SCRAPS!

Surprise! I have officially returned within a week of my last post. While this was intended to be a more “active” website, I’ve found myself feeling very sluggish this March. Not in the sense that I have given up on my profession, but I am being more meticulous with projects. To jump over to The Memory Tourist is to see two articles that, while I’m proud of, aren’t a substantial representation of where I’m at mentally right now. In theory, I should have a more ballooned amount to brag about, but part of my current writing journey is doing what I want to do when I want to. Maybe I need motivation to get back to a regular schedule, thus feel more fulfilled, but that isn’t to say I’ve avoided doing things behind the scenes. To continue on my train from last week, I have some writing projects that are in various states of completion. The prominent focus was my short story collection, still untitled, which has 20 selected works chosen for a potential release. I have read and edited them in ...

At long last, I return. As most people looking at this website and The Memory Tourist will notice, I have not been much in a writing mood. This isn’t because of any scheduling issues, but more that the passion is just not there. After having a substantial February, I decided to pull back a little bit and focus on more long-term projects. What this means is that efforts that usually were put towards keeping up appearances had to be sacrificed for a little bit. That isn’t to say that I don’t want to write something on there between now and the end of the month, but I recognize the plight of having such a long period of solitude. With that said, it feels good to work on a schedule that is ultimately your own. I don’t have the pressure I placed on myself even in 2020, where I needed to have something out everyday and keep on top of things that ranged from exposing new sides of myself with material that was forced or even unnecessary. I’m still not sure I’m a great music critic, but wheneve...

As per usual, I open this with an apology for not writing on here more. The truth is that the motivation to sit down and knock one of these out can seem laborious, especially given that some weeks are just not eventful. Now, obviously, there’s been a lot to remember over the past month-plus that will likely be forgotten or not addressed at all. As per usual, this might be a post more relevant to the past week than any extended period of time.  Life out here in Southern California is nice for the most part. In a move that can be described as a bit backwards, we went from having summer-adjacent heat to rain to a nice, chilly temperature. If this is how things will be for a while, then I’m happy to bask in it. It’s good weather to roll up your sleeves and work outside, along with just enjoying a nice cool breeze. I do fear that things will inevitably change sooner rather than later, but I don’t wish to jinx it at this time. Something else that inspired me to write this when I did was ...

Every now and then while watching the Olympics, I have this strange aversion. Not so much to the construct of the games, but there’s always something in myself that can’t get lost in the moment. I can’t merely watch the games and get lost in the novelty of watching every country on Earth compete for three medals and a chance to say that, of the billion people on this planet, these are the most athletic. I recognize the thrill of wanting your country to be the best it can be, and yet there’s some part of me that gets queasy participating in something that isn’t inherently offensive or wrong. In fact, the Olympics are objectively one of the few times that explicit national pride should be encouraged. Watching Milan Cortina the past two weeks, I felt that same hesitation emerge as I saw the media (notably NBC’s broadcasting) cater to an American sensibility. Again, that isn’t wrong. We have some phenomenal athletes who, from what I can tell, have amazing stories to share. They’ve put in t...

At the end of Bad Bunny’s halftime performance at The Super Bowl, he projected a message onto the Jumbotron. Having spent most of the performance singing in Spanish, it was a rare chance for racial barriers to be met and consider a greater truth. His message for all of the flamboyant dancing and pulse-pounding music was that “The only thing stronger than hate is love.” With possibly the biggest audience in any American sporting event watching, he was able to project that message to millions of people. It may seem obvious to most, but it seemed like a poignant deconstruction on his show. Over the past decade, the concept of being American has shifted significantly on the national stage. It’s gotten so obscene that people have preluded Olympics talk by asking other countries to not look down on Team USA because they don’t hold the same values as their president. As someone who lives here, that is obvious, though I imagine it’s difficult to know how outsiders see this recent string of eve...

There is no need to build up to this statement. Kendrick Lamar is one of the most celebrated hip-hop artists of his generation, and I share that general enthusiasm. That doesn’t necessarily mean I listen to him the most or devoutly await every release. It’s just, having lived through the 2010s, I saw the power of rap music to stand for something greater… and a large reason was him. The candid artistry was beautiful, and I think it only continues to grow in ways that propel the genre forward and promise something even more interesting on the horizon. In an era where music is at risk of disposability, picking up a Lamar album is being reminded of what a full front-to-back experience can give you. The reason I am writing this stems from my own contradictions surrounding his music that, in fact, don’t have that much to do with him in the first place. To provide a parallel circumstance, people often resent Zack Snyder films because of the audience he attracts, who tend to target those who d...