Ch, Ch, Ch Changes
It was a blast writing dispatches from The Row House Road Show. Thanks a ton for riding along.
My noodling led to an article in the Sunday Lifestyles section of Lancaster Newspapers on June 26th! It’s a summary of our travels called “10,000 Miles And Five Surprises.”
More writing gigs are coming my way, for which I’m thankful. Please stay on board! Here’s how:
When you get my upcoming emails, please share them with five friends. Why five? It sounded good. And why stop there?
Consider a paid subscription. Presently I have five paid subscribers. If 40 more of you become patrons, you’ll create for me a decent “side hustle,” thus delivering me from other part-time jobs such as handyman’s helper, wombat tamer, and virtual toll booth operator for Space X.
Sign-up for my upcoming monthly Row House emails on Mail Chimp if you’re not already on our general news list. Similar to my road dispatches, I’ll be self-consciously applying Christian faith to current culture.
What To Expect On Substack
This summer, I’ll be working on the new Tom Becker platform and will reveal it sometime in August.
Similar to the “faces, places, and amazements” I’ve been talking about, you’ll hear me wax eloquent on some of my passions:
Neighborhood life: The built environment, civic virtues, mom&pop businesses, etc.1
Human Transit: Automotive design, walkability, emerging technologies, etc.
Rarities: A catch-all bucket for stuff I find surprising, bewildering, entertaining, etc.
What’s In It For We?
Most of my upcoming writings will be free, as they are now, but if you subscribe for a few bucks a month, you’ll get perks.
The dangling carrots I’m considering are:
Poems I’m apt to write (to dabble in, to be precise)
Audio files of me reading interesting literature in my unedited, raspy voice. I will take requests, but no songs no way
Handmade pizza delivered to your door
Useful merch such as T-shirts, hoodies, temporary tattoos, stickers, vintage collector’s cards (I’ve many)
Visits on my porch (or yours) for a listening ear, a sit-a-spell, and a drink
Guided tours of the best local-yokel attractions in Lancaster or anywhere requested
I’d love to know: What would make a paid subscription more enticing to you?
There you have it! You’ll be hearing more once the roll-out begins.
Together we can grow this list from 165 to 500, to 1000, to infinity and beyond!
Cheers,
Tom Becker, Curator of Surprises
P.S. Here’s one last gem from my Roadshow: Dick & Jane’s Spot in the surprising town of Ellensburg, Washington.
On a corner lot in the small town of Ellensburg, WA stands a beacon of “outsider art” that I discovered through Atlas Obscura while making my way back into Seattle by car.
It was weird, fascinating, and all that, but I was more surprised by the town itself.
Too far from a metro region to be a bedroom community, Ellensburg has a unique and active downtown, a local college scene (Central Washington U.), and what appears to be a strong economy.
I started chatting with Haillie at a book shop and soon found out she had lost her mom and her grandma. Her trauma seemed deep, but she beamed as she talked about her housemate: Her grandfather.
Recently retired, he bought himself a Harley Davidson which he intends to ride to the Sturgis bike rally, proudly, in South Dakota.
Haillie was just as proud to show me a picture of him on her phone.
I took in all this local culture and human interest in less than an hour.
This is why I love being surprised by smaller places like Ellensburg where one can easily become an insider in an outsider place.
Possibly the subject of my next book.