Welp, I just noticed that I’ve fallen behind on my blog posts. It’s all about content, right. Gotta put up that content. Content, content, content. And social media. But the problem is, is that summers are slow for me, and I’m almost always underemployed. When I’m underemployed, I get depressed and a little stir-crazy. It’s a bad combination. I also start to withdraw from the world a little bit- without the social aspect of my job (which accounts for a lot of my social interaction, outside of my family) I can’t help but become more insular than normal.
So, what to do? I took a hike yesterday, which was nice (more of a walk on dirt, I guess), I’ve set up another podcast for tomorrow (with film/tv contractor, Edie Lehmann Boddicker, who I’m really excited to interview) and I try and meet up with friends, when I can. That last one is tough, though, when all of your friends have kids of their own and/or are out of town for the summer. I also have to balance the work that does come over the summer with getting away, myself. For instance, I just had to turn down a gig at the Hollywood Bowl because I’m going to be on vacation with my family- a two edged sword, to be sure.
So what’s the point of this post, or this blog, in general? Not sure really…producing content? A diary of my personal life? An advertisement for my podcast? Probably that last one, but I find that to be so phony, for some reason. I do use it as my own personal platform for my political and social beliefs in a way that is more comfortable than open discourse on Facebook, and I like that.
Take the shooting of Alton Sterling, for instance- when are we, as a nation, going to realize that the conservative ideologues who constantly attack affordable education and healthcare, social welfare programs, and sensible gun regulation and reform are complicit in each and every one of these killings? Why is it hard to understand that the very monster that right-wingers are now panicked about is a direct product of the uneducated masses who the Republican party has, in itself, created by these policies? VOTE. THEM. OUT. And lets eliminate PACS, Super PACS and Citizens United, while we’re at it. Oh, and let’s rewrite the second amendment and enact severe campaign reform, too. And what, exactly, does, “Let’s Make America Great Again” even mean? When was it greater than it is today? When blacks couldn’t vote and had to take their dinner to go? Or when women couldn’t divorce an abusive spouse? Or maybe we could go back to Polio (don’t get me started)? How about the Vietnam war or The Great Depression- those were fun times. What Trump is actually saying, and the sentiment that it creates is, “Make America White Again”. He legitimizes hatred, bigotry, xenophobia and all of the things that are in no way what being an American should be. Read, “The New Colossus”. It’s not hard to find. We are a nation of immigrants. You are an immigrant. Get over it. And most of these people call themselves Christians- Really? If you don’t see this, or you are one of these people, it’s time to re-evaluate your priorities.
So, I think I’ll go down that path every once in a while- but until then, please listen to my podcast- and share it liberally on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and by Carrier Pigeon, if you should happen to have any. And thank you.