Love it. A stack of paper magazines is not always an attention-grabber, but to your credit, I got sucked into the story!
You're totally right that the UNstructured nature of the experience was crucial. YOU got to roam free through the way the adult world thought... or wanted you to think they thought!
For me, the "marketing a-ha" moment occurred when a McDonald's opened down the street. It made me think, how did they decide to put this here? Why this brand on this corner? (It was Middle America in the 70s, people!)
At the time I was reading "News from Nowhere", the story of how TV news got CREATED -- it didn't just HAPPEN! Wow - that was a revelation to me. It woke me up to the active process that created action... which is what we were part of for the last few decades.
And yes, it was a nerdy topic for a nerdy kid. Let's just say I wasn't wasting my sports talent on, well, sports!
Great essay Mark. I love the reflective nature of how you came to acquire some of your attributes. With time comes wisdom and with wisdom comes- in my opinion- a responsibility to educate the next generation..:) Keep it going!
As the daughter of two teachers, I also grew up surrounded by print media. TV was not regularly allowed (except the PBS Newshour, Wild Kingdom, and Met games). Our magazine list was very much the same - plus The Atlantic, National Geographic, The New Republic, The Nation, the NY Review of Books, sans Playboy and Cosmo (that is, until my brothers and I were old enough to take our babysitting and lawn mowing money and buy them ourselves).
All three of us have similar brains to yours - too many computer tabs always open, researching random things, grinding over current events. I never put two and two together regarding the magazines but I bet you're right!
Love it. A stack of paper magazines is not always an attention-grabber, but to your credit, I got sucked into the story!
You're totally right that the UNstructured nature of the experience was crucial. YOU got to roam free through the way the adult world thought... or wanted you to think they thought!
For me, the "marketing a-ha" moment occurred when a McDonald's opened down the street. It made me think, how did they decide to put this here? Why this brand on this corner? (It was Middle America in the 70s, people!)
At the time I was reading "News from Nowhere", the story of how TV news got CREATED -- it didn't just HAPPEN! Wow - that was a revelation to me. It woke me up to the active process that created action... which is what we were part of for the last few decades.
And yes, it was a nerdy topic for a nerdy kid. Let's just say I wasn't wasting my sports talent on, well, sports!
Great essay Mark. I love the reflective nature of how you came to acquire some of your attributes. With time comes wisdom and with wisdom comes- in my opinion- a responsibility to educate the next generation..:) Keep it going!
Love this!! Unfortunately for me this was not genetic
Love this!
As the daughter of two teachers, I also grew up surrounded by print media. TV was not regularly allowed (except the PBS Newshour, Wild Kingdom, and Met games). Our magazine list was very much the same - plus The Atlantic, National Geographic, The New Republic, The Nation, the NY Review of Books, sans Playboy and Cosmo (that is, until my brothers and I were old enough to take our babysitting and lawn mowing money and buy them ourselves).
All three of us have similar brains to yours - too many computer tabs always open, researching random things, grinding over current events. I never put two and two together regarding the magazines but I bet you're right!