Hey friends! 

 

 

Are you staying cool? Do you have to worry about cicadas? Does it feel like half the year is already over? What happened? Here’s what’s happened recently in my neck of the woods.

 

 

This month I returned to one of my old haunts. I went back to perform at an open mic I went to once upon a time in my pre-cancer life. It felt surreal and also wonderful to have the worlds of the past & present collide . People who knew me back then and people who know me now in one room, supporting me. Sometimes you can go home again. If you’re able to have one of these types of experiences, I highly recommend it.    

 

 

 

In this day & age, I’m thankful that we have the technology and the option to just stay home and watch movies. I can pause and go to the bathroom. I can pick my own food and drink. I can check stuff on my phone or work while it’s playing. I can decide “ah I’m not into this” and then switch to watching ’90s commercials on YouTube. At the same time, there’s something about a trip to the movie theater that’s still pretty golden. Especially the kind of arthouse small theaters that do cool events, fun themes for the month and screen cult classics that aren’t easily available on streaming services. I wish everyone had one of these within driving distance. It’s worth a trip.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of film – there’s a new documentary on Cyndi Lauper out there. Which led me to listening to ‘She’s So Unusual” (and her effervescent song from The Goonies soundtrack) for the billionth time. “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” is probably one of the most overplayed and synced songs of my lifetime. And yet unlike a lot of songs that have been played a ton and used in a million movies, shows and commercials – somehow when I hear that opening synth whooooooosh ~!- it’s still like someone just gave me my morning coffee with a shot of espresso and a gummi shark in it. It’s just so damn joyful. it’s fun to see her and her band perform it in the moment when it was still fresh. They look and sound like they don’t wanna stop playing it. Do something unusual and have some fun this month, when your working day is done. 

 

 

Peace, love, empathy,

Stephen 

Hello friends. 

 

 

Did you see the northern lights? Did you take some cool pics? Did you get too tired and say “ehh I’ll just look at all the people who got a better vantage point post stuff tomorrow” like I did? There’s no shame in that. I needed a good night of sleep too. Here are a few things I did do, though.

 

 

 

It’s funny to scavenge through old stuff. Sometimes you stumble onto things you don’t even remember ever owning. Some things have a sentimental hold on you that you can never quite erase. Though I don’t have kids myself, I do have some kids in my life and it was nice to hand some old toys down. Let the future generations enjoy these old books, toy cars and plush orcas.

 

 

 

Remember POGS? If you’re above or below a certain age, you probably don’t. But you have those weird things you haven’t thought about in a while. Something you used to play with or watch when you were a in middle school. Some commercial you couldn’t escape as a kid that makes you laugh now. Head down one of these nostalgic rabbitholes. Fire up something fun on YouTube at the end of a long day that helps you decompress. 

 

 

 

 

This song has been hitting me, as of late. It’s a guy who has always been charged and motivated by politcal activism taking stock of getting older and enjoying little domestic moments and being in love. Punks have to grow up and we can’t be activists 24 hours a day. It’s exhausting. Take a minute to enjoy listening for the sound of the sea in a big seashell, if you can.

 

 

Peace, love, empathy,

Stephen