Quotations Weblog

I wrote about the CBS TV show Criminal Minds a while ago. While it’s still not the best show on TV, it has improved a bit, and they still include quotations in the narration on a regular basis. I’ve received several emails asking about quotations on previous episodes, so I’ve collected them as I watched. Here’s the second batch of quotations featured on the show, from approximately episodes 7 to 11:

Criminal Minds airs Wednesdays at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific on CBS. The next episode is tonight. Tune in next Wednesday for another batch of quotations from the show. (See part one for the first batch.)

CNN and Time Magazine have declared that kids are too plugged in for their own good.

• CNN.com – Are kids too plugged in? – Mar 20, 2006

I’m sorry to disagree, but the “experts” are WRONG.

They are worried about children who are multi-tasking. They are worried about children who spend too much time with technology and not enough time with people. They are worried without remembering or even analyzing what children did in the past.

I remember what it was like to be a teenager. I could sit in a room and be somewhere else entirely. I didn’t need an iPod or Nintendo DS to do it, either. I escaped from the “real” world so often that I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone had accused me of zoning out, but the sad truth is that grownups just don’t notice. I guess if you have earbuds in your ears, it’s easier for adults to notice when a child is zoning out.

Kids today aren’t zoning out or participating in “absent presence” any more than they did years ago. The earbuds just make it more obvious.

I have returned from the most intellectually invigorating experience I’ve had since my ninth grade treacher Mr. Godfrey opened my mind. Mike and I were at the SXSW (South by Southwest) Conference last week. It’s a huge music festival with a smaller film and interactive festival. I attended the interactive festival and I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same afterward.

What does CNN have to say about something that I truly feel will alter history just as the group of Impressionist artists that gathered in Paris did?

Almost nothing…

• CNN.com – Smiths rejected $5 million reunion offer – Mar 17, 2006

This story from CNN is about Morrissey’s revelation that he rejected an offer to reunite The Smiths. That’s it. There is no coverage for festival beyond that. All the revolutionary things that I learned last week have been completely ignored by the mainstream media.

What does that tell me?

Well, if that is true, then I understand why they didn’t cover SXSW. It is ANYTHING but easy to cover. I am having the same problem as they would have. How can I describe such an experience? All I’ve been able to do is collect the quotations that my busy fingers typed during the sessions.

If you are interesting in seeing the innovative ideas that filled the air at SXSW, download the podcasts and videos and see for yourself:

• south by southwest festivals + conferences – 2006 Coverage

CNN might have ignored them, but we no longer depend on the major media outlets to document our history. The folks at SXSW have done an excellent job of covering their own news. No CNN required…

Mike and I were lucky enough to attend the SXSW Conference in Austin, Texas. I have been diligently typing in all the inspirational and moving quotations that I heard while I was there. Here are a few to get you interested:

Dave Kellet is the author of Sheldon Comics.

Jimmy Wales is the founder of Wikipedia, a non-profit online encyclopedia.

Lisa Williams is the author of Learning the Lessons of Nixon and H2otown.

Heather Armstrong is the author of Dooce.

Jason Fried is the founder of 37 Signals.

Jim Coudal is the founder of Coudal Partners.

With over eight pages of quotations added to our collection, I can’t post all of them here. If you would like to see all of the SXSW 2006 quotations, click here:

• SXSW 2006 Quotations – The Quotations Page

When I was a real estate agent, I read every sales book I could get my hands on, from Napoleon Hill to Zig Ziglar. I avoided Og Mandino’s book, “The Greatest Salesman in the World” because I thought it was too Christian for my taste. Sadly, because of this, I missed out on some of the greatest inspirational writings.

For all of Og Mandino’s quotations, see here:

Og Mandino Quotes – The Quotations Page

For a biography of Og Mandino:

Og Mandino – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Og Mandino – Greatest Salesman Home Page