We give a lot of lip service to our inner voice, and given the pressure of the daily grind, it’s easy to think pragmatically instead of following those uncharted trails that lead to meaningful breakthroughs.

A year ago, I found a stereo receiver at a neighbor’s garage sale. When I saw it, I was instantly reminded of my father’s receiver from the mid-70’s. After attempting to “haggle” with its owner, I decided I could handle the steep price of $5, as long as they threw in the Hank Williams 8-track.

Well, last week the crackle and snap coming from the receiver would have made even the most dedicated analog fan cringe. The final straw was trying to listen to Dizzy Gillespie & and Charlie Christian’s BeBop to Swing album with one speaker not working, then switching to the tape player, and having the tape advance wheel screech loudly. At that moment I could hear a friend of mine saying “you’re throwing furniture in a burning house. Get rid of it”. I almost did just that. It was, as they say, one foot in the grave.

Then after sharing my story, another friend mentioned an electronics repair shop located not far from the house. “This guy can fix anything.” I figured I would at least give it a shot. I’d gone to the local landfill many times when we bought our first house and dumped rotten wall-paper & tiles. The piles and piles of wasted and dismembered equipment had a lasting effect on me, and to this day, I find it hard to throw away large items that might be salvaged. So with this in mind, I entered the repair shop and explained my situation. “Maybe you take a look and let me know if this is worth fixing,” I said to him. “I’ll call you if it’s a no-go,” said the repairman. I promptly exited the building, thinking that would be the last of it.

A week later, I got a call. “All ready. I cleaned off some mild corrosion and it sounds great. $40 even”. Really? Excellent. Sure enough, when I got over there it sounded great. Even the speakers were playing clean. Though the repairmen acknowledged that it was a basic receiver, he said this one still had plenty of go left in it.

After I got home, and got it all happily wired into the system again, I kept imaging it sitting in the dump somewhere with just a little bit of corrosion keeping it from tuning in. I also imagined my friend saying, “You paid $40 to fix that junker?”

I guess everyone has to decide for themselves whether value is purely monetary, or whether they care about emotional currency.

MLK Day leaves me feeling humbled and inspired at the same time. How did Martin Luther King Jr. systematically take down what may be the the greatest ignorance America has ever known? Looking back on his life from 2012, he seems mythic, but not so, he was real. He had a dream, and everyone learned what it was.

Let’s face it. MLK day is short. For most of us, it’s a fleeting thought amidst the stress of the workday. But we should think about him more. America faces many new problems that, when studying Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., there is insight to be gained. If you turn on the news, there is a shared feeling among the population that America has lost its way. If you gather around the local watering hole for a cold one, you’ll likely hear people griping “America this” and “America that” for hours. I understand that it feels good to vent, it’s human nature, but what is everyone really trying to articulate?

This is where it might help to consider MLK Jr. and the legacy we all stand on. Great figureheads of the modern era, like MLK Jr., with enormous obstacles in front of them, have done more with less, and dreamed bigger. Could it be that the problem right now is that America has no dream? Why not?

This is a question that needs to be answered given that the election is right around the corner. Not that I’ll get the chance to, but if I could ask each presidential candidate one question this year, it would be this: “What is your dream?” I don’t care what party they are in, god help them if they fail to inspire me with the answer.

Where does innovative art & design begin?

I contemplate this question daily. Some designers would say that there is no innovation at all. Others would argue that design innovation is the specialty of big teams & creative collectives. Large networks produce big ideas.

But what if real design innovation always starts when you head in the opposite direction from the group? What if insight comes from the inner-voice? This quote from the book Party of One by Anneli Rufus is compelling in that it exposes the heart of innovation. A small subculture known as: You. Far too often it’s the loner isolated from external influence that must navigate their way thru the fog, and in doing so cultivates an uniquely fresh voice. At a time where there is countless pressure to conform to the mainstream, “The mob follows us” gives credence to the idea that innovation of all variety begins deep within. You are the proving ground. Not the other way around.

Weekly Intel is an ongoing compilation by M.80 Design of notable quotes relating to design, subculture, philosophy, and art. Each week we pull from our reading list to share creative insights shaping our internal conversations with the world around us.

On a recent trip to the Boise Airport, I found myself feeling a bit parched as I took my last step off the escalator to the baggage claim area. I gave the room a quick scan, looking for the nearest indication that a water-line was nearby. I was quite pleased that directly in sight, was the typical double fountain. Complete hydration was only within a few short steps.

After bringing the ol’ water line back to normal carry capacity, I stood before the fountain and pondered how much better I felt. But this sense of peace was disrupted when I stared directly at a small silvery placard mounted above the fountain. At this moment, I realized that drinking water from a fountain wasn’t a right, it was a privilege – one that could be traced to one special man in the community. This visionary was Wayne E. Pfost. You see, Wayne felt that water fountains should be made accessible to all, which up until that point, I had only thought was common knowledge in designing an airport facility. How wrong I was, because in Boise, your only right is that you get off the plane. Should nature call, or should you need a little drinkie-drink with that heart pill…..forget it, you should have thought about that before you decided to get on a plane in the first place. Had it not been for Wayne “the game-changer and visionary”, we’d all be dry-mouthed fools drinking from the faucet in the baggage claim restroom.

So here’s to the renegades. Here’s to Wayne and to cool, clear water.