DAY FORTY-THREE: Radio Coverage Begins

Posted on September 29, 2012 by qbertstewart

For those interested, please note that I will be appearing on the Mike and Mike Show on WKSQ-FM 94.5FM in Bangor, Maine on Monday morning, October 1, 2012, to present Spokes and Jokes to their listening audience.

I will also be either live on the Ric Tyler and George Hale Show or recording something for later airplay that same morning.

One of my main focuses will be promoting my upcoming show on November 3, 2012, at Camp Fair Haven in Brooks, Maine. I will also be soliciting opportunities to speak at churches and other venues for those interested.

October will be heavy with promotion, including pieces in at least four print publications in the area.

Thank you for keeping in touch to see how this project evolves.

I am having fun, although I hope I’m not this busy for the rest of my life.

DAY THIRTY-SEVEN: Answers to Questions

Posted on September 23, 2012 by qbertstewart

At today’s family meeting, much of which was spent discussing Spokes and Jokes, I had Heather and the kids pepper me with questions, being as critical as possible. I will be interviewed on radio programs and for newspaper articles in October, and I want to make sure I can articulately express my reasons for planning the Spokes and Jokes Comedy Tour in the fall of 2013.

They did a good job coming up with questions, The biggest one, of course, was not a new one:

“Why are you doing this?”

After my response, my marketing-minded wife picked out four point that I should focus on, and in which order. They are as follows:

1. To share my story.

2. To prove that fear of failure does not have to win.

3. To inspire others to not obey fear of failure.

4. Because I can.

Each of these will soon be blog posts of their own, but for now will simply exist as a list.

Please join me in the first show of the Maine leg of this tour, on November 3, 2012, at 7pm at Camp Fair Haven in Brooks, Maine.

DAY THIRTY-TWO: Am I Pee Wee?

Posted on September 18, 2012 by qbertstewart

I visited my sister in Freeport last night after work. I took the chance to tell her about the trip plans and, being a critical thinker and a brilliant woman, asked some really good questions for me to think about.

Today, I received the photo accompanying this blog in my email.

I was kind of hoping of being more compared to Lance Armstrong, but I get any popular associations are good, no?

Probably no.

DAY TWENTY-NINE: Bueller? Bueller?

Posted on September 15, 2012 by qbertstewart

It’s been almost two weeks since my last post and almost a month since the genesis of this idea. With all that’s gone on lately at home, my own wife expressed wonder regarding whether I had lost enthusiasm for this tour and had changed my mind.

Absolutely not.

To be sure, I’ve been very busy lately, but the plan is still moving in the right direction.

One great development is that I was hired last week to work part-time at the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, Maine. This opportunity will provide regular cash flow to allow us time to grow Funnies Extra. It will also halt the accrual of debt in our home and start us moving in the right direction in preparation for being financially healthy in time for our fall 2013 exodus.

It also provides me with time at home to work on freelance graphics work, study for my class at Grace Evangelical and hopefully spend more quality time with my family.

My commute is over an hour long, so I’ve been trying to think of way to use my time away from home productively. The morning commute has been a good opportunity to get back to memorizing Scripture.

I am also in the hunt for a broken iPod or iPhone so that I might listen to music and podcasts in the car, but not as broken as my current one. I’ve had an old iPod Touch with broken wireless for a few years, but now it won’t play music and the battery won’t hold a charge.

I friend of mine found me a used iPhone, but the wireless works and I’m having him try to disable it. Weird, huh? Maybe in the sense that it’s different, but it’s consistent with plans I have for my life. A connected device can be a great way to add efficiency and order to one’s life.

However, there are many things accessible with such tools that also destroy men, families, churches and lives. If you don’t know about it, you aren’t talking to enough people.

I do not want it said of me and would rather not take the chance of invited unnecessary temptation in my life.

I contacted Ric Tyler’s radio show on 103.9FM this morning and the Mike and Mike Show on 94.5FM again this morning to finalize plans. It looks at this point like we’re shooting for the first week of October for both shows. This will be in addition to my humor column hitting the Bangor Metro in October (the piece is about my trip). I also still need to work out details with the Bangor Daily News for what kind of involvement they might be interested in and check with TV stations, etc., too.

I believe Heather and the kids are still both excited about this. We’ve stopped saying ‘if’ when we talk about it and have switched to saying ‘when’.

I also wrote a new song parody based on an old DC Talk song called “Why Do You Mumble?”. And I’m in the middle of writing one based on that stupid Martina McBride song called Do It Anyway. It’s going to be a sarcastic tune about people who make ridiculous and destructive decisions despite the advice of friends.

I hope it’s not a song about this trip.