The Great Northeastern Book Tour, "Live from the Cafe," and Other Musings

Well, here we are again...fooling around with colors, fonts and other inane things as I sit here, trying to stay awake, and also working to figure out what on earth I am to do next.

It's been nearly a week, and my new book, "Live from the Cafe" is out...

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It's just arrived in my hands, the physical books, and they look great. The book is 328 pages, but the print is of decent size, and I feel this will be a good, fast read. 

I have been fooling around with a bunch of ideas in my head, and I have decided to try a few promotional things this summer. I've gotten an opportunity, and so I've built around it.

Seems like we're always on display and always on the make, so I figure best to embrace it. Before and after events, I am trying my own weird little concept:

NINJA BOOK SIGNINGS!

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I know, you're asking, "What the fuck are those?"

Well...be vewy, vewy quiet..."

Since I've discovered that book shops (even indie ones!) and other places of business just don't have the time or wherewithal to have every single undiscovered and unknown author in their establishment, you have to do your own thing.

I am stealing an idea from Amanda Palmer...any fan of hers knows when on tour, she likes to do "Ninja Gigs." She'll show up with a ukelele (or if there's a piano, even better) at a place and do a free, spontaneous gig. Those are more fun sometimes.

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Those just look like more fun, don't they?

So, I'm doing this...I'll choose random places, and then promote on social media that I'll be doing a ninja book signing. If you want to get a copy of "Live..." or one of my other books, just show up.

"Aren't you gonna get in trouble for that?" You may ask.

Well, I might. But it's like this. I put up NO signs. The book sits next to my laptop and my coffee, like so:

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Sorry for the glare. But that's it. I'm just sitting here, enjoying my coffee, while a couple hundred people in various forms of dress/undress fly through this place and get tanked up.

Now trouble? As I say, I'm not bothering anyone. I'm not talking to anyone. I'm just here. If anyone sees the book and asks, then I'll talk to them.

If you come see me, and decide to buy, the transaction is done between two agreeing parties.

No one gets hurt, no one is bothered, and I'm also paying for my drinks. 

I'll have fun with this, and refine it. I don't expect huge sales, but as I spend lots of time out and about, why not have fun?

Now...the Great Northeastern Book Tour, haha...well, I have a couple of events lined up, and here's what I'm doing so far.

On Thursday, July 13th, I'll be reading and signing (and hopefully selling) at DogStar Books in Lancaster as part of the Turning Wheel series of authors. This will be fun. Eliot White is the head of a site called Triangle, and he's working to bring the arts communities from around the region together. Really nice, enthusiastic guy...I like him very much and I think this is a great inroad for us all.

Later this month, I head back to my native New England for a needed vacation...but I'm not without enterprise.

On Friday, July 28th, I'll be at the Diesel Cafe on Elm St. in Somerville, Massachusetts to do a signing at the place that started "Live from the Cafe." 

http://www.diesel-cafe.com/

This is where it all began. And I didn't even know it.

Years ago, I went in there and saw a large, open place that had pint glasses of coffee, good food, and a cool place to hang out. I wrote, drank, and enjoyed it.

Back in York, PA, where I lived at the time, I was spitting distance from Borders. When it closed, I thought about opening my version of the Diesel there. The size, space, color and location made me think it could be a different place.

But different doesn't translate very well, does it? I don't think it would have worked, because change is not embraced too well at times. I also would not have had the money to get started, and who knows what a lease would have cost.

But it was a fun thought...and in my mind, I often asked myself, "What kind of coffee place would I run, if I opened one?"

From years of hanging out in coffee shops, corporate and otherwise, I started to find something that I thought would be cool. It might not make money in the real world, but I left it as a "Who Cares?" attitude for the story.

Le Cafe began to form in my head, and I drew upon the many people I watched, listened to and hung out with in places like these.

I had enough fodder for characters in my head to begin with, and then others started to filter in. 

And here we have it...a strange little place in a strange little town. The people are recognizable, I hope, the issues they face are real, and I hope I put you into a land that is at least understandable to your own situation.

I had a lot of fun writing this, and now I hope to bring it to you.

So yes, that strange author will be sitting about, hawking his wares in a different way...getting rid of the middleman...usually.

Diesel has been kind enough to have me, and then comes the really interesting one.

The next day, July 29th, I'll be doing a signing at my college. Saint Joseph's College of Maine is having me at the 30th reunion...well, mine is 30 years.

I hope to see old friends, and find out just how different we've become (or not), and I hope they'll see that awkward radio geek didn't turn out too badly.

I'm still in radio. That's enough to certify me, but I had that to start with.

So I'm gonna do that one, too. That's gonna be fun.

Been years since I was up in Maine, so I'll be hanging out with my sister and brother in law in Freeport, in their amazing old house, hooking up with old radio and music friends...

And on the radio as a subject!

WMPG 90.9 FM in Portland was WSJB's rival back in the day, or one of them on the left side of the dial. On Tuesday, August 1st, at 7:30 pm, Christopher White will host me on the Tuesday Night Talk Radio Club. They have a stream and everything...that will be fun...one of my old friends from Rocky Horror days, DJ Pete, will do a swing show right after that...fun.

I will move about the region, and head to the midcoast for a bit of research, but also to help blast Pennsylvania out of my head for a time. 

So many people I'd like to see, and also a time to consider what next I'll do.

Now...back to the house...I'm really enjoying living in the 'burg, and the home is a cool little spot. I don't spend enough time in it, and I wish I could. I spent the better part of two days home, while inspections went on.

My chimney needed a metal sleeve and a cap, after UGI found it clogged by birds, and who knows what else. Got that done, and on the same day, UGI came back to untag my water heater, clean it and do the same assessment to my AC.

Costly, but needed. That's life.

Well, I have some touring to do this summer, books to sell, and I hope you'll find it in you to pick up "Live from the Cafe," and my others...the labor of love that these are comes with various prices, but I have enjoyed this long several years of creativity, and there's more to come. Much more.

http://www.sunburypressstore.com/Live-from-the-Cafe-9781620067147.htm

Enjoy...and I hope to see you so I can sign your work and thank you personally for the support...and just to see anyone these days is important.

Not starting at screens or our phones. Like in the cafe, the rule ought to be: "No Wifi. Drink coffee, and talk to each other."

Peace, Out. 

It Was 30 Years Ago Today...

...well, not exactly 30...tomorrow (4/1) will somewhat, approximately, kinda-sorta my anniversary.

My 30th Anniversary in Broadcasting. Excuse me...

...30 Fucking Years.

I don't even feel that old anymore. I started thinking about this earlier today and realized that if I don't write this now, I'm not going to do it tomorrow on the day of this momentous (hah!) occasion.

So...let's see...where do I start? I've had people ask me a lot of questions about my chosen profession over the years, including the inevitable ones of, "How do you get started?", "Why do you work a job that doesn't pay anything?", "Why aren't you like Howard Stern?", "Why don't you want to host a talk show?", and fuck knows how many others.

I've had all of those...the one about the money was occasionally alluded to by my family. But more on that later.

I admit to having an interest and fascination with radio as a kid, but I also have to tell you I really didn't see myself as ever having an opportunity to do anything like that. Not that I didn't dream about it.

Growing up in near the Canadian border, I got the best of both worlds, both US and Canadian radio, and that included music as well as news and other stuff. I remember certain personalities, people, music, etc.

A lot of strange stuff returns to my brain right now...today, these things would never be done on commercial radio, and probably rarely on what is now called "Community Radio." Those low power FM's and the like that try to go as mini-NPR stations, doing their own thing, and relying on the kindliness of the public.

Anyway...the whole thing for me started here:

Michelle Hartley painted this mural in the basement of Saint Joseph's College (of Maine) back in the 80's. I went to St. Joe's in '83, with no idea of what I would do for a career. I had horrific grades in high school; I was at best a bored and uninterested student in just about everything. Lots of reasons for that, but that's how it is.

When I learned that we were getting ready to go on-air with an FM station whose signal in those days reached into Portland, I thought: "Oh...this might be interesting."

We did not get on air until the afternoon on 4/1/84. I pulled a one-hour shift late in the first day. 

My first song as a DJ? I honestly don't remember.

Well, fast forward to a month and a few days later back in Vermont. One day after going home for the break, I walked into the old WDOT-AM in Burlington, and by virtue of the world's shortest job interview, I had one.

OK...so I didn't look back. Much.

It has been one long and strange trip in so many ways. And the shit ain't over yet. I have passed through more stations (existing and not), more formats and more co-workers/colleagues than I can number or even remember. I've worked in the weirdest set-ups, the flashiest studios, and have dealt with the best...and not necessarily the worst characters, but some scary ones to be sure.

When I wasn't being weird one.

We constantly remake ourselves. Sometimes it works, but often it just does not. I have spent the majority if not all of my career not being known. And to be honest, I prefer it.

I am a worker. I am a "Service Machine." This is not a bad thing, you know. There came a time in my career when my ego had to get smacked down, and fucking hard. It happened two or three times, very early in my career. I won't name names, or situations, but the deal was this: 

"Kid, you're good, but you ain't that good. You got a long way to go."

And...I'll add this: "You must never stop learning."

What I mean by that is you must never stop learning what you are capable of doing. When you get to turn your hands to something you never thought you could do, you become surprised and even stunned to find out...that yes, you can do it. And do it well.

Yeah, I've had a few points in my life where I wondered why I got passed over for things. When I was younger, I irrationally and immaturely believed I was getting the shaft. 

Then...about ten years into my career a guy who came up behind me said the same damn things and an awful lot more. I suddenly realized he reminded me of me. Guess we all go through it.

The business has changed. We can go on and on about how bad things have gotten, how the jobs have dried up, how the revenue is gone, and how we are no longer valued.

I call bullshit.

You know, I have not had a full-time radio gig in five years. I'm still jobbing, getting hours when and where I can. 'Cause this is what I do.

I love the business, and the experience. Right now, I am part of a company that is headed into a new market and frontier...radio? Broadcasting? More the latter, but it's all part of the same damn thing.

It may also seem strange to you that I spend two hours on a Thursday evening, hosting a show on a small internet station. 

www.radio-airwaves.co.uk

I do it to keep myself sane at times. I can be like I was in college and play music I like, music that I think has value and play it for others. If you like it, great, if not, that's okay.

People ask me all the time if I like what I do. My response is always the same:

"BEATS WORKING!"

If I had to do it over, I'd do it again. I'd hope with benefit of hindsight I might not make some of those mistakes again, but you have to learn somehow.

Thing is: a lot of us do not learn. There are people in this biz who are one-trick ponies. They do one thing, and it may be good, but it doesn't always stand the test of time. You need to remake, like I said; adopt, adapt, improve. If you don't, you will be on the sidelines wondering why.

I've been a DJ for nearly every format. I've hosted shows, co-hosted shows, produced shows, been a journalist, a traffic reporter, a this, a that, a manager...we all do these things. We don't always have the titles before our names, but we do them.

I think at this point, my career went about the way it was meant to go. This is not just about money, but that's nice when you can get it. I've had other jobs, but this is not a job. This is what I DO.

I also write, I play music, I do the things I enjoy doing. Yeah...I could have gotten a desk job, or some kind of management job, or whatever...I could have made more money, been more stable financially, but I would not have been happy.

Rich People have Rich People Problems. If I was, I'd deal. I didn't do too badly, though. And I'm done.

I like where this thing is going, and it opened doors to everything else. It was not always smile-inducing, these past years, and it was not always fun. But it was different.

That makes it good.

You think this many years is something? One of my colleagues at the new job has been in this business, non-stop, 51 years.

That's right. Guy's a legend...and he's now a traffic reporter. 

He still loves it.

So do I.

Do what you love, life is too fucking short to be bored or killing yourself. Friend of mine once had that great job, but he said the stress got so bad, he was pounding a six-pack of Heineken every fucking night to get through it.

Not worth it.

For me, this is.

I have broadcasting to do, even in the shadows. I make a difference in a small way, but a good one.

I do everything else because I think it makes a fucking difference. Forgive my self-centered thought...even if it is just for me, in that moment.

Been fun...and I have more waiting for me.

Peace, Out.