by Paul Halley | 2024 | THOUGHTS
Apple’s Crush! ad for the iPad is so destructive.
Aside from the ad’s blatant disregard for human instruments of creativity, knowledge, and art, it also opposes the brand’s supposed commitment to sustainability and environmentalism.
“Let’s just crush, destroy and dispose of all these needless objects. Don’t worry – we’ll recycle our technology though!”
That’s all I heard.
I would have loved to see an ad that boasts iPad’s creative power while showcasing what iPad users could do with books, musical instruments, art supplies, and toys if they no longer need them. That would have brought in a nice vibe of corporate social responsibility.
But no, Apple thinks we should destroy all of these items instead.
l’d love to see a Part 2 of this ad that shows what the company did with all the items they destroyed. Or was this ad created by Al?
Let me also just say that the items destroyed in this ad have something very important that no iPad could ever have – sentimental value. The guitar given to you by your dad. The painting that’s been hanging in your living room for thirty years. The pencil given to you by your favorite teacher. The book you took out from a Little Free Library. The toys you used to play with when you were a kid. Nothing could replace those items. Not even an iPad.
by Paul Halley | 2024 | THOUGHTS
Taylor's lyrics provoked a visually intimate sense of heartbreak, longing and loss for the generative AI image tool on the Photoleap App. Styles used so far include Analog, Film Still, Sketch, Abstract, and more. All links on this page will bring you to Spotify. (Updated 4/19/2024).
And I love you, it’s ruining my life. I love you, it’s ruining my life. I touched you for only a fortnight. I touched you, but I touched you.
Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)
Tell me something awful, like you are a poet.
I Hate It Here
I feel so high school every time I look at you. I wanna find you in a crowd just to hide from you.
So High School
You left your typewriter at my apartment, straight from the tortured poets department. I think some things I never say, like, “Who uses typewriters anyway?”
The Tortured Poets Department
Lookin' backwards Might be the only way to move forward
The Manuscript
Just a brink in a wrinkle of time.
So High School
I laughed in your face and said, “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith. This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’rе modern idiots”
The Tortured Poets Department
Beauty is a beast that roars down on all fours demanding more.
Clara Bow
You look like Stevie Nicks / In '75, the hair and lips / Crowd goes wild at her fingertips / Half moonshine, a full еclipse
Clara Bow
When I picture my hometown, there’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you. And a plaque underneath it that threatens to push me down the stairs, at our school.
thanK you aIMee
Are you still a mind reader? A natural scene stealer? I’ve heard great things, Peter. But life was always easier on you than it was on me.
Peter
My friends used to play a game where we would pick a decade. We wished we could live in instead of this.
I Hate It Here
Promise to be dazzling
Clara Bow
I saw in my mind ferry lights through the mist. I kept calm and carried the weight of the rift. Pulled him in tighter each time he was drifting away.
So Long, London
by Paul Halley | 2024 | THOUGHTS
Paul-isms: Things I think about before I go to bed…
- It’s more fun to be curious about what other people do differently than it is to be judgmental.
- Try listening to someone you completely disagree with without speaking or reacting. Ask questions after they speak. There might be a nugget of truth in something they said.
- Memes are like cultural genes: they carry information that determine the traits of our society.
- Most of the time, “I’m sorry” can be replaced with “thank you.”
- When you call a long distance friend or relative, ask about their news before you share yours.
- It is a great feeling to be able to say you did something you never thought you could do; it feels even better to be able to say, ”Now I can do that again.
- Don’t ever reject the blessings that come to you just because you think you don’t deserve them.
- There is a certain kind of ease that comes with being alone.
- Content is king. Knowledge is power. Wisdom is the entire royal castle.
by Paul Halley | 2024 | THOUGHTS
You don’t receive love by trying to attract it. It doesn’t come with a new outfit, a new haircut, a new fancy job or car, a revision to the text you were about to send, or a selfie posted to your social media. If you keep thinking that way, you’re going to start thinking poorly of your outfit, your hair, your job, your car, your words, and your photos when love doesn’t arrive from that effort.
You receive love by *being* the love want to receive. You receive love by opening your heart up and giving out the love you have to everyone who crosses your path. To the homeless person who needs a cigarette, to your neighbor who needs a helping hand, to your coworker who needs instructions, to your friends who need a listening ear, to your family who needs your commitment. They all need your love. So give it away and it will return in abundance.
by Paul Halley | 2024 | THOUGHTS
“Red” (2012/2021) — This is my favorite Taylor Swift song. It shows us the emotional roller coaster of love and loss, like many of her songs do so well. But this song takes it a step further by illustrating how some parts of that roller coaster are so intimate and so vulnerable, that sometimes we need to stretch the bounds of language to express what we feel, and what we went through.
The lines in “Red” compare the unique experiences she had with “him” (touching, fighting, forgetting, etc.) to other somewhat-universal experiences that fans can visualize and latch onto (like “realizing all you ever wanted was right there in front of you”).
But there are other experiences with “him” that are more difficult to describe, and the lyrics prove that to us. More liminal experiences like “losing” and
“missing.” So Taylor uses color and metaphor to represent these particular experiences and feelings.
Taylor could’ve easily wrote “Losing him was like drowning in the vast blue ocean.” But instead she wrote, “Losing him was blue.” She could’ve easily wrote “Missing him was like a dark gray night, all alone.” But instead she wrote, “Losing him was dark gray.” She could’ve easily said “Loving him was like the bloom of a red, red rose.” But instead she wrote, “Loving him was red.”
This song reminds me of a day at work when I was substitute teaching elementary school. I asked the kiddos to tell me how they were feeling using a color and to explain why they chose that color. They all told me that the color they chose reminded them of how they felt. None of it made logical sense because we don’t feel colors, and emotions don’t come in a Crayloa box. But somehow, all the kids understood each other that day.
Taylor has a way of resonating with her fans that sometimes doesn’t make sense. Her writing is so personal and so vulnerable, how could anyone relate? Yet her music and her writing resonates with millions of fans spanning across generations, for 10 whole albums (so far!).
