I’ve been quiet on this substack because 'I’ve had an awful lot on my plate and if something isn’t making money I’m probably not reaching right for it, because we’re poor and that sucks.
I think the fact I didn’t really plot out the subject of this Substack, etc. has just meant it’s languished, too. I don’t feel right ‘blogging’ here - it emails you (and I’ve gotten feedback that nearly every topic I write about botheres someone, so … I’m sorry!). Substack is also very generous with showing me stats, so I’m well aware of just how much of this apparently isn’t working.
I also don’t feel right just repeating things from other platforms, etc. That sort of sucks from my angle (I definitely have a huge aversion to repeating myself, which is weird given my propensity to adore repetitve tasks).
Anyway, it’s complicated and complication adds ‘friction’ to the task and then I’m more likely to ignore it. If you don’t know what I mean about friction, here’s a video that sort of covers ways to overcome it. Because of all of that - I just find myself not knowing what to say.
It’s also that my life right now is sort of uninteresting. My life is a lot of the same interspersed with being terrified of what the future holds. But, it seems bonkers I haven’t done an update in this long, so here goes.
I’ve still been publishing regularly about all the lab issues I can find information about at Eye On Cannabis. I’m proud of some of the data analysis I’ve done there - it includes really cool stuff like a piece I did on cannabis recalls where I created a data set from across the internet, or another piece that I did based on data I was emailed. It’s expanding my Tableau page for sure (I need to make some prettier dashboards, I’ve been hyperfocused on creating the datasets). It’s hard work because i have to fight myself every step of the way: the cannabis industry has not be kind to me or Darren. At all. And people are still absolutely free to discriminate against us gross druggies. It’s even worse that I’m also seeing just how reviled stoners are by the cannabis industry: so all of the stories in that space are just … dark. It’s taken my mind to dark places - being a pariah in both the cannabis and non-cannabis spaces (trust me, businesses don’t want me writing about them anymore, you know? I’ve made a Blacklist of bad ones!).
I’ve still been putting together a lot of pieces about movies, though, and I’m proud of that because that’s honestly the sort of work I want to do at this point.
I’ve started working with Cameron on his YouTube Channel Obnoxious and Anonymous. We’re pretty regular about posting our Wednesday PM chats, and often we manage to podcast on the weekend as well. In additino to that, I’ll be doing more movie podcasts in the not-too-distant future, and I might even strike out on my own to do some deeper plunges into some material I find particularly beloved. I’ll be posting some other information, factoids, and thoughts as we go (I’ve done a companion piece to the first discussion we had about Kenneth Branagh’s Dead Again here.
I’ve still been about movies at somewhatcyclops.com, and I publish there before Medium because Medium is frustrating. I’ll be posting there about a variety of films, and I’ve really enjoyed that sort of work - I’ve always loved telling and talking about stories. Stories can change and possibly save the world.
After all, your life is a story you tell yourself.
ANWAY Darren and I took at trip up to Portland to see Tommy Wiseau’s Big Shark for our wedding anniversary.
I wrote all about it here. Spoiler: I loved it - the event, the theater, getting out of the apartment after living like a shut-in becuase of the plague and my back injury — it was great! It was also really awesome to see and review ‘Only in Theaters’ shortly after seeing Big Shark. That might seem weird, but Greg Laemmle talked about event cinema in interviews about ‘Only In Theaters,’ and said ““As much as films are struggling right now, event cinema screenings are doing very well.” And I think it’s because there’s a special magic that happens there.
I don’t want to say that seeing Big Shark on the screen changed my life, because it didn’t. And no, I didn’t get my picture or anything, either. But hearing Tommy Wiseau tell creatives to ‘keep going’ gave me the sort of bolster I needed to do exactly that. And maybe that message worked on that day because I’m tired of people saying stuff like “it doesn’t matter what people think,” because that’s an easy lie people love telling. It absolutely matters what people think - if it didn’t a host of -isms wouldn’t matter. That’s the sort of pithy BS people say when they're ‘trying to be nice.’ I’m not looking for nice. Kind is better than nice.
So, be kind - and tell me -- what do you want me to write about here? What would make you recommend this to friends? What have you always wanted me to write about (and I never do)? Hit me up in the comments, or if you hate that idea - send me an email!