Always look ABOVE the smile and into one's eyes, to know who they are.

Windows to the Soul, and all that... Steve Martin: Jack of all Trades.

"STEVE! (martin) A documentary in 2 pieces" is one of those shows on Apple TV, I never thought I'd watch. Other than having read Martin's novella, "Shopgirl" many years ago, and enjoying the follow-up movie, I've not been what you'd consider to be a huge fan or follower. Slapstick generally leaves me cold.

Last night in one of my 'fuck it' moods, I decided to give STEVE! a try. What did I have to lose, afterall? What an unusual guy, and what a long steep climb to stardom AND interpersonal success this man has made.

The documentary offers a very intimate retrospective on this artist's life. It is at times, heartbreaking, hilarious, poignant and quintessentially as silly as Martin himself trying to break into comedy in the early years, and his tenacious, undaunted pursuit of it despite deeply wounding critical reviews.

We get to see what's underneath Steve's goofy veneer, and that his life as a performer was constructed as a means to surmount a painful childhood that offered little more than neglect. This may be true for all comedians. Surely, most.

You don't have to be a Steve Martin fan to appreciate this very tender and telling biography. I'm delighted to have been given an opportunity to witness Martin's development and healing, within this production.

How truly RICH it feels, to observe one's journey into gaining inner-peace, contentment, joy and genuine love. This one's truly worth your viewing time. If nothing else, you’ll come away from this excursion having felt some emotions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m an acquired taste. I go where many fear to tread. I’m quite multidimensional, so you’ll be exposed to a richly diverse plethora of deep probes into topics I suspect most humans have never even thought about.

Contrary to what you may assume, I’m seldom in my head. I let my brain stay at rest, while my body is going about its daily routines and tasks. You might say, I’m mostly mindless, and I like it. My Subconscious is always gearing up for the next ‘push,’ so I never worry about lags or lulls when my conscious mind wants to accuse me of being “lazy.” Fuck that! NOBODY can be productive 24/7, and if they tell ya they are, they’re lying.

(This article about ADD may be of special interest to ya, if you’re always putting undue pressure on yourself to perform.)

When inspiration in the form of a vibrant mental flare presents itself (often, in the shower) I am compelled to put pen to paper (or its modern-day equivalent) and hammer out the concept before I lose the impetus to share it with you.

Some little experiential microcosm (like watching the Steve Martin bio) has stimulated my mind-juice into action, and I feel an irrepressible need to write about it (I think of this as striking while the iron’s hot). Hopefully, you are a happy benefactor of my musings, and are willing to spread ‘em around.