16 Comments
May 16, 2022Liked by Nick Offerman

Hi Nick. I stumbled across this podcast and am so happy I did. I too am a huge P & R fan and Ron Swanson was one of my favourite characters and in particular, his alter ego, Duke Silver. I also happen to be from Vancouver, Canada & have been a librarian lol. However my dad was a woodworker, musician, artist and hunter, and yes, we used every part of the animal.

I also loved your character in We’re the Millers. I took my, now deceased, daughter to watch the movie when it first came out, and I have never seen her laughing so hard. It was a memory I’ll cherish and never forget. Thank you for that.

I will also say that watching Parks & Rec was a way for me to escape my grief - I watched all seasons twice over within 1 1/2 years. Comic relief is important for mental health. That brings me to my questions. What drove you to comedy? When did you first notice you were good at it? Finally, will you ever do a stand up show in Vancouver, Canada?

Thank you for being so human and down to earth. We need more of that in our world today.

Kathy Woudzia

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May 18, 2022Liked by Nick Offerman

Hello! Earlier this week my lovely partner and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary by driving to the Great White North whence we first met some, eh well, 10 years ago. On the trip we listened to the Oral (giggle) history that is The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by you and your better. As the border agent was handing me our passports back, my better exclaimed "Oh thank God" loud enough for the agent to hear, and as I was mentally preparing for an experience involving a rubber glove she goes on to say that she googled you and couldn't find any controversies. Thank you dear.

So, that brought up an interesting question: what does qualify for controversy in the Offerman camp? I imagine your comment about pine holding a stain raised some eyebrows.

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May 17, 2022Liked by Nick Offerman

Dear Nick,

I have a question for you.

I had only fished in my youth from the banks of a river that passed by our house in Italy.

Very low-tech, low-effort, calm, and overall relaxing.

I have never fished again since I left.

Twenty summers have past, and I now live near a relative big and windy french lake.

I have started thinking that, while the surrounding are populated, fishing from a boat might still be a relaxing and joyful experience, whilst checking for immediate changes-of-weather. (for waves, I have been told. suspect intensifies)

Q: Is fishing from within-the-water different than fishing from outside-the-water ? And how do safe navigation and maintenance impact the experience ?

Looking forward your opinion on the subject.

You know, "nuances".

Thank you,

To you, and all muleteers, wishing a splendid day,

Francesco from Le Lac du Bourget - France

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May 16, 2022Liked by Nick Offerman

Full marks for the Highlander call out :D. On the topic of Canadians and water craft, are you a paddler of kayaks or outrigger canoes, or do you stick with the classic "Canadian" type? I have paddled both of the former and find they provide interesting differences in entertainment relative to the later.

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Forgot to say I am Chris from San Leandro, CA :D

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May 16, 2022Liked by Nick Offerman

Helllooooo Nick,

This is Adam writing to you from Sarasota, FL.

I enjoy cartoons. I find them a really pleasant diversion from all the drama and edgy-ness that assails us from every channel and life in general. I've come to appreciate them more as an adult than when I was growing up. As a child, I enjoyed a few Saturday morning or after school action-y cartoons (G.I. Joe, Transformers, X-Men, Superfriends...) but as an adult, I like the clever humor that is slipped into cartoons. Shows like 'Phinneas and Ferb' and 'Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends' are light and fun and include some pretty smart humor aimed at adults who are watching with their kids. My wife and I, while having lunch at a restaurant, have on more than one occasion changed the channel on the table side tv to Paw Patrol to escape the endless drama for the sake of drama that seems so pervasive.

So my question is, did you ever get into cartoons as a kid or as an adult? If so, which ones? If not, how do you escape the torrent of drama? (besides shutting the box off of course) ;-)

Follow-up Question: Will you bring your humorist tour to Sarasota? We'd love to see you at the Van Wezel. And there's some pretty great fishing and paddle sports here... just sayin'!

Thanks,

Adam

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May 16, 2022Liked by Nick Offerman

Does GPS make us weak? I am trying to teach my cub scouts the value of navigation by compass and map. Are they irrelevant now? Thanks much. Jeremy from Minnesota.

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In Texas, cold soup is a necessity if one is to eat it in the summer; however, it is usually sad and feeble; meat soups usually don't lend themselves to coldness, as the fats congeal. A cold Cucumber Soup, however, sounds dandy... I too would like to partake of this amazing Vichy.. Vichis... (looks at your headline) vichyssoise!

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Hi Nick - my husband said Ron gave Brandanowicz his canoe for bringing his shop up to code. Thank goodness he's got a better memory card than I do, he can recall the funniest quotes in the perfect moment.

Thank you for this wandering conversation about people and their places. I've been feeling lost as an American in recent years, and also feel connected and grounded in creating. I GREATLY enjoyed your IL library webinar with Jeff Tweedy and just finished How To Write One Song. What a beautiful book. Thank you for putting yourselves out there.

Jessie - Chicago suburbs, IL

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May 16, 2022Liked by Nick Offerman

Hello Nick, this video recording has become a welcome addition to my Sunday evening wet shaving ritual. As such, it begs the question, what is your preferred method of facial hair removal?

Thank you,

Kelly Kincaid of Austin, TX

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May 15, 2022Liked by Nick Offerman

How have you learned to translate what you read into action when you haven't had a similar experience at some point in your life? Do you feel a certain kinship with Wendell Berry because you have had experience with land use and farming? For example, you could read Sigurd Olson even though you haven't been in the Boudary Waters, but you have thoughtfully canoed and hiked elsewhere and could appreciate the nuance. I feel like I have gained some knowledge of Native Americans/First Nations people from reading Richard Wagamese and attending classes on Native people in Minnesota. I am not "more" Native, but more appreciative of that life. Do you think we should just take the parts we understand and translate them into thoughtful daily application, or is there a thread that passes through our reading that trandscends experience just because we are human? From the other end of the donkey.

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I had made it to the age of 43, gazpacho-less. Then, on our second date, my (now) husband made me his cucumber-forward gazpacho. Cold soup, in his hands, was a revelation, and I was hooked. Excuse me while I go ask him to blend up a batch!

Thanks for your thoughts and your humor. Please keep the conversation going. It's a tonic.

Q: Do you have favorite words?

Sincerely Yours, 2 Interlocutors: Diana and Rob from Irvine, CA, at present ~ but once upon a time...from Biddeford, Maine, and Binghamton, New York.

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May 15, 2022Liked by Nick Offerman

I used to work in Parks and Rec as a policy wonk, and worked with many folk who shared the earnestness, commitment to public service and tireless hard work portrayed by Leslie Knope.

My question for you is whether you have connected with Parks and Rec folk, either before, during or after the show. If so, what have you learned about the field or the kind of people it draws? Or any opinions on the field itself.

More simply, what have you learned as a result of having portrayed a character working in a municipal parks and rec department?

Please and Thank you,

Eva Schweber

Plattsburgh, NY (at least for the next 6 weeks)

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May 15, 2022Liked by Nick Offerman

Two questions and forgive me if these have been answered elsewhere.

Question one – What brought your clan to fish in Minnesota, as it seems quite out-of-the-way? I have fished the same waters, but they are in my backyard, so-to-speak.

Question 2 -Have you ever visited the BWCA, and if so, what are your thoughts on it?

Patrick Ebert

Plymouth, MN

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Thanks for answering, Nick! I've had a similar experience in my travels across our shared continent. We're all trying out best on this rock we call Earth (well, most of us, anyway). As for the evils of the industrial water complex, a community I once called home (Abbotsford, British Columbia) had a scare a number of years ago when Council pondered the privatization of the city's drinking water. Thankfully, we dodged that bullet. Phewf!

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Cucumber soup is quite joyous on a hot summer's eve.... but alas, soup and a woodshop don't mix unless one finds sawdust a favorite seasoning. Which leads me to my question.... When it comes to the joys of making, I find dust NOT one of them. No matter what material I work with, wood, resin, metal or plastic, I always find dust to be what holds me back from "jumping into the shop for few minutes". I always feels like if I'm gonna "make" I have to incorporate a mid-day shower into my plans.... otherwise dust gets into everything else - specifically any computers or cameras I use in my "day job". Do you have any advice on keeping dust in the shop and out of the rest one's home... I hail from Malvern, Pennsylvania.

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