So, I gave an abbreviated version of my “How to Do Stuff and Be Happy” talk to the students in my Professional Communication Skills class at UT-Austin, and one of them recorded it for me. It’s dark and grainy and I’m cranking through it pretty fast, but maybe you can get the idea [runtime: 26:56].

How to Do Stuff and Be Happy from Roy Christopher on Vimeo.
[Special thanks to Marcus Johnston for running the camera.]

I just scribbled this little piece over on my bike site, HEADTUBE. Here’s an excerpt:
I was walking to class today, and I was almost mowed down by a guy on a fixed-gear. I was crossing a street, in the crosswalk, where I clearly had the right of way, but he rang his bell and blew by right in front of me, running the stop sign on the corner. I’d already been conceiving this post in my head and that was the last straw. Being a frequent rider of bikes on …

Hilton Head, South Carolina’s own Raise Small Business Marketing did a brief summary and write-up of my “How to Do Stuff and Be Happy” talk from Geekend 2010. Here’s the run-down:
I was excited for this session, mainly because doing stuff and being happy are two major challenges!  Roy Christopher gave a laid back presentation that basically went through some ideas on how to keep your focus and try and stay happy while actually getting things done.
Roy covers a lot of the information that was in his presentation …

With the passing of Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson today, we lost a prolifically creative soul.

Christopherson is probably best known as a pioneer of industrial music. He explored confrontation and sound with such germinal outfits as Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, and Coil. He directed commercials and music videos (including most of Rage Against the Machine’s best ones, a few for Ministry, Van Halen, and Yes‘s chart-topping “Owner of a Lonely Heart”) and was also the designer of some of the most memorable album covers in music history. Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were …

In my “How To Do Stuff and Be Happy” talk, I tell people that everyone should have one “head-clearing activity.” Let me explain that by example. My friend Ben Hiltzheimer used to ride motorcycles. When he started learning how, he said that you can’t think about anything else while you’re negotiating the streets and traffic because all you’re thinking about is not dying. I have equated this experience to learning to ride a fixed-gear bicycle.
I started rock climbing a little over ten years ago, and since there’s a wall on …

I scarcely know where to start. Geekend is the beautifully geeky brainchild of Sloane Kelly, Jacob Hodesh, and Miriam Hodesh. 2010 marks the second annual meeting of what everyone familiar hopes will be many years of the interactive conference. It has just the right balance of size and intensity.
I didn’t get to Savannah until late on Day 2, so I roamed around downtown by myself Friday night. I stepped into a raucous karaoke session and had the biggest beer I’ve ever seen. No problem not finishing it because in Savannah, …

I guess it’s logical that the older you get, the more the music you grew up listening to is likely to end up in the last place you’d expect. Gang of Four’s “Natural’s Not In It” in Microsoft’s official Xbox Kinect televison campaign. Good friend and ex-bass player Dave Allen seems summarily nonplussed. [runtime: 0:32]

Longtime BMX homie and amazing photographer Sandy Carson has a show on display here in Austin at Okay Mountain Gallery. The opening on October 23rd was a bicycle scene reunion. We all gawked at Sandy’s photos, and geeked out on bikes, parks, and trails. A good time was had by all.

Here’s what the Okay Mountain site says about the show:
“Paradise Has Relocated” attempts to capture the lifeless remains and emptiness of a once thriving and historic island devastated by Hurricane Ike in September …

My friend and colleague Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky will be speaking/remixing in the Texas Union Ballroom at The University of Texas in Austin next Tuesday, October 12th at 6pm.

Here’s the copy from the UT website:
Paul D. Miller/ DJ Spooky will explore the overall theme of sound in contemporary art, digital media, and composition. Miller reconstructs the history of sound and recorded media by several of the most well known artists of their field – ranging from Brian Eno, Steve Reich, Moby, Chuck D, and Pierre Boulez, to artists, …

This is the Prezi from my guest lecture this week at the University of Illinois Chicago. Use your arrow keys to flip through or go full-screen for best results.

The post I did on How To Do Stuff and Be Happy provides some context. Enjoy!