Feedback Notes On Theo and Lou's Writings

google.com and Love In The Time Of Art Basel by Theo Thimo

I read some of your posts I liked the one about how much everyone likes you 

The other one was chill too I like when you write like that and how you don't read it to me ever lol 

Like you prefer to be read more 

The post under the one about how much everyone likes you's transitions were hella slick 

And I loved the interaction w your Uber or Lyft driver where you smiled about the meaninglessness of your response and maybe the interaction w him like I could completely see that smile like I have 

You’re hella funny for that 

And the part about the blackout sleeve parallel to black face 

Genie by Louis Packard (ask him for a copy)

Yo so I really dug this story 

Felt mad consistent w your form of story telling but w something more simple like it was good to read what you would write about if you were to write a story about a genie and the ending was fucking mad twisted and sincere like I could hella see that being a concern for you 

Your nails like you just hella like your nails actually and don't want to lose them ever 

I love how you built on that 

It hella made me think about how important mine are to me 

And how much we should appreciate em for what they are and how they grow 

Made me feel mad thankful and blessed 

I’m really getting up here on this soapbox

That’s what this journal is today anyway 

A soapbox 

My journal is my soapbox 

When I can’t get up here it’s not 

Bc I can’t write 

But 

Bc I can’t talk 

And that’s exactly what it means when I can’t write 

Damn 

It’s crazy how you have to prove yourself 

What you have to do to do that 

What you have to do to prove yourself as a copywriter when you’re me 

How you have to be in-house as the only copywriter at a company who hasn’t any idea what that process takes other than the experiences they’ve had w past copywriters 

Which says nothing 

Bc they were probably giving them the same shit 

It’s hella hard 

And they have no idea what it’s like to be the only in-house copywriter on a team of product managers 

And graphic designers 

It’s hella fucked 

But it’s also comforting in a way 

Bc that should tell you how much their words mean when it comes to their opinions of your work 

And where you are as a copywriter 

Bc they don’t have any idea 

If they think you’re the worst copywriter they ever had no shit 

You told them that’s what hiring you would mean based on your past experience like for how quote unquote bad this is going this is the best experience I’ve ever had as a copywriter 

Idk if they realize that 

How much more this is benefitting me atm than it is them 

So basically take every opinion of your copy 

And work ethic as a copywriter from them w a grain of salt 

Bc this is more 

Or less your first rodeo 

Every time is 

I’m like a con artist in that way 

I have no idea what im doing 

This is the last time I’m gonna ask Robert if he’s watching the game

I hella specified in the message

I said this is the last time im gonna ask

And I mean it

If he says na I’m never asking again

Hell have to invite me from here on out

Or lmk

Bc I’ll never ask him to another warriors game ever again as long as I live as god as my witness

Tired of being shot down frankly

Game four was a wash

Said Alan was staying

So there were too many ppl at Angelo’s to host me

And he wanted to go to bed soon

I’m like okay

It’s almost like a putdown

Starting to feel that way

So im putting my foot down once

And for all

Im not gonna take this anymore

This game he plays every time

Bailed on game one I think altogether

Or actually I just watched it w someone else

Idek if I asked

I think same for game two

Or actually I was supposed to watch it w them until I bailed for my workshop

Which was excellent

Caught the last quarter w Spencer at that bar down the street from jordan’s studio

Then game three was at fickong honore w Spencer again

Plus hella bros after my reading

But game four is the last straw dude

I ain’t letting this shit ride anymore

This is his last chance

This man did not want my money

Rival smoke shop across the street from my regular one off the graham stop 

It was early 

I was like you gotta cool mint air box 

I think he was like na 

But like he didn’t know what it was 

So I showed him 

Then he went to the back like he was gonna get it before he came to the counter 

And was like can I help you 

I repeated my order 

And he indicated to the air box sitting right there on the counter 

I was like how much 

He was like twenty two 

I was like it’s usually twenty across the street 

And he was like okay 

I’ll give it to you for that much like damn right 

You know I bought this before right 

I hella showed you 

I was like gimme my receipt 

Gotta make sure after that 

I hella don’t trust you  

I stfg every morning is like an obstacle course

And this wasn't any different

TurboTax is honestly like those guys that be throwing around height like those guys that thought they were six something

And thought I was around the same 

But less like na 

You like six something 

Bc I’m almost seven foot when they’re like maybe a little over six 

And I’m like probably barely five eleven 

TurboTax is like oh yeah 

You’re getting three racks almost around like two 

And a half 

You’re balling 

Go put a down payment on a car 

Or some shit 

You out here breu 

Ain’t no stopping you 

Pay off your shit 

Whatever debt you have 

You are about to get it all back right now 

Irs is like yeah 

They computed it wrong 

Here’s some of it like a little less than half of that

Now I hella need this job 

They’re like my job 

Being like you’re doing fine 

We don’t expect much of you yet 

This third week they’re like everyone here hates your writing 

And you almost 

And you’re nothing like what we expected 

I’m balling 

Now I could see why I like that book so much about that guy who thinks he’s hella coming up when he’s not 

Bc that’s me in a nutshell 

Everything regarding me 

And my lifestyle seems good on some level in theory 

But there’s always a stark contrast in the reality of how things turn out 

Why can’t things ever just be nice 

Nothing can ever just be good for me huh 

It’s always gotta turn out the opposite way than what it was when it first presented itself 

I just counted from where I said this feels like five hundred words 

And it came out to three forty 

So that’s what that feels like when you think you feel like you have five hundred 

Or like you’re coming up on that much 

It’s actually like three 

So you’re no different from those guys 

Or TurboTax 

Or anyone who has this heavily inflated idea of their self like me 

Who would’ve thought in a million years that a phone would be the thing that defines us all

That’s like the avengers being the group of super heroes that define the mcu 

Hella random right 

I know 

No one saw phones coming 

But here we are today like a phone 

A flip phone 

If you would’ve told me years before then I would’ve laughed in your face 

At your face even 

Gtfo here 

A phone 

Are you kidding me 

You gotta be 

The thing you call from 

The thing you call 

And receive calls from 

Ran dom

The phone 

I mean the phone 

Before the phone became what it is today is like anakin skywalker before he became darth Vader like I wonder what marked the turn you know like when anakon slaughtered that entire village thinking that they killed his family 

I wonder what event there was like that in the phones history 

I wonder what made everyone stop 

And look at the phone like oh shit 

That thing is gonna be something to be reckoned w 

You laugh now 

But wait 

You just wait 

And see what the phone has in store for us 

I always knew phones would blow up tbh 

It’s like plants 

You know succulents 

I was way ahead of it 

I was way ahead 

I didn’t have any 

I still dont 

But I’ve thought about it 

I’ve had some actually 

It didn’t do well 

They didnt 

I remember having two 

One at a time 

One at a time at two very different parts of my life 

The last was enough to make me realize that they’re not for me 

You know what it was that marked the turning point for me 

What marked the turning point for phones actually was when they got maps 

Google maps 

That’s actually what made me want one 

I wanted google maps 

Bc I’ve never had any sense of directions 

That was when I wanted a phone 

A smart phone 

That’s when phones became smart to me 

And made me want one 

It’s when they got maps 

That was the turning point to me 

That was like when anakin slaughtered that entire village of innocent ppl in a blind rage 

It’s when phones got maps 

I think I wrote this 

Bc I’m hella excited about my new phone purchase 

It’s the best one I’ve ever made 

And my reason for thinking so has nothing to do w maps today 

My how times have changed 

You would think it was only yesterday when all ppl wanted was maps 

I do however still think in a way that that’s all ppl still want today 

Maps 

A sense of direction 

Bc we’re all still lost in some way 

My barber gave me a lopsided undercut

Bc neither of us had the wherewithal to notice 

Or say that I can’t have it long on the left side if I want an undercut 

That’s why he asked you when he was going in on the left like you want it long on this side though right 

You should’ve just let him keep going 

Then it would’ve been a traditional undercut at least 

It’s not terrible if you slick it 

But you gotta slick the fuck out of it 

And you really can’t go any other way than that at this point 

At least not w it dry 

And at this stage 

You’d have to wait a few weeks 

Or until next at least 

To fix it you’re either gonna have to get a traditional undercut fr next time 

Or see how it grows out 

That might mean letting it grow way tf out though 

And not letting him give you an undercut next time 

But then that’s like saying you can’t have it long on top if you want an undercut 

Which isn’t true 

Bc I’ve seen it on the internet in google images 

Long undercuts exist 

You can have an undercut w it long on top 

I googled it yesterday as soon as I got home 

Maybe he just doesn’t know how to do it 

Or your hair doesn’t look good that way 

If it’s the former then maybe you need a new barber 

I wanna be mad at him 

But neither of us knew what to do 

But then that’s also why I’m mad 

Bc he’s the barber 

So he should’ve 

I gave him a ten dollar tip too

He was like have fun at the wedding 

Psh 

At the barbers I’m always like none off the top 

Unless you see an opp 

Preparing for a haircut is like preparing for a reading 

Or an open mic 

I never know what I’m gonna say 

This fool offered me a hard part too 

That would be a good name for a movie 

Or the sequel to a movie called a hard part 

A hard part two 

I’m just not gonna care 

Honestly my life sucks enough anyway

Just slick tf out of it for the interview 

And wedding 

Or should I say the funeral

And wedding now

Bc going into an interview w this sweet undercut is gonna be professional suicide 

I can’t find the type of stain happening to my two fronts

You can’t google image it 

All it brings up is the most extreme case 

I want to go to my dentists' office without an appointment like what’s this 

Again no appointment 

Just like tell me what this is 

Pretty sure you can eyeball it 

Can’t say what I would do if I found out it was coffee though

I wanna say I would quit 

But Idk 

I love the stuff

I think it would help though 

Would help a lot more if they could do something about it 

Apart of me wants to make an appointment 

But I’m already taking two days off for doms wedding 

And I haven’t done a full week here since I started last Wednesday 

Which really should only hurt me more than it hurts them 

But I can’t tell 

From what I’ve noticed so far this place is petty 

They’ll find anything to complain about 

I wanna ask my coworkers if they see what I see on my teeth 

But you can’t ask someone like that 

You have to ask someone you know 

And trust 

Anyone else 

And that’s all they’ll see whenever they look at you 

It will take years to undo 

Maybe weeks 

Or less 

But it’s Ngl 

Why aren’t any of my friends dentists 

Why aren’t any of my coworkers 

Bc I guess if they were they wouldn’t be my coworkers
 

I’ve always wanted to be a dentist 

Or dental hygienist 

No way I’m getting in now w this grill 

Most I could be is a dentist w bad teeth 

Maybe I could ask my barber 

Or someone at the wedding like the groom 

My best friend

I rarely ever see him 

He’s perfect 

He’ll forget in no time 

08/04

I hate how close you have to be to Shazam shit

I wanna Shazam music coming from a car driving by from my fifth story apartment window I think if my life was more project based And the ppl I do the work for liked And supported it I would find it more meaningful I just want something to do I don’t want a personal life I want my life to be all about work And art This girl said hanging out w me when I asked her what she’s doing tomorrow And then left my question of where she had in mind on read I really don’t have anywhere to go every day at all Unless I wanna hang at the park Or a cafe Get a haircut I’ve seen ppl on dates there at the park on a weekday And thought that’s insane But so was me being there for an open mic at the same time I think it’s being at a park on a weekday that gets me Like you don’t have anything to do Damn When I saw the host walking around on the phone furious I thought it was work I hoped It hella wasn’t though It was just some drama he was dealing w And telling us all about I thought what do I do for a living What does everyone here do This is why I don’t do comedy in the park Unless it’s for work Or money it’s just hella existential I can’t believe summers almost over I wanna hear a hard ass rapper say comedy in the park makes me laugh and smile in their lyrics What if I used this as a cover letter

Riverhead Lawsuit Against DEC Explained

It's basically a dispute over who a part of the Enterprise Park at Calverton's water distributor is out of Riverhead Water District and Suffolk County Water Authority

Without that title Riverhead can't carry out a deal they're trying to make with the Triple 5 Group, which is a strip mall conglomerate

As it is, Riverhead has successfully retained this title over three prior subdivisions of the same property/land, which includes the Stony Brook Incubator, the Peconic Care Center, and the Island Water Park, through permits, via Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers Act (WSRRA)

So they're basically like you've let us have this much of that property as it is through these means

Why don't you let us have this portion

You've even given it to us under good graces 

In 1999 the U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded grant money to our Industrial Development Agency, and Water District to improve their (EPCAL) water system

The Enterprise Park of Calvert is an airpark that used to belong to the navy who turned it over to the Grumman Corp who used it for aircraft testing and assembly until they turned it over to Riverhead in 1998

But the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) won't let them use that method this time, bc that area is especially assigned to the SCWA for its adjacency to the Peconic River

DEC said unless SCWA rescinds their objection to Riverhead's being EPCAL's water distributor, they cannot obtain this permit they were able to get for the last three subdivisions, and they won't

It's a very circumstantial conflict bc I read in another story that SCWA really doesn't mind Riverhead carrying out their economic plans of development with Triple 5 Group

But they don't want to give up their position as EPCAL's water distributor bc then that would be a source of income they're losing 

And it was the DEC that appointed SCWA as their water distributor in the first place so it's really like they're pitting the two water districts or entities against each other

Bc on the same dime if Riverhead could go through w their economic development plans in that part of EPCAL without having to be their water supplier they would

But the DEC won't allow them to do it without that title or WSRRA permit so they're suing

I could also be wrong about what I said in the third paragraph where I said Riverhead assumed the title of water distributor of those parts of EPCAL through WSRRA permits if I misread 

And what that actually meant was other towns were able to acquire those parts of EPCAL the same way Riverhead is trying to get this one, via WSRRA, only without having to assume the position of water distributor like they're making Riverhead do in this case

If that makes sense

That would be a whole nother level of messed up

I don't think that's what it was though

EPCAL is a part of Calverton, NY

Both of them and Riverhead are a part of Suffolk County

They're both around 75 miles away from me

And only one of those two are accessible via MTA and that's Riverhead

https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/turkey-breaks-into-erie-county-home-causes-damage-removed-by-dec

https://riverheadlocal.com/2021/03/30/riverhead-sues-state-dec-over-water-supply-issue-permit-delay-at-former-grumman-site/

https://riverheadlocal.com/2021/02/02/suffolk-county-water-authority-rejects-towns-demand-to-drop-its-claim-to-supply-calverton-enterprise-park-with-public-water/

Tidal Wetlands

The tidal wetlands act of 1973 was put through by the DEC (Dept of Environmental Conservation), and was meant to protect them from landscaping, or any building along those shorelines.

They run around the southern tip of Staten Island, the entire coast of Long Island, which includes Shelter and Gardiner's Island, the lower Hudson River, all the way up to Troy Dam.

Shelter's, and Gardiner's Island are at the end of Long Island, in between there and Rhode Island.

Staten Island is in between New Jersey and Brooklyn.

Lower Hudson starts between those three, and Troy Dam is in Albany.

Permits are required by the Tidal Wetlands Permit Program, which regulates any activities between these areas.

12 Tidal Wetlands include:

Old Place Creek - Northern Staten Island, 20+ miles away from me, 2 hrs by mta.

Lemon Creek - Southern Staten Island, 30+ miles away from me, 2 hrs by mta.

Titus Mill Pond State - New Rochelle, near Mt Vernon and Yonkers,  20+ miles from me, around 2 hrs by mta.

Inwood Bay - Inwood, near John F. Kennedy Airport, closest to me probably, 2 hrs by mta.

Piermont Marsh - Orange Town, NY, like 40+ miles away from me, 2 hrs by mta.

Petteanger Island State - Is near Jones Beach Island, 40 miles away from me, no mta.

Ludlows Creek State - Oakdale, way in Long Island, hella like 50+ miles away from me, 2 hrs by mta.

Babylon Marsh State - Babylon, near Jones Beach Island, between Hempstead and Bayshore, 35+ miles away from me, no mta.

Stillman Creek - Bluepoint, 50+ miles away from me, no mta.

Baiting Hollow - Baiting Hollow, near the Wildwood State Park in Long Island, 70+ miles away from me, no mta.

Fireplace Neck - Brookhaven, next to the Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge in Long Island, 60+ miles away from me, no mta.

Mount Sinai - Mt Sinai, in Long Island, 60+ miles away from me, no mta.

Long Island encompasses two counties and two boroughs; boroughs include queens and kings, and counties include suffolk and nassau.

Boroughs are technically Long Island but they're more so their own thing, while the counties are more encompassed by Long Island's geography.

Nassau is more established than Suffolk.

Nassau is to Suffolk what Livermore is to Castro Valley, in the East Bay.

And Nassau and Suffolk is to Queens and Kings what like Oakland and Hayward is to the Central Valley, essentially what the East Bay is to the Central Valley.

You might disagree, but that's the best I could come up w, being from Hayward and Oakland. 

Bc like the Central Valley isn't like branching off into a peninsula the same way. 

I just realized I live on an island, technically.

Brooklyn is a part of the ninth region 

Essay Thing on One Change I Made to My Cover Letter

1. This is proof of how much attention I pay to form, and structure when it comes to any piece of writing I do. This is where I am now with my cover letter to a newsroom:

2. 9 paragraphs total, a lot of changes were made before I got to this point, but let me start by showing you where I am now by showing you exactly what I'm looking at whenever I look at this, which is just paragraphs 2-6:

3. I may, or may not go over all the changes it took to get through, and to this, but w these five paragraphs alone, I can already see a beginning, middle, and end.

The sentence in between the first, and last two is the middle. That's all I want, and need in between the initial address of my reader, and the thank you for reading the rest. However, there's one thing standing in my way, and that's paragraph 7.

Check it out w paragraph seven; 2-7:

4. Paragraph seven is the last thing you read before paragraph eight, and I guess I'm pairing the thank you for reading the rest w the paragraph before that starting w until then, making it eight paragraphs total.

Nine if we're splitting that last pair up, which again, we're not, but the point is before I make this anymore confusing for you, and myself is that I need to get rid of the seventh paragraph, bc w that we have three paragraphs after the third, which I wanted to be the middle, and in order for it to stay that way, it has to have the same number on both sides, which is two.

Plus I already said please in the last paragraph before that, so now you're just asking them for another thing, which should be a given anyways, after the confusing instructions you've given them to your least to most relevant samples.

Why are you even asking them to accept those things, after you've sounded this confident throughout? Hell yeah, they're gonna accept this cover letter, along w your references, which you still need to get. 

Just close it out after those confusing instructions you give to your samples:

5. See w that change, we went from 9 to 8 paragraphs total, 7 if we're going by my idea of combining the final thank you for reading w the paragraph before then, which we are, so 7 total.

Then from 229 to 210 wds. Granted the changes I didn't tell you I made to paragraphs 5-6, which was basically cause I completely rewrote them altogether, I hope this piece showed you how my attention to overall form, and structure led to my informed decision to cut the eighth paragraph altogether.

Please lmk what you think my chances of getting hired are w this cover letter in the comments, and would you look at that now? W this additional conclusion, in addition to the final drafted example of my cover letter, I have nine parts total to this piece here, if you include every example of my cover letter, which got me to this conclusion.

I thought I could leave it out, but then I couldn't w all of what I said, or didn't say about the changes I made before that in the beginning of the third part, and w that said I just blew my own mind w this, so I can only imagine what you're thinking.

I mean I just went over all this to tell you how I made one change to a cover letter I haven't even sent yet. I should just send this to the company I wanted to submit the cover letter to. They'd just read it, and be like na, this is way more than we asked for.

He's an overachiever, and there aren't enough of those, get him outta here. Or send it under a fake name, like demetri. And then they'll be all like damn demetri, you just wanna watch the world burn, huh.

Hella Warriors Poetry VII

Never realized how much I liked the warriors until I found myself standing up for them that night.

My friend was talking shit, so I guess I was up and arms. I wasn’t even drunk. I didn't even realize until he was like damn. 

I had no idea either. I think I just got hella pissed when he tried to say we’re like the Knicks now, bc fuck that. Hell no, don't you ever say such a thing. We been down that road for so many years. We're never going back.

Sorry, no offense, but Knicks are alone there, except for Randle and probably Rose. Idk enough about him to say. But Randle is nice though. 

Randle averages a double double every game, like a thirty point double double. He should be an all star, but he probably won’t be, bc he’s on the Knicks. 

Knickerbockers are like the pants jockeys wear. 

Curry came out in his shoes that night, they were like mids. He's released like five pairs in the last month. I wouldn't fuck w em, but I would fuck w those heat jerseys, tucked into some blue jeans.

Jimmy Butler's story is hella crazy, how like no one wanted him in the NBA. His mom kicked him out at 14, she fucked up. My friends think he's gonna be hella interesting in his post career, wild dude.

It was currys worst first quarter ever, but he came through in the fourth. Must’ve been tired from all those other games. Either way, that was like a really clutch performance from all three, Wiggins, Bazemore, and Curry.

With 26 points, eight rebounds, and three assists, Bazemore was player of the game. The combined efforts of his, along w back to back threes from Curry and Wiggins are what sealed the deal in OT. 

They literally won after my roommates went to bed. That's right, I watched it all by myself. It was hella crazy, and like that’s the biggest fourth quarter comeback they’ve ever had from 14 points, making it the worst upset for the heat. 

Comebacks like this are what got me into covering the warriors in the first place, when they did the same thing to the lakers, and the clippers around a month ago.

That's what makes this so full circle to me. I started covering the warriors on the twentieth of january, and tomorrow marks the twentieth of this month, so this feels like a good place to conclude this campaign, or change it up. 

I mean I plan to continue my coverage of the warriors throughout the rest of this season, but I don't plan to go in as much as I've been. These honestly got up to like 700 words, and I can't do that all season. 

But I know I gotta do something, so I guess all I gotta say for now is stay tuned.

The warriors played 17 games since I started covering every win. They won 10/17. This post here marks 7/10 I covered. 

Hella Warriors Poetry VI

Do you think warriors got heat?

I know they went to the finals last year, but they’re not all that good now, so Idk what they're up to. All I know is Jimmy Butler's hella tight. 

That's right, outside of the warriors, Jimmy butler and Dame Lillard are like my favorite players. Idk why. It's just like their energy. 

Like remember when Jimmy Butler couldn't find a good cup of coffee at Disney World, so he opened up his own stand, and started selling cups of his own at 20.00 a pop.

You could say basketball is art. It is; I saw this documentary on Juan toscano over the weekend and I hella liked it. He almost didn’t play. He lost interest and had to play in Mexico to get back into it. 

Then he came back and won a fight for a spot in the g-league, and played for them until he played his first game w the warriors against the lakers. Now he's in something like a dual contract.

Confirmed that his number 95 is meant to commemorate what street in Oakland he lived on. Got me, I thought it was for what year his parents moved here, or what year he was born.

The documentary was like six minutes on ig and I loved it. I found it hella inspiring and I highly recommend.

Toscano scored like eight points last saturday against the magic. Robert told me to stop calling them the Magics, bc it’s just Magic. I was like that doesn’t make any sense, without the s, if there’s more than one. 

But I guess magic can be either, out of singular or plural. He said it's both bc it’s just magic. I think there should be a team named after a bug. Like I know there's the hornets, but I mean like lice. Something like the louisianna lice.

Curry was dominant the other night against the cavs, and then what’s his name, Wiggins. But then again curry had him, and every other player on the team by like 20 points, or so, like he’s doing everything right now. Like he’s - I can't remember how everyone else did.  

I know draymond had his career best w like 6 points, 8 rebounds, and 16 assists, and he was hella pissed to see cavs center Andre Drummond seated throughout. Buyouts are usually bad right? Like when it comes to trading players, like if you’re passed the trade deadline, so they just buy you outta your contract?

That's just like saying we don’t want you anymore so much we’ll pay you for nothing, to go away almost, we don't care where, just go. I guess Drummond was gonna go to the nets, when the cavs going w Jarrett Allen fucked that up somehow, so now he doesn’t know what he’s gonna do. And it doesn't seem like the cavs do, or care either.

Their loss, I mean Drummond was their second leading scorer, his replacement Allen cursed out Sexton at the end of the second half over a missed foul call from one of the officials, and they lost the entire game by something like 30 points.

Kevin Durant is taking a couple of games off due to a pulled left hamstring. Wondering which teams have been most affected by covid restrictions and regulations, Nets have had 17 different starting lineups this season, tied w the wizards. 

I remember Gobert of the Utah Jazz giving everyone covid last year, when he gave everyone wet willies, trying to make a point, crazy ass. They've won something like 16 of their last 20 games, they're hella raw right now. W 23-5, they probably have the best record in the league.

Hella pics of my first handwriting in months

Hella insights on how I got through these two shortlists for best foreign film

I don’t really circulate these much among my peers for proofs and edits, or feedback bc you can’t really criticize them.

It’s just like an archive, a bibliography, a works cited list. And you know how hard those are to put together? 

It’s just like busy work that you don’t have to do, bc I did it for you, so if you have anything against that then Idk what to say. 

Here we have two lists of foreign films that made Indiewire's shortlist for what they expected to be nominated for this years oscars, and then the revised official shortlist of foreign films from the academy itself. And from the outset, every list after Indiewire's shortlist is modified according to what I saw, what I couldn't find and couldn't see, what didn't make the official oscars shortlist, what I saw out of what did, what I saw out of what was added, and then finally the total seen out of that list.

Under every variation of each list, in which there are seven total, is information like where you can stream them for free, or rent. If I couldn’t find them streaming anywhere, I found what else you can stream by that director. Then if I couldn’t find either, I just said that without any further research. 

What made this difficult was when the official shortlist for this years best foreign film actually came out as I was working on the shortlist of predictions for that released by Indiewire. As a consequence, this went through several drafts, all while trying to figure out what my reasoning behind making this actually was, which I don't think I ever got, bc I don't think there was any. 

So in any case, let's just begin here w Indiewire's shortlist of predictions: 

Another Round (Prime rental 6.99)
Apples
Beginning (Mubi)
Charlatan
Collective (Early Access 6.99)
Dear Comrades (Hulu)
Hope
I’m No Longer Here (Netflix)
La Llorona (Shudder)
The Mole Agent (Hulu)
My Little Sister
Never Gonna Snow Again 
Notturno (Prime rental 4.99)
A Sun (Netflix)
Vitalena Varela (Prime rental 4.99)

Saw 10/15:

Vitalena Varela (Prime rental 4.99)
A Sun (Netflix)
Notturno (Prime rental 4.99)
The Mole Agent (Hulu)
La Llorona (Shudder)
I’m No Longer Here (Netflix)
Dear Comrades (Hulu)
Collective (Early Access 6.99)
Beginning (Mubi)
Another Round (Prime rental 6.99)

Takeaways:

I spent a total of 24.00 on this round of films. 

Another Round, and Vitalena Varela were in each of the last two essays I wrote about Indiewire's 50 best of 2020 list. Another Round was in the first one about movies I had seen. Vitalena Varela was in that one too, but I hadn't watched. I said I was gonna at the end, and then I think did that same night, as promised, and I wasn't crazy about it. 

Collective was also mentioned in the second article, but I didn't watch it until I saw it on this list. W this in mind, you can subtract 12.00 from the list of movies I rented making the only ones I rented Notturno, and Collective for a total of 12.00, which I could've saved another five from, had I waited for Notturno to come to Hulu. 

I almost spent more, and I would've if I hadn't found the The Mole Agent, and Dear Comrades was on Hulu. And again, I could've saved 5.00 if I would've waited for Notturno to come to Hulu. 

I watched I'm No Longer Here long before I saw any of these lists, and I was excited to see A Sun on Netflix, as well. And as another note on that, I gotta say they're 3/3 w movies that are 2 1/2 hrs long. I mean The Devil All the Time, Da 5 Bloods, and now this? Where I would say those were better, this one holds up. 

Didn’t see 5/15:

My Little Sister
Never Gonna Snow Again
Apples
Charlatan
Hope

Takeaways:

You can't find Hope, or anything by director Maria Sodahl. 

Charlatan is by Agnieska Holland, and you can find a lot of her movies on Amazon Prime. All I know of is the Secret Garden. I wasn't interested in watching any of them, but Mr Jones, and it's streaming for free on Hulu.

Can't find anything by the director of Apples, Christos Nikou. This is like his third movie, but I'm interested. Sounds like a protege of Yorgos Lanthimos.

This is awkward, bc My Little Sister wasn't available three weeks ago when I started drafting, but it is now on Prime and Vudu for 3.99, or one dollar more. I watched The Little Bedroom, which was all I could find by Stephanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond. I think this is their second movie.

You can't find Never Gonna Snow Again anywhere other than through maybe virtual cinema, but you can find Body, Elles, and The Other Lamb on Prime. Body was meh. The Other Lamb looks good. I didn't see that before. Body is free through Mubi, and The Other Lamb is on Hulu. 

6/15 didn’t make it:

My Little Sister (Prime rental 3.99)
Never Gonna Snow Again
Apples
Vitalena Varela (Prime rental 4.99)
Notturno (Prime rental 4.99)(Hulu)
Beginning (Mubi)

Takeaways:

I didn't wanna talk about these movies, and I can't talk about the first three either way, but I can see why the last three didn't make it. 

Beginning, and Notturno probably had the best chance, but that's still hella wishful thinking, especially for the former. 

Saw 7/9 that did make it:

Hope
Charlatan
Another Round (Prime rental 6.99)
Collective (Early Access 6.99)
Dear Comrades (Hulu)
The Mole Agent (Hulu)
I’m No Longer Here (Netflix)
A Sun (Netflix)
La Llorona (Shudder)

Takeaways:

I talked about every one of these in someway, but La Llorona, and all I can say about that is it's good, but Idk if it's worth starting a trial for, but I would assume so if it's the only way I have of seeing it. 

Saw 2/6 added to that list of 9: 

Better Days (Prime rental 3.99)
Two of Us (Prime rental 6.99)
Quo Vadis, Aida?
Sun Children
The Man Who Sold his Skin
Night of the Kings 

Takeaways:

The two films added to this brought my rental total up to 35.00. 

The screening of the last one brings it to 42.00, but it's not worth listing where I saw it, bc it will probably be gone by the time you read this. It was a one week though, at the film forum.

The Miami Film Festival is also gonna be running a virtual screening of Sun Children on 3/9 if you wanna order tickets; looks good.

So I saw 10/15 from this official oscars shortlist for this year’s best international foreign film:

Dear Comrades (Hulu)
The Mole Agent (Hulu)
Two of Us (Prime rental 6.99)
Better Days (Prime rental 3.99)
A Sun (Netflix)
I’m No Longer Here (Netflix)
La Llorona (Shudder)
Collective (Early Access 6.99)
Another Round (Prime rental 6.99)
Night of the Kings

Takeaways:

This list isn't ranked for anything, other than the order I saw them in.

I don't think I can rank them. But I can say the most worthwhile rentals to me were probably the Collective, and Another Round. And the most rewatchable were probably Dear Comrades, The Mole Agent, and I'm No Longer Here.

Notice I don't mention any names of the directors of films I watched, or how I felt about them, and I think that's bc that, nor how I felt about it was as important to me as telling you how I got ahold of it, period.

And I think after this final revision, the purpose of this as a whole was to show you how I got through both lists, period.

So again, I hope if anything, this did just that. 

Hella Warriors Poetry V

Before I get into it, I wanna start by saying I finally released a Super Bowl joke today. 

That's right, it’s hella ridiculous. I was telling Robert and my dad Tom I’m about to get you good, watch, for like five hundred wds.

Hella topical and relevant, it’s a timely piece. I was gonna publish it w another journal, but they do like a pdf, and they dk when it’s coming out, so I had to hit another editor to see if he could get it up by Thursday. 

I was gonna say if he couldn’t I would’ve had to post it here, but he said he could have it up sooner than that, and by that he meant today, so here it is. 

Stop calling Tom Brady the goat on expat lit. 

Also shoutouts to manny for putting this one out there just in the nick of time, thanks again. 

Anyway, I keep thinking what if I interviewed marshawn Lynch about Stephen Curry on my blog? That would be sick, right? That would be tight af.

Curry's still running around, you know? I was gonna say he doesn't care anymore after seeing him score 57 points in their loss to the mavs, but then after seeing them lose to the spurs on Monday I was like nvm, he's pissed. Did you see him kick the air? And who can blame him?

I mean what was Draymond thinking, right? He must've been thinking like I'm gonna save the day. He must've thought someone would try to get him to the line, but no one contested it. No, no one was gonna. Why would they? It's not like it's Curry. It's not like who it was supposed to be.

Different story last night though, w Curry's 32 points, they must've won by something like 20-30. As the oldest living coach in the NBA at 72, Gregg Popavich was popapissed. 

You know Texas has hella basketball teams though; Spurs, Rockets and mavs. But Texas is also hella big. All those places are all like three to four hrs a part. Noticed the spurs must not be in as much high demand as the mavs too, bc their game against the warriors wasn't nationally televised. The mavs made tnt, and abc. Probably cause of that fool Luka. Everyone hella fucks w Luka. 

I was thinking the other day I don’t think doncic drinks, but he probably does shit w weed you couldn’t ever possibly even get your head around. All of them do, right? All athletes, Kansas City Chiefs Safety Tyrann Mathieu showed up to his first practice at LSU in a hotbox, and it wasn't chill. He did time for it. He was doing time when he was drafted.

Speaking of which, Quarterback Patrick Mahommes better get checked out after that game. CTE is so real, and it's even worse for boxers. How do you think Muhammad Ali got parkinsons? As he got older he'd just let opponents beat the shit out of him until they got tired.

I didn't know that. I had no idea until Ladson told me at the superbowl. He also told me shaggy was in the marines. That's right, Mr. Bombastic was in the gulf war. He wrote it wasn't me in a foxhole. 

Watching the nuggets last night, I was like what's the mile high club, and Robert was like it's when you have sex on an airplane, and I was like oh, bc it says mile high on the nuggets jerseys. He was like oh no, that's for the city, mile high city in Denver. That would be a crazy thing to have on your jersey, and I was like yeah, they'd be like I'm sorry but you guys can't name your city after that slogan.

Hella Warriors Poetry IV

Hearing that the warriors were gonna play at seven thirty that night was probably the best news I’ve gotten all week, like a dream come true almost. 

Until then, I swear I had been staying up every night till one to watch them all season, and frankly I was sick of it. 

That night I realized I'm actually sick of that. That shit sucks. It hella wears on you. 

I thought I saw that earlier too, but I couldn’t be sure, bc I thought like the warriors and mavs at seven thirty? Aren't they on the same time zone? But no, Mavs are on their own. 

Central is like an hr behind us, but then still 2 hrs ahead of pacific, so they started at 6:30pm. It would still be 4:30pm in the bay, and ppl would still be at work, so they didn’t do that for us. No, they didn't do that for anybody. Sports are ruthless like that, or time zones are anyway for that matter.

That night was sick though.

We had no centers, bc Wiseman and Looney were out. I didn't see Looney, but he was probably there somewhere. Wiseman was out on the sideline in a cartman hoodie. Something happened to his hand, so I guess Draymond stood in his position as Toscano would go up for the tip. 

I like Toscano. He's hella rowdy, and he talks hella shit. 14 points, hella clutch last night, it was almost his best game. W a two point difference in score between them, and 50% a piece average from the perimeter, him and Mulder were almost like interchangeable. Unlike Wiggins and Bazemore, but Wiggins still managed to walk away w 18 points, one more than Lee's closing score of 17, who was 80% from the perimeter.  

W a 57% field goal average, and 51 from the perimeter, we were pretty dominant inside. I mean very much so, everyone was going in for something like 15 assists from Draymond, which was weird bc we're usually the opposite, but that was Dallas instead that night for whatever reason, or at least it looked that way. 

Now, it’s obvious warriors had more field goals than threes, but did they have more threes than the mavs? Again, obviously but I still asked my roommates, like I prefaced it w idk if this is a stupid question, but - I just thought if the number of threes they shot was lower then it might be curved or something. Like if warriors were 22/43 and Dallas is 20/50, but naw. 

A percentage is a percentage, so warriors were better in every aspect except free throws, which they were only down by like two percent at 85. At 87%, that was the majority of Dallas’s points, jk. That would be lit though, right, if a team won a game on solely free throws? 

I just asked my roommates if that’s ever happened before, and they got hella pissed, like no man. What's your problem?

Honestly Idk what got into Oubre. I mean by the end of the first quarter I thought this guy sucks, but by the end of the first half the announcers were saying this might be his career best, as in career best half, whereas his last career best was a second quarter (i feel like i should say who that's against). And where I don't think he got that record, he still made his career best game by closing that night out w 40 pts. 

I think Draymond and Curry sat out for a majority of the fourth quarter, maybe like five min. Like they just left at some point and never came back.

You know Curry's under hella criticism rn for shooting under forty percent from the perimeter, but he doesn’t have to be any better than that. No, he doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone anymore. He’s been to the ship so many times he doesn’t have to hold himself accountable for shit.

We'll see tonight though.

Hella notes from the blizzard 02/01-02 (785 wds)

02/01

1149am

We’re supposed to get eighteen inches. 

It’s really not a good idea to go outside, pretty much. You can get hypothermia. 

De Blasio banned all cars except emergency, or state sanctioned vehicles, so ubers are hella expensive, and they take like two hrs.

I had to be dropped off down the way last night, bc a domestic dispute outside of my house. 

According to my roommates someone got hit w a broom, a janitors broom, so something like 13 cops flooded the block to interrogate the victim, and their family as the perpetrator kept going in and out of the apt they occupied, unnoticed. They didn’t catch him 

This is a full on blizzard. I see ppl out there w umbrellas, and shit. I’ve never seen anything like it. 

615pm

I thought they were gonna restrict the stimulus to only ppl that make over fifty thousand a year, but it’s under. Thank god, I was gonna say that doesn’t make any sense. 

619

Roommate wants to go to the park to take pics, and Idk. 

I’m afraid I won’t make it back if I go out there. Is that rain or snow, maybe both? That’s all bad. I’ve never seen anything like this. I took a couple of vids from my window. 

It honestly looks like it could go up to your knees. Landlord's goin in w the shovel. I almost wanna help him. 

Maybe if it stops tomorrow night, but it might not, who knows. I kinda don’t want our roommate to go. As a friend and roommate, I think it’d be dangerous. 

You heard of Jenny Odell, How to do nothing: Resisting the attention economy. It’s okay, kinda gets into a green agenda, but she’s hella tight 

I just wanna see a bruno mars show before I die.

631

Roommate just had de ja vu, something about our roommate going out in the snow. 

If you went out there in something like we’re wearing rn, you’d freeze to death, in like twenty min. Naw, Idk, it wouldn’t take that long though.

Haven’t gone to the deli yet, or anywhere for that matter. Roommate, and I are gonna go after he’s done eating. Hopefully we don’t drown in snow, or slip and fall.

He said shoveling isn’t a town effort, but you’re responsible for whatever’s in front of your property, so if anyone slips and falls in front of your shit you could get sued. That’s crazy, so our landlord could get sued if anyone slips in front of our house. 

That's at least what his dad always told him, so that could’ve been just to get him to help shovel. 

Holy shit, the plows lent a little assistance. I wonder if anyone’s ever gotten ran over. 

My friend posted a picture of their car covered in snow, and was like I’m pretty sure there’s a ticket under there somewhere. She’s from Nashville, but I read w her in Chicago. I think she drove out here last weekend for some reason. That’s a ways, probably cheaper than flying though. 

These kids better be coo, hella trying to play out there. 

Friend thinks it’s cool I've never seen snow before. Should I go out there, and make a snow angel and a snow man? Friend was like just a snow angel. 

I wonder if these shoes would be any good. He said I would def have to tuck my pants into my socks, snows higher than that, unless i wanna walk in the streets. But then what if a snow plow comes? I guess I'll just move.

02/02

109pm

The only trip we made yesterday was to the store. 

We had to walk in the street, bc snow was high on either side. On our way back when we were around twenty feet, or so from our house I was like this is hella fucking tight.

It came down pretty hard yesterday, most snow we had since 2016, but I’ve heard ppl say this is nothing. It’s nothing unless it's like two feet or less. There’s a thirty percent chance of more around nine pm, and then that’s it. 

Then it’s about to get real nasty, when it starts melting, and going away. 

Snow only looks good when it's snowing.

Afterwards it just looks like shit.

It's awful.

147

Snows - I was gonna say snows hella crazy, but I’ve already said that hella times, and it’s not anymore. Well it is a little. 

157

No grub hub rn. I mean you could, you just gotta tip heavy. 

549

I have to go to Billy’s. I have to get food. 

I might just order a turkey club, naw. 

Be brave, go to Billy’s. 

Hella can't figure out what movies I actually wanna watch outta this list

I thought I wanted to see these movies out of the remaining 19 from indiewires' fifty best of 2020 list. 

But the more I look at it, the more I realize I just made it for a movie meetup I was gonna have w a friend, or had w them. Now I feel different, and I wanna talk about why, and how those feelings changed or stayed the same for each, and every one out of these seven films that made it out of the list of nineteen.

But I also think the ones that didn’t make the cut were replaced by ones from the list of nineteen that didn’t make it originally, so to start I guess I could see what everything looked like at first, like that’s where I could start.

Still can’t stop feeling like I’m gonna have to talk about every single one to do this. Another thing is I have four lists; one is the nineteen remaining, two is the seven out of that list I wanna see, three is maybe three movies I can’t see, and then four is the movies I can’t, but also can’t see, but I actually do have something to say about each of those as well, so I think I could do that maybe.

Okay, so here goes lists one:

Nomad land
Da 5 bloods (netflix)
Mank (netflix)
Dick Johnson is dead (netflix)
Minari 
Promising Young Woman (19.99)
Collective (6.99)
The trial of the Chicago 7 (netflix)
David byrne’s American utopia (hbomax)
Soul
The whistlers (Hulu)
News of the world
Palm Springs (Hulu)
City Hall Borat subsequent moviefilm (amazon prime)
Undine
Ma Rainey’s black bottom (netflix)
Let them all talk (hbomax)
Emma (hbomax)

List two:

The whistlers (Hulu)
Palm Springs (Hulu)
Collective (6.99)
Promising young woman (19.99)
Dick Johnson is dead (netflix)
Emma (hbomax)
Let them all talk (hbomax)

List three:

Nomadland 
News of the world
Minari

List four:

The trial of the Chicago 7 (netflix)
David Byrnes America utopia (hbomax)
Soul
City hall
Borat subsequent moviefilm (amazon prime)
Undine
Ma Rainey’s black bottom (netflix)

Now where do we go from here?

Which list do I wanna start w of these three? I guess w the ones I don’t wanna see, bc that’s the closest to me atm. Then from there I could start w what’s staying the same:

Trial of the Chicago 7 looks boring to me. American utopia, bc it sounds like a musical, and I don’t like musicals. City hall, bc it’s four hrs long, but even if I wanted to watch it, I wouldn't know where to find it, so that’s a lost cause. Never seen any of the Borats, so I don’t have any context, and I don't want any. 

Let’s get into new additions to the list, so we can see what it looks like afterwards. No, first let’s get w what’s coming out of this list, and where it’s going:

Soul is going to the want to watch, but can’t watch list, bc it wasn’t like I never wanted to see it. I just couldn’t, bc I don’t have Disney plus, so it’s like a lost cause, unless someone wants to give me their password. 

Same goes for Undine, only there is no Disney plus option for this movie, let alone any streaming venue, except maybe one, but it seems sus, like it comes w commercials.

I think ma Rainey’s black bottom is going somewhere. Idk where, it might not go anywhere, bc I’m hella on the fence about it. And being on the fence about it, is probably like as good as being neither here or there about it, like take it or leave it. I’ll probably leave it. But it shouldn’t be in the don’t wanna see list, bc that's not the case. 

Now to get into movies that are being added to it, which will make up for some of the changes I’m making to the wanna see list:

News of the world was gonna go up to the wanna see, when I saw it was available for 19.99. I added it to the watch list and everything before I took it down after reading the synopsis. Idk, just not my thing. Paul greengrass, director of hella Bourne movies, I'm coo.

I'm taking Emma out. I don’t care about it. Never did, just thought the person I watched movies w would wanna see it, and they did. I mean they had already, and they didn’t like it. 

I keep trying to think I wanna see let them all talk, but I hella don’t; young man finds romance with a literary agent while taking a trip with the woman's famous aunt and her friends. W meryl streep, sounds like sideways, but it's probably hella good, and I’m missing out, but whatever.

Then from the overall list in general I’m adding mank to it, bc like borat, I have no context. It’s supposed to be like a prequel to citizen Kane,  and I’ve never seen it. 

So the list goes like this now:

Trial of the Chicago 7 (netflix)
David Byrnes American utopia (hbomax)
Mank (netflix)
News of the world (19.99)
City Hall
Borat subsequent moviefilm (amazon prime)
Let them all talk (hbomax)
Emma (hbomax)

Movies I wanna see but can’t goes like this:

Nomadland
Minari
Soul (Disney plus)
Undine (?)

And the movies I wanna see look like this:

The whistlers (Hulu)
Palm Springs (Hulu)
Collective (6.99)
Promising young woman (19.99)
Dick Johnson is dead (netflix)
Da 5 bloods (netflix)

But does it really? 

The more I look at this list the more I think I only wanna see like two movies out of it, especially since I didn’t watch any of them at my friends last night, which is what I made it for.

The only one out of it that came up as a prospect was the whistlers. The other two was from another list from another list of movies from 2020 I found through google, so I think I’m having an existential crisis over this list, bc I think I’m done w it.

Whistlers is about a group of assassins that travel to Romania to learn a language that’s just whistling. Am I really into those movies? They're hit, or miss, and amazon only gave it three and a half stars maybe. Maybe I'll end up watching it if I remember. I don't have a watchlist for hulu. The only watch list I look at is amazon prime's.

Palm Springs was the first, and only one out of this list I've watched so far. A movie about a couple strangers at a wedding in palm springs get trapped in an infinite time loop which causes them to go through the same day every day. I found it relatable, in that I feel like that's what I'm living in as well, but do I really need to be reminded of this by Andy Samberg? Posted the movie poster to stories w a caption over it reading, "relatable, and it wasn't bad, but I also didn't care."

Collective is probably on par w the whistlers, but documentaries are always a tossup to me, bc I don't necessarily like them, and I can't quite really remember the plot all that well. Let me look it up; Journalists uncover healthcare fraud in the wake of a fire in bucharest romania. This has the same odds of appealing to me as the whistlers for both of them taking place in romania, but I also find the odds of them confusing me the same too, being just as high. Maybe as high as the price to watch. Idk if 6.99 is worth being confused by.

Dick johnson is dead looks interesting. I think what makes it more appealing is it's free on netflix, but it also actually just sounds hella good, from the synopsis; director stages her father's oncoming death in inventive and comical ways to help her face the inevitable. Temples got warm just thinking about it, I'll probably hella watch it tbh, tonight maybe even

Originally in the list of movies I'm on the fence about, Idk if I'll ever watch da 5 bloods. Appealing to me for the same reason as the last, it's also directed by spike lee, and everyone says it's hella good. A movie about five guys getting dropped off somewhere to look for the remains of their fallen comrade, and the treasure he left hidden, the cast looks amazing, Idk actually. I think I'm in.

I was gonna say the more I look at this list the more I think I only wanna see a promising young woman, but the last two I discussed actually sound hella tight after going over them, so the one's that remain of the must see list go as such:

Promising young woman (19.99)
Dick Johnson is dead (netflix)
Da 5 bloods (netflix)

And the on the fence list now goes:

The whistlers (hulu)
Collective (6.99)
Ma Rainey's black bottom (netflix)

Looks like maybe the next, and last three I'm going to watch out of this list.