I Am Talented, Famous, Brilliant and You Should Subscribe.

Readers ~

Welcome to the Pleasuredome. I am only half-kidding.

I’ve always known writing was my greatest strength. Even my staunch and stern grandfather Sterling acknowledged that about me. Sports? No. Comic books? Not interested. But get me a pencil and paper and I’ll write a seven-page story about fairies. People who say writing is masculine miss the point; it’s not even gendered. Writers are all tough in their own way, because they have to be comfortable being alone, ideologically, philosophically, spiritually, you name it.

I’m a private person (never been to Idaho) but Substack is asking me to tell you why I am doing this now, here. And I can tell you it has a lot to do with the fact that I am getting a divorce and rebooting my life. I’m a filmmaker in addition to the writing, but after getting inspired by Bill Arceneaux I decided it was time to have a regular platform to write, and have it read by curious individuals like you.

If you don’t like things, you leave, for someplace you’ve never gone before said The Velvet Underground on “I Found A Reason” from 1970’s Loaded. As the cursor blinks at me in anticipation of the next line, I am aware that with each subsequent step into the unknown, I am rewriting my life and forging a path through the darkness ahead. Divorce cleaves your friendships in two; a circle becomes a half-circle or even just a pie wedge. People must take a stand; they are either with your or against you. If any of my soon-to-be ex’s friends are reading this, I have no interest in a smear campaign and wish her the best.

But enough about my personal drama. You are here because you love movies, no?

I’m here because I like to write.

Martin Scorsese once said the two most important qualities in a filmmaker are bravery and ignorance. Obviously, bravery is key but so is ignorance because if you really knew what you were getting into in making a film, you would not even attempt. So, maybe you are wondering why you should subscribe? Because you are paying for my voice. If you’ve enjoyed my writing so far, (here or on Vague Visages or other video essays I’ve done) you know that I keep it real, unpretentious but true and I care about the construction of a sentence. There are times when a video essay is the correct way to talk about cinema, and other times where simply the written word is enough. That’s when I will log into Substack.

Paid subscribers can expect more, exclusive content from me. I will write each week, and also post videos in the margins that you can’t find anywhere else. I’ll open up the conversation and interact with you; listen to you, put my hand on your thigh, if you’ll let me. Who knows where it will lead? I certainly don’t, because I am making this up as I go, like a good storyteller.

If you choose not to subscribe, you’re not going to see the whole picture. You’ll revisit my page each week, checking to see something new but see only what you read last time. You’ll wonder what you’re missing. You might eat the last pickle from the jar and contemplate drinking the juice.

But what you won’t understand is that everyone else is already drinking the juice. And I am King Gherkin brining their palette with dill and garlic.

If you’re still not convinced, keep it here and read future free posts. We’ll figure it out.

Many of my contemporaries are academic video essayists. They make intelligent videographic explorations on a unified thesis with supporting critical examples from erudite texts. They have enviable bibliographies. Not me. I’ve always felt inadequate that my video essays were poetic and not academic. But when you are unaffiliated like I am at this very moment, is there an alternative? No, he said.

The poetic, the personal; these modes draw and drive me to create. Same as with my collages, I react better than I create from scritch-scratch. But the writing; that I can pull from thin air. Wouldn’t you rather it comes from there than somewhere else?

Keep reading, friends.