Bay Area (and especially Marin County) Friends! This Thursday, July 24, I'll be talking about "A Fire Story" at the Mill Valley Public Library at 6 p.m. I don't have many public events coming up on my calendar, so if you want to say Howdy this would be a good opportunity!
Event information is HERE. The library is asking folks to register. I'm sure they'd still let you in if you just showed up, but it'd be polite to give them a head count. Thanks!
EYEWITNESS TO HISTORY! Just in time for the anniversary of Apollo 11, the USS Hornet - Sea, Air and Space Museum has posted never-before-seen home movies of the Hornet's recovery of Apollo 11! The film is from museum volunteer Joe Holt, who in 1969 was a Marine sergeant stationed aboard the Hornet.
Nobody but Mr. Holt and his family have EVER seen this footage! The first half shows the recovery of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins and their spacecraft, Columbia, with glimpses of the astronauts inside the Mobile Quarantine Facility (a tricked-out Airstream trailer) and President Richard Nixon. The second half shows the crowd that welcomed the Hornet to Pearl Harbor where they offloaded the MQF, and then quite a survey of other Naval ships in port at the time.
I think eyewitness records like this offer a whole different perspective on historic events from people who played a role in them. Many thanks to Mr. Holt for sharing it with the world.
[I try to start my day writing 250 words on anything. I’ll post one every Tuesday until I run out of good ones.]
Over time, I’ve accumulated some Rules for Living. They form a nearly unbreakable code that guides my actions.
Rule 1: Always stop for a lemonade stand. As young entrepreneurs, my sister and I opened many, and one customer made our entire day. The quality of the lemonade is irrelevant.
Rule 2: Always tip a street musician. I try to keep a buck in my pocket for just this purpose. The quality of the music is irrelevant.
Rule 3: We raised our children on this: If a kid wants to read a book with you, stop whatever you’re doing and read the book.
Rule 4: We also raised our children on this: never let kids play one parent against the other. Even if one of us thought the other was wrong, we’d back them up and discuss it later.
Rule 5: Never mess with another man’s fire. I use the word “man” warily but deliberately, as I’ve never met a woman who has a particular way of building a fire that never fails and NO NO YOU’RE DOING IT ALL WRONG! Whereas I’ve met a lot of men who do.
Rule 5a: Never mess with another man’s grill. A subsidiary rule because it’s cooking over fire, even if the flames are fueled by propane.
The trick on the last two is to stand by quietly while your host botches the job and you can swoop in to save the day. The best heroes are silent but ready.
What are your rules?
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Here's a Zoom event I'm doing tomorrow afternoon: the Cape Cod Sierra Club is talking about wildfires and I will be one of two speakers. I was invited by my friend Chris Powicki, with whom I did science writing here in California before he moved back east and became one of Massachusetts's go-to experts on ecology and renewable energy. I have a short presentation planned, and then some Q&A. 4 p.m. Pacific/7 p.m. Eastern.
Click on that link above or here to register. It should be good!
Another report from Adam Savage aboard the USS Hornet, my favorite former-aircraft-carrier-turned-museum, this one touring the old girl's machine shop. I understand his team produced a total of four videos from his day on the Hornet; this is number two.
As a Mythbusters fan who's kept up with Adam since that program ended, I think his gift as a broadcaster is how he nerds out with unabashed glee and communicates that to the audience. He's so happy and excited he makes us happy and excited, even if the sight of a big lathe or drill press wouldn't normally delight us.
The best broadcasters (or artists or writers or graphic novelists) are the ones who know how to show their authentic selves. Audiences can tell when you're faking it. He isn't.
Mythbuster Adam Savage visited the USS Hornet - Sea, Air and Space Museum recently, and produced this video (with more to come) for his YouTube channel. It's a great piece!
About halfway through the 18-minute video, Adam rides the ship's old aircraft elevator. I have also ridden that elevator, and it is a thrill! As Adam says, it almost feels like freefalling as your eyes adjust from daylight to the dark cavern of the hangar deck in just a few seconds. It's like a portal between worlds.
My daughter Laura, who's the CEO of the Hornet Museum, doesn't appear on camera but did all the contacting and legwork to arrange Adam's visit (and now Laura gets to brag that she's met BOTH Mythbusters!). Adam's guide for most of the video, Russ, is a friend and a great guy whose knowledge and passion are evident.
Obviously, the Hornet is hoping that Adam's enthusiasm is contagious and that some of his 7 million subscribers will come check it out. I'd encourage them to. I've spent a lot of time aboard the Hornet and love her nearly as much as the people who work there.
EDITED TO ADD: Here's the video I shot of MY elevator ride several years ago. I don't want to keep nattering about the elevator--there's so much more to the ship than that, and they don't routinely run it for visitors--but it was darn cool.
[I try to start my day writing 250 words on anything. I’ll post one every Tuesday until I run out of good ones.]
I wish I could wear a stylish hat. Men used to wear great hats—Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart—but whenever I do I feel like a boy playing dress-up in his grandpa’s closet. These days, wearing a hat is a bold statement that not everyone can pull off.
Indiana Jones ruined the fedora, a perfectly fine hat. I once had one I liked. But you can only take so many gibes, including a Disneyland cast member in full Jungle Cruise uniform who chased me through Adventureland yelling “Indy! Indy! We need your help!” before the fedora winds up in the closet.
Incidentally, my archaeologist daughter reports that real archaeologists don’t wear fedoras (nor, should it need to be said, whips). They favor practical floppy-brimmed canvas or straw hats for minimum weight and maximum shade.
Far down the list of the MAGA movement’s many crimes is ruining the formerly innocuous red baseball cap. From a distance, it’s impossible to tell if you support the San Francisco 49ers or fascism. Best to avoid red headwear altogether.
You have to earn the right to wear a cowboy hat. I haven’t.
Finding the right hat is hard. It’s got to fit the shape of your skull and the curves of your face. Some men can don a newsboy cap and look like Sean Connery in a ’54 Jaguar Roadster while others look like a doughy back-alley bartender.
As in so much of life, the trick to properly sporting a hat is confidence.
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PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! I am sharing these little "250 Words On" essays via Substack, which will email a new one to your In Box every Tuesday morning. Just follow this link and enter your email address. It's free, and I promise to never use your address for evil purposes.
[I try to start my day writing 250 words on anything. I’ll post one every Tuesday until I run out of good ones.]
I recently wrote about how I’m reluctant to give advice because it might be very wrong. Another reason is that it would be irrelevant. My career path is not replicable. Conversely, creators today have opportunities I never did. It’s a different world.
My first job out of college, I was hired by a small daily newspaper as a part-time night-shift sportswriter. That was my foot in the door of professional writing. Back then, that paper had an editorial staff of about a dozen people. Now it has three. My entry-level job is extinct.
As a freelance writer, I sold articles to magazines. Today, many of them are defunct. The number of print outlets for freelancing of all sorts—writing, photography, illustrations, cartoons—has withered.
I started my graphic novel career by mailing my Mom’s Cancer webcomic to four publishers. One, Abrams, plucked it from the slush pile and published it. I never heard from the others. I would not advise anyone to do that even though it worked for me.
On the other hand, the Internet didn’t exist when I was young. In a time when anyone can create and instantly distribute content worldwide, the challenge is getting noticed and paid. I know nothing about that.
Every successful creator I know has a different origin story. The only commonality I’ve found is that they did a lot of work, put it out into the world however they could, and did more of whatever people liked. That's my best career advice.
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! I am sharing these little "250 Words On" essays via Substack, which will email a new one to your In Box every Tuesday morning. Just follow this link and enter your email address. It's free, and I promise to never use your address for evil purposes.
