Happy Saturday!
I've been experimenting with ways to keep myself more productive and focused recently. I'm trying to get sucked into my phone less and to stay on task more. One trick that's been working for me this week is to make sure my "to do" list is full of items that are short and possible to achieve in a day (so more like "write two pages" and less "win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction"). I'm frankly amazed at how well it's been working. It's not like I didn't know that in order to write a script, I'd have to start by writing a scene, but for some reason, I just wasn't doing it. It turns out that all I needed was the pure animal thrill of using a Sharpie to cross completed tasks off a list. It's a hit of pure dopamine.
And if you didn't think that "write intro to this week's email" was on the list, well, you know nothing.
Upcoming Events
LOS ANGELES
Wednesday, January 15th at 7 pm at the Lyric-Hyperion. Matt Porter and I host a multimedia comedy show featuring Demi Adejuyigbe (@electrolemon, writer for The Good Place), Sheng Wang (2 Dope Queens), Rekha Shankar (head writer for CollegeHumor), and Zach Sherwin (The Crossword Show). Ticket Link
NEW YORK
Friday, February 7th and Saturday, February 8th. I will be back in NYC workshopping a stage show about long term couples and new scientific research on love. Presented by All For One Theater. Free (email info@afo.nyc to RSVP) Link with more info
This week’s list
GREAT:
Mitra Jouhari is so funny and creative that Amy Poehler is executive producing her new television series. Mitra has written for shows like Big Mouth, High Maintenance, Miracle Workers, and Pod Save America. But Mitra isn't just funny, she's also brave. She's an Iranian-American who is using her platform to stand up to bigotry and warmongering. If you want to do something to discourage our political leaders from armed conflict, Mitra has been posting ways to take action on her Instagram and Twitter, from going to a protest to calling your reps to just amplifying the voices of Iranian-Americans so they know they're supported and not alone.
FUNNY:
Even the concept of this profile in GQ makes me laugh. Larry David as fashion icon. It's so funny to watch Larry David get put into expensive clothes and photographed. It's so funny to hear him talk about them. But then, the profile ends up being about the blurry line between TV Larry and Real Life Larry and I loved everything about it. I laughed out loud several times. The Incredibly Happy Life of Larry David, TV's Favorite Grouch
INTERESTING:
Hokyoung Kim is an illustrator who splits her time between Seoul and New York. She creates these dense, layered illustrations that perfectly express difficult emotions. You may her seen her work accompanying articles in The Atlantic, The New York Times, or live at Pop Up Magazine. I definitely recommend looking through her Instagram or website. I find her work very moving. One of my favorite illustrations she's done accompanies these short films about immigration: From Here to Home, Five Films about Immigration and Belonging
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Take care of each other,
Chris