Month: May 2012

We’re going to fast-forward a bit through the Medici Popes (they had a LOT of issues, not the least of which was that Martin Luther took issue with them selling indulgences). In fact, we’re going to jump all the way to the middle of the 1500s (or there-abouts). The Medicis had pretty much been kicked… Continue reading Social Medici – Lesson 4: Dare them to call you underdog

As we talked about in the last post in this series, Lorenzo the Magnificent had a pretty sad ending to his life, thanks in part to a kind of crazy guy named Girolamo Savonarola. Savonarola was a Dominican priest who came to Florence and swiftly became deeply disenchanted with Florentine society. Much of this bad feeling… Continue reading Social Medici – Lesson 3: Beware of the Counter-Revolution

No, Mark Zuckerberg is not a Medici, at least so far as I can tell. Although that would be kind of interesting historically speaking. Factually, the Medicis built a lot of their early wealth, power, and fame on the foundation of knowing how to make people happy. Not coincidentally, they also tended to lose a… Continue reading Social Medici – Lesson 2: The Social Network

This week we’re going to be playing it like MC Escher. We’re going to do a series within a series. I know. It’s unthinkable. It’s like crossing the streams from Ghost Busters. But I just can’t help it, gosh darn it. The series, as you might have garnered from the title, is going to focus… Continue reading Social Medici – Lesson 1: Be Humble

Even if you do your best to avoid art and history, it’s hard to avoid the legacy of Michelangelo. Heck, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made sure of that. You’ve probably seen Michelangelo’s Statue of David, maybe his Pietá, and maybe his Sistine Chapel. As a side note, when I was in high school one… Continue reading Don’t be a social media Michelangelo

Joan of Arc, much like Hildegard whom we talked about earlier in this series, was a woman of immense talent during a time when such things were rather hard for guys to wrap their heads around. She was born a poor peasant girl, uneducated, headed for a rather non-extraordinary life. If you know your history,… Continue reading You need to blog like Joan of Arc