Morgans Hotels’ Minibar For The Mind- 03.17.11
While minibars are often used to numb/relax the mind ~ and some have stimulating energy boosters and/or “toys” for your pleasure now ~ i love the idea of adding some intellectual stimulation as well. In addition the The School of Life Daily Aphorism cards that Morgans Hotels leave on your pillow each night, they have also come up with the Minibar for the Mind, and what better place to test this than at the gorgeous Redwood Room at The Clift in San Francisco? Inviting a few friends to truly explore the “Conversation Starters” over martinis… before they even sat down, the Daily Aphorism cards got us talking ~ “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” - Douglas Adams & my personal favorite “Between two evils, I always pick the one I haven’t tried before.” - Mae West. Words to live by, no? Inside each set, you’ll find: CONVERSATION STARTERS: A box set of 250 cards featuring questions, quotations and provocations to start tongues wagging. COLLECTED THOUGHTS: A volume of the best columns written by The School of Life’s faculty and friends. READING PRESCRIPTIONS: Two tailor-made reading prescriptions housed in corked test tubes, designed to evoke moods of relaxation or seduction. DREAMS & FEARS NOTEBOOK with WRITER’S BLOCK PENCIL SET: A notebook to write down your dreams and fears, and inspirational pencils to get you going. I think The School of Life and Morgans are on to something here… the universal nature of forcing us to think differently, reassess our surroundings, push boundaries… while not always easy, are fun and freeing and make for passionate discussions, be it with friends or strangers!
So, while i have gone through all 250 cards, and the STACK of daily aphorisms, i tried to pick out my favorite thought provokers to get you going, and even then, i ended up with FAR too many to share in one post. So, on the next page… see pics of some of my favorites, as shot in the candle lit inspiration of the Redwood Room, while sipping a Mandarin Lemongrass Martini (deliciousness!)…
Isn’t the bar just stunning? It glows in its frame, all the shapes and colors of the bottes popping out so beautifully…
You know me… Operation WINDOW Seat all the way!
“Creativity is now as important in education as literacy” - Sir Ken Robinson
Shyness and ageing can be erotic because they show people at their most vulnerable.
If you had enough money to live comfortably without working, would you quit? Forever?
Nothing makes a person more productive than the last minute.
You can’t use your phone and your computer for one whole week. What do you do with your time - and the little gaps between them?
“Anything you think can be held against you.” - Philip K. Dick —- What would happen if we could read each other’s minds?
How do you wear your sexuality?
High achiever or wide achiever? Which is better?
“The woods were my Ritalin.” - Richard Louv —- Are children today suffering from Nature Deficit Disorder?
And after all that inspiration mixed with a drink or two… the thoughts provoked are sure to influence your dreams as you slip into bed… the Dreams & Fears notebook is just what you need bedside to keep track of what you come up with! (And thank goodness for a lack of lines… far more fun for sketching and free form note taking!)
And a few more just for fun:
What have you created today?
The main effect of the internet is to boost the already unhelpfully strong sense that the answers are ‘out there’ rather than within.
“The future masters of technology will have to be light-hearted and intelligent. The machine easily masters the grim and the dumb.” - Marshall McLuhan
We yearn for difference, change and new experiences, so we travel, but the one thing we can never escape is ourselves.
The word ‘boredom’ did not appear in English until the mid-eighteenth century. Boredom is a modern malaise.
“I want to celebrate the hobby.” - Grayson Perry —- What’s your hobby?
Find your own Minibar for the Mind here…
