food scraps

Hey guys,

Some new things:

1. Here's your May 4th reminder -- Alberto plays live with NewFilmmakers on their FB page. And it's free. Program starts with shorts at 6PM EST. Alberto is on just after 8PM (though I believe it's streamable until midnight).
   

2. Now this is a beer commercial. 
   

3. Scorsese and Schrader and Christianity. This is interesting to me because it's a fiction series, not a doc. And because Schrader does good religious stuff -- most recently with First Reformed, which had all of the existential angst I imagined it'd have, and a great Ethan Hawke performance I figured it'd have, and a pretty strong ending. And because Scorsese's religious films are some of his most interesting, including ones he did with Schrader that are not necessarily about religion. And because spirituality seems to be in so many of my favorite things, and in things of my own I strive to make. Maybe it's not so much seeking it out as it is acknowledging that it is at the heart of art: the act of creation... of striving for enlightenment through it... of hoping to experience something sublime... 
   

4. The Real Reason Young Adults Seem Slow To 'Grow Up' - fact or fiction?
    

5. I've mostly strayed from IKEA recently, but applaud the fact they have a free cookbook on how to make use of food scraps
   

6. Mr. McConaughey's starting to make use of his YouTube channel. And that's a crafty opening narration.
   

7. Advice on art paralysis maybe you'll find useful.
   
   As for myself... I used to fear creative blocks. I noticed I would go through alternating periods... years where I'd feel my creativity flow from something very emotional to me... followed by years where it'd level off and I'd struggle to find something else to inspire me to the same degree. I started to get worried about the latter. Was it a sign of aging? Would I experience more of it, eventually losing my emotional urge, my passion, and therefore my creativity?
   
   I'm seeing that as time goes on, something else may happen: we become wiser and more adept at looking at things and seeing a mirror of ourselves -- our hang-ups and turn-ons... we're exposed to more, we learn more, and we find a greater canvas to work with...  And we hopefully realize that "make it personal" is a bit of a myth... that it shouldn't be an end goal... but a given. Because some of the things we least expect to be personal are actually very much so in a different way... And many things that are so straightforwardly personal just don't cut it.
   
   Also, some of my own advice: however you're able to, find ways to work faster, so you work less each day. (Google 5-hour work day.) I seem to find that the best stuff comes when we make time to just sit with ourselves.
   
   There are some caveats. If you're going to let your head venture wherever it wants, make sure you're naturally drawn to questioning every angle.  And make sure there is some eventual deadline. Not one so close it's on your mind. Not one so far you lose all direction.

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Chris