Steve Martin’s Steve Martin Writes the Written Word
Eminently readable, often ‘laugh out loud’-able, and I’m happy to get some poignancy. As it reads on the cover, this is a collection- a collection that includes the entirety of the novella Shopgirl and the novel The Pleasure of My Company which makes me wonder whether I should consider this three books and not just one. As a fellow high-functioning partial neurotic, The Pleasure of My Company was a particularly resonant read for even though the protagonist could behave questionably, their sincerity shined. The idiosyncrasy throughout this book lends cool insight into Steve Martin’s creativity and values.
As the previous post indicated, I’ve largely moved my music career to the backburner, as evidenced by the vast majority of my output not being available. I’m in control of all of that, and it’s a conscious decision for the time being.
So, what am I up to? In short: improving society.
How? By using my belated scholastic education to help make the case for:
More bicycle repair collectives everywhere. I’ve participated in a few, and they’re fantastic spaces where patrons can bring in their bicycle and perform maintenance or repair with access to specialty tools. Actually, patrons can even build a bike from scratch from assorted parts! Usually incredibly affordable ‘stand time’ and even sliding-scale for them experiencing financial hardship. Collectives come in all shapes and sizes. Check out https://bikecollectives.org/ to explore operations around the globe. With e-bikes booming I see a wave of do-it-yourself ineptitude coming that’ll make itself more known in the coming years as people ride more and more, so higher density of these collectives will help. A good trade to learn, too.
Better nutrition for the homeless. From first-hand experience, getting dense leafy greens in the daily diet when one is homeless is an incredibly challenging task. Why? A whole host of reasons, including that the general population in the U.S. has an aversion to those vegetables in the first place (but not tomato sauce on pizza or potato fries), and then duh, the homeless by and large lack refrigeration options for those fast-spoiling leafy greens. More can and should be done to remedy this, as leafy greens are crucial to a better functioning mind- one that can ask for help or at least accept it when offered.
Working on a nonprofit directory and map (and eventually hopefully a corresponding app) to assist anyone and everyone who needs to save money they don’t have. Think of 211 or findhelp.org but for a broader pool. For instance, you won’t find participating ‘free museum day’ museums represented all on one map with either of the aforementioned resources, nor specifically where and when there are free ‘food not bombs’ vegan meals.
In these turbulent times I figure there are more pressing activities than hyping my new music with fingers crossed that I can parlay success into helping in the above ways (and more). My old hope of what I’d do with success in entertainment was always humanitarian in nature, so after I finally earned my undergraduate degree in 2021 I shifted focus to become better-abled to help more directly.
I wrote a whole page detailing a bunch of updates but have decided succinct is better. There’s PLENTY more that I’ve got going on aside from basically pioneering the modern van life paradigm or model before the term was coined in the early 2010s, before smartphones, before ‘going viral’ etc., etc. But the work to get all that data represented in a tasteful way takes research. The update is that the research is solid. For instance, compiling an incomplete list of all the venues/shows I’ve played across the U.S. and some of Europe – over 100 in the years 2005-2009, including live on air radio, usually highlighting ‘songs from a van’ and that storyline at each show. I’d like to provide links to as many as possible. Grand corresponding picture timeline, too.
Here, I’ll let the cat out of the bag a little bit on the next dedicated piece of press I could track down from when I went on a self-booked winter and spring tour in 2006 – this one from a student newspaper called the Rocky Mountain Collegian in Ft. Collins, Colorado (Colorado State University). It says I’m local on the front page of this section there, and I recollect trying to correct that after it was printed but I guess a van dweller is ‘local’ wherever they hang their hat for the night. Definitely had my CA plates…
As always since the beginning, I’m the only one behind this site – html, ftp, and CSS in the early days, tumblr for some time, dormancy from time to time, and now WordPress as of a few weeks ago. I think I’m starting to get the hang of it a little, but it’s a pretty powerful platform.
I’m hoping to get things in a set-and-forget way soonish so I can share more about current interests and what takes up more of my time these days. But I sure was making a scene with that van so many years ago, again: pre smartphones, pre facebook for all and instagram, pre ‘going viral’ and ‘influencer’ terminology, pre ‘#vanlife’ and hashtagging in general, etc.
Thanks for bearing with me as I revive this site and bring it up to date.
The third book I’ve started and finished in 2026 is Robin Sharma’s The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. A family member lent it to me, said it was pretty good. That’s about what I’d say, too. It’s a self-help book in the vein of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie. It’s a fictional tale of some conversations between the narrator and the titular monk who went off to become a monk after a near-death experience. I’d say it’s not quite as good as the other two books I’ve mentioned in this blurb, but it’s an easy and quick enough read of solid insight, tips, and tricks to becoming a more fulfilled liver of life. If you have a high-stress, dead-end career maybe this one is for you to help you reassess your priorities. Pretty good.
This was an engaging, human read! A Christmas present, it was pretty cool to get the inside scoop on Elvis Duran’s journey in radio basically up to COVID (2019). While I’m not a huge radio fanatic like Elvis, I am a fan of radio and even got involved with and helped out a small radio station in Seattle many years ago, so this really was a treat. To be truthful, I wasn’t familiar with Elvis Duran or their show before this book, but then again to put that in perspective the most recent television show I’ve seen most of (I missed like two episodes) was LOST. So… I went into this simply wanting to enjoy the first-hand account of, in their words, “a gay man who hosts a radio show in New York City.”
Again, a solid and genuinely entertaining read I can recommend.
Just yesterday I began reading Kamala Harris’ account of their 107-day run for presidency in their book 107 Days. Before this morning’s briefing re: Venezuela, I got to the picture section of the book. The last picture in the collection is of Kamala Harris certifying the election on January 6, 2025, two weeks before Trump’s inauguration as 47th president. Finished the book a bit ago (review further down).
I’ll be blunt and write that I never voted for Trump, the presidency is the wrong role for their ‘talents’. It didn’t take with the people as much as ‘outrage fatigue’ apparently did (I might’ve coined that in a previous blog- I definitely created the word ‘equicog’ for those potato-tomato words), but I thought the alliterative ‘Turbulent Trump’ was a solid and valid diminutive that was still a cut above what Trump trots out. I’ve been a registered independent for well over a decade.
The book: a solid and quick read! The chapters trace each day like a retrospective diary, some are less than a page long. Fairly riveting, and I think a very worthy addition to the genre. I will say that it might be a bit too fresh off the presses having come out a few months ago – less than a year after the pivotal election – as the ‘blame’ landed a little funny. Maybe a little too much of it at all for my taste on the regular, but then again, a sudden, unprecedented 107-day sprint that doesn’t result in a win? Earns the right to complain a little bit. A fighting book, but with so much more class than running a 4-year campaign steeped in revenge and country-grabbing ego.
I really didn’t like 2025 as a whole, though personally I was able to plug along OK.
This blog is probably not going to be quite as personal as previous iterations. Not so sure that I’ll post daily or even every week, but I’m resolved to get out there in the world more after obligations.
Here’s a recent silly picture of me within the last week.
