The day after launching a new project, I always feel drained.

If I release an excessively manicured version of a thing, photoshopped and auto-tuned to perfection, and people don’t like it, I’m not too bothered. That sounds weird, I know. Sure, it’s in theory my best foot forward - my feeble attempt at a beard shadowed just-so and all - but really I'm just bumper bowling. The version of Trevor who’s writing this at the Red Bicycle, realizing mid-key stroke that there’s a large mustard stain on his shirt? That guy’s far removed from the front lines. They may not like the record or whatever, but the real me’s spared significant scrutiny.

And that's why I don't like putting out excessively manicured versions of a thing.

What I’m releasing now in the form of this newsletter, my one-take videos, and now the Trevor Larkin Talks and Listens podcast is the mustard-stained shirt version of myself times a thousand. I keep having these moments of “Jesus Christ, this is it. This is the what I look and sound like. That poor woman who’s agreed to meet me for coffee, this is the schmuck sitting across the table. Wow. Just…wow.”

But the thing is, I really like this guy. Honestly. And he’s, well, me. From a biz standpoint, I can work with me. Me’s easy. No fabrication or embellishment necessary, and hopefully sufficient evidence that I won’t collapse at the 2022 Met Gala in a heap of cocaine-fueled melodrama. And me’s also filled with untapped potential and brimming wells of excitement.

Time to practice, read and listen. Time to pay attention.