GAVIN NEWSOM AND STEVE HOWE

In this time when only the confused

Conform, everyone's a weirdo.

sfwillie, 1967

The way Gavin Newsom is sabotaging his own career reminds me of the Steve Howe Syndrome. Why would Gavin mess with success?

One hypothesis is that Gavin Newsom doesn’t really like the career path he’s on. Most people don’t understand how success could be un-fun, but according to Pud ‘n Willie’s Catechism of Minerality, this is exactly the point.

We’re here to have fun, and if being mayor isn’t fun for you, it’s just not fun, no explaining it. Most jobs, some would say, are un-fun, but people in those jobs endeavor to minimize the time and emotion they put into work, and look for edification elsewhere.

You can’t have a nine-to-five attitude if you’re a Mayor with national political ambitions, or if you’re a Major League Baseball pitcher. You have to love those jobs in order to succeed.

Steve Howe (wikilink) never could admit that he just didn’t enjoy playing baseball, so he sabotaged his career with drugs and got into the miserable rehab-relapse pingpong game.

Hopefully, for himself and for us, Gavin Newsom will summon the gumption to tell Gordon Getty that puppethood is no fun anymore and that he wants out. Poor Mr Getty, another failed project!

Gavin would be much happier for it. If he’s lucky and gets disowned, he might actually have to make an honest living, you know, join the human race. Who really wants to spend a life sucking up to the weirdos of Pacific Heights?

Gavin is still young (at least compared to Pud and sfwillie.) He still has a chance to do something with his life. This is his opening. He should go for it.

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