Creative Quest- Questlove's book on creativity

Questlove on the left, with a funny and cool drum solo battle with F Knuckles.  Co-leader of the band The Roots, now house band on the Jimmy Fallon Show, he's also a DJ, he produces music, he puts on "food salon" events with top chefs, and he writes books.  The guy WORKS.   

I'm reading Questlove's book, Creative Quest* right now.  It caught my eye at the library a while back, while looking through the "creativity" section.  I'm not sure what I was looking for.  I do creative work for a big chunk every day, I just don't make a living at it.  I don't really have big questions about creativity at this point, I've figured out my own process, and create stuff daily.  I guess I wanted a little inspiration, and a different take on creativity.  I wanted to hear someone else's thoughts on how the make cool stuff.  

The book is kind of rambling, it a real conversational feel.  It has interesting stories that go off on tangents, from one idea on creativity to a related one, then to another one.  I'm about halfway through the book now, and it's a really interesting read.  Questlove has far more going on, and is much more complex than I thought.  Like many people, I knew him mostly as "the drummer with the afro pic" on the Jimmy Fallon show.  I'm not a serious hip hop fan, not even a moderate hip hop fan.  

But when a book catches my eye, I've learned that's a sing to check it out.  Questlove played his first gig at age 11, at Radio City Music Hall, when his dad's do wop band was playing there.  The drummer got sick, and Questlove sat down at the drums and played the show.  His knowledge of music is encyclopedic (or should that be wikipedic these days?)  He has also worked with so many incredibly talented people, and he draws on stories from many other people's work as well, from not only hip hop, but also from comedy and world class chefs, the three main creative worlds he's involved in.  

It's a good read, exploring questions about creative work, and also a look behind the scenes in hip hop and music, in a series of stories from the world of professional music.  What effect has the book had on me?  I'm writing my own thoughts on creativity now, something I've had in the back of my mind for quite a while.  So there you go.  Some of those will probably show up in this blog before long.  So if any of this sounds interesting to you, check out his book, Creative Quest.  

Here's Questlove at Google, talking about the book.

The Roots with "The Seed 2.0" featuring Cody ChestnuTT 

The Roots with "The Next Movement"

Before reading Questlove's book, there was one song featuring The Roots that I listened to on a regular basis, this one above.  My sister is friends with Anthony Rapp, one of the actors who was in the play and the  movie RENT, which also featured Idina Menzel.  Rent made me a fan of hers.  Call me a dork, but I really dig this version of "Let it Go" with Idina Menzel, Jimmy Fallon, and The Roots.  I'm weird like that.  

* Not a paid link.

Let's go create some shit...

 First of all, Steve Emig's Street Life, this blog, and other social media using the hashtag #SEstreetlife, has no relation to the bike company SE Bikes.  Todd Lyons is an old friend from the P.O.W. BMX House days, and I'm not trying to bite on his success, wheelies, and the company he works for, SE Bikes.  He's rocking the world with big bikes and selling a ton of them.  More power to him.  "S.E." are my initials, and the hashtag and blog URL made sense.  If I was Johnny Depp, this would be #JDstreetlife, if I was Travis Pastrana it'd be #TPstreetlife.  My initials just happen to be S.E..  

That said, I'm working on rebuilding my life from the streets up, with this blog, photos, my #sharpiescribbltstyle art, and hopefully some actual books and videos, one of these days.  The economy is nuts, things went to hell in early 2020, so The Fed tossed money everywhere a massive bailout to everyone.  Now we're paying for all that "helicopter money" in high inflation and a soon to be gnarly recession.  Some people are doing really well these days, but 60% to 70% of the U.S. is struggling.  

Millions of people need to build a new life in this rapidly changing world, from the bottom up.  That's what this blog is about.  Creating something new.  Art, photos, videos, websites, zines, books, products, businesses, side gigs, an new lifestyle, whatever.  We have all these electronic devices, the internet, social media, and communications and business platforms that never existed in human history, until the last 25 years.  Let's build something cool, since our leaders keep acting like a bunch of 4th graders, arguing over everything and not getting anything done at a national level.  We need to build cool new stuff, at all levels, in all directions, from the streets up.  Let's go create some shit!

Steve Emig's Street Life- #SEstreetlife... a new personal blog

 

Look at things differently.  My perspective of a Jimi Hendrix mural in North Hollywood, CA.  2020.  #steveemigphotos, #SEstreetlife

This is my last post on my former personal blog, Steve Emig: The White Bear.  I started that blog days after leaving my mom's tiny apartment, and moving into a tent in the woods, in late June, 2017, moving to Winston-Salem, NC.  I simply had to get off on my own to give myself a chance to at least try and get my life going again.  There are over 800 posts on that blog, and 135,000+ page views on that blog, which you are more than welcome to check out.  It was simply time for a change, and I felt a new blog was in order.  We'll see where this one goes.

Sometimes you can take life by the horns and force it where you want it to go for a while.  Sometimes life decides to kick your ass for a while, just to see what you're made of.  If you don't believe me, try to remember what you had planned on January 1st, 2020.  Your life's been a bit different the last couple of years than you imagined, hasn't it.  For over 20 years now, life has been kicking my ass, with the help of a few douchebags here and there.  Things didn't go as I planned.  But then, things never go as we plan.  

I first became homeless, for an extended time, in late 1999, right after I started working as a taxi driver,  I got out of it a few months later.  But I've been in and out of homelessness, on and off the streets, at various levels. since then.  All together, I've lived about 15 years without an apartment.  I've lived in my taxi for 5 1/2 years, I've lived in a tent in the woods for 9-10 months, through intense Carolina thunderstorms, suffocating heat, and even snow and temperatures down to 12 degrees F.  I've slept outside in bushes, on loading docks, porches of abandoned buildings, at outdoor bus stations, and even an old slave cemetery.  

Homeless man with couch, Studio City, 2021.  #steveemigphotos, #SEstreetlife

Want some street cred?  I'll sell you a kilo.  I've got far more than I need.  I've dealt with all kinds of people, weather, animals, bugs, and a small rat snake that found its way into my tent.  Living on the streets, while Life itself pummeled me in one way, and then another, molded me into someone different than I was 20, 30, or 40 years ago.  I survived a few things that should have killed me, nearly missing a head-on car crash at 55 mph, a horrific bout of cellulitis, and a suicide attempt 7 years ago, in North Carolina, where I took enough lithium to kill an elephant.  God, The Universe, or whatever you want to call it, gave me a bonus life.  I've focused on being much more creative since, and unapologetic about being creative.  Since then, I have sold over 100 original pieces of my Sharpie scribble style artwork.  I've written half of the 2,400+ blog posts I've published in my life, since then, drawing in another 200,000 page views, across my blogs. 

As we began coming out of the Covid-19 period this spring, as we all struggle with inflation, and now head into a stock, crypto, and real estate collapse, and into a long recession, I pondered where to focus my creative efforts.  I've been writing about "the coming economic downturn" for 4 years now.  It's here.  

Two days ago, sitting at my sleeping spot, watching the first light of dawn, on Friday the 13th, I realized that life on the streets, in all its facets, has been the main theme of my life for over two decades.  At the same time, I saw this crazy period of economic crisis and massive change barreling down on all of us.  Then 2020 came along.  Then 2021.  Life has been pimp slapping damn near everyone for a couple of years.  But it's not over, there's a lot more change to come. 

Coyote in the early morning, about 60 feet away from where I was sleeping.  There are urban coyotes all over Southern California.  As a general rule, they leave people alone.  #steveemigphotos, #SEstreetlife.

I realized if was time to talk about what I've learned, dealing with the lessons of the streets, and coming into my own creative work.  We're all going to have to get more creative to survive, and thrive, in the next several years ahead.  So the idea for new personal blog popped into my head.  Steve Emig's Street Life, hashtag #SEstreetlife.  I'm leaving Steve Emig: The White Bear, with over 800 posts, and 135,000 page views, behind.  I'm starting fresh, with a new vibe, and more creative content.  #SEstreetlife is about building new lives, in what I believe will be one of the most chaotic and crazy decades in history, The Tumultuous 2020's. 

In September of 2018, shortly after I landed randomly in Richmond, Virginia, I learned old BMX friend, and founder of FBM Bikes, Steve Crandall, lived there.  When we met up, he gave me some food, some coffee, and his old iPhone 5.  I've been snapping photos of things I see on the streets with that phone ever since.  These are a few of those photos.  Huge thanks to Steve for that phone, and all of his help while I was in Richmond.  It's been cool to document bits of the craziness of my life these last 3 1/2 years.  

You up for a crazy ride?  I hope so.  You have now found Steve Emig's Street Life blog, so let's figure out how to make this world a cooler place.  Let's go create some shit.  

Rich kids with a little spray paint, a little creativity, and a hidden parking deck.  Is this real?  Or just some bullshit?  Time will tell.  #steveemigphotos, #SEstreetlife