Another Sunshine Blogger Post

Balancing Joy at Being Nominated With Shock Because This Happened

I really intended to publish this a week ago, but the events of two weekends ago really took a toll on me.

You may have seen posts on Substack about the Sunshine Blogger Awards over the past six weeks or so.

I’m not sure who originated these “Awards,” but they clearly seem designed to build on inspiration and expand positivity, which we all could use these days. Basically, people nominate other Substackers they feel embody creativity, inspiration, and positivity. The nominating Substackers pose questions, the nominees answer them, and then ask other questions (and nominate other Substackers). It’s not a chain letter (no threats if you break the chain) or a pyramid scheme (no promises of riches if you enlist enough suckers), but something designed purely to increase the metaphorical sunshine. And what’s wrong with that?

I was thrilled to be nominated by Christine Schoenwald (of the Everything’s Slightly Off-Kilter Substack). If you don’t already subscribe to her Substack (or read her regularly in the many places her writing appears), do something about that.

To be honest, my legit joy at being nominated is in direct conflict with my feeling that no one who knows me should nominate me. True, I’d like to spread kindness wherever I go, but it’s equally true that my deep cynicism and sense of disappointment in humanity can get dark. (What can I say? I contain freaking multitudes).

Ordinarily, I’d nominate other Substackers to carry this forward, but almost everyone I was going to nominate has already been nominated and most have already posted their own Sunshine Blogger posts.

But… feel free to count this as a nomination for YOU if you want to participate (or if you just want to answer my questions below)!

Okay, here we go.

What’s your idea of the perfect afternoon?

A nice hike in a cold, northern climate with snow on the ground. Hot tea and watching the sun go down. And then a nice display of Northern Lights witnessed from a hot tub.

And if there’s some of my favorite music playing, that’s good, too.

What’s something you thought you’d hate, but you ended up liking?

Cheese. I hated cheese as a kid and would avoid it whenever possible.

But as an adult I started tasting different cheeses and discovered that I really like a lot of them (especially triple-creme cheeses like Brillat-Savarin).

Similarly, I thought I hated beer when I was in my 20s. It turns out, I just hate cheap American Pilsner Swill made with lots of rice. When I was 26, I went to a combination brewhouse/pizza place in Portland and told the server I didn’t know what type of beer I liked and suspected I just didn’t like beer. The server brought me small samples of about 18 beers and I discovered that I like good beer, complex beer, and beer brewed in many of the other beer styles besides American Pilsners. For a while, I fell in with a group of homebrewers and made my own beer and mead for about a decade. I stopped because I just don’t drink that much beer anymore and batches I made would last for years.

Tell me what motivates you?

I love it when something I’ve written (or performed or said) makes a positive impact on someone’s life. There’s so much stuff lately that sucks and so much darkness in the world… but if I can make things a tiny bit better or easier for people, that makes me really happy. One of my goals is to do more of that.

What’s the best present you ever got?

In the past couple of months, a bunch of different people have told me that a story in my latest book (Rock ’n’ Roll Manifesto and Other Stories) made them cry. And each time it was a different story, which is all kinds of coolness.

Do you go to live shows? Which was your favorite?

Yes! There are so many that it’s hard to pick them out.

I saw Neil Innes (of the Bonzo Dog Band, the Rutles, and much of the music from Monty Python) at McCabe’s Guitar Shop and it was magical. I’ve seen Don Dixon and Marti Jones a bunch of times and always wonder why they weren’t huge superstars.

I saw this amazing Squeeze/NRBQ/A Flock of Seagulls concert in the 1980s that was such a disaster that it led to Squeeze’s first breakup. And I saw a Jane Siberry Show at McCabe’s that for years I swore was the best thing I’d ever seen (and that she said was the best show she ever performed). It was recorded for a live album that never came out (supposedly because of threats from her American record label). I’ve seen a bunch of Robyn Hitchcock shows that felt like I’d been beamed down to another planet (in all the best ways).

Recently, I’ve been lucky enough to see Micah Schnabel & Vanessa Jean Speckman a bunch of times and they always blow me away. (Also, if there were any real justice in the world, Micah’s song “Let the Boys Be Girls,” recorded with his band Two Cow Garage, would have been in every teen movie and every show on the CW for the past fifteen years. Go listen to it now. I’ll wait.) They have a new album coming early in 2026 called The Degradation. It’s fantastic. If they are ever playing near you, go see them!

Similarly, Black Guy Fawkes always brings it and I admire how well he has been building up a community behind him. Check out his latest album The Misery Suite and everything else he’s done. Pet Needs might just take over the world some day and I’m happy that I saw them when they were still playing clubs. Go now while you can still afford tickets. (And watch for their new album next year as well.)

I’ve seen Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls a bunch of times in the past four years and they never fail to create an amazing community with their fans. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that their songs are spectacular. Every year Frank Turner throws a four-day festival (Lost Evenings) in a different city around the world. These festivals feature 20 support bands and four nights of him headlining (with almost no songs played more than once). This year’s Lost Evenings was in Edinburgh, Scotland and the show he did on the final night may be the closest thing I’ve ever seen to a perfect concert.

PS: It occurs to me that you might have meant live theatre or musicals. In which case, I’ve answered the wrong question and should have just said Bastard Jones at the Cell.

What’s the one characteristic you have that reminds you of who you are at your core?

I feel things deeply. Sometimes too deeply. Often I wish I didn’t. But here we are.

Do you have any funny pet stories?

My tuxedo cat Bettles P. Kotzebue (named after two places in Alaska) loves to chase after fuzzy toy mice we throw down the stairs. She’ll zoom down the stairs so quickly (often leaping two or three stairs at a time) and make such a racket that it always makes us laugh. Often, she’ll bring the mouse back up so we can throw it to her again. Sometimes, she presents the mouse with a satisfied squeak. On good days, this game will go on for 15 minutes.

What’s your favorite neighborhood?

It might be different tomorrow, but today I’d have to say downtown Reykjavik near the harbor. It’s my favorite place to walk (especially in the snow) and this time of year there’s a giant sculpture of Iceland’s Christmas Cat (who, according to legend, devours children who don’t get clothing for Christmas).

This neighborhood also contains the Icelandic Punk Museum (located in a former public restroom), the Penis Museum, Harpa Opera House, and the Sun Voyager statue. Bjork waved at me in this neighborhood once, but I’m pretty sure she thought I was someone else.

What’s the one piece of advice you like to give out?

Your first draft is never going to be perfect, but it’s always easier to revise something that exists than create something from nothing.

What are you most looking forward to in the future?

Leading a writing workshop/retreat in Vermont in 2026!

Okay, if you choose to accept the Sunshine Blogger Award yourself, feel free to answer some or all of these questions:

1. What’s something you wish you knew when you were younger?

2. What (or Who) inspires you these days?

3. What’s the first piece of art (music, literature, etc.) you remember being inspired by?

4. What’s the first thing you remember being told that you realized wasn’t true?

5. What do you miss from your childhood? (Or what are you glad to be rid of that was a big part of your childhood?)

6. What’s your favorite time of year? (Or your favorite weather?)

7. Where do you want to go (or what do you want to do) next?

8. Tell me about a time when you were perfectly content. (Or about something you really regret.)

9. What song/band/movie/TV show/book/author did you love when you were younger that you can’t stand these days?

10. What do you wish people knew about you that they don’t?