My life has just been a galloping orgy (yes, it is possible) of activity recently (and it continues to be), but I thought I'd take a minute to squeeze in some quality time with you, Internet.
Besides having two research papers, a TV screenplay, a full-page color comic, a screenprinted front cover, and three articles to work on or complete this week, I must also find time to enjoy the beautiful weather. Or, you know, vice-versa. I like to make it hard for myself.
The past week's been pretty eventful. Last Saturday, some Garg staffers and I met with Matt Tobey, a Michigan-based blogger for Comedy Central's website I was introduced to by Stephen Levinson, a Gargalum. He was a really nice guy and really willing to share his experiences in writing for the web, both for pay and for personal edification. I think some staffers who aren't planning on careers in media were pleasantly surprised about the variety of places they could get recreational writing published. For me, most of it seemed pretty straightforward, perhaps because I've been obsessing over my job opportunities for more than a year now.
On Thursday, we got out of Screenwriting early to see a screening of Roger & Me, followed by a Q&A with Michael Moore, to commemorate its 20th anniversary. The film, which I haven't seen for eight years or so, has really taken on a new, more poignant tone in the light of what's happened to Michigan's economy in the last decade. As Moore pointed out afterwards, to people in Flint, the film would hearken back to "the good old days," when there were still 30,000 GM jobs in the city. Now there are about 5,000. Also poignant (or maybe karmically just) is the fact that the oblivious white-collar GM employees in the film are probably now coping with being laid off, too.
Moore himself was enormously entertaining and thought-provoking. The things he talked about and the way he talked about them were pretty much exactly what one would expect from his films. He railed about healthcare reform, corporate greed, blind conservatism, etc. while interjecting his vitriol with very cynical humor. It's unfortunate that he feels pretty universally pessimistic about the country's future, though, especially when speaking to a group of college students eager to make their mark on the world.
I personally have to believe that the country can change and improve. Certainly it always has, at least. I wouldn't expect politicians to stop being corrupt, stupid, and selfish, but the nation as a whole must continue on a trajectory of becoming more informed, more equal, more aware.
Anyway, it was a very valuable experience. And by the way, here's one thing I DIDN'T agree with him about.
So now I'm going to go back to working. Wish me luck.
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