Totally agree with Nick on that one. When I heard Chuck drop the name "Ann Coulter," I smiled. Sure, he might have been an asshole by taking a cheap shot, but he would be a very liked asshole haha
I did take a cheap shot at Ann in New York on Nat'l Public Radio. Again, a long damning silence. I kind of like the Pilgrim-y WASP-ish Ann, and have learned that cheap shots are never a good choice.
I kind of like her too but she's definitely a bit of a troll and seems to love the hate she gets. Interestingly she seems to put Slavic peoples firmly in second place in her ethno- and cultural hierarchy and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
I love your talk with Joe Rogan on absurdism. It kinda changed things in my head a little. The terrible U.I. on this site did not allow me to see who was talking to me or who I was really answering. I thought to myself "Does it matter?" "It's my brain and no one is really listening. Go nuts. Be absurd" "Go nuts. lol"
I love that! Do you know the refrain of Andy Warhol's life? Whenever anything happened, good or bad, he asked himself, "So what?" He seems to have operated out of a Zen-like indifference to events.
I adore Warhol. I didn't know he did this though. I nearly cried when I saw his wig behind glass at a museum. Now that's absurd. And I mean every word of that.
I loved the moment where you brought up the story about you at a book signing. That woman staring at you who eventually asks for your zodiac sign. The only water sign without a shell. I was born Nov 9th, a Scorpio. It's funny because sometimes during my lows, I just shrug and say "it's cause I"m a Scorpio." It's a problem and I'm getting better at that. But apart of that topic was when you talked about the need to be tinkering with a narrative, as a kind of shield from the normal world. And the problems and stress of daily life seemed petty in comparison.
I'm not the only one who probably thought this. But what would happen if Chuck didn't have that narrative shell? Because I'm sure there are times when you didn't have that story preoccupying your monkey mind.
And another thing...I have to call bullshit on something you said towards the end. You said you "purport" to teach writing on here. Cmon man, you DO teach writing!
Hey, as Tom Spanbauer always said, "99% of what any writing workshop does is simply give people the permission to write." That's why I'm such an advocate of the Thursday night Study Hall. It's a work in progress, but it gives a lot of people a clean, bright, quiet place to be surrounded by people who are writing. We're each alone without being alone.
And we're also, now, looking at new spaces where we can meet on other nights/times.
How is Study Hall set up? Is it one big room and everyone is kind of huddled around each other? Or do people scatter off into their own special spaces? Is there one long cafeteria table?
If a Study Hall is ever established in my state, Rhode Island, I'd love a place like that.
You talked about wanting a big, beefy guy to come to your hotel room and deck you in the head one good time. There was a Joe Rogan interview, he was talking to either you or Mike Tyson. And there was something about a chemical the body produces when a fighter gets knocked down. Like...your testosterone gets real low to stop you from getting back up and keep fighting. Is that the feeling you are aiming for?
Nice setup! Good lighting. Comfortable chairs. Complementary champagne!
When I was in high school, my buddy befriended a college guy who owned a house; inside were pool tables, movie posters, and a big guy with a beard who only ever wore sweat pants. Every time we visited, a party was well underway. Crowded, smoke-filled rooms where R.E.M. played after Warrant on the stereo. (This was the mid-90s). A can of beer would be tossed to you when you walked through the door. But, I didn’t drink at the time! And! The owner of the house, the guy throwing the never-ending party? He didn’t either. When he realized the unopened beer cans being set on end tables were being left by me, he started calling me Eagle Scout and gave me an open invitation to grab a Coca-Cola from his refrigerator whenever we visited.
There’s something incredibly fascinating to me about this type of character/personality. The person who goes out of their way to ensure everyone else is having a good time, even when everyone else’ idea of a good time doesn’t align with their own.
I’m just now listening to this and you are talking about how Tom Spanbauer told your writing group that you should be there because you love writing and ‘because there is nothing more fun and more frightening to you than this thing’… Writing scares the hell out of me. I’ve discovered that I love it. I think I can be good enough to grow an audience. But it scares the hell out of me because I’m afraid my first story could get me fired from my job and it really freaks me out to think that at that point I’d be really vulnerable. It seems like you sort of flew by the seat of your pants and didn’t care? Or is that not true? Early on were you ever freaked out about your future if it didn’t work out?
Loving this talk. For the record Chuck, if you'd made that joke about Ann Coulter you'd probably have been applauded (rightly or wrongly).
Totally agree with Nick on that one. When I heard Chuck drop the name "Ann Coulter," I smiled. Sure, he might have been an asshole by taking a cheap shot, but he would be a very liked asshole haha
I did take a cheap shot at Ann in New York on Nat'l Public Radio. Again, a long damning silence. I kind of like the Pilgrim-y WASP-ish Ann, and have learned that cheap shots are never a good choice.
I kind of like her too but she's definitely a bit of a troll and seems to love the hate she gets. Interestingly she seems to put Slavic peoples firmly in second place in her ethno- and cultural hierarchy and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
I love your talk with Joe Rogan on absurdism. It kinda changed things in my head a little. The terrible U.I. on this site did not allow me to see who was talking to me or who I was really answering. I thought to myself "Does it matter?" "It's my brain and no one is really listening. Go nuts. Be absurd" "Go nuts. lol"
I love that! Do you know the refrain of Andy Warhol's life? Whenever anything happened, good or bad, he asked himself, "So what?" He seems to have operated out of a Zen-like indifference to events.
I adore Warhol. I didn't know he did this though. I nearly cried when I saw his wig behind glass at a museum. Now that's absurd. And I mean every word of that.
In the 90’s I lived in Pittsburgh and a good friend of mine worked there. We snuck and tried on his wigs at the Warhol Museum. Hehe.
YOU DID NOT!? Seriously!!!!? Now that's a story!!!
LOL... This is what I was thinking! Malkovich! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luZ9IQO980o
I loved the moment where you brought up the story about you at a book signing. That woman staring at you who eventually asks for your zodiac sign. The only water sign without a shell. I was born Nov 9th, a Scorpio. It's funny because sometimes during my lows, I just shrug and say "it's cause I"m a Scorpio." It's a problem and I'm getting better at that. But apart of that topic was when you talked about the need to be tinkering with a narrative, as a kind of shield from the normal world. And the problems and stress of daily life seemed petty in comparison.
I'm not the only one who probably thought this. But what would happen if Chuck didn't have that narrative shell? Because I'm sure there are times when you didn't have that story preoccupying your monkey mind.
Hell, I can tell you what happens when I have no story/shell. I take Ambien, drink a glass of wine, and... annoy people. Let's leave it at that.
I vaguely remember you talking about how you would call a friend and ask, "what did you mean when you said blah blah blah."
And another thing...I have to call bullshit on something you said towards the end. You said you "purport" to teach writing on here. Cmon man, you DO teach writing!
We are sponges absorbing all the juicy wisdom lol
Hey, as Tom Spanbauer always said, "99% of what any writing workshop does is simply give people the permission to write." That's why I'm such an advocate of the Thursday night Study Hall. It's a work in progress, but it gives a lot of people a clean, bright, quiet place to be surrounded by people who are writing. We're each alone without being alone.
And we're also, now, looking at new spaces where we can meet on other nights/times.
How is Study Hall set up? Is it one big room and everyone is kind of huddled around each other? Or do people scatter off into their own special spaces? Is there one long cafeteria table?
If a Study Hall is ever established in my state, Rhode Island, I'd love a place like that.
You talked about wanting a big, beefy guy to come to your hotel room and deck you in the head one good time. There was a Joe Rogan interview, he was talking to either you or Mike Tyson. And there was something about a chemical the body produces when a fighter gets knocked down. Like...your testosterone gets real low to stop you from getting back up and keep fighting. Is that the feeling you are aiming for?
The silence came through so clear my mind became clear, filling with color instead of ‘answers’.
Addressing the silence, gave the colors a shine and the answer put all of it together like a prism.
Brilliant interview.
Nice setup! Good lighting. Comfortable chairs. Complementary champagne!
When I was in high school, my buddy befriended a college guy who owned a house; inside were pool tables, movie posters, and a big guy with a beard who only ever wore sweat pants. Every time we visited, a party was well underway. Crowded, smoke-filled rooms where R.E.M. played after Warrant on the stereo. (This was the mid-90s). A can of beer would be tossed to you when you walked through the door. But, I didn’t drink at the time! And! The owner of the house, the guy throwing the never-ending party? He didn’t either. When he realized the unopened beer cans being set on end tables were being left by me, he started calling me Eagle Scout and gave me an open invitation to grab a Coca-Cola from his refrigerator whenever we visited.
There’s something incredibly fascinating to me about this type of character/personality. The person who goes out of their way to ensure everyone else is having a good time, even when everyone else’ idea of a good time doesn’t align with their own.
The truth is I wish I knew more people like that.
I’m just now listening to this and you are talking about how Tom Spanbauer told your writing group that you should be there because you love writing and ‘because there is nothing more fun and more frightening to you than this thing’… Writing scares the hell out of me. I’ve discovered that I love it. I think I can be good enough to grow an audience. But it scares the hell out of me because I’m afraid my first story could get me fired from my job and it really freaks me out to think that at that point I’d be really vulnerable. It seems like you sort of flew by the seat of your pants and didn’t care? Or is that not true? Early on were you ever freaked out about your future if it didn’t work out?
My dream podcast for Chuck would be with Jordan Peterson, so they could discuss the virtues of nihilism and ways of finding yourself in chaos.