Before I Die...

http://candychang.com/before-i-die-in-nola/

by Dysiode • 15 years ago

449 70 15 years ago

gcr• 15 years ago

This is exactly the kind of thing my art professor would love. Interesting!

corin_5• 15 years ago

Photo #5 shows a man writing "tried for pi" and I badly wanted to know what the ending was. Hilarious that it was "tried for piracey" (as shown in #9), given he is genuinely dressed as a pirate.

Awesome overall idea, too.

gpambrozio• 15 years ago

Pillaging. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=pillaging

corin_5• 15 years ago

I'm not seeing the relevance of your having looked up a word in a dictionary...

blhack2• 15 years ago

If it makes you feel better, that's what I thought it said too.

Also: Shame on you HN. This person not only answered the question (in a way that they thought was truthful, oops, they were wrong), but linked to a definition of the word.

Now they're at -9 karma overall (their user). Anybody who downvoted this or the comment below it: you probably shouldn't ever complain about HN turning into reddit.

spencerfry• 15 years ago

This is genius. Need this in every city.

nodoubt• 15 years ago

I agree, this is genius.

sagarun2• 15 years ago

I want to post this in my facebook page, tag all my friends and ask "what do you wanna do before you die?". It is always nice to know what your friends and family want to do before they die :)

iamwil• 15 years ago

It's not inspiring unless it moves people to action. I hope those that wrote on there are on their way to figuring out some way to make their dreams and goals come true.

Dysiode2• 15 years ago

It's a step in the right direction. It prompts people to think about something worthwhile and could easily become an ice breaker within a community. At the very least it may spark an idea in someone who reads it. "What does it really mean to 'make a difference'?" That can segue into powerful thoughts. Even the simple action of physically presenting a hope or dream can be motivating.

Of course, it's always up to the person to act but I find it's easier to work toward a goal when my spirits are high and being surrounded by hope has an uplifting effect.

missn• 15 years ago

I second this. I think art has the effect of starting conversations. If it makes people talk and think about things in a different way, then, you've started a process of something (potentially) greater.

Yes, something like this is easy for people (easier than doing something perhaps). They'll participate because it's there and there's no commitment (you just write things on the wall). But, what of the people who pass by it and, as Dysiode has said, what if it sparks an idea in them?

It may not directly change the world but it sure can plant the seeds that do.

sundarurfriend• 15 years ago

I had always thought this kind of 'motivational' attempts are too simple-minded to work. Then one day, while under a lot of pressure and discouragement, I happened to see a man on the road with a T-shirt that said 'Never give up', and it really made a difference in my mindset.

So, I now believe that tiny things like this can mean a lot to someone who's on the edge and can turn them around.

BasDirks2• 15 years ago

The beauty and humanity of another person's dreams inspire me.

kboutin• 15 years ago

Very nice, is it yours BasDirks or are you quoting someone?

pgebhard• 15 years ago

It's at least a LOT better than what was there before. It makes people stop, think, and interact.

Kilimanjaro• 15 years ago

Hmm, great idea for a web project that can go viral real quick.

mryall• 15 years ago

Unfortunately, beforeidie.com seems to be registered to someone who isn't interested in using it.

blhack2• 15 years ago

Here: http://thingist.com/before_i_die.cgi

See what everybody posts to it: http://thingist.com/t/global/3207/

hammock• 15 years ago

I did come across this a few days ago and thought it was cool. Would not have expected something like this to make the front page of HN.

mgkimsal• 15 years ago

Found this - not quite as good, but lots of pics: http://www.beforeidieiwantto.org/usa_other.html

staunch• 15 years ago

...begin receiving life extension therapy? ;-)

Prolorn• 15 years ago

... sign up for cryonics?

Eliezer• 15 years ago

That's what I was going to write.

zarprey• 15 years ago

What a great use of a neglected space. Really inspiring project. It'd be great to do a timelapse of people writing on the wall. The variety of people would be interesting to see.

nhangen• 15 years ago

Fantastic project, and it's also a fascinating social experiment. Many people talk of changing bad situations, but this is a case of using art and engineering to make a solid attempt.

rokhayakebe• 15 years ago

I found this project a few weeks back and loved it. Almost posted it here. I would love to see a web version of it or at least aggregating tweets with a hashtag like #b4id

corin_5• 15 years ago

I feel like a bit of a snob for having this opinion, but I do have it, so might as well write it: If a hashtag like that ever got any traction then the results would be horrible. Hashtags like that attract so many morons and idiotic tweets, like one I saw the other day "#thingsblackpeopledontsay" (or something like that).

I've never seen any hashtag that wasn't shit except those based around events/people/etc. For example #Dodgers during a baseball game, or #Libya.

All other hashtags, the ones based around tweeting on a random idea, result in a load of shit. I don't want to read idiots tweeting "#b4id fukk loadsa hot bitches", thanks.

InfinityX0• 15 years ago

The less I sit and ponder about the meaning of life and what I'm doing and what to do in the future, the happier I am.

Before I die, I don't want to contemplate what I want to do before I die. Not to say I'm not achievement-oriented, because I am, I just associate "before I die" type statements with similar "what if?" personalities - although obviously "what if?" is a concrete statement while "before I die" still leaves room for change, which can inspire hope - although it most often won't inspire action.

zecho• 15 years ago

I think the juxtaposition of hope and inspiration on an abandoned building exemplifies NOLA.

And before anyone pounces on me: I love New Orleans more than any other city in America, warts and all, which is something that makes this piece even better to me, if it causes action or not.

If anything, it's a good reminder that people you may have never met, people right in your neighborhood have hopes and goals and even a sense of humor. It's easy to forget that in a crowd, and this kind of puts it right in front of people in a shared space, as a shared piece of art.

I think it stands pretty well on that point alone.

Dysiode2• 15 years ago

Absolutely! I love anything that reminds me that all those people around me are people too.

Who knows, maybe the Internet could benefit from the occasional Before I Die... entry. It would make for an interesting social experiment to randomly display an entry from a fellow community member (or it could be negative depending on the amount of spam, but an experiment is an experiment!).

sagarun2• 15 years ago

Another interesting social project from the same person http://candychang.com/post-it-notes-for-neighbors-2/

s00pcan• 15 years ago

This is the least scary way you could write "Die" on a wall 81 times.

testingisageek• 15 years ago

Wish we had this in our city pluse I like the idea the othe guy said about having a time lapse that would be really neat great work.

Kliment• 15 years ago

Do it! Material cost is minimal, put up a board and some chalk and see what emerges.

mrleinad3• 15 years ago

How long 'til someone creates a cool site with this idea? I bet less than a week..

joss823• 15 years ago

Challenge accepted:

http://www.challengelistcreator.com

Actually it was started like 3 weeks ago.

It's (very) rough around the edges, but usable.

kongqiu• 15 years ago

Wow. I really like it. What did you write this in?

mrleinad3• 15 years ago

Tired of giving the same advice over and over again. Don't make me open my e-mail just to give you feedback about your site. You have a webpage! Create a form and receive feedback right from it!

Other than that, looks promising. Some aesthetic changes would do good, but looks nice. Consider OpenID or OAuth, to gain traction from social networks.

JonWood• 15 years ago

I briefly considered building it over an afternoon, but I'm not sure it would really work on the Internet.

My gut feeling is that within a few days it would be full of spam and inane comments, because there's absolutely no sense of having a shared responsibility for a physical place in your neighbourhood. It's also unlikely to build the same sense of community from people stopping at the same time and talking to each other.

mrleinad3• 15 years ago

Not even if you combine it with social networks?

jrockway• 15 years ago

Everyone has hopes and aspirations. What's troubling is realizing that you have an aspiration that you will never be able to fulfil.

I want to fly a fully-loaded 777. I want to sleep with every member of my favorite all-female band. These things are never going to happen. Does that mean my life is a failure?

djcapelis2• 15 years ago

Do you honestly think you could never fly a fully loaded 777 if it was the most important thing to you?

This project isn't about whims, it's about dreams.

Peaker• 15 years ago

Your argument doesn't work quite as well on his other "aspiration" :-)

telemachos• 15 years ago

I think you're unhelpfully treating 'hope' (or 'aspiration') as identical to 'desire' (what djcapelis calls a 'whim' in his reply). To my mind, a 'desire' can be any random thing I want - even if only briefly, weakly or despite my better judgement. A 'hope' or 'aspiration' is a desire that I actively endorse. (By 'actively endorse' I mean essentially 'take a hard look at, approve of and choose to expend effort on'.

Right at the moment, I would love some sesame noodles. That's a desire. But the desire isn't particularly strong, and I'm not planning to do anything about it. I haven't in effect moved the item over from the 'random craving' box to the 'will expend effort on this' box.

Just based on the little you say, your airplane thing and getting to know that band better, sound more like random desires to me. (Which isn't to say that the desire isn't sometimes very strong.)

(There's a second question you bring up about whether a person's life is a failure if he or she doesn't fulfill aspirations. I don't think judging whole lives makes a lot of sense, myself, but it seems to be a popular sport.)

wicknicks• 15 years ago

Totally liked the "Before I Die... Make a difference" message.

zelandpanther• 15 years ago

Before I die I want to have a great life.

mhb• 15 years ago

Somewhat similar:

http://littlegreatideas.com/willyou/

topijo• 15 years ago

Before I Die... I want to have truly lived.

ksullenberger• 15 years ago

Interesting to come across this shortly after watching a video of Steve Jobs's commencement speech to Stanford students.

"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

thasmin• 15 years ago

He may have this luxury because he's ridiculously wealthy and controls his job, but most people have to worry about tomorrow. They're really different goals. I'm going to do things today that will improve the rest of my life. I wouldn't go to work on the last day of my life, but I did it today and I'll do it tomorrow.

sharmajai• 15 years ago

I think the biggest reason that draws people to the board is the anonymity of the response.

GrayRoark• 15 years ago

Nice! This is like a wall bucket list: http://bucketlist.org/

Before I Die...

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