One thing that can be frustrating about running a brand is that there’s never a shortage of folks looking for handouts. You’d be surprised to hear some of the pitches I’ve gotten from people who apparently like Linty Fresh stuff a lot, but not enough to pay for it…
The most common is a request for sponsorship. A band, athlete, or performing artist will come along and ask for a boxfull of free Linty Fresh swag in exchange for “exposure”. What is exposure anyway? Could anything be more vague? And when did exposure become such an automatic booster of sales? I had one of my shirts on TV once, viewed by millions, but can’t be sure it even resulted in a single sold shirt.
My point isn’t to discourage sponsorships, though. When done right, they can be beneficial to both sides. But it’s got to be a symbiotic relationship, and not parasitic. The sponsored party has to know that more is involved than just wearing the items around. (This isn’t Nascar.)
Of all the dozens of requests I’ve had for sponsorship, I only ever accepted one of them. That’s probably more conservative than most other brands, but I can tell you what stood out about this particular case. First off, I was approached by a representative of the party (the band’s manager). I was given very specific figures to gauge the band’s popularity, so that I could be assured I wasn’t just tossing items into a black hole. I was promised specific things too, to show the band was indeed getting by brand the promised “exposure”.
So my point is this: if you’re reading this thinking you qualify for a sponsorship, get your numbers together and come up with a plan before approaching the sponsor. If you were them, would you give yourself a sponsorship?
For the last 4 days I’ve been laid up in bed with a nasty 感冒 (ganmao, a cold). Normally I don’t bother seeing a doctor when I get sick since it usually passes fairly quickly, but this one’s been a bit more menacing with cold sweats, a soaring fever, back aches, and all sorts of other gross symptoms. So I decided it’d be wise to get it checked out.
My appointment was this morning at 10:00, and I was pleasantly surprised with the whole experience. Before going I was kind of nervous that I’d get some local doctor who wouldn’t understand my explanation of my symptoms and would misdiagnose me, but when I went in I was delighted to find I’d been matched with an American doctor. English ftw! He was kind and efficient and knew exactly what to prescribe.
The best part was the cost. The appointment was $3 USD, and the medication was $2. About the same cost of my journey to and from the hospital by taxi. Amazing!
Shortly after getting back to China this Fall I started writing songs again. In the past 3 months I’ve only written about ten, with another dozen or so incomplete fragments. One of the ten, called “The Beach” was written the week after I arrived. As you may have seen from my Flickr pictures, I’m lucky enough to be in a part of China that has little pollution and sits right on the coast. I grew up in Hawaii, so living so close to the sea is something I’ve really missed. Of course, the difference between here and Hawaii is the climate. Although the two places are comparable in the summer, winters here are pretty cold (we had snow last week), whereas Hawaii will maybe get into the 60’s.
Anyhow, one day I started thinking about what the beach would look like in the snow, and if it would still be a calming and pleasant place to be. That idea sparked this song. It’s a little rough, so my apologies for the out-of-key singing and the low-quality instruments. The drumming was produced by pounding the back of my guitar, and there’s a broom in there too somewhere. I’ll probably do a second version once I can get my roommate to put a violin track over it. In the meantime though, enjoy:
The Beach
(Right click and “Save As” or “Download Link”)
Lyrics: I could never be discouraged by the weather
I could stay here by your side forever
I can feel it getting cold but it’s nothing
Here we are, and it’s snowing at the beach
Here we are, everything in reach
Here we are, shiver in the breeze
Here we are, and we wouldn’t change a thing
The waves are crashin higher and higher
The final coals are giving out in the fire
But you can be warm if you just hold me tighter
Here we are, gazing at the moon
Here we are, the sea will be here soon
Here we are, and I’m humming you a tune
Here we are, everything in bloom
In every interview I’ve participated in, I’m presented with the question “Where does your inspiration come from?”
When the interviewer asks this, I guess they’re expecting a short list of favorite contemporary artists and illustrators. But when I see this question I always end up skipping it and saving it for last, when I’ve had a lot of time to mull over exactly what my latest inspiration is.
The reason is that, for me, I don’t derive much “inspiration” from artists in my field. Don’t misunderstand me: I respect many of these people immensely and am impressed with a lot of their work, but I find myself at a sort of dead end viewing it. For me, it’s like reading the first chapter of a novel and then skipping to the last few pages. I see the goal (the problem to be solved) and the result (communication), but there’s no way for me to access the process. I’m able to appreciate the technique and even learn from it, but there’s no room left for me to communicate with it.
Which is why, 99% of the time, my answer to the interviewer’s question includes things with scarce connection to my work. Because for me, the most powerful strain of inspiration comes from things unrelated to what I’m creating. Because then I can create my own visual. I’m filling in the blanks and writing my own ending.
Anyways, all that having been said, the next time I’m asked that question, I’ll just send back a link to this video:
So last week, my iBook died. It was a second-hand one so I wasn’t expecting it to last forever, but was definitely hoping for a little more time with it. Started shopping around online for the new MacBook, and discovered it wouldn’t be available in China for weeks. Plus there’s a hefty tax on imported electronics. After weighing my options, I decided to make a trip down to Hong Kong to buy one. I needed to make a visa run anyway (my current visa requires me to leave every 3 months).
I flew into Guangzhou, a couple hours north by train from Hong Kong, and early the next morning I hopped over to the train station and rode in. Because the trip was such a short one, I had absolutely no time to take any shots while there. I don’t plan on it being the last trip there, though, so I guarantee pictures for the next one!
On the way back, for some bizarre reason, I discovered flights were outrageous. About $250 for a one-way! (You only buy one-way tickets when flying domestically in China). Appalled, I tried the train station and found that for a mere $35 US I could catch a train home. I stuffed my cash under the glass window at the teller and got my ticket, not thinking to check the duration of the ride.
Departure was 3:30 PM that afternoon. Arrival was 9:00 PM. The next day. Yes, a 30 hour train ride. And I hadn’t bought a sleeper cabin, just a seat. OOOOH GEEZ.
I wasn’t very sociable for the first leg of the journey. I’d been lugging all this crap all around Hong Kong and China, and just wanted to sleep and ignore the cigarette smoke from the other passengers. I kept looking at my watch and wanting to die. I took a nap from 2 AM till 7 AM, when the breakfast cart came by and everyone scrambled for a plate of food.
Rested, I was feeling much better. The smokers had gotten off at one of the stops during the night, and I had new people to talk to in my row. Across the aisle, a few guys were deep into an intense and unrecognizable card game that was attracting other passengers as they milled around the cabin. If there’s one thing I’ve really come to appreciate, understand, and even admire about the Chinese, it’s that they’re a very social people. Take a handful of Americans and stick them in a waiting room and they’ll space themselves apart evenly, each content by themselves. Do the same thing with a bunch of Chinese and they’ll group together in a corner, tell jokes and share food. I’ve tried to figure out why it is that Americans behave so differently in these types of situations. Maybe it’s just the dense population that forces people to interact here in China. The culture is likely a factor too. In any case, I decided to integrate, and the remaining 14 hours were actually really awesome.
Because the train literally went across China, I met people from all over the country. There were farmers, students, businessmen, salesmen, even a preacher. Some were starting a new life up north, others were visiting friends. I talked to as many as I could, refining my ear to differentiate between the different regional accents. 2 ladies I met from the far north taught me a bunch of northern Chinese slang and phrases, and a lot of people on our car leaned in to listen to this foreign kid struggle through it. It was actually a blast.
Later, a young student gave me a history lesson on certain Chinese dynasties, and then explained the use of numerical systems and their origin and effect and world cultures including Babylon, India, and China. I wondered why we never learned any of this stuff back in American schools.
All throughout the journey, salesmen would parade through the cars trying to hawk random items: underwear, toothpaste, toys, herbs and medicines. Surprisingly, they sold a lot. I understood very little of their spiels, partly because of the vocabulary, partly because of the accent, partly because it was shouted at about 100 words a second, and partly because my Chinese still isn’t very good. See a clip of one of his pitches here:
Eventually, 9:00 PM arrived, and the final passengers got off. It was great to breathe fresh air again, though I was welcomed with a foggy and rainy evening. My final battle was still ahead, though.
I think I must’ve been the only foreigner on the train, because as I got off the people selling hotel rooms and toiletries took a special interest in me and even asked one another why a foreigner was on the train. Approaching the row of taxis, the drivers started calling out their typical “Hello! Hello friend!” greetings in English to grab my attention. I stopped and told them where I was going. They gave me a price about twice what it should’ve been, so I kept walking. One of the drivers grabbed my arm and dropped the price by 10 yuan, but it was still too much, so I gave him a little piece of my mind.
“Look!” I said. “Don’t try to cheat me! I’m not stupid and I’m not a visitor. I live here! I know how much it should cost and I’m not going to get in your car unless it’s 30 yuan!”
He looked a little dumbfounded and ashamed. I wasn’t done:
“You have 5 seconds to give me my price, or I’m going to walk, and you’ll make nothing.” I held up my hand and counted, and he just kept looking at me saying,
“It’s not gonna happen! No one will give you that price. You’re crazy.”
When I reached 0 I turned around, walked around the corner, and found another cab. It was exactly 30 yuan.
Unfortunately, not all websites are available here in China, and my old blog host was one of them. Fortunately, I’ve now got my own nifty URL for my blog: Lintyfreshblog.com! So from now on, you can link directly to this site to read the latest. I’ve also got some exciting new web-related things in the works which I’m really stoked on, so stay tuned for that.
Life continues to be an adventure here in China. I can’t tell you how many times I find myself in a situation that leaves me in awe of where I am and what I’m doing. So far from where I grew, in such a foreign envirionment. And yet, it’s invigorating in a way that’s hard to describe.
Example: last week Friday I went with one of my roommates to eat at a little seaside hotpot restaurant. Hotpot is pretty popular here-it’s basically a giant cauldron of boiling water set inside a round table, and clientele take turns dipping in various meats and veggies. Then you add sauces and viola, lunch is served. They have spicy seasonings, peanut butter sauces, etc. It’s awesome. Anyways, we wanted to have some hotpot for lunch.
So we go down to the restaurant and the owner–a young guy probably in his early 30’s–recognizes us since we’ve been there before. He comes out and greets us and tells us to have a seat. By the way, this is a very modest restaurant. No indoor seating. The floor is dirt. We’re right by the ocean, though, so it’s really nice. Anyways, we’re sitting there listening to Chinese opera blaring from these really old, weathered speakers, waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
We’re starting to get a little antsy when we realize an hour has gone by, so we decide to check out the kitchen and make sure they know we’re there to eat. The owner is very apologetic about the wait, but assures us that the food is coming, and that he’s making us something special. We return to the table. About fifteen minutes later the meal arrives, and it’s a small feast.
In case you can’t see clearly from the photo, you’re looking at stir-fried spicy clam and shrimp, potato and pepper shreds, and… sea snails. We’re excited about everything but the snails. We try in vain to avoid them as long as possible and fill up on the other dishes, which are fantastic, but eventually the owner, who’s eating with us, grabs one for each of us and plops them on our plates. Yikes.
He proceeds to explain how to go about eating these things: you take a sharp stick, jab it into the flesh of the snail, and pull it out with a winding motion of your wrist. Oh man. So gross. You can hear the squishy, slurping sound as it comes loose from the shell. And we’re supposed to eat it! I give it my best shot and manage to down approximately 70% of it before my stomach refuses to accept anymore. I politely decline his offer of seconds, but he insists. Round 2. The texture is kind of like biting into someone’s heel, and the flavor isn’t far off. Somehow, I get it down.
But despite the agony of situations like these (which thankfully aren’t frequent), you have to admire the hospitality and selflessness of these people. I tried my best to pay for the meal, but the owner insisted that it was his treat. Just incredible.
Loving it so much here. Each day I keep finding new things to explore and the area I’m in just keeps expanding with new developments. When I was here in the Spring, I usually had to catch a bus downtown if I wanted to do any serious shopping (beyond fruits, veggies, spices, etc). But now there’s a huge mall just a couple of blocks away, so I can just walk now. Love it!
Yesterday was pretty great. A local friend of mine took me to this incredible tea house downtown. The building was like a giant atrium-circular with a massive glass ceiling. Sort of like a huge birdcage. And incidentally, that was kind of the theme of the place-there were bamboo cages all over the place with singing birds and paintings and carvings of birds in all the furniture. There were hundreds of years of history behind it all, too, and my friend proceeded to explain and I proceeded to understand about 10% of it.
My Chinese is very contextual. If I don’t know the subject, I’m way out of my league. It’s coming along, though. It’s fun to eavesdrop on people now.
OK, Linty Fresh stuff. So initially, as you may remember, there were some issues with the tees. Most notably, there was a problem with the collar that made it stand straight up rather than lay flat against the neck. Well, after a bit of deliberation and consulting with the factory, they agreed to re-stitch all of the pieces with adjusted collars. The result is fantastic. Fits like American Apparel but made of better, thicker material, and it’s still super soft to the touch. I’ll be sporting it tomorrow to see how it wears through the day, but I don’t have any major concerns left.
That means two things: cooler weather and new Linty Fresh goodies. I can’t complain much about weather, though. This summer was surprisingly mild for Atlanta’s usually brutal weather, and I got to China just as things were cooling down. I had maybe 2 really nasty and muggy days and then things cleared up beautifully. Right now it’s about 75 degrees with blue skies and pretty clouds (China is 12 hours ahead of the US). Awesome!
Anyways, let’s get down to the releases…
First off, a brand new tee called Rebel Bowels. It comes in a couple of colorways and even has a little print on the back. And if you’re wondering why the stomach has an eye patch, it’s a tribute to International Talk Like Pirate Day, which is coming up on the 19th of this month. Which means this tee is Pirate Approved.
Also new for this month are custom jewelry pieces that come in 5 different colorways. Check the site for all the styles! Each piece will also ship in a special protective tin, too. Get em while they last!
Last up, just wanted to remind everyone about the contest currently running. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m going to reprinting this design in a few months and need to write a poem for it. I thought it’d be cool to let everyone pitch in their ideas for the poem, and give the winner a bunch of free stuff. Specifically, $100 worth of LF goodies. For more details, see the video I did for the contest here.
