David G. Cookson's Blog, page 17
August 17, 2018
Bullshit Jobs
Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David GraeberMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Finally, a book that really gets into a question that not enough of us are asking: why are there so many bullshit jobs out there?
This book was expanded from an essay that caught fire back in 2013.
David Graeber, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics (he’s an Anarchist!!! Which I have to say, I find insanely refreshing) sent out some feelers and got many responses from his original essay from which he formed the basis of this book.
What is a “bullshit job?” Graeber defines it as one that if it were to cease to exist, would make no difference whatsoever in the world. Many of these jobs can be found in the financial world, the university, public as well as private institutions. There are many categories of this job, many reasons for this phenomenon, and many underlying theories that Graeber explores, and hell, I won’t spoil it all for you. He explores the difference between a shit job and a bullshit job: a shit job may be low paying and not be very pleasant, but it needs to be done, whereas a bullshit job tends to be well-paying but pointless. And he ends with a plea to make a better world by freeing people to do what they want with their lives.
Such a can of worms…
I’m not sure who the people who actually and legitimately love what they do for a living are, but bless you, I don’t know what to say. I’ve been lucky and can honestly say I’ve never possessed a bullshit job, but love for work has always been an illusion for me.
There is talk about the animosity between the people who do the “Real” work (the nurses, the teachers, the janitors, that truck drivers, etc.) who are often lower paid than the people who administrate them, in that nebulous web of middle management whose jobs are often hard to define and may in fact in many cases be quite unnecessary.
None of this is written without background. Many of the people who think that they have bullshit jobs are the ones who responded to the author’s queries for stories about their jobs. I know I am skimming past many of the points in the book just for purpose of getting through this review, but it is really a pretty well-formed theory, if only a little short on details (would anyone really clean someone else’s toilet if they didn’t have to? That is my question, among others.)
But he asks great questions. When you get right down to it, why do we even need government? If you leave people alone with no need to work to survive, will they still work? The answer seems to be that people have an innate need to feel like they are contributing something, however small or menial, as is evidenced by those middle class people who win the lottery but remain on the job, or those prisoners who spiral into a depression if they cannot do some sort of work in the prison, which is preferable to spending all day in a cell doing nothing.
We could have a Universal Base Income, in which everyone receives a wage and is free to either do nothing or pursue a more fulfilling career path. Graeber’s research seems to indicate that most people would choose to work rather than do nothing, but the hope would be that people would no longer need their job to tie in to their personal survival. People could be free to do as they wished. And wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing to behold? I’m not sure how it would work, but I would love to see the day when we as a people decided it was worth a try.
Bullshit Jobs might be my new Bible. I really enjoyed it and I hope that others can benefit from the starting off point in the discussion about reforming the very idea of work in this world.
View all my reviews
August 7, 2018
In celebration of Punky Brewster’s 42nd Birthday…
Ok, so I’m a day late on this. Soleil Moon Frye’s birthday was yesterday.
Punky Brewster was an 80’s show that ran for 4 years (‘84 to ’88) and was one of my favorite shows as a kid. I loved the theme song and the sweetness of the relationship between her and the old man (Henry) and I probably had my 1st TV crush on Punky. I have had affection and warm feelings of nostalgia that have stayed with me, memories of Sunday nights with my parents, invested in the adventures of this little girl who dresses in mismatched shoes (“I have two feet, why should I wear the same shoe?”) and colorful clothes (though I would hesitate to say she is “punk.” She is more “punk-inspired”) who has been abandoned by her parents but adopted by Henry, the crusty 60 year old building manager in a tenement in Chicago.
For years I have held this warm and fuzzy image in my head, a memory that is so untarnished that I have actually been afraid to revisit the show as an adult for fear that it will not hold up to my memory of it.
Thirty years have gone by and just recently I have finally broken the seal to revisit the past.
I downloaded the NBC app which has “Classic” shows. And I’ve gone through a couple episodes (for some reason episode one does not show up, don’t ask me why)...First three episodes set up how Punky comes to meet Henry, stealing his heart and “turning his world around” as it says in the theme song, ultimately coming to live with him after a hearing in front of a judge. Punky has an advocate in a social worker who at some point in the three part episode reverses her initial opposition to Henry adopting her based on some very real issues: he is too old and has never raised any kids.
The hearing itself follows what snarky internet trolls would say “because…reasons” in that after some debate, it simply comes down to the fact that if Henry doesn’t adopt Punky, there is no show….
I have worked my way to the one episode I remember pretty well, the one about the Cubs…where Henry waits 18 hours in line to buy playoff tickets only to fail. But they get tickets (“Punky Power!!!”) through a scalper. They make it in, only to find that their seats are occupied and that the tickets were no good. But…Punky, knowing how much it means to Henry, finds them seats…in the Cubs dugout…Oh, it’s adorable. I don’t care. It’s every bit as satisfying as I remember.
I have to say, I’m a 42 year old man with no kids, re-watching a series I loved as a kid that is aimed at kids (families, really), and somewhere out there, Soleil Moon Frye is 42 (happy birthday…hey, she’s on Twitter! @moonfrye ) and people like me still love something that was on TV 30 years ago.
Every time I turn around...
Punky Brewster was an 80’s show that ran for 4 years (‘84 to ’88) and was one of my favorite shows as a kid. I loved the theme song and the sweetness of the relationship between her and the old man (Henry) and I probably had my 1st TV crush on Punky. I have had affection and warm feelings of nostalgia that have stayed with me, memories of Sunday nights with my parents, invested in the adventures of this little girl who dresses in mismatched shoes (“I have two feet, why should I wear the same shoe?”) and colorful clothes (though I would hesitate to say she is “punk.” She is more “punk-inspired”) who has been abandoned by her parents but adopted by Henry, the crusty 60 year old building manager in a tenement in Chicago.
For years I have held this warm and fuzzy image in my head, a memory that is so untarnished that I have actually been afraid to revisit the show as an adult for fear that it will not hold up to my memory of it.
Thirty years have gone by and just recently I have finally broken the seal to revisit the past.
I downloaded the NBC app which has “Classic” shows. And I’ve gone through a couple episodes (for some reason episode one does not show up, don’t ask me why)...First three episodes set up how Punky comes to meet Henry, stealing his heart and “turning his world around” as it says in the theme song, ultimately coming to live with him after a hearing in front of a judge. Punky has an advocate in a social worker who at some point in the three part episode reverses her initial opposition to Henry adopting her based on some very real issues: he is too old and has never raised any kids.
The hearing itself follows what snarky internet trolls would say “because…reasons” in that after some debate, it simply comes down to the fact that if Henry doesn’t adopt Punky, there is no show….
I have worked my way to the one episode I remember pretty well, the one about the Cubs…where Henry waits 18 hours in line to buy playoff tickets only to fail. But they get tickets (“Punky Power!!!”) through a scalper. They make it in, only to find that their seats are occupied and that the tickets were no good. But…Punky, knowing how much it means to Henry, finds them seats…in the Cubs dugout…Oh, it’s adorable. I don’t care. It’s every bit as satisfying as I remember.
I have to say, I’m a 42 year old man with no kids, re-watching a series I loved as a kid that is aimed at kids (families, really), and somewhere out there, Soleil Moon Frye is 42 (happy birthday…hey, she’s on Twitter! @moonfrye ) and people like me still love something that was on TV 30 years ago.
Every time I turn around...
August 6, 2018
Monday.
“There’s a difference between being paranoid and very alert….” paraphrase of Buck Showalter, manager of the Baltimore Orioles
I guess my Achilles heel is disregard for the truth…which make this a really tough time to live.
It’s why I don’t watch the news: too noisy and most of it is awful. It’s why I get my information from a newspaper rather than the internet, because the paper is quieter. While all media has bias (because we are all human and we all have bias and the media is made up of humans) it would not be feasible for every news media outlet on the planet to flat out lie, or to coordinate together to tell the same lies, which is what some people seem to believe. Never mind the fact that there are severe consequences to journalist who are ACTUALLY caught lying or using unsubstantiated sources (See: Brian Williams and Dan Rather).
This is why I have been keeping a journal, almost religiously, for the last 2 months. I want a personal record of this time. On paper.
It is a small action that makes me feel better.
Re-watched the “Forehead Sweat” episode of the X Files last night when I learned of the existence of Qanon, a new conspiracy group that many people subscribe to. Because conspiracies are a refuge for the uneducated nutcases of the world. This episode pokes fun at the idea of people making up their own truth, quoting Orson Wells’ great words, “He who controls the past, controls the future.” (Actually, it was Rage against the Machine. Kidding. It was George Orwell).
Honestly, this stuff scares the shit out of me. People not remembering the past, not caring about the truth, taking the word of a madman over their own senses. I just fear what will happen in the future when knowledge is less prized than emotion. I’m afraid maybe we are already there.
I guess my Achilles heel is disregard for the truth…which make this a really tough time to live.
It’s why I don’t watch the news: too noisy and most of it is awful. It’s why I get my information from a newspaper rather than the internet, because the paper is quieter. While all media has bias (because we are all human and we all have bias and the media is made up of humans) it would not be feasible for every news media outlet on the planet to flat out lie, or to coordinate together to tell the same lies, which is what some people seem to believe. Never mind the fact that there are severe consequences to journalist who are ACTUALLY caught lying or using unsubstantiated sources (See: Brian Williams and Dan Rather).
This is why I have been keeping a journal, almost religiously, for the last 2 months. I want a personal record of this time. On paper.
It is a small action that makes me feel better.
Re-watched the “Forehead Sweat” episode of the X Files last night when I learned of the existence of Qanon, a new conspiracy group that many people subscribe to. Because conspiracies are a refuge for the uneducated nutcases of the world. This episode pokes fun at the idea of people making up their own truth, quoting Orson Wells’ great words, “He who controls the past, controls the future.” (Actually, it was Rage against the Machine. Kidding. It was George Orwell).
Honestly, this stuff scares the shit out of me. People not remembering the past, not caring about the truth, taking the word of a madman over their own senses. I just fear what will happen in the future when knowledge is less prized than emotion. I’m afraid maybe we are already there.
July 23, 2018
The Oracle Year
The Oracle Year by Charles SouleMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Musician Will Dando wakes up from a dream with 108 prophecies in his head: all of which are true.
With the help of a friend and the services of some dark web internet savvy individuals, Will sets up a Website (“the Site”) where he takes questions from users, and calls himself The Oracle. He keeps his identity and location a secret from the world at large…which becomes extremely interested in using his services, for which he charges an exorbitant amount of money.
But Will’s gift will turn out to have some serious consequences from the less scrupulous forces on the planet, as well as the US Government (I know, I know, sometimes those are both one and the same), who wish to exploit Will’s prophecies and manipulate the world to their own benefit.
I don’t really want to go too deep into this because I don’t want to give anything away. It’s really good, while not shying away from the obviously complicated questions that this gift would bring up. But I’ll let you pick it up and work it out for yourself.
This is a wildly entertaining book from 1st time novelist Charles Soule, who previously had come from the world of comic book writing. And you can tell how that medium has seeped into his fiction writing, as Soule really knows how to keep a story moving from scene to scene, with very little lag or down time. I haven’t read a book this quickly in a while (and it’s almost 400 pages, set a few years in the future and divided into the 4 seasons of the year). And just when you think you have it figured out, he puts another twist in things to keep it moving.
This is one of the best books I’ve read this year, I would definitely be game for a follow up.
View all my reviews
July 7, 2018
League of Denial
League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions and the Battle for Truth by Mark Fainaru-WadaMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A fairly explosive investigation of the NFL’s concussion crisis, League of Denial is comprehensive and well-researched exposé of a problem that the NFL knew about and tried to cover up.
Football is a violent sport, full of thousands of “mini-collisions” and it stands to reason that this would have an effect on the men who played. There is the heart-breaking tale of Mike Webster, Steelers Hall of Fame Center who, after enduring a career of blows to the head, had a completely altered personality and could no longer function in society. There is “The Vanilla Guy” Steve Young, who swore he didn’t retire because of concussions but the evidence suggests otherwise. Linebacker Junior Seau is one of many who retired from the game and wound up killing himself, his autopsied brain showing the tell-tale signs of damage caused by concussions from playing football.
I’m giving short shrift to many of the stories in this near 400 page tome, but those three are fairly prominent.
The science for the effect that concussions have on the NFL players is still in an early stage, but the book details how the league went about silencing its detractors and casting doubt on the people who were trying to ring the alarm on the league’s problem. Bennet Omalu, the Nigerian pathologist (who was played by Will Smith in the “Concussion” movie) discovered the link between football and what he termed CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and for his trouble he was left out of the NFL’s Mild traumatic Brain Injury Committee. Then there is Ann McKee, a neuropathologist (and Packers fan) who became the unofficial spokesperson for CTE. Each put up with resistance from people making their living off the NFL who have a vested interest in denying that the crisis is caused by their game.
This book is about 5 years old and I don’t know how much has changed, but after reading this I am pretty convinced that there is simply no way to eradicate the danger that the game puts players in. And the players are the ones who suffer because even with big contracts and big money, many sacrifice their health and their bodies to earn that money.
Essential reading. My review only scratches the surface.
View all my reviews
July 3, 2018
One Punk's Guide to Christian Punk—Kurt Morris/One Punk’s Guide to Bizarro Fiction—MP Johnson
This “One Punk’s Guide” series is produced by Razorcake, an LA based zine, whose contributors “share their love for a topic that is not traditionally considered punk.” I have been picking up a few of these on my latest trips to Atomic Books here in Baltimore and so far, it’s all pretty solid.
I’ll begin with the Bizarro Fiction issue.
I’ve been writing fiction for most of my life and from time to time I’ve put words and stories on paper that mainstream types would consider “weird.” But after reading this issue exploring the genre of Bizarro Fiction, Novels that are pumped out relatively quickly and are guerilla marketed like zines, well, I feel a little traditional.
Somewhere out there people are writing stories about Haunted vaginas or masturbating walruses and here I am, a 43 year old man writing about poop and coffee and getting blasted by the Goodreads public for being “too weird.”
Obviously I’m doing something wrong.
Meanwhile, Bizarro Fiction writers have been flourishing and have formed their own community with no marketing and no budget but lots of success and demand for their product.
I’d say I want in, but I just really get the feeling they wouldn’t want me...
One Punks Guide to Christian Punk may seem like a contradiction, but somewhere out there is another group doing something I never heard of. While Christian Rock is well-established, Christian Punk is less so. It is another subculture with bizarro world versions of bands you might know, like MXPX and the Altar Boys and (maybe you’ve heard of) As I Lay Dying.
Morris delves into his experience with it, growing up as a Christian in Indiana, but also fostering an interest in punk, and then discovering this whole world out there of music that was made for him. “Jesus was the original punk.”
His story of working in a Christian record store leads to his realization that it was becoming more of a corporate product. As secular punk was co-opted by the mainstream, so went its Christian cousin.
It’s a corner of the punk world that is probably not very well known and it is for this reason that this zine is worth a look.
I’ll begin with the Bizarro Fiction issue.
I’ve been writing fiction for most of my life and from time to time I’ve put words and stories on paper that mainstream types would consider “weird.” But after reading this issue exploring the genre of Bizarro Fiction, Novels that are pumped out relatively quickly and are guerilla marketed like zines, well, I feel a little traditional.
Somewhere out there people are writing stories about Haunted vaginas or masturbating walruses and here I am, a 43 year old man writing about poop and coffee and getting blasted by the Goodreads public for being “too weird.”
Obviously I’m doing something wrong.
Meanwhile, Bizarro Fiction writers have been flourishing and have formed their own community with no marketing and no budget but lots of success and demand for their product.
I’d say I want in, but I just really get the feeling they wouldn’t want me...
One Punks Guide to Christian Punk may seem like a contradiction, but somewhere out there is another group doing something I never heard of. While Christian Rock is well-established, Christian Punk is less so. It is another subculture with bizarro world versions of bands you might know, like MXPX and the Altar Boys and (maybe you’ve heard of) As I Lay Dying.
Morris delves into his experience with it, growing up as a Christian in Indiana, but also fostering an interest in punk, and then discovering this whole world out there of music that was made for him. “Jesus was the original punk.”
His story of working in a Christian record store leads to his realization that it was becoming more of a corporate product. As secular punk was co-opted by the mainstream, so went its Christian cousin.
It’s a corner of the punk world that is probably not very well known and it is for this reason that this zine is worth a look.
June 18, 2018
Update on the next Davezine.
I've archived a number of photos and flyers chronicling my solo musical act: Davey G and the Keyboard (2000-2010). (many of these are in my Instagram account, (@daveygandthe) if you feel like checking them out...)
While this sort of project can be sprawling and scattered, I have pretty good notes of everything. I think it will all amount to a meaty edition, a personal zine that tells of my ten years playing in Baltimore…
Now…If I could just get rid of some more of these Bad Roommate issues….
http://davecookson.tripod.com/Davezin...
While this sort of project can be sprawling and scattered, I have pretty good notes of everything. I think it will all amount to a meaty edition, a personal zine that tells of my ten years playing in Baltimore…
Now…If I could just get rid of some more of these Bad Roommate issues….
http://davecookson.tripod.com/Davezin...
June 6, 2018
Quick Reviews of 2 zines I bought and Read Today.
I bought 5 zines and was going to do all 5
but I didn't get to it. These all came from the wonderful Atomic Books right here in Baltimore.
We’ve Made a huge Mistake: a Zine about driving Across the Country with everything you Own.
(Author Unknown, or at any rate not listed, though he does mention that his wife is named Allison.)
I have to laugh, because I did a zine of the exact opposite move about 15 years ago. The author and his wife detail an exhausting mid-winter move from Portland Oregon to Rochester New York in the middle of winter, with 3 pets. The author does not drive. He offers tips, many of which are quite hilarious. I enjoyed this one.
Keep Content Off Facebook: Should artists boycott this platform?
By Paul DeGeorge
Basically an essay, the type you might find on Facebook…I agree with many of his points: Facebook does in fact suck for artists and creative types. It doesn’t allow musicians to easily post music like MySpace did. It monetizes transactions that would lead you to make more fans. And Facebook only lets you be friends with people you already know. There’s a lot to dislike about it. And the argument that artists need to take back what is theirs is powerful. I just have to say, there are no easy answers for how to become successful as an artist or a writer. If you know any, maybe clue me in.
but I didn't get to it. These all came from the wonderful Atomic Books right here in Baltimore.
We’ve Made a huge Mistake: a Zine about driving Across the Country with everything you Own.
(Author Unknown, or at any rate not listed, though he does mention that his wife is named Allison.)
I have to laugh, because I did a zine of the exact opposite move about 15 years ago. The author and his wife detail an exhausting mid-winter move from Portland Oregon to Rochester New York in the middle of winter, with 3 pets. The author does not drive. He offers tips, many of which are quite hilarious. I enjoyed this one.
Keep Content Off Facebook: Should artists boycott this platform?
By Paul DeGeorge
Basically an essay, the type you might find on Facebook…I agree with many of his points: Facebook does in fact suck for artists and creative types. It doesn’t allow musicians to easily post music like MySpace did. It monetizes transactions that would lead you to make more fans. And Facebook only lets you be friends with people you already know. There’s a lot to dislike about it. And the argument that artists need to take back what is theirs is powerful. I just have to say, there are no easy answers for how to become successful as an artist or a writer. If you know any, maybe clue me in.
June 4, 2018
The Rise and Fall of the Parochialist. CONCLUSION!!!
2008 started.
Unfortunately, the plan to make Davey G and the Keyboard a household name hadn’t gone as well as I thought. But I see the posts from January 2008 and I just wonder how the hell I ever got this angry. It wasn’t all about the City Paper. I had other things. The Parochialist morphed into more of a general complaints and grievances space, while still providing links to all the usual things. Then I began work on the story that killed the Davezine…which was (no small coincidence) all about a fictionalized version of the City Paper…Davezine 13….
Davezine 13 was a zine that contained Low Level Bureaucrats 3: the Rise of the Collective, which combined two of my axes to grind into one book. I was making fun of a local group that was popular at the time and popular with the City Paper. While it might have been a well written story, I don’t know what the hell my marketing plan was. I didn’t have a release party or any huge push beyond what I posted to my blogs. It didn’t receive the wide release of some of my other things. I have no explanation for that. You might be able to find one in a store in the area. I certainly have plenty left over.
(file photo)
As it turned out, I never hit the high level I was aiming for. You could certainly suggest that I could have tried plying my trade in a better market. I could have gone to New York or LA or something and just gone for broke as a performer, far away from the parochial concerns of a lowly alternative weekly. But it’s not what I wanted, it was never what I wanted. In one of the last posts, I (ironically) tried to get people to vote for The Parochialist for best blog in the City Paper. This time I wasn’t serious. I knew there was no chance of this, and the readers obliged by not voting for me.
The last post of The Parochialist was on December 31, 2008. All in all, it had about 31 posts, a fairly meager output considering. Still, it gave me something to focus on from week to week, and provided a small outlet for at least a handful of dedicated readers. But I just didn’t have it in me anymore, and New Years’ Eve of 2008 seemed as good a time as any to say goodbye, which I did with this post:
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 2008... It's over. Thank God. Parochialist out...for now.
Aftermath.
The City Paper ended its run just this past year after a 40 year run. As much as I goofed on it and hated it at times, the fact that it is gone has made a huge hole in this city.
I was already on to the next thing after I finished with The Parochialist. I started up with the National Novel Writing Month, writing 50 thousand novels in a month. Writing like this for one month a year has made me more prolific than I had ever been before. Starting with The Best of Thunder Johnson and then most recently with Pain Center: the Novel, NaNoWriMo has stretched my writing muscles in a way that nothing else ever had, and given me raw material to work with for the rest of the year. To date, I have 10 of these novels in one form or another, plus a memoir and a novella.
And about a year and a half after The Parochialist folded, I quietly put down my keyboard and walked off the stage.
Check out my latest zine. Davezine Number Fourteen: the Bad Roommates Issue!
Unfortunately, the plan to make Davey G and the Keyboard a household name hadn’t gone as well as I thought. But I see the posts from January 2008 and I just wonder how the hell I ever got this angry. It wasn’t all about the City Paper. I had other things. The Parochialist morphed into more of a general complaints and grievances space, while still providing links to all the usual things. Then I began work on the story that killed the Davezine…which was (no small coincidence) all about a fictionalized version of the City Paper…Davezine 13….
Davezine 13 was a zine that contained Low Level Bureaucrats 3: the Rise of the Collective, which combined two of my axes to grind into one book. I was making fun of a local group that was popular at the time and popular with the City Paper. While it might have been a well written story, I don’t know what the hell my marketing plan was. I didn’t have a release party or any huge push beyond what I posted to my blogs. It didn’t receive the wide release of some of my other things. I have no explanation for that. You might be able to find one in a store in the area. I certainly have plenty left over.
(file photo)
As it turned out, I never hit the high level I was aiming for. You could certainly suggest that I could have tried plying my trade in a better market. I could have gone to New York or LA or something and just gone for broke as a performer, far away from the parochial concerns of a lowly alternative weekly. But it’s not what I wanted, it was never what I wanted. In one of the last posts, I (ironically) tried to get people to vote for The Parochialist for best blog in the City Paper. This time I wasn’t serious. I knew there was no chance of this, and the readers obliged by not voting for me.
The last post of The Parochialist was on December 31, 2008. All in all, it had about 31 posts, a fairly meager output considering. Still, it gave me something to focus on from week to week, and provided a small outlet for at least a handful of dedicated readers. But I just didn’t have it in me anymore, and New Years’ Eve of 2008 seemed as good a time as any to say goodbye, which I did with this post:
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 2008... It's over. Thank God. Parochialist out...for now.
Aftermath.
The City Paper ended its run just this past year after a 40 year run. As much as I goofed on it and hated it at times, the fact that it is gone has made a huge hole in this city.
I was already on to the next thing after I finished with The Parochialist. I started up with the National Novel Writing Month, writing 50 thousand novels in a month. Writing like this for one month a year has made me more prolific than I had ever been before. Starting with The Best of Thunder Johnson and then most recently with Pain Center: the Novel, NaNoWriMo has stretched my writing muscles in a way that nothing else ever had, and given me raw material to work with for the rest of the year. To date, I have 10 of these novels in one form or another, plus a memoir and a novella.
And about a year and a half after The Parochialist folded, I quietly put down my keyboard and walked off the stage.
Check out my latest zine. Davezine Number Fourteen: the Bad Roommates Issue!
May 24, 2018
Impact: were you all just making fun of me this whole time?
A project I am meandering through about my musical career.
Way back in 2001, several months after my big show at the Ottobar and about a week before another show I was doing at the comedy Club, I met a local rock icon that I had been looking up to for years…
She was doing a show, just walking around before going on, and I said hi, she stopped and we chatted for a few minutes. I said something about how this was a good crowd and how I hoped maybe I could get something like this for my show later in the week. It was innocuous, probably very forgettable, but I still remember it because this person actually made a big impact on my career without her ever knowing it.
You have to be brave to get up in front of people and pour your heart out. You have to be brave to let people judge you for your work and let your work represent you. And laying yourself out there in the great big bad world by yourself is hard. This person did it, following her dream, moving to a big city, at one time having to replace her entire band when they quit on her before a tour.
I took a page from this person whose name I’m not mentioning. I did my best every time, trying to bring the same level of joy to my crowd as she did to hers when she consistently sold out local venues at the height of her popularity. Regional Hero?
National Treasure.
My hero.
Way back in 2001, several months after my big show at the Ottobar and about a week before another show I was doing at the comedy Club, I met a local rock icon that I had been looking up to for years…
She was doing a show, just walking around before going on, and I said hi, she stopped and we chatted for a few minutes. I said something about how this was a good crowd and how I hoped maybe I could get something like this for my show later in the week. It was innocuous, probably very forgettable, but I still remember it because this person actually made a big impact on my career without her ever knowing it.
You have to be brave to get up in front of people and pour your heart out. You have to be brave to let people judge you for your work and let your work represent you. And laying yourself out there in the great big bad world by yourself is hard. This person did it, following her dream, moving to a big city, at one time having to replace her entire band when they quit on her before a tour.
I took a page from this person whose name I’m not mentioning. I did my best every time, trying to bring the same level of joy to my crowd as she did to hers when she consistently sold out local venues at the height of her popularity. Regional Hero?
National Treasure.
My hero.
