2. From Letter with News

It’s your fault.

It’s your fault that you’re getting this email.

Why?

Because you didn’t respond to the last one, requesting that I exclude you.

Unless I added you to the list at some point during the past three months, in which case this invasion of your inbox is not your fault, but rather, mine (mostly). That said, next time, in August, it’s on you (completely).

Of course, there is a third possibility, which is that you are Tom. If you are Tom, I’m curious to know whose inbox you’ve hacked into just to read this quarterly newsletter, and why you’ve done so, considering it was you who rejected it (a rejection which I have taken quite graciously) last time, you tasteless hack.

Assuming you’re not Tom, do feel free to join his club by simply asking me to remove you from my list (of 22 deserving friends, give or take) in the future. Then, if somehow I still make an e-ppearance in your inbox, it will be through no fault of yours, much like the miserable last three months that Tom has had were no fault of mine. Just a coincidence. Not a cautionary tale at all.

Now, with that ado adone, here’s a bunch of stuff:

 

A few THINGS I FIND AWESOME!

1.     Meditation – I put that in italics to imply fictional sarcasm designed to let you know that if you think meditation is lame and pretentious, well… so do I, and I was being facetious, and there’s no need to judge me. Skip to 2. But if you don’t think it’s lame, know that I was one of the aforementioned ‘skip to 2’ folks until very very recently when someone finally pitched the practice in a way that made sense to me. By sitting quietly for just 10 minutes a day, and silently repeating a nonsense word to myself, I am focusing solely for the sake of focus and thus building my mindfulness muscle. It’s like bicep curls for the mind, and you know what they say, ‘no pain, no brain.’

2.     The Worst Person in the World – is Tom. Just kidding. This one’s in italics not as the defensive façade of an insecure millennial, but rather because it’s a title. Of a phenomenal film. A Norwegian anti-rom-com that may just beat out Pig as my favorite movie of last year. It’s got a Criterion release coming, so please, do enjoy it. And then call me so we can debate the meaning of the title, and I can tell you why I don’t love that one scene.

3.     Foundation Training – I’ve had lower back pain for my entire life (go ahead, momsplain my back to me). Something to do with the massive book bag I had to haul around while I was being educated/indoctrinated. That and the weight of my ego (before I turned into the humble monk I am now). So far, the most helpful thing I’ve found at curbing or even negating this pain is Foundation Training, introduced to me by NOLA Chiropractor extraordinaire, Ryan Russo. There’s a whole book about the practice, but for starters, just check out this 4 minute workout video. Do this daily, and if it doesn’t help, then… well… my bad (just like your back).

4.     Levels by Avicii – I recently heard a productivity hack that sounded nonsensical. So I tried it. There are some psychopaths out there who listen to a single song on repeat while doing long projects. Something about suppressing the sounds of the world without being distracting. Well… I tried it. And after some trial and error song-searching, I finally found one that gives me a good feeling, and I love it. For now. [proof-read pass revision – a pun opportunity just occurred to me. I should be tallying how many Levels I complete each day. Maybe that’s why the song is called that! Anyway, I suspect I’ve just ruined this method for myself. Oops. My quantiphilia strikes again.]

 

And here are a few non-things (aka PEOPLE) who are DOING AWESOME STUFF:

1.     Amia Edwards – Is a superstar. And Amiable Productions is her Justice League. I met Amia at a Film Natchez event, and since then she’s given me the undeserved honor of being able to participate in a program which pairs high school students from Jackson County public schools with Artists in Residence who shepherd them through every step in the process of creating (in most cases, their first) short films. Amia organized an amazing festival to premiere these shorts, and the result was (aside from my bumbling speech) a creatively inspiring evening.

2.     Chelsea Bryan, Sylvia Grace Crim, & Tenea Intriago – aka the talent behind the venue behind the talent. These three creative forces and combine their powers to Captain Planet into existence The Actor’s Apothecary, an incredible space designed to service the needs of local performers. If their incredible opening night was any indication, the boost that New Orleans film will get, both in terms of Community enthusiasm and Creative Output will be immeasurably awesome. Just like they are.

3.     Julie Haberstick – Julie is a script supervisor and poet and writer and dog mom and free spirit. And she gets a shoutout here for publishing her first (I think?) book, Coyote Gratitude, which is a memoir/poetry collection/travelogue and also one of the best insights into a human I’ve read in a long time. (Wyatt Williams’ Springer Mountain is up there too). Julie self-published this wonderful read, and the formatting and physical execution of the book are nearly as impressive as the words themselves. AND… right now she’s roaming around on a book tour like a boss, a journey which who knows… might generate a sequel??? Pressure pressure pressure.

4.     Tom – Yes, that is the actual real name of the ONLY PERSON who emailed me and asked me to remove them from my email list (and thus my Will). Although Tom is clearly morally dubious, he’s also a generally nice guy, and extraordinarily talented as his job, which is quite a creative one. AND… kudos to him, because he has a couple of really cool projects in the works right now. If you want to know more about them, well… Tom who?

 

And while we’re on the topic of petty people doing things… oh yeah, ME!

1.     The Phony Premiere – To those of you who didn’t get the last email, it was basically just a thinly disguised piece of promotional material for my recently released ‘film’, Phony. But this time, I’m not going to advertise it at all, because, since last we spoke, my little philm has exploded out into the world with a truly amazing premiere organized by the incomparable Laura Cassidy and hosted by the Broad Theater. To everyone who came out to support the film, you have my eternal gratitude. And, luckily for the rest of you,  my ‘thanks’ is a renewable resource, so I’ll be happy to give away bushels more of it to anyone who goes and checks out Phony on Amazon. AND… If you leave us a handful of stars and some review-words, then you have my word that the gratitude will be doubly eternal.

2.     Daily Routine – After Master Gardener wrapped, I FINALLY, for the first time ever, managed to commit myself to a regular daily writing routine. Which entailed getting up ungodly early (4AM (the Lord starts each day at 6 (according to my street rooster))) walking on my treadmill while I drink a coffee and watch some sort of film-themed documentary or other, meditated, and then dove into a lengthy series of pomodoroed writing blocks. It was awesome. And super productive, but then…

3.     No One Will Save You – which is a movie written and directed by Brian Duffield, went into production, and I sacrificed my routine in the service of using my body to weigh down a Script Supervisor’s chair on a project which… based on the truly one-of-a-kind script and the incredible talent that I get to hide amongst each day… will be one to check out. But first…

4.     50 Days of Solitude – Alternatively titled ‘No One Will Save Me.’ After this movie wraps, my plan is to lock myself in my home for 50 – yes, 50 – days. I will turn off my router and my phone and bury myself in a solitary life of writing and reading and watching things. Yes, I mean it. And I’m extremely curious to see what kind of content I create, perhaps a couple of delightful scripts, perhaps a few thousand haikus, or maybe just some self-portraits painted in fecal matter on every surface of my home. Don’t worry mom, I’ll send out an intermittent email ping as a proof of life, and I’ll arrange to have a contact person who can come knock on my door in case someone I love is on their deathbed, someone I will love wants to pay me cash money to write them a kickass movie, or we’re in a lovely little nuclear war with Russia.

 

After reading that last little bit of lunacy, I’m sure that you – not just my mom, but everyone – are dying to ask the obvious question:

Why ONLY 50 days?

And unlike the question everyone keeps asking about the final shot of Phony, this one I’ll actually answer: 50 days from the end of production on NOWSY is August 1st. Which means I’ll groundhog up just in time to send you all a new newsletter (making this an oldsletter?), and get ready, because it’s gonna be a 50-days-in-the-making doozy (or dooky if I go the poop-selfies route).

Unless of course, you don’t want to receive it, in which case, just respond to this one and let me know. I’ll gladly take you off the list, and I definitely won’t harbor any ill will. Any at all. None.

Or… feel free to text or email me and let me know what you’ve been up to lately, and if you’ve got cool stuff that you think I should check out, please do let me know!

Until next time, I love you all!

Cheers!

David Bush (poll: should I replace the ‘vid Bu’ with a dash to change my name to Da-sh?)

 

P.S. – I recently read that writers with ADD use a disproportionate number of parentheticals. I’m skeptical. (post-scripts, though…)

P.P.S. – Wait, what’s that? You’re suspicious of that ’22’ people claim I made in way back when this email began? You don’t believe you’re that important to me? Well, you are! But several of your friends also got this email, and that seems statistically improbable? Well, congrats to you for also having amazing friends! I bet they’re not Tom.

P.P.P.S. – But if you do know someone – anyone at all – named Tom, ask them if they got this email. If they didn’t, well… now you know.

Previous
Previous

3. Goldletter (or Newsfinger)

Next
Next

1. Dr. Newsletter