At long last, I have emerged from the hermetic lifestyle to give a quick update on where life has taken me. I apologize for not updating more, but a lot of attention has been on projects other than writing. Given that we are also coming off of Easter, there was planning around that and trying to find ways to make that day worthwhile. March Madness was on. Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, the women’s division has been diluted enough that one finals team far exceeds the skill level of the other. It makes for boring basketball, and while I predicted that UCLA would take the trophy, it kind of felt like watching paint dry for 20 minutes of gameplay.
Other than that, my Easter ended up being a fairly eventful day. We did egg hunting in the backyard, where the only downside was that it was muggy, so I wasn’t in the mood for doing the real spelunking work. I wanted an easy five minutes of in and out. Alas, it makes my family happy, so I can’t be mad about that. We also have acquired LA28 tickets, where two of our lottery days happened to fall on Sunday. As of now, we are scheduled for men’s volleyball, canoeing, handball, and rugby. That far exceeds the bounds of where I thought things would land, but I am grateful to have this opportunity and hope that the powers that be don’t ruin the big days.
Another thing that I can mention about this early April is that I am officially ankle-deep in Novel4! After months of planning and even delays to flesh out weaker chapters, I took the plunge on April 1st and just went for it. Part of the symbolism there is that April 1st was the day I released my first short story collection, “Esoteric Shapes,” and I have had mixed feelings about that decision six years later.
I may be only five chapters into the draft at the moment, but let me tell you something… it is the best feeling in the world. To have the confidence to sit down for 2.5 hours and craft a chapter that’s clearly outlined is one of the best feelings I’ve had. It could simply be the honeymoon period, where I am “discovering” the characters and building a depth that was always there but maybe not previously defined. I’m aware later edits may remove a lot of this (“Lava Lamp” included 100 pages of removed edits), but for now, I have a proof of concept, and as an artist, that is maybe the most thrilling concept in the world.
There’s not much that I care to share at this time, other than it reminds me that writing has this catharsis where you can have an image in your head and have to let it gestate until it looks right. Once you have it, the release becomes second nature. None of these chapters has been a difficult process so far. I may have difficulty over a passage or two, but practicality shows itself when you look. My hope is to have a substantial draft by the end of the year, though, like this outlining stage, I won’t be too critical if there are setbacks.
Besides that, I thought that I’d mention briefly that I have been watching Coachella livestreams over the past few nights. I recognize that it’s an overpriced, overcrowded, overheated event that I wouldn’t thrive at. However, those shows look like FUN. So far, the highlight has been Slayyyter, who really brought the house down and had a fierce intensity. It’s true that Jane Remover also “went hard,” but this is the time I mention that I have only listened to “Revengeseekerz” twice and was really having a heart attack watching her. It’s funny that I’ve become sort of square and liked the quieter acts more. Ethel Cain remains a personal favorite. I was even more charmed by Blondshell, who might have had the most consistent setlist of whom I watched. Finally, I went to bed last night to Oklou, and while “Choke Enough” is one of my favorites of last year, it was a bit too sleepy for a midday performance. There’s a lot I missed, obviously (might try and track down Samia since “Bloodless” is my second most-played album from last year), but this year turned out well even if I don’t care about the headliners (I respect David Byrne more than like).
A major reason that I have caught so little is that I’ve been busy. On Friday, I went to go see my first baseball game of the season. It was a rough go of things where CSULB lost to Fullerton 10-0, and that was not fun to witness. For as much as it’s fun to sit in the ballpark again and see the atmosphere, I’m always in favor of competition more than quality. A great team can be boring to watch because you know they’ll win. It also makes the rivalry nature a bit underwhelming to know that one side has everything more together.
We are also talking about the weekend when Euphoria is premiering, so I was more excited to check that out. I’ll admit the show is messy and has rarely been “great.” However, it has this infectious pop mentality that makes it engrossing to watch. You can see effort even in the most misguided of moments, where Sam Levinson’s ego sort of becomes its charm. He has an image he wants to create and does, no matter how perverse or inappropriate it is. I’m unsure what the consensus coming out of this weekend is, but I liked it, even if the show is venturing a bit too far into cartoony land. Everyone feels like they’re now variations of each other (selling their bodies for the economy), but I hope there’s more to this story. As has been true in the past, I am most curious to see where Hunter Schafer winds up, if just because she produced my favorite episode.
Uh, I guess the other good news is that The Floor and The 1% Club are back. I am trying to appreciate more scripted programming, but nothing’s really hitting right now. I’ve gotten to the point in my Atlanta rewatch where commercials are making the pacing seem slower. I also want to like Rooster more, but I have bought into the concept that it’s maybe not the most realistic view of university life. Then again, my favorite of modern takes has been The Chair, but it may just be me missing English academia.
So yeah. I thought that I’d close by briefly mentioning that I apologize to anyone who has been bothered by my being quiet on the internet. I’ve found that the mix of bad events and social media just doesn’t mix well for me, and I hate the confirmation bubble that it can be when I read, “Yeah, gas prices suck,” or “The president is a war criminal.” I accept these to be self-evident, but I’m also not sure what talking about them ad infinitum really does. We are not really changing the discourse at all. It makes me feel hopeless, and I can’t engage with every minor complaint because I’ll just fixate on things that are not my life. I don’t wish for this to sound like an admittance of weakness, but at some point, the grimness becomes worse because you are aware of how ever-present it is. I’m not ignoring the truth. I regularly consume news. However, I need moderation. Frankly, everybody needs moderation. If you dedicate your life to consuming hate, you will end up miserable, and I don’t want that.
I have no answer. I may be back soon. Right now, I’m pulling back and enjoying my free time, thinking about anything else. Maybe I’ll return soon enough, but for now, peaceful, schedule-free nights have been ideal. Sometimes it makes me more productive. Others I will just find myself clearing my head and starting plans for tomorrow. Who knows what tonight will look like? Well, I kind of know. Tonight’s the WNBA draft. That should be fun. And, speaking of, I may or may not be going to an LOVB game next weekend. Plans are still up in the air. I may or may not share how that goes.
So until next time. Hope all’s well and I’ll see ya when I see ya.
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