Welcome to SneezingCow.com

(This is a pinned post summarizing the SneezingCow basics…scroll down for newer posts.)

Mike’s two most recent books: Improbable Mentors & Happy Tangents and Forty Acres Deep. (Indie booksellers scroll down to lower left for wholesale info). All the other books (including Population 485) and CDs and DVDs and T-shirts and can koozies and whatnots.

The Voice Mail page. (This is the weekly podcast — for free samples, click on the episodes without the miniature padlocks.)

Mike’s ability to spin his 20+ books and wide range of life experiences into humorous and heartfelt live presentations have put him in great demand as a public speaker. In addition to his one-man theater shows, Mike has delivered entertaining keynote addresses at conferences for software companies, hospitals and health care organizations, fire and EMS providers, farming and agricultural groups, national and regional utility cooperatives, business and economic development entities, governmental agencies, mental health organizations, dental hygienists, faith-based organizations, logging conventions, book festivals, MFA programs, libraries, and countless others. If you’re interested in retaining Mike for your event, please contact his booking agent here.

The mailing list signup (explained very specifically). We hope you’ll consider joining; it’s old-fashioned but way more loyal than social media. It’s also the best and most direct way to know when Mike’s got something new or is performing near you.

Upcoming live events.

Back in April I happened to be passing through “Nobbern” (source of Population 485) when they were fighting a big ol’ swamp fire. I carry a wildfire suppression suit in the car, so I asked if they needed help and they said yep, c’mon. That said, they’d been fighting the thing for hours and I rolled up right at the very smoking end, so I would ask you to not zoom in and look too closely at the wildfire suit which is spotless and still crisply creased and pretty much stayed that way. But what a thrill it was to ride with the ol’ hometown crew one more time.

While on the Perfect Sundays film set last year I met producers Rupa Mehta and her husband Sam Goldberg. The three of us come from divergent backgrounds but as so often happens when we have the opportunity to get to know each other, we also discovered a bounty of commonalities. One of those is firefighters and first responders. And so I’m pleased to share Rupa’s and Sam’s latest project designed for educators and young children and predicated on the upcoming 25th anniversary of 9/11.

Video below, informational website here.

Went running yesterday and was sure missing this guy:

Somewhere in some decrepit computer’s cryptolocked file there sits an email–maybe more than one–I received from Nicholas Gulig years ago while he was in Thailand, asking how to be a writer. Or something along those lines. I know I answered. I don’t know that what I had to say was any help. I’ve never been punk, as such. Pragmatism prevented me ever becoming purely poetic. And compared to Nick and his crowd, I’ve always felt the naive (oblivious?) elder. Square, in short. But I absolutely knew what it was to work the imposter DIY lane. Knew what it was to both mine and bemoan the parochial. To strive for that writing life, to make that writing life, never mind the odds or good sense.

Nick has done the work. It was a pleasure to read this piece and watch this video:

My Chat With Nishant Jain–The Sneaky Artist

If you enjoy stories of folks who turn dreams and unlikely tangents into reality, you’ll enjoy this discussion with the writer and sneaky-artist, Nishant Jain. The link is below. Nishant makes secret drawings of his world everywhere he goes. When I met him he was just starting out. Now he is the host of the popular SneakyArt Podcast, writes a weekly Substack newsletter where he shares notes and drawings from his sketchbook adventures, travels all over giving talks and lessons, and will be at this year’s Eaux Claires festival.

Nishant’s book, Make (Sneaky) Art, offers ideas to build a sketchbook habit based upon mindfulness and observation. Links to the book and more here: https://www.sneakyartist.com