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?

2023 Canadian Orange Smog Wednesday About 2PM NYC 2312
Source: https://flic.kr/p/2oFEt8V
Photo of how things look out the window today
Source: https://flic.kr/p/2oFLC51
A plume of Canadian wildfire smoke darkens the Manasquan skies.
Source: https://flic.kr/p/2oFNyY9
Orange Sky
Source: https://flic.kr/p/2oFNuaz
Minni in the orange haze
Source: https://flic.kr/p/2oFK6RR

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.

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)

BACK TO THE NIGHTMARE

We endured a pandemic. Life shut down. Live music stopped. No more going to the movies. It was take-out only at food stops. I avoided aisles at the grocery stores when it was filled with too many people.

Through all that, and a million Americans dead, it’s like we just couldn’t wait to get back to being miserable.

I’ve talked to a handful of people recently, and no one’s fucking happy. Short fuses, bad tempers, and people being shitty everywhere.

Oh, we can get back to “normal” a bit? Great. Time to be miserable.