Interview'A Few Things About....': An Introduction
It seems like every week I run across someone through Twitter or Facebook or who knows where else who has lived something amazing. Their stories don't always make for magazine material, but it's not their fault, and honestly, they probably should be featured somewhere.
So ... ta-da! I'm giving their stories a place to live here at brandonsneed.com.
I'm calling it "A Few Things About....". Basically, I explore awesome things people are doing and then share them with you awesome people. I'm starting this because, among many other reasons, I just love great stories. I don't really have time here to spend reporting and writing the epic features I am starting to work on for magazines, but this is my lifeblood, man. The concepts in these stories, the characters, the lessons, the fun, the good and the bad, the tears, the redemption—I live for this.
I posted the first installment on Friday. It was a look at minor league baseball through the eyes of my younger brother, Kramer, a pitcher in the Yankees' organization. He bribed me with tickets to his games. I'm so easily corrupted. Also, I was really interested in that life. I was once chasing it. I also knew that many like me have dreamed such dreams, so I knew you'd like hearing about it.
My next one will be about Evan Morgenstein. You probably don't know who he is yet. He's got a thousand-plus-ish followers on Twitter. I'm one of them, recommended his way by someone I don't even remember. He works for PMG Sports, and I'm pretty sure he's an agent and promoter. Don't know exactly what he does, but I'll find when we talk today. He seems like all-around awesome hybrid of crazy badass and excellent human being.
Got interested in interviewing him for this series when I saw him tweet this on Sunday morning:
I live for great stories, yeah, so he clearly qualifies for that. Haven't interviewed him yet, so I don't know all the hairy details, but I made a few assumptions off that: Tweeting "one year clean and sober" means that there were many not-so-clean-and-sober years before. I love stories of addicts making it out of addiction.
I was especially drawn to him, though, because he said, "Doesn't take a 12-step program ..." I gravitate toward the unconventional. And for the record, later tweets of his revealed that he wasn't bashing the 12 Steps; he just didn't prefer them himself. And hey, it worked.
So sometime in the next few days you'll get the second installment of "A Few Things About," with a few things about how sports and partying and recovery can all somehow exist together without a regression back into addiction. Should be a good time.
"A Few Things About," (or, "AFTA") won't always be about pulling oneself from the depth of addiction or something equally terrifying. Like with Krames, it's going to be about fun things, like playing pro baseball. Or other things, like writing national magazine award-winning pieces, or writing for national magazines at all, or deciding to start a church, or why you don't believe in God, or how you survive the financial meltdown or ... basically, anything and everything.
It's really just an excuse for me to talk with cool people and learn a lot. Being young, there's much I have—and want to learn—about life. So now I'm just trying to learn from others. About everything.
So to sum it all up: AFTA is about exploring great stories through the eyes of those who live them.
If you have any suggestions, drop them in the comments or email me at bmsneed[at]gmail[dot]com.
As always, thanks for reading.
Reader Comments (2)
Love this idea. What a unique way to shed a little light on some amazing people.
Blessings and Sunshine!
Thanks Jenn. Yeah, I'm pretty stoked about it. I get excited about good ideas. They're hard to come by in this head.