“Why?”
(To quit being sad! Duh.)

I began reading The Scarlet Letter on 11 July, and only today (7 August) am I at Chapter 1 (“The Prison-door”). That introduction was, objectively speaking, absurdly verbose, but, in defense of Hawthorne, I’m not just a slow reader, but also a very uncommitted one.

Also also on top of that, so affected was I by my instant ❤️ response to his style + deep insight into timelesss truths that I did a whole lot of re-reading and highlighting of particularly choice passages. Anyway.

In contempt of what I’ve heard algoddamnready.

A day of firsts: my instagram finally reached 30, I grilled [my own damn steak - from a cow I punched to death and butchered with my own bare hands! (Nope, that 2nd part is a lie, sorry)], and I directed a request to purchase one of my paintings to my agent (aka my patrons, aka my parents, lol).

Bonus, I smell like grilled steak (one of the better smells imho).

My dissatisfaction with the scene/sequence way of conceiving of screenplay composition finally came to a head yesterday. But after some time during which I swapped scene/sequence thinking for “beats”, I realized today “beats” also wasn’t cutting it. So now they’re (scenes) ALL waves, small or big.
I focus on the ones that crash biggest, which affords me what I need to get thru the mundane scenes that head towards that big crash.
Also, waves criss-cross, sequences can’t.

[P]eople are fundamentally egalitarian but are led to collapses by 𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬-𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬.

[They too], however, contain the seeds of their own demise: “They are cursed and this is because of #inequality. History shows that 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐬 #𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐞”

[T]wo outcomes: self-destruction or a fundamental transformation of society […] to level all the forms of power that lead to Goliaths.

“I’d cap wealth at $10 million”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/02/self-termination-history-and-future-of-societal-collapse

#politics

Our hosting costs here on #WritingExchange are going up by $50 again next month, after last increasing in March. If you're able to contribute to the costs of running our small instance, any amount is much appreciated (and thank you to all that already contribute)!

https://opencollective.com/writingexchange

The good news is that visits to the instagram page of my alter-spirit and his musicking activities has broken the 1k monthly visit mark after being visited 300+ times since last night.

Which feels to me like maybe I’m a step closer to justifying my existence & proving my ability to succeed on this planet where according to google, 17 genocides have taken place since the year I was born. Which in turn has me questioning what can in fact be called “good”, all things considered.

TUVALU is preparing to carry out the first planned migration of an entire country in response to the effects of climate change.

Recent studies project that much of its territory could be submerged in the next 25 years due to rising sea levels, forcing its inhabitants to consider migration as an urgent survival measure.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-first-planned-migration-of-an-entire-country-is-underway/

Immediately after I find out that my protagonist and would-be nemesis are going to have to meet a whole lot earlier than I had initially conceived, I was notified that the role of “uncle” is about to be thrust upon me real f’n soon. Hashtag “plot twists.”

About 6 years ago I began working on a screenplay-plus-album for a musical comedy called JFC, or “There Will Be Chá-Chá-Chá.” Today, I’m very pleased to announce that my album of demos for all of its 11 songs are now available for anyone to listen to.

So, if you’re ready for an alternate history, comical take on the plot to kill JFK, here’s a link that’ll take you to a full album playlist. 👇
#NewMusicMonday

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lTfDevuQ4ZCIgJ88XQIL581r7OH-tnfV0&si=mGdPZryjBOWAjX12

A #California #farmworker died on Friday from injuries sustained a day earlier when #US #immigration agents raided a cannabis operation & arrested hundreds of workers, according to a farmworker advocacy group.

Dozens of #ImmigrantRights activists faced off w/ #federal agents in rural Southern California on Thursday. It was the latest escalation of #Trump's campaign for #MassDeportations of immigrants in the US.

#law #HumanRights #ICE #Gestapo #PoliceBrutality
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/one-california-worker-dead-hundreds-arrested-after-cannabis-farm-raid-2025-07-11/

After viewing this random old “for educational purposes” PBS-like documentary called “American Gothic: Hawthorne and Melville”, I updated my Insta bio to include “I come from Hawthorne.” I found it while searching deep on kanopy, hoping that they’d have a great courses series on the history of theater (nope).

Things (life matters in general) are just weird and uncanny that way, plus, double-meanings are almost always more fun than single-meaning words.

How others treat wannabe dictators:

"Ex-South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol returned to prison over martial law bid"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/09/ex-south-korean-president-yoon-suk-yeol-returns-to-prison-over-martial-law-bid

#Korea #USpol

I’m far too much anti-hippie dippiness to believe “the universe is trying to tell me something” (ever!), but fact is that I did begin a rewatch of Bertolucci’s The Little Buddha yesterday - which coincidentally happened to be The Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday. Just as much as I heartily believe in pure, meaningless coincidence, I do enjoy them too.

Not the whole song, nor in order though due to the 500 character limit.

Set to “Cherokee”: “Better Times” (sung by Leon and his new Soviet Russian emigré wife)

Better times for us are right around the corner
Just around the bend my dreams come true

Better times await,
In the land of the free,
O home of the brave
please welcome me.

All I want is to feel alive
Never again be deprived
To sport one day the latest styles
Shop the freshest fruits in every aisle

No pogroms no purges no show trials, no Stalin.
I’m all in to be an American.
#NewSong

I just mis-read something as "hate-stage capitalism"*, and I thought: "that's fucking brilliant".

(they'd written "late-stage capitalism", obvs)

Ever since they got bought out by a party drink company, #soylent doesn't seem very interested in selling soylent powder. So I decided to try #huel. It's way too sweet (vanilla flavor; there is an unsweetened/unflavored option) with a lingering aftertaste. It's also disgustingly chunky. No amount of shaking gets rid of lumps. I can try a food processor, but that's more cleanup than I'd want long term.
Recommendations welcome if you know a good brand.