Category: check-in

maps – anderson .paak

September 2nd, 2022

SEPT 2, 2022 – SELF-IMPOSED WRITING CHALLENGE DAY 2

I am writing this mid-flight. The guy next to me ordered a Jack and Coke. Goat. Anyhow, I was originally going to not write but I can’t fall asleep and there’s free Wi-Fi (thanks JetBlue) so here goes.

I’m on my way to New York City. Going to visit my aunt/older sister and I’m very happy. But it has me thinking about the potential for this story I want to craft. For one, I want some pieces of my family to be involved in this story. Obviously, outside of the racial similarities, I want a piece of me to live in this play. Those tend to be the best plays in my opinion. So for this trip I’m going to see what I could potentially use.

Another thing I want to potentially add to this piece is a true main character. I have to avoid falling into a trap of ensembles. It feels antiquated.
the chase (feat. kadhja bonet) – anderson .paak

September 1st, 2022

SEPT 1, 2022 – SELF-IMPOSED WRITING CHALLENGE DAY 1

Today marks the official beginning of my self-imposed 30 day writing challenge. I will be attempting to write every day for this month of September. All posts for this month will feature a title of a song by Anderson .Paak.

What will I be writing about? I’ve rooted around an idea for a play this month. Much in the vein of August Osage County. I started my journey by passively consuming episodes of the Netflix reality show, Bling Empire. And what a piece of work. You see, I am thinking of crafting a play centered around an Asian family. I have yet to even decide which direction I want to go in. I want there to be a satirical angle to it. But I don’t want to lose that drama aspect either. I want elements of surrealism and I’m thinking of setting it in a more modern, but specific setting. I wonder what that will entail. For me, I have been intrigued at the current state of Asian American theatre. It seems that a lot of writers are more interested in participating in conversations about the diaspora rather than the day-to-day Asian American. I am incredibly white-washed and I think my writing needs to reflect that side of me. The one who yearns for that connection.

Back to Bling Empire. It should go without saying that the show sucks. I hate reality TV. The characters are all vapid and consumerists douches. Kelly is with an abusive dickhead. And Kevin can’t keep it in his pants long enough around Kelly that it’s creepy. There’s not a one person on that show that doesn’t suck. My eat the rich hunger turns on during the show. But that’s me being critical. I think there’s enough humanity to understand who these people are. They are pieces of work. Obviously dramatic. But there is character to them. I need to tap into that aspect of them. That’s what I believe will allow my play to shine. Find the humanity in the people an audience finds shitty.

I don’t have a title yet, and I am under no pretenses that I will end up finishing this play in a month. But I need to do something… Please!!!
nuestra canción – monsieur periné

August 24th, 2022

If you ever want a living testament to how fucking cool the art of music is. Watch a NPR Tiny Desk Concert. A great 20-30 minute way to start the day. So here’s what I have to say about art! I love it art is good!! Very good even!!! I simply have a lot of love seeing people in their element I guess! Call me a crazy man…

I think what I love the most about the Tiny Desk Concert is the absolute joy and ease these artists can make their art look like. I have sat in sessions with writers making music and it can be incredibly draining and frustrating for those involved. To create something (in this instance a song) is a labor of love. It takes everything in you to unload yourself onto the world. But at the end you get to say you created something. Something that didn’t previously exist. Something that you made.

Starting at the end of this month, into September, my blog will only be concerned with me creating something. I still have yet to decide what it will be I will create (I think I will do a play). But that entire month (outside of my job lmao) will be dedicated to working on something. I need to finally do it.
one week – bnl (barenaked ladies)

August 21st, 2022

It’s been…

Okay so, I didn’t mean for it to get this far. But I kinda just got very busy and unmotivated. So, what are we going to do about this? Well, I am trying to stockpile posts and such in the drafts. But the biggest thing to me is to finally admit to myself that an every day blog is mighty unsustainable. So I am going to not do that. But I am keeping that pressure on myself to write. Writing is something that centers me and allows me to freely express myself. It is my artform. But I keep having this stupid fucking malformed idea that I need to make something of it. That I need to create value from it. There is no inherent value. I have only dropped the link for this blog once in the past month. And that was on a private twitter account with only 18 followers.

I am needing to understand how to be a better, more rounded individual. I need to figure it out. But I keep learning lessons that aren’t sticking for whatever reason. But I still am somewhat happy. That’s where I’m finding this… I guess inflection point. I am still lucid, having a blast, but there is a tinge of depression. I think I need to catch it now before it gets truly awful.

Anyway peepee poopoo!!!!!111!!!!11!!!
uncle bun (feat. 38 spesh) – benny the butcher

August 15th, 2022

No thoughts… only sleep… Going to watch Fire Walk with Me soon!
the weekend – sza

August 12th, 2022

Feeling particularly like I’m trapped in an Office Space style life where I am constantly looking forward to the weekend. It’s been a vibe!!!!!!!!!! No but honestly, I feel like I’m just living to work right now. And it’s mostly because I don’t feel like I’m making an impact as of right now. This will change soon… I hope… Anyway…
optimistic – radiohead

August 11th, 2022

I’m in my “working hard or hardly working” era. Feeling very Office Space lately. I am trying to work at my big boy job, but I cannot muster up the energy for whatever reason. Having a tough time staying awake, and having a tough time getting anything done. It is very bad! Anyway…
styrofoam – lil ugly mane

August 3rd, 2022

I am not entirely sure what to say… I’ve been having a tough time focusing at work over the past few days. Stemming mostly from me just being overwhelmed with training. I really want to get working on something with a task. But I don’t really know the products I am using… So I’m glad I get to make the mistakes now. I just don’t want to fall into a pattern where I become absurdly lazy. It’s where I think my body wants to be, but my mind hates it.

I’ve had trouble with motivation my entire life. Trying to motivate myself to do anything is a tough ask, I’ll tell you what. But I’ve tried to push past it. I’ve succeeded a bit. But it’s tough when it becomes that time of the year where I get laziest. I just need to refocus. Get myself back on the horse. Hopefully, I can do it!
are you with that? – vince staples

July 31st, 2022

I’ve recently started doing the NYT crossword on their app. NYT as an organization lowkey kind of sucks, but it’s something to do. I want to get better at words and writing and anything related. Sometimes I feel like I’ve arrived on this scene of being a “good” writer too late. I didn’t have my nose in books as a teen. I was stuck looking at Vine and Twitter which I think made me good at noticing things about society at large, but terrible at expressing why it is. Which gives me this weird trapped feeling. Like when you’re in a dream and can’t speak. I’ve tried almost everything on this blog since I started it around 3 weeks ago. Which is kind of crazy. I never thought I’d make it this far. But here it is, let’s do it.
so(ul) amazin’ (steel blazin’) – blu & exile

July 28th, 2022

I’m not going to lie, this week of work has been a load of shit. Not because it’s been hard, but because I’ve been having a tough time mustering up the motivation to do anything at all. I need to get myself back on track to be honest. I think it’s just been a hard week. I need time to reset. This weekend I will be focusing on just getting myself centered again. Hopefully that will do the trick!!