I’ve Got A Confession: I’m Not Handy
Staying in your wheelhouse - plus events, book reviews, and music!
I’m Not Handy
Friends, I’ve got a confession — I’m not handy. Phewee, there I said it! I’m glad to have that dark secret out in the open. Actually, most folks who know me well are aware of my unhandiness (lack of handiness, failure to fix things, etc…). In fact, when Brenda and I met, I made a point to tell her that I’m not handy. If she was looking for a “real man” who can fix the toilet, rewire the outlets in the basement, create beautifully dovetailed drawers on a cedar chest hand-hewn from a log dragged out of the swamp with your bare hands and hand tools, well, I’m not your man.
I can handle a few simple (keyword: SIMPLE) items, such as replacing lightbulbs and swapping out filters. Beyond that, I’m pretty hopeless. Not long ago, I replaced the garbage disposal (the Insinkerator 9000, I believe). But thankfully, Brenda was there with her keen spatial reasoning skills to keep me from doing too much damage.
As a kid, if you get some exposure to handy work, you can pick it up. I sadly never did any handy projects with my dad. He wasn’t a guy with a lot of patience for a kid who didn’t have a clue. My memories of ‘helping’ mostly involve hearing ‘Hold that straight, damn it!’… which, as you might guess, didn’t exactly nurture a budding handyman. Clearly, this was not an environment conducive to sharpening my spatial reasoning skills.
If I’m honest, I have felt over the years somewhat less of a man for my lack of handyman skills. There have been times when I wondered how I would contribute to society in the post-zombie apocalypse. I mean, will there be a need for a guy with good organizational skills and who is fun to be around when you are trying to survive the zombie onslaught?
These days, I’m not too concerned with my unhandiness. I figure there are experts out there I can hire, and I get to support the local economy while I’m at it. Fun story for you on hiring a professional. Once we had a leak in our bathroom. We hired a plumber to come out and take a look. He gave me the stink eye as he pointed to some badly joined pipes behind the wall and said, “Please tell me you didn’t do this?” I raised my eyebrows and said happily, “Oh hell no man, I’m not handy”. The plumber continued, “This...” pointing again to the bad pipe fitting, “This is why you hire a professional. Clearly, this Harry Homeowner was out of their depth”. He then waved me away, and I quickly left him to his work. I’m still not sure if he believed that I was not in fact the “Harry Homeowner” in question.
That plumber has been on my mind ever since a recent panel on graphic design at GIG last weekend. Weirdly enough, the two are connected.
The panel discussed the impact of AI on graphic design. In particular, the loss of jobs as companies look to cut costs by cutting out creatives in favor of the machine. Some on the panel had actually been replaced by AI, resulting in having to find a job with a company that isn’t owned by a bunch of cutthroat assholes. The conversation continued with a ray of hope. While companies can use AI for graphic design, the use of AI is telling. The resulting imagery is homogeneous. It lacks the creative spark that currently only a human can provide. AI can mimic style, but it can’t mimic soul. If a company’s goal with its imagery is to be lost in the crowd, AI is the answer. The silver lining may be that, as more and more bland, uninspired imagery is created by AI, human art becomes that much more valuable.
At this point, friends, you may be wondering, “Chuck! What in the hell does AI and graphic design have to do with your lack of handyman skills???” You see, friends, as I was thinking about the losers trying to use AI to replace human creatives in the graphic design space, I remember that plumber. He was basically saying that folks need to stick to what they know and hire a professional if they want something done right.
The small cynic in me says, “Yeah, right, man! It’s profits over people. Always has been, always will be.” Yet the larger, more hopeful me believes that human art will win the day, at least with those who have always embraced and supported creative expression. AI may be able to craft an aesthetically pleasing image or design, yet that lack of human soul will come into play. Just as social media leaves us more isolated and addicted, AI “art” won’t shine back with the soul of its creator.
In a roundabout way, this is my plea, my request, my ask of a favor from you. Support your fellow creatives. Shop local. Be with your people and love everyone in your circle who radiates their soul for all to see. After all, I may not be handy, but I’m all kinds of fun 🙂
Upcoming Events You Won’t Want to Miss
Our events calendar on Life In Michigan is a treasure trove of events we’ve scoured the interwebs to bring to you. There are a ton of great events coming up. From that list, here are a few highlights:
After the turkey, make room for dessert with rock-and-roll Detroit-style.
A stacked line-up of Detroit rock and punk to spice up your Black Friday fun.
Detroit Music Scene Mixer - Fall Edition at Guitar Hi-Fi in Royal Oak on Nov 29
Come hang out with some great people, vote on the best “guitar” face, play some guitars, and raise some money for Manchester Underground.
Winds Of Neptune Record Release at Small’s in Hamtramck on Nov 29
Finally, the new Winds Of Neptune is here! Come experience the riffs with the Dusty Rose Gang and Troy Gregory & The Mercury Gauntlet.
In Other News
Ever heard of a paw paw? How about paw paw beer? We were very intrigued and made a run out to Ramshackle Brewing in Jonesville to sample their Michigan Native Rebel paw paw pale ale and learn more.
Brenda has a marvelous story on the women behind the bines in Michigan for Craft Beer.com
GIG - The Art of Michigan Music 2025 was the best yet! Here is my recap. Please take a minute to take our post-event survey (even if you didn’t attend). We need your feedback to help us plan for 2026.
Life In Michigan Podcast
We learned a lot thanks to our talk with Marissa from the Bird Center of Michigan!
Saving Songbirds with Marissa Jardine from the Bird Center of Michigan
In this episode, we talk with Marissa Jardine, clinic manager at the Bird Center of Michigan, about how their team rescues, rehabilitates, and releases thousands of injured and orphaned birds each year.
Substack Restack Attack
Substack is where it’s at. Check out these other superb publications:
I dig the comparison of Billy Strings to Stevie, Jimi, Duane, Dicky, and others. Nice work as always, Alan Paul
Mason Currey shares some insights on not thinking while writing from Lynda Barry
Rachel Cabitt from The Art of Cover Art chats with Craig Braun about the artwork on Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones.
Adventures Yet To Print
This weekend, we are in Detroit to pick up bread at The Mother Loaf, take a tour of Pewabic pottery, and pick up some vinyl at Village Vinyl. The stop at Village Vinyl should be the last bit I need to wrap up a Detroit vinyl and beer story. Stay tuned for more.
What Are You Reading?
I can definitely identify with being uncool. Cameron Crowe’s new memoir is a triumph of the uncool. I listened to the book during our morning strolls as Cameron narrated his life story. The primary focus is on his early years growing up in Southern California and on becoming a music journalist at Rolling Stone. The stories from these years formed the basis for his movie, Almost Famous. As I listened, the scenes from Almost Famous came to life. What an extraordinary adventure! Here is a music fan whose creative talents led him to spend time with some of rock’s biggest musicians. The stories about his time with The Allman Brothers and David Bowie are simply amazing. The casual, conversational style of his book makes it a joy. With the audio version, you literally have Cameron sharing his stories with you. I could imagine sitting in a motel room on the road in some west coast city as Cameron tells me about that one time when Ron Wood called him up and invited him to a party with David Bowie.
Crowe doesn’t spend a lot of time on his long movie career, but he does share a few excellent stories about writing and then making Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The recounting of the famous Sean Penn/Spicoli “You dick!” scene is fantastic. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves 70’s era rock music (The Eagles, The Allman Brothers, etc) and, in particular, fans of Almost Famous.
What Are You Spinning?
On the digital turntable on constant repeat over the last week has been Eye Bleach by Sonic Smut. This week, I had the pleasure of talking with Alice Sun (Vocals, Keys, Bass), David Cwik (Drums), and Mike Latcha (Guitar, Vocals) for an upcoming episode of Fans With Bands. The album features ten tracks of patented smut-astic musical experimentation. This band is a blast wave of sound live, and this album captures their fierce intensity, lush layering, and bold arrangements. For those looking for a frame of reference, imagine Frank Zappa jamming with George Clinton as Tom Yorke and Mike Patton throw in suggestions from the couch in the control room of the studio.
From the weirdly oscillating rhythms of “Stuff” jerking your head around like a new driver popping the clutch on a ‘77 Pinto to the dissonant dystopian fusion of “All In Your Time”, Sonic Smut leads you on a mind-bending aural adventure. Each track offers more to discover with each listen. Another standout track is “Someone Is No One”“ with its slow burning languid vibe hinting at grim darkness and loss. The Saturday night special on this recording is the epic cover of “Earache My Eye” by Cheech Marin. The smut meter hits 11 on this mother.
What blew my mind was learning this album was recorded at the famed Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California. You may not know the studio, but you know the sort of mind-melting music created here by bands such as Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age, Earthless, and other legends of the desert rock sound. The music of Sonic Smut holds up well in this famed studio thanks in part to the brilliant collaboration between the band, David Catching (Rancho De La Luna), and engineer Andrew Smetek. They made the most of this unique location to capture the band at the height of their experimental awesomeness while retaining their Motor City muscle. Final overdubs, mixing & mastering were expertly handled by Adam Cox at Hamtramck Recording Studios.
Eye Bleach will be released on Black Friday, November 28, 2025. You can catch Sonic Smut’s release party with The Idiot Kids (who also have a new album coming out that day) with special guest Carbon Decoy at the Paris Bar on Black Friday (Nov 28 - see event above).
That’s A Wrap
As my buddy Sturgill once said:
“Keep your head out of the clouds
And remember to be kind
And just stay in school
Stay off the drugs
And keep between the lines.”
Thank you for reading. I hope your week is awesome! Don’t forget to kick out the jams!
Now, here is your moment of zen:
Not very handy either. I can do some stuff with the toilet, but that’s about as exotic as I get. But I’ll tell you this: no big deal when you take great photos!
Couldn't agree more. Spatial reasoning is crucial. Insightful!