Songs

Introducing The Coastal Service

Now that I finished up my first solo cover song, I wanted to get it out in the world. As Steve Jobs said, “Real artists ship.” I’ve been working on that mindset for a while now and trying to show my work along the way.

To get my song out there where it can be streamed anywhere – via Siri, on the HomePod, in the car – I needed to pick an “artist” name to use on all the streaming services. It’s always fun to pick a band name, but I had set a rule for myself from experience messing around fruitlessly with friends in the past: first the music, then the name. You have to earn the name.

So I decided to go with The Coastal Service. 🙌 It’s sort of a play on The Postal Service, an amazing band with one of my favorite albums ever. I am not a Postal Service tribute band; their name just inspired an idea.

“The Coastal Service” is meant to invoke a sense of mystery and fog and awe and danger. It’s about meeting the ocean: like life, it’s big and dangerous and beautiful and meant to be explored.

I also like the idea that this fictional “coastal service” is there to serve humanity and is broader and more secretive and than, say, the US Coast Guard. It’s somewhat inspired by a Wes Anderson vibe, especially Moonrise Kingdom.

I also played around with some sketches on the iPad just for fun.

So there you go: The Coastal Service is born.

I still don’t know if I’m a real artist, but I did ship. 🚢

Quotes

“There’s no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day.”

27 June 2023 patmcg1 Comment

Here is a great quote by an interesting person who seemed to live by these words.

There’s no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day.
Alexander Woollcott

On the surface, Mr. Woollcott was a “drama critic”, which sounds like a horrible job to me. 😆

But he must have had something going on because he started the infamous Algonquin Round Table in 1920’s Manhattan, hosting Harpo Marx and Dorothy Parker, among others.

He grew up in poverty, served in World War I, and was a columnist in The New Yorker. You can still read his work there.

He even has a published book of letters about his life and the lives of his creative friends.” That sounds like a fun read.

The “So what?” test

25 June 202326 June 2023 patmcg1 Comment

Continuing to pull some helpful snippets out of Show Your Work, let’s look at the “So What?” test.

I had struggled for a while on this blog with the “to post or not to post” question. I was honing in on a vague “useful or interesting” test when I read Show Your Work, which attacked this idea with a “So What?” test.

I had a professor in college who returned our graded essays, walked up to the chalkboard, and wrote in huge letters: “SO WHAT?” She threw the piece of chalk down and said, “Ask yourself that every time you turn in a piece of writing.

Now any of my own posts must pass the “Sow what?” test before I will publish it. Clearly I found this “So what?” test useful because I use it here constantly.

As always, the book explains the idea most vividly with an illustration.

I will say that this rule seems at odds (or is it just tension?) with other ideas in the book, namely share something small every day.

I mean, do you really have something interesting and useful to share every day? If you’re a professional writer, maybe. But if you’re just a guy with a blog and limited time, maybe not. 😆

So I’m letting the “So what?” rule overrule any others for now.

creativity · Quotes

“The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.”

3 June 202310 June 2023 patmcg2 Comments

I think Neil Gaiman pretty well captures the magic of creation with this quote.

The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.
Neil Gaiman

Turns out the dude can also draw, at least in a sketchy kind of way that I hope to master someday as well, if only for practical purposes.

I love the anecdote about writing a short story for his daughter’s 18th birthday that Daily Inspiration added for context on this quote.

Quotes · You

“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life…”

8 November 20228 November 2022 patmcgLeave a comment

I’ve been sitting with this theory for a while that what matters most is who you are when all your stuff is stripped away – your house, your car, your bank account. Who are then then?

I think Sophia Loren is right by focusing in on your skills and your positive impact – and tying that to eternal youth. 🤩 Have you noticed that great musicians like Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Paul McCartney just keep going and going?

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love.
Sophia Loren

(The other fountain of youth IMHO is swimming. 🏊😉)