Out to Launch:

Smokler on August 28, 2003

So I’ve soft launched my professional site Kevin Smokler.com. A few sections still need to be added but the basic idea is here.

I’m not a desinger and really don’t quite know what I’m doing here. Your feedback is appreciated.

I leave for Bro’s wedding tomorrrow. Have a nice Labor Day.

Hear ye, hear ye:

Smokler on August 27, 2003

So my youngest brother, Daniel Smokler, is getting married this weekend and Suzan and I leave for New Haven Friday morning. Sunday morning at the ceremony, I’m slated to give a toast as the brother of the groom.

I’m kinda freaked out. Most wedding toasts I’ve heard are tittering anecdotes about something embarrasing the groom/bride did in younger years or a few sacchrine lines of sentiment reheated to sounds genuine. I want to make mine special. And I’m the writer in the family, which means expectations are high.

Daniel isn’t the least bit interested in me telling stories about his childhood or snarking at him and Beth from the microphone. Also, I have a tendency to tear up at inopportune times so laying it on too thick will make me cry before everyone else.

Here’s what I’m thinking…Daniel and I have a much stronger relationship now than we did as children. I had left the house by the time of his adolesence so I wasn’t around to see him grow up. Oddly then, we have a greater appreciation for each other as men than as boys. So I’m going to try to string together a few thoughts on how, despite what we remember as children, how proud I am at the man Daniel has become.

I hope Beth doesn’t mind.

Glued:

Smokler on August 26, 2003

So my piece for The Believer on the hot glue gun, after some (okay, lots of) initial trepidation is done. My intrepid editor Vendela gave me solid feedback that I put to good use. I believe it’s set to show up in next month’s issue.

This is really when the non-fiction writing process is most rewarding, when you learn something you didn’t overcame your fears about not knowing and wrote. Then, even if you and your first reader disagree, you both intuitively sense the intrinsic worth of the piece.

I can’t wait to do another.

Odd Jorb!

Smokler on August 25, 2003

Lit at the Canvas, the monthly reading series I host at the Canvas Gallery returns this evening. Tonight’s theme will be “Odd Jobs,” and we’ll be hearing from five writers and the strange things they’ve done to support their artistic careers.

The bill:

Charlie Anders (who I believe has got something about masterbation and male breast enhancement)

Leslie Harpold (who answered fan mail for White Snake in the 80s)

Jason Thompson (who rode out the dot com bust by demonstrating toys at FAO Schwartz)

M.I. Blue (who I think has spent a bunch of time working with dead people)

and

Michelle Tea (who is always great so I don’t care what jobs she’s had)

Showtime is at 7:30. The Canvas is at 9th and Lincoln in San Francisco.

First the Third Coast, then the world.

Smokler on August 24, 2003

Invisible Ink my buddy Roman’s radio show has been made a featured show on the web site of the Third Coast International Audio Festival, a celebration of feature and documentary radio put together by the folks at WBEZ in Chicago. This comes on the heels of the show being awarded a “Best of the Bay” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

All this for a half-hour a week show produced by one guy? Pretty f’n remarkable. Listen for yourself and see.

And the Gayest is…

Smokler on August 22, 2003

The other night when Suzan and I were watching Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, we ranked the Fab 5 from least gay to most gay. They are…

Least Gay #1: Ted Allen (Food): The guy has horned-rim glass, a clipped, unflappable demeanor and works in food. In my mind that puts him only a few degrees of seperation from Anthony Bourdain. Plus he’s from Chicago. Name me one famous gay person from Chicago.

#2 Thom Felicia (Interior Design). Yes, he works in interior design but he’s also clearly Italian and wields a hammer. A mixed bag, with shades of straight.

#3 Kyan Douglas (Grooming). A dead heat. Kyan is the most overtly masculine in appearance of all the dudes (My friend Willo put a fine point on it) with that needle chin and steely gaze. But the guy does tend nose hair for a living and have several jobs called “colorist” on his resume. Too close to call.

#4 Jai Rodriguez (Culture). On the leyward side of nellie and is a male working in etiquette. Would take the crown if not for…

#5 Carson Kressley who makes Harvey Fierstein look like DMX.

Guv’nah:

Smokler on August 21, 2003

So I don’t much to say about the California gubanatorial race other than it’s looks like the lunacy is already getting sucked out of it. Now pundits are saying that, should recall come, there’s a real horserace on between Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante and The Kindergarten Cop. Which isn’t nearly as fun as a battle royal between Ariana Huffington, Larry Flynt and Gallagher.

Incidentally, I’d like the dems to keep the Governor’s House as much as everyone else in this town. Seems to me that if Davis stepped down then Bustamante becomes the Governor and the recall is meaningless because the guy who was getting recalled isn’t in office anymore.

Right?

But of course that isn’t going to happen. Davis is too proud and politics as usual dicatates that you get behind whoever is in office whether or not a) it’s good for the future of the party and b) whether or not the person in office has any business being there or are simply a career political bureaucrat who climbed the ladder, didn’t make trouble and now somehow “deserves” the office at the level they’ve ascended to. And then everyone complains about that person’s “lack of vision.”

Uh huh.