Alex's April Round Up
Entering the town of Twin Peaks
This month, I am thinking about David Lynch. My friend and I are rewatching Twin Peaks, plus I went to go see his Dune in theaters. Honestly? Not bad. Villaneuve didn’t actually change a whole lot in my opinion.
I feel like I have an essay brewing about Lynch. Something about his willingness to refrain from explanation, and the genuine kindness and care with which he treated his collaborators. Just something I’ve been reflecting on ever since his passing. I used to hate avant garde media. Lynch made me love the absurd, and find peace with not understanding everything.
That’s the energy I’m trying to cultivate in the world.
Apart from that, I’ve spent a decent chunk of this month hurriedly reading as many Nebula-finalist books and stories as I possibly can. I didn’t quite finish (though I hope I will before the winners are announced). Some of these works are really incredible, and I’m really glad I took the time to read them.
In fact, speaking of making peace with not understanding, I found this piece praticularly moving.
Here’s what else if new for me this month:
BEST of PlayGround Chicago?
I am so excited that my short play “A Question of Legitimacy” was selected as one of the six Best of PlayGround Chicago scripts. It will be performed alongside the other best-of shows on Monday, May 5. If you’re in the Chicago area, please come check it out!
THE SUIT Premiere
Beyond thrilled to share that my sci-fi horror play THE SUIT will get a staged reading at Special Interest Theater’s Genre Divergence Festival! I have had such a fantastic time developing this script and I cannot wait to see what the talented production team ddoes with it.
Incognito
Also if you’re in the Chicago area: I’m doing sound design for the Chicago premiere of Incognito by Nick Payne! Such a freakin cool script, cannot WAIT to help bring it to life. I’ve been hard at work on some sound cues and an original composition, so stay tuned for more infor on that.
The Stench of Adventure
The Stench of Adventure Season 4 is almost done. In the meantime, I released some bonus episodes, and the OFFICIAL TRAILER for the season will be out next Thursday! So that’s very exciting. I’m happy that will finally be a thing that’s out in the world. Pending some final lines from voices actors, the actual season should start releasing around the end of May or start of June.
Murder Babies
Murder Babies starts recording this week! Cannot wait to share this show with people. Hoping to have the first episode out around August.
ARB at the Hugos
If you haven’t already seen Ancillary Review of Books is a finalist for the Hugo awards this year! As a regular contributor to ARB, this is super exciting to me. One of my reviews is even linked in the announcement post! (Ann Leckie’s novellete “Lake of Souls” is also a finalist, so my review of the eponymous collection is linked.)
Creator Spotlight
Hanging Sloth Studios’ Not Quite Dead is back for Season 4! The show is created by Eira Major (of Spirit Box Radio fame), whose shows are all part of the Rusty Quill Network. Not Quite Dead is the gay vampire show that’s sweeping the nation (and by the nation I mean tumblr dot gov).
That’s all for this month, I think. At the end of this month I’ll be at my alma mater’s alumni weekend (can you believe I graduated from undergrad 5 YEARS AGO? That’s a half a decade!) but hopefully I’ll still have a chance to collect my updates on June 1. I’m looking forward to be being back at Swarthmore, not just for alumni weekend but also to get MARRIED! Then after that I’m teaching improv to children all summer :)
Wishing you all a wonderful start to your spring,
Alex