My friend was teammates with Andrea Gonzalez, killed by a driver while out on a bike ride in New Jersey (source).
REMEMBER ANDREA GONZALEZ
Category: Life
THIS IS EVERYTHING
Ira Glass sums it all up in this recent interview with Vulture:
It’s just crazy to me that people are having a hard time earning money making something so many other people clearly want.
Well, part of the problem is that people aren’t paying for it, right?
Right. They’re accustomed to getting it for free.
That’s the hole in the business model.
Most people ain’t paying for shit.
There was a time when Limp Bizkit sold a million albums in one week. Now artists on labels with managers and lawyers are lucky to sell 50,000 in a month.
You used to have to pay money to go see a movie. Now you pay a few bucks a month for a few streaming services and never buy another DVD
Podcasts, websites, newsletters – free, free, free.
Yes, a small percentage of diehard fans support via Patreon, or Substack, or whatever, but for the most part there’s been more entertainment options that exist in the world.
Think about the 100 or 200 or 1000 things we read a day, and watch, and listen to. In a DAY. A MONTH.
I pay my ISP $56/month, and some streaming services. I don’t think I spend $100 a month on everything, and I can fill my eyes and ears with “content” every second of every day.
And we’re all paying that $100 every month, and more (much more), and a few people are making money from making the things that everyone loves.
Again, from the interview: people are having a hard time earning money making something so many other people clearly want.
What the fuck?
STOP BANNING TRANSGENDER ATHELETES
From A Quick Brown Fox program direct and bike racer Ayesha Mcgowan, re: banning trans athletes from competition:
Don’t @ me pretending to be a scientist, a member of the peloton, or even a savior for women’s sports. Women athletes are underpaid (if at all), under-supported, underestimated, and face a world of very real problems in the present that actually need solving. Banning transgender athletes is not helping us in any way. It’s cruel and sad and wrong. If you really want to save women’s sports, learn ways to help solve the problems we are actually facing.
HAZE
The Canadian wildfires left a bunch of us in the dark. Not total darkness, but it blocked out the blue skies and sun, and you could smell the smoke indoors, and it made your eyes scratchy.
Though it wasn’t as orange as the photos below, it was still very unsetting and creepy.
I figured instead of linking to big media coverage, why not see what people have posted on Flickr?
MAYBE DON’T DO THE WORK
From Devon Ellington, via Substack:
“If you’re constantly reluctant to show up and do the work, maybe this isn’t really what you want and need to do. Maybe you need to explore other disciplines, and see what flares your creativity with a stronger passion.”
This was regarding writing, but like any good writing, it applies to more than just writing.
Some people just can’t get into running, which I understand – I’ve been running for seven years now, and that first mile still sucks.
But eventually I muscle (or shuffle) through, and by mile four I’m like, “I don’t ever want to stop running.”
And I can’t remember a week where I haven’t ran like, every other day.
Unless I’m injured and can’t run, I don’t know, I’ll always get in a run. It might not be pretty, it might not be three miles, but I’ll do that work.
Core work?
Replying to my bookkeeper?
Playing bass?
Yeah, I just can’t show and up do those things most days. Whatever.
TWO COFFEES, TWO SCONES
There’s an older couple here at this Starbucks I’m at right now.
Two tall coffees. Two scones.
No phones. Just sitting there, sharing a little moment.
Are they a couple? Is this a date? I have no idea.
It’s two people sitting there, seemingly enjoying a meal. At this Starbucks, on a warm day, on a spring day.
I’M GOOD
I have an email address (several of them, actually), a few websites, and a phone number.
I make sleepy time metal mixes called Goodnight, Metal Friend.
I make sleepy drone music called HUNTERTHEN.
I run Metal Bandcamp Gift Club.
I write HEAVY METAL EMAIL.
I barely touch LinkedIn, Facebook, and my days are numbered with Instagram and Twitter.
DO LITTLE BIG THINGS
It’s all about the mini versions of the big thing you wanna do.
I can’t always drive to the closest mountain here and go for a run, but there’s a park nearby that gets about 200′ of elevation. Run it a few times, I can get close to 1000′ of climbing in one run.
Can’t play MSG quite yet? Well, book a show a little closer to home. Play a 25 minute set. Write better songs. Over and over again.
Yeah, quitting work and ditching every responsibility sounds nice, but we’ve got rent to pay.
Do small versions of the big things you wanna do, then when the big thing arrives, you’re ready.
ALWAYS BE BLOOMING
Oh boy, James Victore never disappoints.
The quote below is in response to someone asking how to move forward creatively even though they’re older now:
Yes, “to do” is the answer. Action!
Action, action, action! Create, create, create
Shut up, stop waiting, and just make the thing. Take one step closer to the doing the thing.
Maybe you can’t direct a play tomorrow, but you can start writing the story. Sketch up the logo. Talk to someone who might want to do the same thing.
Action.
ARTISTS ARE ALWAYS WORKING
From ‘The life and the work are equally important‘
“Let’s face it—artists are always working, though they may not seem as if they are. They are like plants growing in winter. You can’t see the fruit, but it is taking root below the earth.”
André Gregory
My goodness, I believe this to be true.
I feel like my creative life has had so many stops and starts, as if it must be one continuous flow to be valid, but this quote above reassures me I’m wrong.
(via Austin Kleon)