unklesteve

@[email protected]
59 Followers
72 Following
166 Posts
I like making stuff. he/him
yoyo stuffhttp://www.clyw.ca
tech stuffhttp://www.nervous.net
moar yoyo stuffhttp://www.iyyf.org
unklesteveApr 17, 2023
New post up! Am I coming or going? Who fuckin’ knows. https://open.substack.com/pub/unklesteve/p/fill-the-gaps
Fill the gaps.

I’m bad with empty space. I grew up in a family where money was always tight and always an issue, and I’ve spent a significant chunk of my life living paycheck to paycheck. Because of this I have a strong tendency to overcommit to things because I’m always so scared that something is going to drop out and whatever’s left won’t be enough. When you combine this terror of not being able to provide with an absolutely insatiable desire to create and leave a legacy, the results are a bit overwhelming.

Unkle Steve's Happy Fun Place™
unklesteveMar 29, 2023

New post!

https://open.substack.com/pub/unklesteve/p/be-a-good-reference

Be a good reference.

One of the interesting things about spending almost 30 years in the yoyo industry is that I’ve met a lot of kids and watched them grow up and leave yoyoing. Some of them keep a throw in their pocket as they get older, some don’t, but eventually they move on to real jobs and families and all that stuff. It used to make me feel sad to be “the guy who stayed” but that’s only when I’m feeling maudlin or especially broke as I think about some of the things I’ve turned down in order to stay involved in yoyoing. The path I’ve chosen so far has been a good one, and an interesting one, and you can’t ask for a whole lot more than that. OK, I guess “lucrative” would also have been nice.

Unkle Steve's Happy Fun Place™
unklesteveMar 20, 2023

New post, new podcast!

https://unklesteve.substack.com/p/and-so-it-begins

...and so it begins.

The first episode of YoYo Player, my new podcast with my dear old friend Mark McBride, is finally live and we decided to kick it off with our origin stories. Episode 1 is mine, and Episode 2 will be Mark’s. If you haven’t subscribed, please do! You can listen and subscribe here:

Unkle Steve's Happy Fun Place™
unklesteveMar 18, 2023

First episode of my new podcast comes out Monday…it’s my full origin story of how I went from homeless in Florida to a professional yoyo demonstrator.

https://open.spotify.com/show/6AgYimHUCecKBAIpe4HZKw?si=BgoN5iXuTCuOw-6lY9PuGw

YoYo Player

Listen to YoYo Player on Spotify.

Spotify
unklesteveMar 13, 2023

New post up about AI, since that's timely and everyone surely wants to hear my dumbass opinions on it ha ha

https://open.substack.com/pub/unklesteve/p/ai-is-high-frequency-trading-for

AI is high-frequency trading for ideas

AI is everywhere these days. Literally, I cannot go five minutes without someone talking about it. Bobby Kim, a writer, artist, and entrepreneur who I really dig, recently wrote up a solid essay about AI that resonated with me for the same reason that things resonate with anyone…because it fed my own opinions back at me in a way that was smarter and better than I could have written them.

Unkle Steve's Happy Fun Place™
unklesteveMar 3, 2023

New post up!

https://open.substack.com/pub/unklesteve/p/on-fatherhood

on fatherhood

I started this blog with a post about my father dying, as a way to give myself space and clarity on my own feelings about our complicated relationship. Writing forces me to organize my thoughts, a bit, and it’s a healthy way for me to get out of my head.

Unkle Steve's Happy Fun Place™
unklesteveFeb 27, 2023

New post! Bonus: look at the URL slug & you can see the original title, which I changed after I edited out the larger Ted Lasso reference because it didn't fit. But I forgot to fix the URL before I published, so I'm stuck with it. Plan ahead, fuckers!

https://open.substack.com/pub/unklesteve/p/ted-lasso-said-it-was-ok

A sack of wet cats

My wife found this song recently called “Bubble of my Gum” by a Minneapolis band called Durry that is the sweetest little indie rock love song and it’s quickly become a hit around our household. I’ve been learning it on uke and the kids are even walking around humming it. It’s sweet and simple and catchy.

Unkle Steve's Happy Fun Place™
unklesteveFeb 20, 2023

New post up about how aggravated I am that money-grubbing assholes always have to ruin everything.

https://open.substack.com/pub/unklesteve/p/disappointed-but-not-surprised

Disappointed, but not surprised.

The best and worst thing about web3 is that it's still made of people.

Unkle Steve's Happy Fun Place™
unklesteveFeb 16, 2023

A brief treatise on imposter syndrome.

https://open.substack.com/pub/unklesteve/p/imposter-syndrome

Imposter Syndrome

One of the benefits of living an interesting life is that I’ve had the opportunity to make interesting friends. One of the disadvantages of having low self-esteem is that I’m forever measuring myself against them and coming up short. I’ve always struggled with this. I sent my

Unkle Steve's Happy Fun Place™
unklesteveFeb 9, 2023

New post!

https://unklesteve.substack.com/

Unkle Steve's Happy Fun Place™

I'm 46, I have four kids, and I used to be a traveling yoyo performer. Now I run a couple of small businesses and think about death a lot. Strap in, it's gonna be fuckin' weird in here. Click to read Unkle Steve's Happy Fun Place™, by Steve Brown, a Substack publication. Launched 23 days ago.