your resume and a letter of intention are free from typos.

A week will pass before Haley knows whether the design professors are more like Simon Cowell or Jennifer Lopez. And since they only encourage freshman to apply, don’t bother applying next year if you don’t make it. You only get one chance.

Jeez. And I thought some of my professors were tough when their critique was less than enthusiastic about one of my lame design solutions.

Nothing to do now but wait. Drum roll, please…

posted by: CK Anderson  |  category: the design life  |  comments(1)

To this list of the five reasons why e-books “aren’t there yet,” I—AMD’s resident Luddite, apparently—would add a sixth: they’re lame.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  comments(6)

A new study confirms what I’ve long suspected: left-handed people are no more likely to be gifted than their right-handed counterparts. One could even go so far as to suggest that left-handedness is an indication of cognitive impairment.

But I won’t.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

Eddie Vedder’s new album of ukulele songs—called, um, Ukulele Songs—is 35 minutes of awesome. No, really. Check it out:

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment