Steve Rush
← Posts 2025-09-04

Things I Like

Art Music
Hunt-Lenox Globe — Here Be Dragons

I once read in Austin Kleon's "Show Your Work!" about Roger Ebert losing his ability to speak due to illness. He was always a writer, he was likely a writer first before he played the part of obnoxious, pendant, blow-hard on the WGN show. So when he lost his voice, he turned his writing dial all the way to 11. The guy communicated on an extraordinary level. He knew his time was short and he had stuff to say.

He wrote about movies ('natch) but also about conversations with actors. He wrote about food, including his ode to Steak 'n Shake, growing up, waiting in line at the grocery store, and his inevitable death. It was voluminous.

I'm going to attempt that here. I also read that "if your work isn't online: it doesn't exist."

To start, I thought I would just list off things that I like. Some have no explanation necessary. Others will require a whole separate post just to fully flesh it out. Some are probably in-between…

Like buying domain names. This one likely needs only a little context. I like playing with words. I like also doing my "DJ" voice. Sometimes while playing with words, if I really like the way they sound, I drop into my DJ voice and then a "dotcom" on the end and finish with a flourish or perhaps a tagline of some made-up business in my head. When my runaway imagination is now full tilt, I scamper to my web registrar and snatch up said domain.

I then imagine business models, product lines, advertising campaigns, and email addresses. Oh and logos! I love logos. Oh and tee shirts, after all what good are logos if you can't put them on a tee shirt?

Eventually, the bloom is off the rose. I've spent a few bucks and a couple of days daydreaming, all for naught. Next thing I know I have close to 40 domain names in my possession… So there's that.

Now I am full of loathing at my wanton capitalist yearnings. I reject capitalism. This site is ostensibly about my art, but also an attempt to offer sane alternatives to capitalism.

I'll also post my efforts to become a more visual artist. Scribbles, sketches, building things, painting, etc. I'm very nervous about this. My anxiety about being "out there" exposed and vulnerable is sky high. But, it's not like anything earth shattering. I'm not performing rocket surgery live in front of a studio audience or anything. My sketches are embarrassing, but you cannot die of embarrassment as far as I am aware. And, I will die someday anyway.

As an aside: I owe this particular piece of anxiety to Austin Kleon. If you haven't read his books, I recommend them. They are quick reads, but also allow you, the reader, space to contemplate and make value judgements about your life and the advice or guidance that he is espousing. Start with "Steal Like an Artist", then finish with "Show Your Work!" <- this is the one that brought on my current state of mental anguish. (austinkleon.com)

Time passes regardless of what I do or don't do. Might as well document and have something to look back on.

My typical MO has been to write sardonically about things that irk me. I would say "things I hate", but sometimes I fail to find the humor in things I hate, so really my writing in the past has been more about things that piss me off while realizing that me being pissed off about it is ultimately silly. So, I'm switching it up.

I'm going to write about things I like. This post will serve as a jumping off point. My art will be an exploration, as will my writing. The list is really for my reference only, but if anyone is reading this it might give you some insight as to what lay ahead. It's not conclusive or exhaustive — it was an afternoon of free thinking about stuff I like.

"hic sunt dracones"

— Hunt-Lenox Globe

… anyway, here's the list. I've attempted to organize by some sort of phylum.

Misc (21)

Food (17)

Music (15)

Vehicles (13)

Books, Reading, Writing (12)

Movies, TV, Comics (11)

Nature & Outdoors (9)

Animals (5)

People & Eccentrics (5)

Style (4)

Learning & Teaching (3)

Other (9)

After living with this list for a moment, I think most will turn into a quick post. Some will be fan letters. Others will be a learning opportunity for me to delve into something I love and find out more about. The rest will set here, unwashed, but not unloved.