jokes & notes to float your hope boat!

jokes! plus... join me on Notes: a new place to connect

dear friends, fans, family, fellow folks,

i’m grateful that you’re here.
thank you for being and doing all of your beings and doings.
i super appreciate you!

and now, for some Jokes And More (my JAM) on the subject of NOTES, in honor of substack’s new social media feed deal that just came into being (more on that at the bottom of this very message)!

A) the jokes you don’t play:

once, i was at a comedy show in a park.
nearby, there was a jazz show happening as well.
now, they say that jazz is about the notes you DON’T play.
but that day, jazz was more about the JOKES you couldn’t HEAR.

it just occurred to me that if jazz really IS about the notes that you don’t play, then almost the entire universe is a gigantic jazz concert. because most of the universe is completely silent space, no notes played at all. unless there is dark matter or dark energy out there or some other kinds of as yet unknown materials or situations which emit some kind of vibrations, in which case, if the whole universe is full of vibrations (which also seems plausible), then there are ONLY notes being played, and jazz does not exist at all. so it seems that jazz is either everywhere-ish or nowhere-ish. or somewhere in between or beyond. ish. this is a theory that i call schrödinger’s jazz.

B) MY kind of grandma:

when she was alive, my grandma knew about my vegan diet
and so she once forwarded me an email of vegetarian recipes
with a note saying "If you feel like cooking YOUR kind of food."

i shared this post on social media in august of 2019. my grandmother died in march of 2020 at the age of 91. i’m super grateful that she lived as long as she did AND that she was extremely active online even into her 90s! i’m so glad that i’m able to revisit the comments she left me on facebook and search my email inbox for messages she sent. in a time when there’s certainly a lot of negative things that can be said about social media, these moments are a ray of light.

C) note vote:

once, i went to a youtube video to tune my guitar.
the video was just the musical note “A” and it had been viewed 300k+ times.
at the time, it had 707 thumbs up AND (my favorite part) 119 thumbs DOWN. some people didn’t like that note. and it delights me.

i do my best to celebrate what i love more than i anti-celebrate what i don’t. in fact, i just read another substack newsletter by adam mastroianni called “science is a strong-link problem” in which he discusses this concept in fascinating ways. the most relevant to my purposes here is this: “You listen to the stuff you like the most and ignore the rest.” that’s what adam says, and that’s what i strive to do. it seems like at least 119 people didn’t do that exactly with respect to the video they thumbs’d down, the opposite of ignoring! and here i am not ignoring them as well. one difference being, i LOVE them. i’m not seeking out their newsletters or anything, but i love that they’re so passionate about this one note. why don’t they like it? maybe they’re just huge jazz fans, so any time there’s a note someone DOES play, they’re like “oh man, if only they didn’t play it; then it would be the jazz that i love.” in any event, they’re the people i DO love. and so are you.

and those are most of the jokes/notes for today!

now, a few quick questions for you, if you’d like to respond/comment/message!:

1) how are you doing? how are you feeling? what is new and good?
2) what is your relationship to notes? to jazz? to music? to art? to silence?
3) what is your relationship to grandmothers? or other relatives?
4) what do you love? who do you love? how do you love?
5) how are you doing NOW?

and here are some notes about upcoming shows full of jokes:

— April 15 in NJ headlining the Sacred Comedy Show! ($10 off code: MYQ)
— April 16 and 19-20 in Philly and NJ opening for my buddy Shane Mauss!
— May 19-20 headlining Hip to Be Square in Knoxville, TN!
— June 1, ImPerfect at Union Hall in Brooklyn!
— June 9, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, CA!
— June 10, Greater Purpose Brewing Company in Santa Cruz, CA
— June 17, ImPerfect at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles!

FINALLY, what’s this whole “Notes” thing all about?
well, i just started publishing notes on Substack Notes, and would love for you to join me there if you wish! see?

Notes is a new space on Substack for folks to share links, short posts, quotes, photos, & more. it’s fun & quick & i’m trying it out & you can too if you’d like!

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How to join (official Substack words, thanks Substack!)

Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. As a subscriber to Arty Har-Hars, you’ll automatically see my notes. Feel free to like, reply, or share them around!

You can also share notes of your own. I hope this becomes a space where every reader of Arty Har-Hars can share thoughts, ideas, and interesting quotes from the things we're reading on Substack and beyond.

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If you encounter any issues, you can always refer to the Notes FAQ for assistance. Looking forward to seeing you there!